The Ovide Moralisé: The First English Translation

FAIN: RQ-50569-11

Baylor University (Waco, TX 76798-7284)
Sarah-Jane Murray (Project Director: November 2010 to May 2017)

Translation from Old French into English of the Ovide moralisé for publication in two hardcover volumes and one abridged paperback version, and preparation of a supplementary website. (36 months)

Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Ovide moralisé (or Moralized Ovid) occupies a strategic place in the intellectual tradition of Western Europe. Composed at the beginning of the fourteenth century in France, the Ovide moralisé presents to readers a complete translation and adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (approx. 12,000 lines) into Old French as well as over 60,000 lines of philosophical and theological commentary. Despite widespread scholarly agreement that the Ovide moralisé influenced and shaped the reception of Ovidian myth by such notable literary figures as Dante, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Machaut, Gower, and even Shakespeare, no modern translation of the Ovide moralisé has ever been undertaken and the treasures it contains remain inaccessible to scholars and popular readers unfamiliar with the obscure dialects of Old French. Our project will make this seminal work available to a broad audience in the humanities by producing the first English translation of the Ovide moralisé.

Media Coverage

Review in Times Literary Supplement (Review)
Author(s): Sebastian Dows-Miller
Publication: Times Literary Supplement
Date: 2/21/2026
Abstract: "A masterclass in modern scholarly translation."
URL: https://www.the-tls.com/literature/poetry-literature/the-medieval-french-ovide-moralise-k-sarah-jane-murphy-matthieu-boyd-book-review-sebastian-dows-miller

Review in Sehepunkte (Review)
Publication: Sehepunkte 25.9 (2024)
Date: 2/21/2026
Abstract: "Murray and Boyd’s three-volume translation of the anonymous OM is accessible, learned, and enjoyable to read, and is unlikely to be superseded for a very long time. It is moreover a triumph of both translation and collaboration, as the list of contributors to the project attests."
URL: https://www.recensio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/sehepunkte/24/09/the-medieval-french-ovide-moralise

Review in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (SMART) (Review)
Publication: Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (SMART)
Date: 2/21/2026
Abstract: "Murray, Boyd, their colleagues, and Boydell & Brewer have done medieval studies a service in bringing forth this present-day English translation. No doubt it will serve scholars and students as intended by making the OM more accessible, thereby breathing even further life into Ovid’s audacious claim, “vivam”."

Review in The Medieval Review (Review)
Publication: The Medieval Review
Date: 2/21/2026
Abstract: "A grand, captivating, once-in-a-generation accomplishment of medieval scholarship. Readers will go on the most intense, dizzying interpretive adventure of their scholarly lives."

Associated Products

The Medieval French Ovide Moralisé: An English Translation. 3 vols. 1200pp. (Book)
Title: The Medieval French Ovide Moralisé: An English Translation. 3 vols. 1200pp.
Author: Matthieu Boyd
Author: K. Sarah-Jane Murray
Editor: Matthieu Boyd
Editor: K. Sarah-Jane Murray
Abstract: First English translation of one of the most influential French poems of the Middle Ages. 15 Books in 3 volumes. 1200pp. The anonymous Ovide moralisé (Moralized Ovid), composed in France in the fourteenth century, retells and explicates Ovid's Metamorphoses, with generous helpings of related texts, for a Christian audience. Working from the premise that everything in the universe, including the pagan authors of Graeco-Roman Antiquity, is part of God's plan and expresses God's truth even without knowing it, the Ovide moralisé is a massive and influential work of synthesis and creativity, a remarkable window into a certain kind of medieval thinking. It is of major importance across time and across many disciplines, including literature, philosophy, theology, and art history. This three volume set offers an English translation of this hugely significant text - the first into any modern language. Based on the only complete edition to date, that by Cornelis de Boer and others completed in 1938, it also reflects more recent editions and numerous manuscripts. The translation is accompanied by a substantial introduction, situating the Ovide moralisé in terms of the reception of Ovid, the mythographical tradition, and its medieval French religious and intellectual milieu. Notes discuss textual problems and sources, and relate the text to key issues in the thought of theologians such as Bonaventure and Aquinas. eBook (PDF): 9781805430858 eBook (EPUB): 9781805430865 Hardback: 9781843846536
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-medieval-french-ovide-moralise-3-volume-set-9781843846536/
Primary URL Description: Publisher page.
Secondary URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.1176857
Secondary URL Description: JSTOR page.
Access Model: Printed book; also available via JStor (in complete text)
Publisher: D.S. Brewer
Type: Multi-author monograph
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9781843846536
Translator: Matthieu Boyd
Translator: K. Sarah-Jane Murray
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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