Garin le Loherenc is an Old French epic poem or chanson de geste preserved in 21 manuscripts and a dozen fragments. A poet, who is named in some manuscripts “Jehan de Flagi,” composed its older version around 1160-1170. The versions kept in the surviving manuscripts are reworkings of the older version, probably done in the last decades of the twelfth and the first decades of the thirteenth century. They vary in length from 18,000 to 19,000 lines. Garin le Loherenc is part of an epic cycle, known as La Geste des Lorrains, consisting of five songs centered on the family of Hervis de Metz: Hervis himself, his sons, Garin and Begon, Garin’s son, Gerbert, and Gerbert’s son, Yon (also called Anseïs). Hervis was supposed to be a contemporary of Charles Martel (c. 688-741). However, the feud between the Lorrains (the lineage of Hervis and Garin) and the Bordelais (the lineage of Hardré and Fromont, their archenemies) does not reflect any known historical event. The cycle was popular and well known until the fifteenth century, when it was set in prose.

The text of the Houghton fragment does not correspond to any of the edited fragments Anne Iker-Gittleman lists in the introduction of her recent edition of the poem (Garin le Loherenc, 3 vols., Paris: Champion, 1996, vol. 1, p. 24-25):

• Edited by Franz Joseph Mone, in Anzeiger für kunde des deutschen Mittelalters 1838, (Karlsruhe), p. 408-411.
• Edited by Karl Bartsch, in Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 4 (1880), p. 575-582.
• Edited by Paul Meyer, in Romania 34 (1905), p. 429-435.
• Edited by Giulio Bertoni, in Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 37 (1913), p. 708-717
• Edited by Antoine Cretton, in Romania 52 (1926), p. 296-306.
• Edited by X. Pamfilova, in Romania 57 (1931), p. 504-547.
• Edited by E. Droz, in Romania 57 (1931), p. 570-573.

The two pieces of vellum that constitute Houghton Ms Fr 323 were cut from a single manuscript folio. They are consecutive (the bottom side of the top piece matches the top side of the bottom piece).
Dimensions:

• Top piece: width: 185 mm; height: 80 mm
• Bottom piece: width 190 mm; height: 80 mm

The text was probably set up in two columns. On each of their sides, the fragments preserve entire lines of one column and segments of lines of the other column. To restitute the mutilated lines, I have used Anne Iker-Gittleman’s edition of Garin le Loherenc.

There are numerous small variants in most of the lines of Houghton Fr 323 compared to Iker-Gittleman’s edition. The last twelve lines are too different to be restituted with the help of the edition. They are also very different from Edélestand du Méril’s edition of the poem (Li Romans de Garin le Loherain, Paris: A. Franck, 1862, vol. 3, p. 139-146). For these lines, the restitution is mine, and based on similar passages occurring elsewhere in Garin. I am unable to reconstruct one line badly damaged by a tear and that does not seem to correspond to any line in the edited text. Restituted text is indicated by square brackets.

The prosody of Garin is typical of Old French epic poems. Most lines are decasyllabic, with occasional intrusions of alexandrines. They are grouped in stanzas of irregular length (from five to five hundred lines), called traditionally laisses. Each laisse contains assonant lines, that is, lines ending with the same vowel. Some lines rime (that is, end with the same vowel and consonant). In the Houghton fragment, we have on the recto first column the end of a laisse with assonance in “[i]” followed without spacing by a laisse in “[e]” (this seems to correspond to laisses 145 and 146 in Iker-Gittleman’s edition); on the recto, second column, the end of a laisse in “[e]” followed without spacing by a laisse in “[i]” (laisses 147 and 148 in the edition). On the verso, all the lines of first and second column are in “[i]” (they seem to belong to the long laisse 148 in the edition).

