Le chevalier aux deux épées, ed. and trans. Damien de Carné. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2024, pp. 246.

The Knight of the Two Swords, as the thirteenth-century versified Arthurian romance under review here is known in English, is less well studied than many other works in the Arthurian corpus. It deserves a wider readership and also more literary and historical criticism than it has received. Damien de Carné’s new translation, building on earlier critical editions of the Old French text and earlier translations into modern French and English, is vigorous and careful. His splendid Introduction brings readers up to date on several relevant matters (pp. 7–29). However, its brevity testifies to the relative lack of interest in the romance by other scholars. Still, the fanciful and humorous threads of the stories of knightly adventure told in the romance are captivating. There is plenty of war, including pitched battles, sieges, and personal combat. (The number of shattered lances in the course of the romance is quite incredible!) Great knights, men of prowess, like Gawain and the (for most of the romance, nameless) Knight of the Two Swords, repeatedly receive enthusiastic encomia for their handsomeness.