Lost in translation? : an examination of the concept of courtoisie in the Old French Le Conte de Floire et Blancheflor and in the corresponding Old Norse Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the concept of courtoisie and how it was translated from Old French into Old Norse. I have looked at one romance and saga of chivalry in particular, namely Le Conte de Floire et Blancheflor and Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr respectively. The romance which was turned into a saga of chivalry has been defined by Jean-Luc Leclanche (1986) as a roman pré-courtois (pre-courtly romance) from the twelfth century. Yet it has many courtois elements and it was turned into a saga of chivalry at the same time as all the other sagas during the reign of Haakon Haakonsson although sources do not specify whether it was commissioned by the king or not. The idea of the present study has come from earlier assumptions that the riddarasögur leave out what is typically courtly. My intention, as the title (Lost in translation?) suggests, has been to question these claims and to come with arguments that the sagas only partially leave out the courtly aspects. The typical courtly love features that appear in the romances do appear in the saga, as well. Although they are relatively shorter, they do remain typical features of the riddarasögur as genre. The saga has a tendency to shorten the lyrical passages, but it is more faithful to the Conte with regard to the narrative parts and the dialogues. This proves that the Norse audience during the thirteenth century appreciated and understood the concept of courtoisie, and there is evidence that this phenomenon did not appear for a short period of time during the reign of king Haakon Haakonsson, but it seemed to be a fashion that lasted for a long time in various art forms in the North.