Thomas of Britain
Encyclopedia
Thomas of Britain was a french poet of the 12th century. He is known for his Old French
poem Tristan
, a version of the Tristan and Iseult
legend that exists only in eight fragments, amounting to around 3,300 lines of verse, mostly from the latter part of the story. It is calculated that this represents about one sixth of the original.
The poem was written between 1155 and 1160, possibly for Eleanor of Aquitaine
, since the work suggests close ties with the court of Henry II
. Beyond this, his identity is obscure; it has been speculated that he is to be identified with the "Thomas" who wrote the Romance of Horn
, but this is unsupported.
Although Thomas's own text is fragmentary, later adaptations of his work make it possible to reconstruct what is missing:
Thomas' version is the earliest known representative of the "courtly branch" of the legend, to which Gottfried's also belongs. This branch differs from the "common" or "primitive" versions of Béroul
and Eilhart von Oberge
, in that greater emphasis is placed on pleasing the sensibilities and expectations of a courtly audience. Some scholars have theorized an "Ur-Tristan", an original French version that inspired all later accounts. Joseph Bédier
attempted to reconstruct this original from the evidence provided by the later versions.
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
poem Tristan
Tristan
Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
, a version of the Tristan and Iseult
Tristan and Iseult
The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult...
legend that exists only in eight fragments, amounting to around 3,300 lines of verse, mostly from the latter part of the story. It is calculated that this represents about one sixth of the original.
The poem was written between 1155 and 1160, possibly for Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
, since the work suggests close ties with the court of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. Beyond this, his identity is obscure; it has been speculated that he is to be identified with the "Thomas" who wrote the Romance of Horn
Romance of Horn
Romance of Horn is an Anglo-Norman literature romans d'aventure tale written around 1170 by an author apparently named "Thomas"....
, but this is unsupported.
Although Thomas's own text is fragmentary, later adaptations of his work make it possible to reconstruct what is missing:
- Gottfried von StrassburgGottfried von StrassburgGottfried von Strassburg is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan and Isolt, an adaptation of the 12th-century Tristan and Iseult legend. Gottfried's work is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of the great narrative...
's Tristan (Middle High GermanMiddle High GermanMiddle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
), left incomplete c. 1210, though fortuitously it covers all those parts of Thomas's work which are lost. Gottfried expanded the story by about a third, while nonetheless remaining fairly faithful to Thomas. - Brother RobertBrother RobertBrother Robert was a cleric working in Norway who adapted several French literary works into Old Norse during the reign of King Haakon IV of Norway . The most important of these, Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar, based on Thomas of Britain's Tristan, is notable as the only example of Thomas' "courtly...
's Old NorseOld NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar (Saga of Tristram and Isond), written in 1226 (prose), condensing the story. - The Middle English Sir Tristrem (verse, late 13th Century), a much abbreviated retelling.
- The Italian La Tavola Ritonda (prose, 14th century).
Thomas' version is the earliest known representative of the "courtly branch" of the legend, to which Gottfried's also belongs. This branch differs from the "common" or "primitive" versions of Béroul
Béroul
Béroul was a Norman poet of the 12th century. He wrote Tristan, a Norman language version of the legend of Tristan and Iseult of which a certain number of fragments have been preserved; it is the earliest representation of the so-called "vulgar" version of the legend...
and Eilhart von Oberge
Eilhart von Oberge
Eilhart von Oberge was a German poet of the late 12th century. He is known exclusively through his Middle High German romance Tristrant, the oldest surviving complete version of the Tristan and Iseult story in any language. Tristrant is part of the "common" or "primitive" branch of the legend, best...
, in that greater emphasis is placed on pleasing the sensibilities and expectations of a courtly audience. Some scholars have theorized an "Ur-Tristan", an original French version that inspired all later accounts. Joseph Bédier
Joseph Bédier
Joseph Bédier was a French writer and scholar and historian of medieval France.-Biography:Bédier was born in Paris, France to Adolphe Bédier, a lawyer of Breton origin, and spent his childhood in Réunion. He was a professor of medieval French literature at the Université de Fribourg, Switzerland ...
attempted to reconstruct this original from the evidence provided by the later versions.
Editions and translations
- Thomas, Les fragments du Roman de tristan, ed. Bartina H. Wind, Paris/Geneva 1960.
- Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, with the suriviving fragments of the Tristran of Thomas, translated A.T. Hatto, Penguin, 1960.
- The Saga of Tristrams and Ísönd, translated with an introduction by Paul Schach, University of Nebraska Press 1973.
External links
- Tristan of Thomas of Britain in French Wikisource.
- Complete text of three fragments
- Text of three fragments and modern French translation
- The Carlisle Fragment of Thomas's Tristan, translated J. Shoaf
- Text of 6 fragments
- The Romance of Tristan & Iseult Drawn from the best French Sources and Retold by J. Bédier Rendered into English by H. Belloc at Project Gutenberg.