A Companion to Wace (review)

This Companion is an in-depth survey of all the writings attributed to the poet Wace today. Part I treats Wace the hagiographer in his three religious poems, La Vie de sainte Marguerite, La Conception Nostre Dame, and La Vie de saint Nicolas. Parts II and III turn, in succession, to his more historical works, Le Roman de Brut and Le Roman de Rou. The Introduction examines what we know about Wace's life and times. A brief Conclusion summarizes the major characteristics of Wace's œuvre. Each part adheres to a similar plan to survey each of the five works, with some adaptations required by the distinctiveness of the individual text. As Le Saux states in the introduction to the religious poems, treating the poems in succession, she provides 'an outline of the manuscript tradition of each text, analyzing the way their sources have been approached and adapted, and exploring the agenda underlying the poet's interpretation of his material'. This three-part arrangement is followed in treating the Brut and Rou, although Le Saux emphasizes the lengthier parts of each work, thus according less attention to narrative segments that Wace treats more briefly. For example, Arthur, not Brutus, and William the Conqueror, not the Northmen, loom large in her interpretations. This is not necessarily a fault in a 'companion'; however, the reader should be aware of where emphasis lies and what receives less attention. The comparison with the sources and analogues offers useful support to Le Saux's interpretations. It is unfortunate that Benoît de Sainte-Maure receives relatively short shrift. Both vernacular 'historians' treat, in two separate works, analogous 'histories'. Without undue lengthening, it would have been interesting to hear more about how Benoît used Dares and Dictys compared to how Wace used Geoffrey of Monmouth or his Variant Version, as well as how Wace dealt with sources in the Rou that Benoît used again in the Chronique. None the less, the Companion to Wace is an important contribution to Wace studies, both for students approaching the author for the first time and for specialist scholars interested in new interpretations and a new overview of his writings. There is a select, albeit lengthy, bibliography and a very helpful index.