Chretien de Troyes, Yvain

Paola Scarpini (University of York)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Bristol), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1177 - c. 1181

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

The Knight of the Lion or Yvain (in French: Le Chevalier au Lion – Yvain) is one of the romances (with Philomena, Erec and Enide, Cligès, The Knight of the Cart and The Story of the Grail) written by Chrétien de Troyes, retelling the deeds of an Arthurian knight, Yvain, and his faithful and self-sacrificing lion. Its form is that of a poem in octosyllabic verse, with flat rhyme, running at a total of 6818 lines. Scholars agree that The Knight of the Lion and The Knight of the Cart were written in parallel, as a diptych, between 1176 and 1181, but that only the former was finalized by Chrétien himself (The Knight of the Cart being completed by Geoffroy de Lagny). From Wendelin Förster at the end of the 19^th century to Jean Frappier,...

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2396 words

Citation: Scarpini, Paola. "Yvain". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 May 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8918, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Chretien de Troyes, Yvain

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

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