The
chanson de geste that survives (in three more or less complete manuscripts and two short fragments) comprises 10,553
decasyllable verses grouped in 91
assonanced
laisses. Presumed dates for its composition vary, but 1216 and 1268 are generally given as
terminus post quem (earliest possible date) and
terminus ante quem (latest possible date). The
chanson's success gave rise to six continuations and one prologue which triple its length: • ''Roman d'Aubéron
– the Turin manuscript of the romance (the only manuscript to contain all of the continuations) contains the only version of this 14th-century prologue in the shape of a separate romance of Auberon
. Auberon
also refers to the title of another chanson de geste, Auberon
, written as the prologue to Huon de Bordeaux''. No prose version exists. •
Huon Roi de Féérie • ''Chanson d'Esclarmonde'' •
Chanson de Clarisse et Florent • ''
Chanson d'Yde et d'Olive –
the story of Yde and Olive gives way to the tale of their son, Croissant, and picks up again in the section editors have titled Yde et Olive II''. This story is summarized in the alexandrine version of the poem. •
Chanson de Croissant • ''Chason d'Yde et Olive II'' •
Chanson de Godin – the
Turin manuscript of the romance contains the only version of this 13th–14th century continuation. No prose version exists. The Turin manuscript also contains the romance of
Les Lorrains, a summary in seventeen lines of another version of the story, according to which Huon's exile is due to his having slain a count in the emperor's palace. The poem and most of its continuations were converted to a
rhymed version in
alexandrines in 1454 (only one manuscript exists). It was also rewritten in prose during the 15th-century wave of "mise en prose". While no manuscript exists of the prose version, it served as the base text for 16th century printed editions (eleven exist), the earliest extant being the edition printed by Michel le Noir in 1513. The work was reprinted ten times in the 17th century, eight times in the 18th and four times in the 19th (notably in a beautifully printed and illustrated adaptation in modern French by
Gaston Paris in 1898). The romance came into vogue in
England through the translation () of
John Bourchier, Lord Berners, as
Huon of Burdeux, through which
Shakespeare heard of the French epic. In
Philip Henslowe's diary there is a note of a performance of a play,
Hewen of Burdocize, on 28 December 1593. The tale was dramatized and produced in Paris by the Confrérie de la Passion in 1557. The tale also serves as the basis for
Christoph Martin Wieland's epic poem
Oberon of 1780, where Huon becomes the lover of the Sultan's daughter Rezia/Amanda.
Andre Norton retold the tale in quasi-modern English prose as
Huon of the Horn, published by
Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1951, which is considered her first fantasy novel. == Historical sources ==