Roman de Rou
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''Roman de Rou'' is a verse chronicle by Wace in Norman covering the history of the
Dukes of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Norman ...
from the time of
Rollo of Normandy Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...
to the
battle of Tinchebray The Battle of Tinchebray (alternative spellings: Tinchebrai or Tenchebrai) took place on 28 September 1106, in Tinchebray (today in the Orne ''département'' of France), Normandy, between an invading force led by King Henry I of England, and th ...
in 1106. It is a
national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with a ...
of
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. Following the success of his ''
Roman de Brut The ''Brut'' or ''Roman de Brut'' (completed 1155) by the poet Wace is a loose and expanded translation in almost 15,000 lines of Norman-French verse of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin '' History of the Kings of Britain''. It was formerly known ...
'' which recounted the history of the Britons, Wace was apparently commissioned by
Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...
to write a similar account of the origins of the
Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
and their conquest of England. Wace abandons his tale before bringing it up to date, telling the reader in the final lines of Part III that the king had entrusted the same task to a ''Maistre Beneeit'' (believed to be Benoît de Sainte-More). The work was started in the year 1160, and Wace seems to have performed his last revisions in the mid-1170s.


Composition

The work consists of: * a 315-line account of the Dukes in reverse chronological order known as the ''Chronique Ascendante''. This is believed by some scholars not to be an original part of the ''Rou'', but a separate work by Wace. * a 4,425-line section in
alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French ''Roman ...
s known as Part II * an 11,440-line section in octosyllables known as Part III A 750-line section known as ''Le Romaunz de Rou et des dus de Normendie'' appended in some editions appears to be an early draft, abandoned and later reworked into the final redaction.


Sources

Wace used as sources for his history of the Dukes of Normandy: *'' Gesta Normannorum Ducum'' *''De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum'' by
Dudo of Saint-Quentin Dudo, or Dudon, was a Picard historian, and dean of Saint-Quentin, where he was born about 965. Sent in 986 by Albert I, Count of Vermandois, on an errand to Richard I, Duke of Normandy, he succeeded in his mission, and, having made a very favo ...
*''Gesta Guillelmi'' by
William of Poitiers William of Poitiers ( 10201090) (LA: Guillelmus Pictaviensis; FR: Guillaume de Poitiers) was a Frankish priest of Norman origin and chaplain of Duke William of Normandy (William the Conqueror), for whom he chronicled the Norman Conquest of Eng ...
*''Gesta regum Anglorum'' by
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...
*''Brevis relatio de Guillelmo nobilissimo comtie Normannorum'' *
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and Culture, cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Traditio ...
, including information from his father, and his own eyewitness


See also

*
Anglo-Norman literature 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 106 ...


References

*


External links

* * Anglo-Norman literature Epic poems Jersey culture Norman chronicles {{poetry-stub