A month on and it is strangely apt that on ‘Star Wars Day’ I received the news that the new version of my translation of Sir Bevis of Hampton is now officially forthcoming in 2024. While the translation itself remains substantially the same as that which appeared in a very brief and limited private local edition of less than 200 copies in 2015, the new Introduction is completely revised to suit a wider audience, and extended and updated with my most recent research. The new edition includes a more extensive bibliography and footnotes.
The aptness of the date – reflecting twentieth-century popular culture – is based on two elements which the 14th century romance (adventure story) shares with the famous film. The quest of a dispossessed and orphaned young man, aided by a wise and loyal older warrior – Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi are modern echoes of the same motifs that are found in the medieval text in the form of Bevis and his mentor and uncle, Saber.
There is no cause to think that Sir Bevis directly influenced the film, but it is an important example of the genre that certainly did. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to claim that without the native English (insular) medieval romance genre, to which Sir Bevis belongs, we would not have the many quest adventures that have been popular since the late 18th century, and have become increasingly prominent in and influential in modern popular culture.
This leads us to the second element the story and the film share – they are both highly influential examples of the romance (quest adventure story) in their own times. As an example of medievalism (the use of ‘the medieval’ as a framework or theme for a modern work of literature, film, or computer game), the space fantasy may not seem immediately obvious, but it shares important generic features first developed during the Middle Ages. It is my hope that the new translation and its Introduction will enable non-specialist researchers to explore this area of medievalism, as well as making the romance more accessible to a general readership and enable a wider appreciation of the varied and exciting adventure that is Sir Bevis. It certainly deserves to be better known and appreciated.