Sir Orfeo and Robert Henryson's Orpheus and Eurydice

This ebook presents Modern English prose translations of two medieval retellings of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, the first a Middle English romance from the early fourteenth century, Sir Orfeo, and the second a narrative from the late fifteenth century, Orpheus and Eurydice, by the Middle Scots poet Robert Henryson. The story they tell is famous from classical legend: Orpheus, the son of the god Apollo and the Muse Calliope, falls in love with and marries Eurydice but she is killed by a snake bite and taken to the underworld. Orpheus descends to Hades to find her, playing his lyre so beautifully that the rulers of the underworld agree a bargain: Eurydice can return to the land of the living if Orpheus can lead her out of hell without looking back at her. This ebook offers accurate yet very readable prose translations by University of Oxford academic Dr Jenni Nuttall, Fellow and Lecturer at St Edmund Hall. These versions in contemporary English are designed for students and for readers wishing to explore Middle English and Middle Scots poetry who might find the original language difficult to understand. The translations are clearly keyed to the line numbers of the original texts, with brief notes clarifying meaning.