In the prose Lancelot the hero is always addressed as 'king's son.' Cf. in this connection Professor Ker's review of my Legend of Sir Gawain, Folk-lore, vol. ix. p. 266. I incline to think that the question of a hero's possessing from the first a name and a well-marked story depends upon whether he has or has not an existence in myth. If of mythical origin he probably would have both, if an actor in folk-tale very likely neither; thus while I should reject Professor Ker's correction as regards Gawain, I would certainly hold it true of Lancelot. In the case of this latter hero, I think his name may well have been determined by his title du Lac. The tendency of early verse is towards alliteration, probably mere chance determined the Lancelot, the one essential was that it should begin with an L. It should, I think, also be noted that while in the Lanzelet the hero's ignorance of his name and birth are genuine, in the prose Lancelot he knows who he is, and the wrong done to his father and uncle by Claudas. The pseudonyms 'Filz du Roi,' 'Beau Varlet' are here unnecessary; a meaningless survival from the original tale.
30
This feature is, I think, peculiar to Wolfram; Chrétien does not mention it.
31
Professor Hertz, in his edition of the Parzival, p. 440, records these points of contact, but does not discuss the question of the relation of the two poems. Professor Foerster in his introduction simply notes that the instruction by Johfrit de Liez recalls the Perceval story.
32
Layamon 'Brut' knows Maurin of Winchester as a kinsman of Arthur's, ll. 20238 and 24336. I have not found the name elsewhere.
33
It appears to me that, in view of Herr P. Hagen's excellent demonstration of the correctness of the many curious Oriental references with which the Parzival abounds, and his remarkable identification of Wolfram's Grail with a sacred Bætylus stone, it is impossible any longer to deny the possession, by Wolfram, of a source other than Chrétien's poem. But whether the Lanzelet offers another proof or not I should hesitate to say. If it does, the evidence, extending as it does over so much of the Parzival, is of the greatest value as an indication of the extent of Kiot's work.
34
Lancelot, ed. Jonckbloet, vol. ii. ll. 22271-23126. The summaries in this chapter, and all subsequent references to the Dutch Lancelot, are taken direct from the text. A summary of the romance here discussed is given by M. Gaston Paris, Histoire Littéraire de la France, vol. xxx. p. 113.
35
Throughout the Dutch Lancelot we have constant references to Gawain's skill in healing. Cf. Parzival, x. 104. Chrétien does not appear to know this trait in Gawain's character.
36
The lai of Tyolet was published by M. Gaston Paris in vol. viii. of Romania, 'Lais Inédits.' I have given a prose translation in vol. iii. of Arthurian Romances unrepresented in Malory.
37
Cf. Merlin, Sommer's ed. chap. xxiv. p. 302.
38
Tristan, vol. i. Book XIII., ed. Bechstein, Deutsche classiker des Mittelalters; also my translation of same, Arthurian Romances, No. ii. vol. i.
39
Dutch Lancelot, vol. i. l. 42,540 to end. The portion dealing with the adventure begins l. 43,593; the adventure itself, l. 46,514; also summarised in Hist. Litt. vol. xxx.
40
The poem itself has been discussed by M. Gaston Paris in Romania, vol. xii., and by Professor Foerster in the introduction to his edition. The question of Guinevere's rescuer has been treated by Professor Rhys in his Studies in the Arthurian Legend, and in M. Gaston Paris's article just referred to, and that on Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet in Romania, vol. x. I have also devoted a chapter in my Legend of Sir Gawain to the subject.
41
The concluding portion of the poem is by Godefroy de Leigni, who, however, worked with Chrétien's knowledge and approval, so that practically the work may be held to be Chrétien's throughout.
42
Livre, Cligés and Perceval; conte, Erec and Chevalier au Lion. The concluding lines of the latter, 'qu'onques plus conter n'an oï,' clearly indicate this. I shall return to this subject in the next chapter.
43
The manifold discrepancies of Chrétien's version were long ago remarked upon by M. Gaston Paris, and even Professor Foerster, with all his enthusiasm for the poet, is constrained to admit their existence, but he considers some of the puzzles were of Chrétien's own making, and he intended later to clear them up. Why then did he not explain them to Godefroy de Leigni, who finished the poem with Chrétien's approval?
44
I do not here include either the mediæval Welsh fragments or Malory's account. The meaning of the former cannot be accurately ascertained, and the latter practically represents the same version as that of the Charrette poem, though the question of source cannot, as I shall prove later on, be held to be definitely settled.
45
Cf. Simrock, Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie, Dornröschen. Some of the details of Arthur's journey to Valerîn's stronghold are worth the attention of folk-lore experts, e.g. the curious account of the Schrîenden Mose, that at certain times utters loud cries, drî tage vor sunegihten sô schrît daz mos und selten mêr, and the curious fish in its stream, which are 'ebenlanc und ebenkurz,' and of which 'die Engellende' have many. Cf. Lanzelet, ll. 7040 et seq.
46
On these varying forms of the 'other-world' dwelling, cf. Rassmann Heldensage, vol. i. p. 152.
47
Legend of Sir Gawain, chap. viii.
48
As a rule, whenever in the Iwein Hartmann does depart from his source, it is with the effect of making the story more coherent and probable. I have noted several instances of this in my study on the Yvain poems, Modern Quarterly for Language and Literature, July and November, 1898.
49
Cf. Parzival, Book VII. 1472.
50
Cf. Parzival, Book VII., as above; also 590 et seq. and 1355 et seq.
51
Cf. Der Gral, P. Hagen: Strassburg, 1900. I am unable to accept the author's contention that the Bætylus-Grail represents the original form of the talisman; but he certainly proves the correctness of the many curious references to Oriental literature which are peculiar to Wolfram's version of the story, and cannot possibly have been within that writer's own knowledge.
52
In this connection, cf. Dr. Brown's study on The Round Table before Wace, vol. vii. of Harvard Studies: Boston, 1900; and the incidental demonstration that Layamon had access to Welsh traditions unknown to Wace.
53
For the first, cf. Legend of Sir Gawain, chap. ix., where I have discussed the variants of the poem. For The Marriage of Sir Gawain, cf. Mr. Maynadier's exhaustive study of The Wife of Bath's Tale, vol. xiii. of the present series. In the case of the Green Knight there are certain peculiarities of names which point to an intermediate French stage, which, in this instance at least, cannot well have been other than
