The Song of Dermot and the Earl (French: Chanson de Dermot et du comte) is an anonymous Anglo-Norman verse chronicle written in the early 13th century in England. It tells of the arrival of Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in Ireland in 1170 (the "earl" in the title), and of the subsequent arrival of Henry II of England. The poem mentions one Morice Regan,[1] secretary to Diarmaid mac Murchadha, king of Leinster, who was eyewitness to the events and may have provided an account to the author.[2]
| The Song of Dermot and the Earl | |
|---|---|
| by Unknown | |
| Translator | G.H.C. Orpen |
| Written | early 13th century |
| First published in | 1892 |
| Country | England |
| Language | Anglo-Norman |
| Subject(s) | Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland |
| Genre(s) | chanson de geste[disputed – discuss] |
| Form | Heroic couplet |
| Meter | Iambic tetrameter |
| Rhyme scheme | aa bb cc ... |
| Lines | 3459 |
The chronicle survives only in a single manuscript which was re-discovered in the 17th century in London.[3] The work bears no title in the manuscript, but has been commonly referred to as The Song of Dermot and the Earl since Goddard Henry Orpen in 1892[4] published a diplomatic edition under this title. It has also been known as The Conquest of Ireland and The Conquest of Ireland by Henry II; in the most recent edition it was called La Geste des Engleis en Yrlande ("The Deeds of the English in Ireland").
Lines from The Song of (King) Dermot and the Earl (Strongbow)
editThis section of the poem has been translated from Anglo-Norman French by G.H.C. Orpen (Trinity College, Dublin) from the Carew 596 manuscript and covers lines 3129 - 3161 (see Skryne and the Early Normans (1994)[5] by Elizabeth Hickey. p. 31).
Original Anglo-Norman
|
English translation
|
| De Huge de Laci vus conterai,
Cum il feffa ses baruns,
|
"Of Hugh de Lacy I shall tell you How he enfeoffed his barons, |
See also
editEditions and translations
edit- Mullally, Evelyn, ed. and tr. (2002). The Deeds of the Normans in Ireland: La geste des Engleis en yrlande: a new edition of the chronicle formerly known as The Song of Dermot and the Earl. Dublin: Four Courts. ISBN 1-85182-643-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Conlon, Denis J., ed. and tr. (1992). The Song of Dermot and Earl Richard Fitzgilbert: Le chansun de Dermot e li quens Ricard fiz Gilbert. Studien und Dokumente zür Geschichte der romanischen Literaturen, herausgegeben von Hans-Joachim Lope 24. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Orpen, G.H., ed. and tr. (1892). The Song of Dermot and the Earl: an Old French Poem from the Carew Manuscript no. 596 in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth Palace. Oxford.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Diplomatic edition - Anglo-Norman poem on the conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second (1837).[7] Edited by Francisque Xaview Michel. With an introductory essay on the history of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, by Thomas Wright.
Further reading
edit- O'Doherty, J.F. (1938). "Historical criticism of the Song of Dermot and the Earl". Irish Historical Studies. 1: 4–20. doi:10.1017/S0021121400029485. S2CID 163566418.
References
edit- ^ "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23311. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Regan, M., Orpen, G. Henry. (1892). The song of Dermot and the Earl: an Old French poem from the Carew manuscript no. 596 in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth palace. Oxford: Clarendon press. p. vi.
- ^ Lambeth Palace, MS Carew 596
- ^ "Review of The Song of Dermot and the Earl: an old French Poem edited, with translation and notes, by Goddard Henry Orpen". The Athenaeum (3383): 283–284. 27 August 1892.
- ^ Hickey, Elizabeth (1994). Skryne and the early Normans: papers concerning the medieval manors of the de Feypo family in Ireland in the 12th and early 13th centuries. WorldCat.
- ^ Regan, M., Wright, T., Michel, F. (1837). Anglo-Norman poem on the conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second, from a manuscript preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth palace. London: W. Pickering.
- ^ Regan, M., Wright, T., Michel, F. (1837). Anglo-Norman poem on the conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second, from a manuscript preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth palace. London: W. Pickering.