Les Chétifs

The Old French Crusade Cycle consists of a series of epic poems that together form a cycle concerning the First Crusade and the legendary events associated with Godefroi de Buillon. The entire cycle comprises eight volumes, which are being published as editing is completed.

In Volume V, Les Chetifs(The Captives), the fabulous adventures of a group of crusaders captured by the Saracens are recounted. The present edition is based on the best extant verse manuscript (Paris, Bibliotheque National, Fonds Francais 12558), and all the variant reading are recorded from the other nine surviving verse texts. A full critical apparatus is provided: notes, a table of proper names, a glossary, and a bibliography. The edition is preceded by an introduction that provides a summary of previous work in this field, an analysis of the action of the epic, a discussion of the manuscript tradition, and a section on the topography of the poem.