A quick guide to the illustrated translations of medieval romances by Michael Smith,
published by Wilton Square Books
In recent years I have been translating and illustrating classic medieval romances from the fourteenth century, which are available from all good bookshops, online, or in case of difficulty you can buy signed and dedicated copies direct from me.
Since 2025, my books have been published by Wilton Square Books, with whom I shall be publishing further translations and other works. Below I tell you about each one, and what I have tried to capture in them.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
This was my first translation and with one aim: how to make a fourteenth century alliterative poem written in the north of England relevant and attractive to the modern reader.
As well as capturing the "courtly" language of the original text, I also wanted to retain its alliterative form and capture the poem's profound beauty and emotional depth.
At the same time, I didn't want to render the text as some form of Hollywood pastiche of 'the medieval' because, in fact, the text has huge relevance to the modern reader.
So you won't find any "forsooths", "ye" or "olde" style language. Also, despite the distinctive dialect of the original, you won't find any overt "Northernism", which I think pigeon-holes the north according to modern perceptions of the region and denies its central role in medieval English society.
Instead, I set out to interrogate the alliterative language and convey the wealth of poetic English spoken in the North which was, at the time, one of the major administrative centres of medieval England.
I hope I have captured not only the beautiful poetry of the original but also its alliterative metre and profound sense of emotional depth.
I trust you will also enjoy the suite of illustrations I produced for the book too - the original was illustrated to help convey its content, so I had to follow suit!
King Arthur's Death (the Alliterative Morte Arthure)
My second translation took my work to new levels - translating a Middle English poem some 4300 lines long, 1600 lines longer than Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
Like Gawain, the Alliterative Morte Arthure exists in only one copy; in this case, part of a huge body of romances and other texts transcribed in the fifteenth century by Robert Thornton, who lived near Pickering in the North Riding.
The original was a work of pace and action. It is remarkable in its attention to contemporary detail, military affairs, diplomacy and the inner torment of medieval leaders, conflicted by doctrines of Just War.
But the alliteration is what makes this poem what it is, driving the pace from line to line, drawing the reader ever onwards - faster and faster. And the poet also hyper-alliterates, often using the same alliterating letter over several lines.
In translating the poem, I wanted above all to retain its metre and alliterative drive. I also wanted to convey the poet's profound understanding of the frail vanity of leaders.
But I realise that my aim is also to help the modern reader understand the times of the poet, so I've accompanied the work with extensive notes and a detailed glossary.
I was deeply honoured when the late Neil Philip, writer, folklorist and poet, said, simply, "this is an excellent book".
The Romance of William and the Werewolf (William of Palerne)
My third translation was all about breaking new ground - translating a Middle English romance which had never before been published in the modern tongue.
The significance of this romance is its position as the earliest works of the Alliterative Revival of the fourteenth century, and the fact that it was commissioned by one of the wealthiest magnates in England, Humphrey de Bohun.
What is remarkable about the story is that the subject of good leadership and government lies at its core - a matter clearly of importance to its patron, despite his own power. And a matter of huge importance to us today.
But the story as it survives today in Middle English is missing its beginning - so I had to turn to the poem's Old French source and translate that before then rendering the whole into a contiguous form so the reader can't spot the breaks!
The story itself is gentle but has a subversive mellifluous quality which slowly, through its beauty and gentility, draws the reader into the narrative in order to deliver its message.
Today, this alliterative masterpiece is largely forgotten except by scholars and academics. In translating and illustrating de Bohun's inspired commission, I present it again as its original writer intended - as a work to undermine the complacency and arrogance of leaders who really should know better.
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An illustrated translation of the fourteenth century alliterative masterpiece
An illustrated translation of the fourteenth century Alliterative Morte Arthure.
An illustrated translation of the fourteenth century alliterative romance William of Palerne