Excellent translations of Chretien's romances by David Staines -- very readable. I particularly liked the fact that, in The Story of the Grail Staines translates "graal" as "bowl," rather than "grail," a word which has no clear meaning in modern English. The "graal" that Chretien wrote about was described in a comtemporary Latin dictionary (i.e., "gradale," from which the OF graal is a corruption) as "a somewhat-deep dish," and Chretien's narrator refers to it as the sort of thing used to serve a lamprey or other large fish -- clearly not the chalice that the "grail" becomes later in the tradition. In other words, Staines give a fresh translation which does not make unwarranted interpretations about what the original meant, allowing the reader to make up his/her own mind what is going on.

Besides the endless joy of going "Cretien!", this is a very enjoyable set of Arthurian legends. It's readable, and generally enjoyable, and sure to keep you entertained after long nights stuck inside without a tv, or, perhaps you will turn off your tv (since this isn't the middle ages) to enjoy this classic. Perhaps you are like me, and actually get college credit for reading this. Yes, go me. ( )

Excerpts from Erec et Enide, Lancelot, Yvain, and Perceval ( )