In this transcription, I stay very close to the manuscript by keeping the spacing between words as I see it in the manuscript and not adding punctuation, diacritics or capitals. The only modifications I introduce are the following:

• I distinguish between “u” and “v” (all transcribed by a “u”).
• I signal abbreviations by underlining the abbreviated word (e.g. chr is an abbreviation for “chevalier”)
• I do not isolate the first letter of each line as the scribe does but I capitalize it.
• The abbreviation of “et” is here represented by “&” which is not exactly the sign used by the medieval copyist (it looks rather like a “z”).

The words restituted are given as edited by Iker-Gittleman.

Recto
     First column

[Ne gentis hom n’i plede a son v]oisin
[La o estoient li chanc e li m]aisnil
[Les beles viles et li borc sei]gnori
[Croissent li bois ronces] & aubespins
[Et li boschage gr]ant & fier & antif
[Ne nus nen ose a]ler par les chemins
[Qui ne soit] morz desrobez & ocis
[Or suefre tr]op lempereres pepins
[mar vit l’av]oir que de guilles prist
[El val de Mez] sont alemand logie
[Et Avalois et] tuit li henoiers
[Braibencon] qui sont orgueillex & fier
tuit qui sont orgueillox & fier
[Des Monz d’A]usi iot maint chr 
[A Lancelin] lenvesche od le cuer fier
[Vint .i.] messages qui senpti desier
[De la nove]le le vait bien acointier

Recto
     Second Column

As places prendre [oissiez cris huer]
Li paisant qui mlt font aloer
Lor font sovent lor somiers destrosser
A elz meimes & lancier & giter
Maint forrier firent contre terre verser
Garins chevauche qui mlt fist aloer
Tot droit agant fist sa gent osteler
Del viel chastel afait sagent mander
Por les noveles enquerre & demander
Coment fromons ot par satre erre
& cil len dient qui ensevent parler
Ez vos un mes qui a le duc conte
Que fromons ert dedenz vdun rentrez
Messagier frere ce dist lidus garins
Quel gent sont ce qui en matre sont mis
Mesviles arses & mesbons chastiax pris
Ennondeu sire fromons li posteis
Siest guilles li sires de montclin
Licuens bernars & faucones ses fix

Verso
     First Column

[Et cil] les tent auloherenc garin
Lidus les prent sestent le parchemin
& vit les lestres sireconut lescrit
Hernaud apele & son frere gerin
Par les sains deu merveilles puis oir
Qui na avoir certes il est mlt vilz
Lirois de france nos a entrain mis
Toloit nos a le chastel de belin
& lavaldoine & mont esclaborin
Sensi le tient & il por mal le fist
Silli remaint nos serons tot honi
De gant sen torn li loherens garins
A gondricort la fu ses ostex pris
& conreerent un poi devant miedi
& il meisme sunt au mengier assis
Puis sunt monte quant solax guenchis
Sost comanda & hernaud & gerin
& il sen torne sisest a devant mis
En sa compaigne de chrs deus mil

Second Column

E[uz en entrerent que q’en doie avenir]
Le cha[stel prenent ne vos en quier mantir]
Onques [li dus ne s’en volt departir]
Tant quil [ot fet le chastel jus flatir]
Quant ot ce fait [si fet le feu ferir]
Ces sales ardent [le feu en font saillir]
Tot en carbon & en c[endre l’ont mis]
Lor sen torna loz & lidus g[arins]
Droit vers verdun acuillent [?]
De mez estoit sevrez liber orris
Asamble od lui des monz [dauxois thieris]
& de nerbone girart & baudoins
& de lamborc galerans & gaud[ins]
En lor compaigne chrs trente [mil]
Se cex atent fromons [liposteis]
Il ne puet mie abataille faill[ir]
Tant ont ale les deus oz ce mest [vis]
[.......................................................]
Mlt iot gent quant sunt en [?]

I follow here the editorial conventions adopted by Anne Iker-Gittleman (punctuation, expansion of abreviations, capitalization, diacritics, spacing between words and laisses).

My English translation tries to stay close to the original text’s meaning, without any attempt to reproduce its rhyme meter.

Virginie Greene
Harvard University