Robert the Devil: The First Modern English Translation of Robert le Diable, an Anonymous French Romance of the Thirteenth Century

by Anonymous, Samuel N. Rosenberg (Translator)

Samuel N. Rosenberg, one of the premier translators of Old French, presents in this volume the first modern English-language version of the thirteenth-century French romance Robert le Diable , a tale of supernatural birth and spiritual redemption. Robert is born after his mother, a childless noblewoman, secretly calls upon Satan to help her conceive. His wicked behavior as a boy and, later, as a destructive young man is so brutal that one day Robert prevails upon his mother to reveal the secret of his birth and thus the source of his wickedness. Upon learning the truth, he leaves his privileged home in Normandy to seek salvation. Robert’s lengthy penance—under the aegis of the Pope and a pious hermit—begins with his acting as a mute fool in the Roman Emperor’s court and ends with his sainthood. In between he plays the hero’s role in defeating the Turks in battle and turns down the hand of the Emperor’s daughter in marriage, choosing instead to return to the hermit’s abode. The legend of Robert le Diable was extraordinarily influential in the seven hundred years after its creation, generating new versions and adaptations in various languages, ranging from sixteenth-century English adaptations by Wynken de Worde and Thomas Lodge to Giacomo Meyerbeer’s esteemed 1831 opera. Framed by a thoughtful introduction and thorough bibliography, this accessible translation renders the original octosyllabic rhymed couplets of the metrical Old French romance in energetic free verse.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1500

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

riveting story

[Hotspur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is like the medieval version of our superhero stories. And how it is ever so interesting to ponder the differences: the superpowers are created from a pact with the Devil (there are often allusions to the sinister powers or ways in which our modern superheros are created, but never the Devil himself), and the reward of these powers is a selfless penance and debasement to an anchorite life. The Empire and damsel are dangled before him as a reward, and he chooses a hermit-like oblivion and sainthood. This is something the modern superhero movies would never consider apart from the Luke figure in the last Star Wars.

A very enjoyable read. The translation breezes along, possesses some humor and keeps some rhymes (there's some couplets with just near-rhymes). I think the verse could be richer, but I have no idea if the original was richer. I'd like to give it 5 stars, but it does remind me of a modern superhero movie--entertaining, but without depth (albeit with much more depth than our modern tales).

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

this guy was like "why am i evil thats so fucked up" and then he wasnt evil

[Lulu]

The oldest-known account of this legend is a Latin prose narrative by a Dominican friar, Etienne de Bourbon (c. 1250), in which no information on Robert's family is given.
Then it appears in a French metrical romance of the 2nd half of 13th century, in which Robert is described as the son of the duchess of Normandy [this book]

But the legend owes its popularity to the story-books (= chapbooks????), of which the earliest known appeared at Lyons in 1496, and again at Paris in 1497, under the title La Vie du terrible Robert le dyable.

Early 16th translation from the French **chapbook**
1517 robert the deuyll Wynkyn de Worde
https://archive.org/details/gri_33125...
https://archive.org/details/lyferober...


Robert le diable opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer 1831