Aucassin and Nicolette, and other tales

by Pauline Matarasso (Translator)

Aucassin and Nicolette is one of the best-known and best-loved works in medieval literature. With its slightly foolish hero, and its brave and resourceful heroine, it is a work of unfailing freshness and charm. The four thirteenth-century tales chosen to accompany it in this volume represent the best from a rich period of French literature and an age that is surely one of the high points of civilization. Lying somewhere between the high-flown fantasies of the romance and the crudities of the fabliaux, they are characterized by their realism, their elegance and sophistication and, in some cases, by the beginnings of a psychological interest in human behaviour. Timeless in their essential subject-matter, they also give a fascinating and detailed picture of the remote society in which and for which they were written.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 1971

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

5* for the first tale of Aucassin and Nicolette, honestly the funniest medieval text I've ever read and with such an iconic heroine !!

[joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Likeable and amusing tale that seems to come halfway between the fully integrated world of warrior monks of high chivalry, and the full sceptical treatment the you get of this world in say Chaucer.
This is the material of the lute-plucking court entertainer of cringy 50s films, so once more I find that all clichés are 💯% accurate.