Dutch Romances I: Roman van Walewein

The gem in the crown of Middle Dutch Arthurian romance, the Roman van Walewein embodies the transformation of popular folktale into courtly romance. The framework of the romance is a tripartite series of quests, in which the hero, Walewein, must acquire and relinquish successive marvellous objects. Events are set in motion after Arthur and his knights have completed their meal, when a flying chess set enters the hall; Walewein embarks on a series ofquests to capture it and bring it back to Arthur. This edition of the text, accompanied by facing English translation, brings this important work to a wider audience; it is accompanied by an introduction, variants and rejected readings, and critical notes.

David F. Johnson is Professor of English, Florida State University; Geert H.M. Claassens is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.