Roman van Walewein

by Penninc, Pieter Vostaert (Contributor), G.A. van Es (Editor)

Deze Middelnederlandse Arthurroman, die in het graafschap Vlaanderen geschreven werd in het derde kwart van de dertiende eeuw door Penninc en Pieter Vostaert, is een van de weinige Arturverhalen die oorspronkelijk in het Nederlands geschreven is, en dus geen vertaling is van Franse tradities.

Het vertelt enkele avonturen van Walewein. Wanneer er een vliegend schaakbord naar binnen vliegt als koning Artur en zijn ridders een groot feest hebben, is Walewein de enige ridder die bereidt is er op uit te trekken om het schaakbord te bemachtigen.

Genres: Arthurian, School, Medieval, Dutch Literature, Poetry, Classics

331 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1270

About the author

Penninc is het pseudonym van een 13e eeuwse schrijver uit het graafschap Vlaanderen. Hij is de auteur van de Roman van Walewein, een Middeleeuwse Arturroman.

Penninc in de Digitale Database Nederlandse Literatuur

Wikipedia pagina van Penninc

Reviews

[Lisa Verbist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walewein is de grootste people pleaser die ik ken.

[Sien · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Al was hi bloot, hi was coene. "

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

the poetry in this book was definitely easy to read but it wasn’t super lyrical, also i found the walewein poems way more interesting than the keye based ones

[Mitte Braes · Rating 3 out of 5]

het was een even grote queeste om dit gelezen te krijgen als de queeste van Walewein zelf 🙃

Het Stockholm syndroom in mij zegt toch dat ik het heel fascinerend vond om deze literaire gigant zelf eens van cover tot kaft te lezen.

[Amber Roosen · Rating 4 out of 5]

best entertaining wnr ik kon lezen wat er stond! blij dat die uit is tho

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dutch tradition, if one's to go by this romance about Gawain, is as positive as the German tradition is about my favourite knight. It's not a story I've read anywhere else, though it has its similarities to other quest stories. In it, Gawain goes in search of a magical chess set, in the process having to achieve other quests like acquiring the Sword of Two Rings and bringing a maiden from her overprotective father... There's a lot of jousting and marvellous hyperbolic wonders on Gawain's part.

The translation seems to me to be good -- it's very readable, in any case, and it makes it clear where there are lacunae in the original manuscript/s. This edition has a facing translation, too. The introduction is good, and helpful re: the dual authorship of the poem, possible source, and historical context.

[The Smol Moth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gringalet (Gawain's horse) is the REAL star of this story

[Bob Nadal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great medieval romp!

[Anou · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5☆
My man Walewein couldn't catch a break gedurende dit 11200+ verzen lange verhaal

[Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vanden coninc Arture
es bleven menighe avonture
die nemmer mee ne wert bescreven.
(About King Arthur there are many adventure tales that have never been written down.) So starts the epic poem of Knight Gawain and the Chessboard, beautifully written in 13th century Dutch (Middle Dutch or Diets), in which King Arthur and his Round Table knights see a floating chess board (scaecspel) appear out of nothing, complete with chess pieces, waiting to be played on. When none of the knights finds the courage to start playing the game, the chess board vanishes in the same way as it appeared. King Arthur had noticed the beauty of the chess board and requests his knights to recover it. Walewein (Gawain) offers to go and get it back, and becomes the hero of the tale.
Because of the old language and the quantity of words that are no longer used in modern Dutch, this is not an easy read, but well worth the effort.

Dese bouc was ghescreven int jaer
Dat seggic ju wel vorwaer -
Als men screef M CCC ende L. mede.
God gheve ons sinen euwegen vrede!

(This book was written in the year
I am telling you the truth
As one writes MCCC and also L (1350)
God give us his eternal peace.)

A sort of sequel was written by Louis Couperus in the early 20th century under the title Het Zwevende Schaakbord (The Floating Chessboard).

[Dolf Wagenaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit Middelnederlandse werk uit 1350 is niet gewoon een ridderepos over de goede ridder Walewein. Ik vind het mooie eraan dat alle verschillende karakters niet alleen symbolisch zijn, maar ook echte mensen van vlees en bloed. Het zou overigens een geschikt boek zijn om een graphic novel van te maken.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given a knowledge of modern Dutch or German, this medieval work in Middle Dutch is fairly easy to read after perusing a grammar and with Verdam's Middle Dutch dictionary at hand It is certainly worth it. Unlike much of Middle Dutch literature, e.g. Maerlant, it has literary merit.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book if you enjoy Dutch Mediaeval literature! It shows the great Arthurian epic novels, with many fights and the typical 'hoofse liefde'.