The spread and diffusion of the romance genre throughout Western Europe signals one of the more significant cultural expansions in the Middle Ages. The fact that this development took place by means of books containing within them the tenets of courtly ideology makes it all the more unique. In the centuries following the rise of the French romance, the genre became known in both translations and original compositions throughout medieval Europe. The courtly ideology embedded within these works had an impact upon the social structures of the receiving communities in both manifest and hidden ways. The matter and form of the romance influenced the way in which authors and audiences came to view literature and its role within their social structures.

The significance of the French romance within medieval literary history has been amply recognised. The cultural encounter between native traditions and the new literary form being imported has, however, attracted less attention. This is particularly relevant to medieval England, where Anglo-Norman and French romances were being reproduced in the native vernacular some centuries after their original appearance. Similarly, the extensive translations along with the subsequent copying of French courtly literature in Scandinavia have commonly been dismissed as inferior reproductions of an original genre. They have suffered from the comparison to native literary productions and have frequently been blamed for a degeneration of the Icelandic literary tradition. What has not been taken into account is the fact that the widespread copying of those imported texts alongside that of the native literature speaks volumes about the interest and literary habits of those reading communities.