French in Medieval Ireland, Ireland in Medieval French: The Paradox of Two Worlds

This is the first full-length study of an important and neglected topic, namely the cultural and linguistic consequences of the 1169 invasion of Ireland and the ways in which it influenced views of the country in literature written in French in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Works long known to have been written in French in multilingual Ireland - La geste des Engleis en Yrlande and The Walling of New Ross - are examined in their literary and historical context, while the works of the Dominican Jofroi de Waterford are shown definitively to have been written in Ireland, and not Paris, as has been assumed. After showing how Ireland acquired a reputation as a land of marvels through the dissemination and translation of early Latin texts of Irish origin and interest, the volume shows that increasing knowledge of the real Ireland does little to stymy the mirabilia hibernica in French vernacular literature. On the contrary, the notion is shown to be tenacious, to the extent of retrospectively associating some central motifs and figures of Arthurian romance with Ireland. This book is characterised by close attention to the details of linguistic expression and communication, as well as by historical, codicological, and literary contexts. It incorporates the results of original archival research.