{"product_id":"the-complete-story-of-the-grail-9781843844983","title":"The Complete Story of the Grail","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first ever translation of the whole of the rich and compelling body of tales contained in Chrétien's poem and its four \u003ci\u003eContinuations\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe mysterious and haunting Grail makes its first appearance in literature in Chrétien de Troyes' \u003ci\u003ePerceval\u003c\/i\u003e at the end of the twelfth century.  But Chrétien never finished his poem, leaving an unresolved story and an incomplete picture of the Grail. It was, however, far too attractive an idea to leave. Not only did it inspire quite separate works; his own unfinished poem was continued and finally completed by no fewer than four other writers.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Story of the Grail\u003c\/i\u003e is the first ever translation of the whole of the rich and compelling body of tales contained in Chrétien's poem and its four \u003ci\u003eContinuations\u003c\/i\u003e, which are finally attracting the scholarly attention they deserve. Besides Chrétien's original text, there are the anonymous \u003ci\u003eFirst Continuation\u003c\/i\u003e (translated here in its fullest version), the \u003ci\u003eSecond Continuation\u003c\/i\u003e attributed to Wauchier de Denain, and the intriguing \u003ci\u003eThird\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFourth Continuations\u003c\/i\u003e - probably written simultaneously, with no knowledge of each other's work - by Manessier and Gerbert de Montreuil. Two other poets were drawn to create preludes explaining the background to Chrétien's story, and translated here also are their works: \u003ci\u003eThe Elucidation Prologue\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBliocadran\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e Only in this, \u003ci\u003eThe Story of the Grail\u003c\/i\u003e's complete form, can the reader appreciate the narrative skill and invention of the medieval poets and their surprising responses to Chrétien's theme - not least their crucial focus on the knight as a crusader. Equally, Chrétien's original poem was almost always copied in conjunction withone or more of the \u003ci\u003eContinuations\u003c\/i\u003e, so this translation represents how most medieval readers would have encountered it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nigel Bryant's previous translations from Medieval French include \u003ci\u003ePerlesvaus - the High Bookof the Grail\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert de Boron's trilogy \u003ci\u003eMerlin and the Grail\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eMedieval Romance of Alexander\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe True Chronicles of Jean le Bel\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePerceforest\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Chrétien de Troyes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42960388489334,"sku":"9781843844983","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_d9186c88-1e33-489d-ac19-f5d1113d5e87.jpg?v=1767797886","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/the-complete-story-of-the-grail-9781843844983","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}