Old French Romances, Done into English

In Short

Translated into intentionally archaic, tapestry-rich English, this volume collects four central medieval French prose romances that showcase the dramatic heights of chivalric storytelling. Through tales of absolute devotion, fated royal couplings, dark family reckonings, and miraculous endurance, the collection explores the binding power of oaths and faith. Characters navigate extreme tests—including leprosy, child sacrifice, miraculous escape, betrayal, and total forfeiture of rank—to prove their ultimate loyalty. These foundational stories have endured because they embody the medieval world's deepest ideals: unwavering comradeship, unyielding justice, and the transformative power of divine grace.

The Story

The collection traces a continuous thematic arc across four grand narratives of trial, destiny, and redemption. In the opening legendary saga of Amis and Amile, two men born on the same day and baptized together share an identical appearance and an unbreakable bond of brotherhood. When Amis is driven from his ancestral home by envious foes, he seeks out Amile, only for their lives to become deeply intertwined at the royal court. When Amile faces mortal peril after an accusation of dishonesty regarding the King’s daughter, Amis steps into the trial by combat on his friend’s behalf, slaying the accuser Arderi. To spare his companion, Amis assumes Amile's place, while Amile remains behind with Amis's wife, placing a drawn sword between them in bed to preserve absolute purity.

Yet divine trial soon tests their sacred pact. Amis is stricken with severe leprosy, becoming an outcast despised and abandoned by his own wife, Obias. Tended only by two faithful servants, he is carried in utter misery to the gates of Amile’s castle. Upon discovering his bedridden companion, Amile offers total sanctuary. When a heavenly voice reveals that Amis can only be healed by the blood of Amile’s own children, Amile makes the ultimate sacrifice, slaying his offspring to restore his friend's health—only for God to miraculously restore the children to life in recognition of such boundless devotion.

The focus shifts to political intrigue and preordained destiny in the tale of Emperor Constans. A ruthless ruler learns through an astrologer clerk that a lowborn infant boy is destined to marry his daughter and inherit the empire. Horrified, the Emperor slits the babe's belly with a knife and orders him drowned. Saved by a merciful knight and raised in secret, the lad grows into a exceptionally handsome youth named Constans. Years later, the Emperor sends Constans to his court bearing a sealed letter ordering his immediate execution. However, the Emperor's clever daughter discovers the sleeping youth, reads the letter, and secretly replaces it with a forged mandate commanding the Burgreve to marry her to the young traveler with grand celebration.

In the third romance, King Florus and the Fair Jehane, a valiant squire named Robin wins his lady's hand and four hundred pounds of land through his master's gratitude, despite her mother's fierce opposition. However, a deceitful knight named Sir Raoul claims he has intimacy with Jehane, citing secret physical marks—a black spot and a pearlet on her thigh—which he learned through treachery. Robbed of his estate in a rigged wager, Robin flees in heartbreak to Paris and Marseilles, where he establishes a thriving bakery and hostelry with his loyal servant John. Meanwhile, Jehane disguises herself as a man, travels to Marseilles to serve her lost husband incognito, and ultimately enables Robin to defeat Sir Raoul in single combat to reclaim his lands before she becomes the wife of King Florus.

Finally, the Tale of Over Sea explores betrayal and divine mercy within the family of the Count of Ponthieu. After a mysterious assault during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the Count’s daughter turns on her husband, Messire Thibault, attempting to slay him. Enraged by her crime, the Count seals her inside a sturdy wooden barrel and casts her into the open sea. Rescued by a passing ship, she is brought to the East, where she marries the Soudan and earns great affection. Years later, when her father, brother, and husband are captured in the Holy Land and condemned to death, she recognizes them, secures their release, and engineers a miraculous reunion that unites two worlds and gives rise to the lineage of Saladin.

How It Unfolds

A sacred brotherhood forged Two identical companions receive matching wooden bowls at their baptism, establishing a lifelong spiritual bond. When hardship separates them, each wanders across kingdom borders seeking the other to offer aid and comfort.

Mortal combat and noble deceit Amis takes Amile’s place in a judicial duel to defend the King's daughter against a treacherous accuser. He slays the traitor Arderi, while Amile stays with Amis's wife, placing an unsheathed sword between them in bed as a chaperon.

The terrible price of restoration Afflicted with leprosy and cast out by his treacherous wife, Amis is carried in a cart to Amile’s gates. To heal his companion from the horrific disease, Amile slays his own young children, whose lives are subsequently restored by divine mercy.

