Robert the Devil: The First Modern English Translation of Robert le Diable, an Anonymous French Romance of the Thirteenth Century. Prepared by Samuel N. Rosenberg. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018, 157 pp., 1 frontispiece

Quite commonly, medieval poets deal with a royal couple that seems to be infertile, when suddenly the wife becomes pregnant after all. But where and when would the devil be the one who creates this miracle after the poor queen has appealed to him, having turned despondent over God’s unwillingness to listen to her prayers? Even in the Middle English Sir Gowther (late 15th century), the future mother does not know that the devil takes on the shape of her husband in order to sleep with her, while in the Old French text, Robert le Diable, the poor woman even prays to the devil to help her. It also seems rather unusual that the poet then describes the child as virtually possessed by the devil, demonstrating egregiously aggressive behavior toward everyone, until at one point the protagonist learns from his mother the truth about his origin and immediately tries to atone for his evil deeds and turns into a most curious fool, obeying God’s command that he no longer speak and act like an utter madman, taking food only from a dog’s mouth.