Poetry
Toldi
János Arany · 1847
Synopsis
Miklós, the younger son of the late Lőrinc Toldi, of prodigious strength, works in the fields with the farmhands at Nagyfalu, while his elder brother, György, lives at the court of King Louis. György, home to feast, treats him as a peasant and slaps him; harassed afterwards by his brother's soldiers, Miklós hurls a millstone that kills one of them. Pursued, he hides in the reeds, returns by night to say goodbye to his mother and makes his way to Pest, where he learns that a Czech champion is challenging the Hungarian knights and killing them one by one.
Context
Arany wrote the poem in 1846 for a competition of the Kisfaludy Society, which asked for a verse narrative of popular form and spirit, whose hero would be a historical figure alive in the memory of the people, such as Miklós Toldi. He draws on the version by Ilosvai Selymes Péter and on the legends he heard in Nagyszalonta. The poem won the prize in 1847 and was published the same year; Petőfi was the first to hail its author, and their friendship began. Toldi estéje and Toldi szerelme would later complete a trilogy.
Who it is for
Cantos in rhymed stanzas, which can be read in one sitting; a bilingual French edition appeared in 2023, and there are several English translations.
Prizes and reception
The poem that turns an obscure provincial notary into a famous poet, and wins him the friendship of Petőfi.
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