Aucassin Nicolette

"Aucassin and Nicolette" is one of the best-known and best-loved works in medieval literature. With its slightly foolish hero, and its brave and resourceful heroine, it is a work of unfailing freshness and charm. The four thirteenth-century tales chosen to accompany it in this volume represent the best from a rich period of French literature and an age that is surely one of the high points of civilization. Lying somewhere between the high-flown fantasies of the romance and the crudities of the fabliaux, they are characterized by their realism, their elegance and sophistication and, in some cases, by the beginnings of a psychological interest in human behaviour. Timeless in their essential subject-matter, they also give a fascinating and detailed picture of the remote society in which and for which they were written.

Originally compiled and published in 1988, this volume contains the text and translation of 'The Pilgrimmage of Charlemagne' and 'Aucassin and Nicolette,' alongisde textual notes and a bibliography for both.