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Book Salon
Arthurian Romances

  • This month we're reading Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes. Our faculty host is Marisa Galvez.

    Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.

    "In addition to inventing the Arthurian romance as we know it today, Chretien de Troyes was an ingenious storyteller: he devised intricate plots with subtle humor and irony, and created compelling stories about moral dilemmas in both marriage and adultery."

    Marisa Galvez, associate professor of French and by courtesy, of German Studies

About this quarter's book selection

Take a step into King Arthur's court. There you will find the legendary stories of Lancelot and Queen Guinevere's adulterous relationship, of the knight Yvain and his search for glory at the expense of his bride's happiness, and of Perceval and the adventures of the Grail. Chrétien de Troyes, writing in the 12th century, was the first to tell these tales creating what was then the new literary form of courtly romance.

A French poet, Chrétien is best known for the five works (each originally composed in rhyming eight-syllable couplets) found in this collection, yet very little is actually known of his life. The first four stories are complete, while the story of the Grail is thought to have been left unfinished. Chrétien is a masterful storyteller, his descriptions powerful and detailed yet mysterious.

Professor Marisa Galvez invites you to join her for an exploration of Arthurian romance and the courtly literature of the Middle Ages. She will focus on the two romances of Lancelot and Yvain found in the collection and suggests that participants also read the introduction to learn some historical background on Chrétien de Troyes.

The Stanford Book Salon [Seriously Unstuffy]