Robert de Boron and the Prose Merlin
There are so many wonderful things about the internet: there was a time when a scholar had to order through ILL and wait for weeks or months before he or she could set eyes on such works as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini or Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin . No more. from Prose Merlin Robert de Boron Full wrothe and angry was the Devell, whan that oure Lorde hadde ben in helle and had take oute Adam and Eve and other at his plesier. And whan the fendes sien that, they hadden right grete feer and gret merveile. Thei assembleden togedir and seiden: "What is he this thus us supprisith and distroyeth, in so moche that oure strengthes ne nought ellis that we have may nought withholde hym, nor again hym stonde in no diffence but that he doth all that hym lyketh? We ne trowed not that eny man myght be bore of woman but that he sholde ben oures; and he that thus us distroyeth, how is he born in whom we knewe non erthely delyte?" Than ansuerde anothir fende and seide
Steven, I'm inclined to think that almost ANY translation -- RSV, KJV, Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine (1954), Msgr Ronald Knox, the Douay-Rheims, any translation -- would be better than the collection of cacophonies that is the New American Bible. I mean, "Learn from the way the wild flowers grow" for "Consider the lilies of the field." What the ...?
ReplyDeleteDear Dylan,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is ear- and heart-crippling--a leaden thunder of a translation with no edge of the transcendent. As you note, I prefer to read almost any translation, or for that matter paraphrase. If there were not already enough to drive people away from the faith, this one work might prove sufficient.
shalom,
Steven