A royal child marked for death An Emperor hears an astrological prophecy that a newborn peasant child will marry his daughter and rule his land. In a desperate bid to thwart fate, the Emperor slits the infant's body and orders him cast into the sea.

The maiden's cunning forgery Years later, the Emperor sends the grown youth to court carrying a hidden letter ordering his death. The Emperor’s daughter discovers the sleeping lad, swaps the execution order for a forged marriage decree, and marries him in great joy.

A stolen inheritance and single combat Sir Raoul uses false tokens to trick Robin out of his lands and wife after a rigged wager. Disguised as an esquire, the lady supports Robin until he unhorses Raoul in brutal combat, forcing a full confession and restoring their rightful home.

Cast into the raging waves A father punishes his daughter’s inexplicable crime by locking her inside a sealed wooden cask and throwing her into the ocean. She drifts into foreign waters, where she is saved, marries a powerful Eastern ruler, and eventually saves her original family from execution.

The People

Amis and Amile Bound by identical appearance and shared baptism, these two knights prioritize their fellowship above all earthly laws. Amis faces trial by combat and the horrific isolation of leprosy for his companion, while Amile willingly sacrifices his own children to cleanse his friend’s flesh. Both end their lives restored in honor, rank, and divine grace.

The Emperor of Byzance A tyrannical ruler obsessed with defeating fate, he attempts to murder an infant and later sends the grown youth to his death to preserve his throne. His ruthless schemes fail completely when his own daughter outsmarts him, leaving him powerless against prophecy.

The Emperor's Daughter A bold, resourceful maiden who takes control of her own destiny upon finding a handsome stranger sleeping in a garden. She cleverly uses her father's blank sealed scrolls to write her own marriage contract, securing both a husband and a kingdom.

Robin and Jehane Robin begins as a penniless squire who earns land and a highborn bride through loyalty, only to lose everything to a malicious slander. Jehane, his faithful wife, adopts male attire, works tirelessly to support him in exile, and ensures he receives full justice against his accuser.

The Count of Ponthieu and His Daughter Driven by intense pride and unyielding judgment, the Count casts his own child into the ocean in a sealed barrel to avenge her sins. The daughter, surviving through resilience and adaptability, becomes a respected Eastern queen who ultimately saves her father from execution, transforming his cruelty into ultimate reconciliation.

In Its Own Voice

"So Arderi swore that he had shamed the King’s Daughter, and Amis swore that he lied; and straightway they dealt together in strokes, and fought together from the hour of tierce right on till nones."

Amis steps into the trial by combat on his friend's behalf, battling relentlessly throughout the entire day to clear the royal maiden's name.

"The child was wrapped in linen clothes, and they had laid him on a chair. Thereto came the Knight, and took the child and laid him on a board, and brought him to the Emperor..."

The Emperor's henchman snatches the newborn infant from his nursery to carry out a cruel attempt to alter preordained fate.

"Then did the Count cause them to row a full two leagues out to sea... and thrust the tun into the sea, and said: 'I commend thee unto the winds and the waves.'"

Driven by fierce judgment, the Count of Ponthieu casts his own daughter into the deep ocean locked inside a wooden barrel.

What It's Really About

Beneath their courtly romance and magical coincidences, these stories investigate the ultimate cost of human loyalty and the mysterious workings of providence. The tales ask whether earthly vows—such as the sworn pact between Amis and Amile—can supersede natural law, family ties, and personal survival. They explore the nature of fate, demonstrating that human pride and violence cannot dismantle divine decree, whether an Emperor tries to murder a infant or a Count casts his daughter into the sea. Ultimately, the collection argues that true nobility is defined not by birth or unblemished fortune, but by endurance, self-sacrifice, and the willingness to offer mercy to those who have fallen.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers looking for the roots of high fantasy and chivalric storytelling will find this collection deeply rewarding. Translated by William Morris, the text deliberate adopts a stylized, archaic vocabulary—rich with words like "mesel," "wotted," and "dight"—that creates the distinct atmosphere of a illuminated medieval manuscript. While this rhythmic prose requires a reader's patience, it provides an immersive portal into the medieval imagination.

The stories do not shy away from the stark, unsettling realities of their era. Readers will encounter sudden violence, severe religious fatalism, brutal trials, and rigid feudal hierarchies. Yet beyond these period attitudes lies an astonishing emotional directness. The depiction of absolute friendship, female cleverness, and miraculous second chances feels remarkably vital. What stays with you is the collection's unwavering belief that loyalty can withstand the absolute worst the world can inflict.