Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

English

Advisor/Mentor

Smith, Joshua B.

Committee Member

Quinn, William A.

Second Committee Member

Doucet, Annie

Keywords

Arthurian; Guillaume le Clerc; Old French

Abstract

My dissertation focuses on one text – Li romanz de Fergus – an Arthurian romance composed in Old French in the early thirteenth century by a mysterious author named Guillaume le Clerc. I have learned as much as I can about this romance and have looked at it from every angle possible. The scope of my research is narrow and deep because it focuses on one text, its author, and its subject matter. I have created a new theory about the identity of the author, Guillaume le Clerc, based on historical documents such as the Acts of Lordship from Scotland, and I have established a clear motivation for the writing of the tale, a motive which has not been discussed in previous scholarship. I have studied the history and theory of Old French versification to enhance my translation of the romance, which was written in octosyllabic rhyming couplets in the Picardy dialect. Before the translated tale is the introduction which discusses all the aspects of this romance, from the manuscripts in which it is found, to the author and the historical Fergus, the tale’s place in the romance genre, and my notes on the process of translating this entertaining story.

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