Brother Robert was a cleric working in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

who adapted several French literary works into

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

during the reign of King Haakon IV of Norway (1217–1263). The most important of these, ''Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar'', based on

Thomas of Britain Thomas of Britain (also known as Thomas of England) was a poet of the 12th century. He is known for his Old French poem ''Tristan'', a version of the Tristan and Iseult legend that exists only in eight fragments, amounting to around 3,300 lines of v ...

's ''Tristan'', is notable as the only example of Thomas' "courtly branch" of the

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

legend that has survived in its entirety. It was the earliest Scandinavian version of the story, and is thought to be the first Norwegian adaptation of an Old French work. Its success may have inspired the spate of translations during King Haakon's reign.Schach, ''The Saga of Tristram and Ísönd'', p. xiii. Robert's nationality is unknown, but his name and other circumstantial evidence suggests he was

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

. As such he may have been connected to the Cistercian monasteries of

Lyse Abbey Lyse Abbey or Saint Mary's Abbey, Lyse ( no, Lyse kloster, Lyse Mariakloster) is a now-ruined Cistercian monastery in Bjørnafjorden Municipality in Vestland county in south-western Norway. The name "Lyse" is derived from Lysefjorden near w ...

Hovedøya Abbey Hovedøya Abbey (''Hovedøya kloster'') was a medieval era Cistercian monastery on the island of Hovedøya in Oslofjord outside of Oslo, Norway. History The monastery was founded on 18 May 1147 by monks from Kirkstead Abbey in England on H ...

, which maintained close ties with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Robert's name is connected to one other work with assurance, ''Elis saga'', an adaptation of the ''

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th c ...

'' ''Elie de St. Gille'', where he is called "Abbot." Four other anonymous works largely on Arthurian subjects have been attributed to him; these are ''Ívens saga'' and ''Parcevals saga'', based on Chrétien de Troyes' romances ''

Yvain, the Knight of the Lion , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = between 1178 and 1181 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , fo ...

'' and ''

Perceval, the Story of the Grail ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail'' (french: Perceval ou le Conte du Graal) is the unfinished fifth verse romance by Chrétien de Troyes, written by him in Old French in the late 12th century. Later authors added 54,000 more lines in what are kn ...

''; '' Möttuls saga'', a version of the poem ''Le Mantel Mautaillié''; and a collection of lais many of which are based on the ''

Lais of Marie de France The ''lais'' of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Breton lais by the poet Marie de France. They are written in Anglo-Norman and were probably composed in the late 12th century, most likely between 1155-1170. The short, narra ...

'' called '' Strengleikar''. (Among the several Strengleikar with other sources is ''Strandar ljóð'', a Norwegian translation of ''The Lay of the Beach'' commissioned from 'The Red Lady of Brittany' by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

.) Robert's translations at Haakon's commission speak to the king's role in spreading French and Arthurian material throughout Scandinavia. The wide influence of ''Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar'' is especially apparent in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, where it served as the basis for the ballad "Tristrams kvæði" and the prose adaptation ''Saga af Tristram ok ĺsodd''.

Notes

References

Lacy, Norris J. Norris J. Lacy (born March 8, 1940 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky) is an American scholar focusing on France, French medieval literature. He was the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor Emeritus of French and Medieval Studies at the Pennsylvania State University ...

(Ed.) (1991). ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia''. New York: Garland. . *Róbert; Schach, Paul (1973). ''The Saga of Tristram and Ísönd''. University of Nebraska Press. . *Both prose versions edited and translated into English by Peter Jorgensen in ''Norse Romance'' I. ''Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar,'' pp. 23–226 and ''Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd,'' pp. 241–292. General Editor Marianne Kalinke, 3 vo1s. 1999. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Robert, Brother 13th-century deaths Cistercians 13th-century Roman Catholic priests Norwegian Roman Catholic priests 13th-century writers Writers of Arthurian literature Norwegian male writers Old Norse prose French–Norwegian translators Year of birth unknown