Cliges

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Chrétien de Troyes was not well known to English readers when I began to translate Yvain; or, TheKnight with the Lion in 1969.1 was one of a group of native English speakers who had majored in French language and literature and progressed to Old French in graduate school. Chretien washighly esteemed in that circle, but it was not a large one. As a Smith student who took courses during her senior year at Barnard College, I studied with Professor Patricia Terry, a gifted translator of Old French lays. I felt that her verse form of rhymed iambic tetrameter would be a suitable and effective way of translating Chretiens romances into English. In this way a thirty-year project began. Professional translators must be able to express the underlyinglayerof meaning in the source language while having the confidence to be idiomatic in the target language. They know that they can convey only part of the original, but they convey a very large portion of both form and substance. Moreover, they know how to select what is most important. Their work is accurate, polished, and idiomatic. Their translations can stand alone or alongside the source material. They know how to walk along the border of two languages, as if they were on Hadrian's Wall. The footing is irregular, but the view on both sides is magnificent. This book marks the completion of myeffort to translate allfiveof Chretiens romances. On this occasion, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my colleagues in the American Translators Association, who awarded me the Louis Galantiere Prize for the best non-German literary translation published in the United States between 1990 and 1992 for Lancelot. Their recognition has sustained and encouraged me to complete my translations of the works of Chretien de Troyes. I am particularly grateful for the steadfast love and support of my husband, William R. Cline, throughout this decades-long venture.Our daughters, Alison Cline Earles and Marian Cline le Grelle, have heartened me by their interest and encouragement in my work from the perspective of their adult lives. Professor Jo Ann Moran Cruz, chair of the Department of History of Georgetown University, has been my friend and adviser for overtwenty-five years. Her recommendation and encouragementwere critical in my decision to enter a [vii] ACKNOWLEDGMENTS doctoral program in medievalhistory at Georgetown. Jo Ann is noted for her penetrating intellect and excellent publications, but also for her generosity, energy , and enthusiasm. She has used my translations of Chretien de Troyes for many years and has praised their effectiveness in the classroom. She took time from her overwhelming schedule to read and comment upon the manuscripts of Erec andEnide and Cliges. I dedicate Cliges to my friend Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran Cruz in gratitude. [viii] ...