Gyorgy Faludy's Villon Ballads

François Villon's poetic genius remains undisputed, and to this day he is considered one of the most important poets of medieval times. He has been translated into all major languages with varying success, and the critic György Bálint describes his tone as 'raw' and his words as 'compact, hard and folksy in a basic and robust way', thus not easy to translate. György Faludy, one of several Hungarian translators, threw all conventions to the wind, and changed Villon's tone to what can only be described as 'talkative, smooth, emotional and piquant." Yet Faludy maintained that the spirit of Villon and his age have been retained. Although many English translations of Villon have been published, Faludy's unique version in English is now made available in the present translation by Iván Kovács, who is also known for having translated Attila József's Suburban Night and other Poems.