Sir Orfeo
A Translation in Rhyming Couplets
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17851/1982-0739.31.1.126-151Keywords:
Sir Orfeo, Breton Lay, translation, Middle English, Medieval LiteratureAbstract
This translation offers, for the first time to Portuguese-speaking readers, the medieval poem Sir Orfeo (c. 14th century), a lay, or a Breton lai, which possibly is a translation from an original in French, now lost. The translation was prepared based on the edition and glossary by Sisam; Tolkien (2011), with the help of the Middle English Dictionary (Kuhn; Reidy, 1970), aiming to maintain the original metric scheme of rhymed couplets, a tradition easily found in the Portuguese language, which facilitates the translation process, although Middle English is a language distant from the target language. A brief introduction is also presented regarding the history of its manuscripts, its editions, and its critical reception, based on Horobin (2002), Sweet (2005), Brouland (1990), and Reaney (1958), followed by a summary of its plot so that the reader can more easily understand the events poetically narrated. In this way, it is hoped that the poem can become better known in Brazil and inspire further studies related to its poetic genre and to the literature written in Middle English.
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References
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