In this new verse translation of one of the great works of French literature, Dorothy Gilbert captures the vivacity, wit, and grace of the first known Arthurian romance. iErec and Enidei is the story of the quest and coming of age of a young knight, an illustrious member of Arthur's court, who must learn to balance the demands of a masculine public life--tests of courage, skill, adaptability, and mature judgment--with the equally urgent demands of the private world of love and marriage. We see his wife, Enide, develop as an exemplar of chivalry in the female, not as an Amazon, but as a brave, resolute, and wise woman. Composed ca. 1170, iErec and Enidei masterfully combines elements of Celtic legend, classical and ecclesiastical learning, and French medieval culture and ideals.br br In choosing to write in rhymed octosyllabic couplets-Chrtien's prosodic pattern-Dorothy Gilbert has tried to reproduce what so often gets lost in prose or free verse translations the precise and delicate me