Translators and Their Prologues in Medieval England

The prologue to Layamon's Brut recounts its author's extensive travels 'wide yond thas leode' (far and wide across the land) to gather the French, Latin and English books he used as source material. The first Middle English writer to discuss his methods of translating French into English, Layamon voices ideas about the creation of a new English tradition by translation that proved very durable. This book considers the practice of translation from French into English in medieval England, and how the translators themselves viewed their task.