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WACE (1115–1183) Most of what is known
about Wace is drawn from information supplied in his
poems. He was born on the island of Jersey, and he
was taken as a boy to mainland Normandy. He claims
to have studied for many years in the Ile de France, but
circumstantial evidence suggests he was back in Nor-
mandy while still a young man. He was a clerc lisant
(an ecclesiastical offi cial with duties including writing
and reading aloud) in Caen from the 1130s. It was here
that he earned the title Maistre, a title he attaches to his
name 10 times in his own work. Some time later, he
was also made a canon of Bayeux by Henry II. Various
attempts have been made to ascribe additional names
to Wace, including Robert, Richard, and Matthieu, but
these rest on little authority.
Wace is the author of fi ve surviving ANGLO-NORMAN
poems, two of which are very substantial in scale. His
earliest known pieces are three devotional poems,
including hagiographies of St. Margaret and St. Nicho-
las and a poem entitled La Conception Notre Dame.
These were followed by his best-remembered poem,
ROMAN DE BRUT (1155), which was the fi rst major
translation of the Arthurian legends into French verse,
and which had a strong infl uence on Arthurian
ROMANCE for nearly two centuries. Nearly 15,000 lines
long, it is notable for introducing many new features to
ARTHURIAN LITERATURE.
Around 1160, Wace began work on a chronicle of
the dukes of Normandy, entitled Le Roman de Rou. He
continued to work on this poem until the mid-1170s,

when he abandoned it. While the Roman de Brut has

remained popular to this day, the ambitious Roman de

Rou began to lose a wide readership relatively early.

Nevertheless, Wace’s innovative narrative style focus-

ing on dramatic scenes and limited psychological real-

ism were very infl uential, particularly among French

authors of romance.

See also HAGIOGRAPHY.

FURTHER READING

Le Saux, Francoise H. M. A Companion to Wace. Cambridge:

D.S. Brewer,2005.

J. D. Ballam

WA L L ACE , T H E BLIND HARY (ca. 1475) The

beginning of The Wallace, composed in MIDDLE SCOTS

by BLIND HARY around 1475, introduces an exclusivist

nationalistic discourse in which the English are repre-

sented as the traditional enemy of Scotland. Blind Hary

refl ects the contemporary political situation at a time

when James III was interested in securing alliances

with England to strengthen his position with other

powerful noble rulers. He stirs nationalistic blood with

a reminder that the Scots will honor their “ald enemy,”

those of Saxon blood (the English), and that God is

punishing them for their pride by making “thar mycht

to par” (“power diminish,” l. 14). It is as much a reaf-

fi rmation of Scottish independence as a manifesto

against the English. Blind Hary bases his argument on

the Scottish experience in the Wars of Independence

W