Type of prose and verse narrative
Yvain fighting Gawain in order to regain the love of his lady Laudine . Medieval illumination from Chrétien de Troyes 's romance, Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion
As a literary genre , the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe . They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures , often of a chivalric knight-errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on a quest . It developed further from the epics as time went on; in particular, "the emphasis on love and courtly manners distinguishes it from the chanson de geste and other kinds of epic , in which masculine military heroism predominates."[1]
Popular literature also drew on themes of romance, but with ironic , satiric , or burlesque intent. Romances reworked legends , fairy tales , and history to suit the readers' and hearers' tastes, but by c. 1600 they were out of fashion, and Miguel de Cervantes famously burlesqued them in his novel Don Quixote . Still, the modern image of "medieval" is more influenced by the romance than by any other medieval genre, and the word medieval evokes knights, damsels in distress , dragons , and other romantic tropes .[2]
Originally, romance literature was written in Old French , Anglo-Norman , Occitan , and Provençal , and later in Portuguese , Spanish , English , Italian (Sicilian poetry), and German . During the early 13th century, romances were increasingly written as prose. In later romances, particularly those of French origin, there is a marked tendency to emphasize themes of courtly love , such as faithfulness in adversity.