Albéric (enfances) Br. I, first half 1,656 Alex.
linked to I, middle 1,009
the Fuerre de GadresI, last quarter 619
the Fuerre de GadresII, first two-thirds 1,424
linked to II, last third 676
Lambert (Orient) III 7,839
mort Alexandre IV 1,709
14,932 Alex.Branch III, the core of the romance, is composed largely of extraordinary adventures,
including Alexander’s exploration of the depths of the sea in a bathysphere, and of the
heavens, harnessed to a flock of birds. Dalliance with exotic and amorous—and
dangerous—damsels is of course not lacking. The Middle Ages saw in Alexander the
epitome of chivalry and the model of valor (prouesse) and generosity (largesse).
Alexandre’s Alexandre, like earlier versions, is a formal anomaly in medieval French
literature; though composed in laisses, which are elsewhere used only for the chanson de
geste, thematically the poem is a romance, treating the story of a single hero, from birth
to death, and not a single episode or series of episodes in which the hero opposes what
could be deemed societal enemies. The Roman d’Alexandre is thus much more an
adventure romance than a biography, classified generally among the Romances of
Antiquity because of its subject matter. Its oriental setting was to have an important
influence on many Old French romances.
A number of poems were subsequently composed in the north about episodes of the
hero’s career and are usually found interpolated into the Roman d’Alexandre text or at
least contained in Roman d’Alexandre manuscripts. Among these are Jean Le Névelon’s
Venjance Alixandre (last quarter of the 12th c.; 1,936 lines), Gui de Cambrai’s
Vengement Alixandre (before 1191; 1,806 lines); the anonymous Prise de Defur (before
1257; 1,654 Alexandrines); the Voyage d’Alexandre au Paradis terrestre (1270–1350;
503 Alexandrines); and Jacques de Longuyon’s Vœux du paon (ca. 1312), with its
continuations by Jean Brisebarre, Restor du paon (before 1338), and Jean de Le Mote,
Parfait du paon (1340). An independent Anglo-Norman Life of Alexander was composed
by Thomas of Kent. After 1206, the poem was put into prose, with a second redaction
between 1252 and ca. 1290 and a third in the 14th cen-tury (total of eighteen
manuscripts), with editions through the 16th century.
Larry S.Crist
[See also: ANTIQUITY, ROMANCES OF; LE MOTE, JEAN DE; VOW CYCLE]
The Medieval French Roman d’Alexandre. 6 vols. I. Text of the Arsenal and Venice Versions, ed.
Milan S.La Du. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1937; II. Version of Alexandre de Paris:
Text, ed. E.C.Armstrong, D.L.Buffum, Bateman Edwards, and L.F.H.Lowe. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1937; III. Version of Alexandre de Paris: Variants and Notes to
Branch I, ed. Alfred Foulet. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949; IV. Le roman du
Fuerre de Gadres d’Eustache, ed. E.C.Armstrong and Alfred Foulet. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1942;V. Version of Alexandre de Paris: Variants and Notes to Branch II, ed.
E.C.Armstrong and Frederick B.Agard. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1942; VI.
Version of Alexandre de Paris: Introduction and Notes to Branch III, ed. Alfred Foulet.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976; VII. Version of Alexandre de Paris: Variants and
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 48