Ebook: Lost in translation? An examination of the concept of courtoisie in the Old French Le Conte de Floire et Blancheflor and in the corresponding Old Norse Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr

This thesis focuses on the concept of courtoisie and how it was translated from Old French into Old Norse. I will look at one romance and saga of chivalry in particular, namely Floire et Blancheflor and Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr respectively.

My discussion starts from the idea of a common tradition in medieval literature, originating in France and shared by other literatures of Western Europe, including Norway. During the 1200’s, Norway had a rich literary tradition. Yet, the local impulses, that had led to the creation of eddas and sagas weakened, and gave way to new tendencies: one of them was hagiographical literature, common to the whole of Europe through widely occurring motifs such as holy men, holy women or holy events. The second tendency started with The Song of Roland in France, and it spread all over Europe. The heroic accounts of The Song of Roland were shortly followed by the romances of courtoisie. Chrétien de Troyes’ romances are considered to be the inspiration for many translations and adaptations into a number of European languages. The romance which was turned into a saga of chivalry has been defined by Jean-Luc Leclanche (1986) as a roman pré-courtois (pre-courtly romance) from the twelfth century. Yet it has many courtois elements and it was turned into a saga of chivalry at the same time as all the other sagas during the reign of Haakon Haakonsson. It is not specified, as in the introduction of the other five sagas – Tristams saga ok Isöndar, Möttuls saga, Ívens saga, Strengleikar and Elis saga ok Rosamundu – whether it was Brother Robert who performed the translation, but it is believed to be the work of a cleric, considering its general ecclesiastic tone.