This thesis is a new edition of the anonymous sixteenth-century Older Scots verse romance Clariodus, a translation from the French prose Cleriadus et Meliadice (c. 1440–4). While the field of Older Scots romance studies has recently seen a welcome surge of interest in the production of modern scholarly editions, Clariodus has continued to be neglected, hindered by the inaccuracy and inaccessibility of previous editions of the romance. As the first modern edition of Clariodus, this thesis seeks to engage with the flourishing critical interest in Older Scots romance and to promote further discussion of Clariodus itself.

Volume 1 of this thesis contains an extensive scholarly study of Clariodus, the first such study to be undertaken. Ultimately, this study seeks to interrogate and fully establish the relationship between Clariodus and its French source through analysing the anonymous Clariodus-poet’s approaches to translation, as well as placing Clariodus firmly within the literary milieu of the Scottish court under King James V (1513–42). Volume 2 contains the text of Clariodus itself, edited from its sole surviving witness, National Library of Scotland, MS Advocates’ 19.2.5., and is accompanied by comprehensive Textual Notes. Explanatory Notes are also provided in the Appendix.