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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
One of the most familiar figures in Arthurian romance is the Besieged Lady, whose beleaguered castle is liberated by a young and obscure knight, and who rewards her deliverer with an offer of her love. So ubiquitous is she, in fact, that it is easy to dismiss her as an Arthurian commonplace. But even commonplaces must originate somewhere. Since the Besieged Ladies are by no means stereotyped replicas of one another, it is difficult to believe that all versions of the story derive from the earliest extant text. More probably, the story of the Besieged Lady and her troubles is a traditional narrative pattern which became a favorite with the romancers not only because of its beguiling aspects but also because of its adaptability to their concept of chivalry. A study of the more significant versions of this remarkably malleable theme will help us to discern the underlying traditions and their complex development.
1 In addition to the stories to be discussed in this paper, Besieged Ladies appear in Durmart le Galois, the Vulgate Lancelot (the Lady of Nohaut), Claris et Laris, Li Chevaliers as Deus Espees, Floriant et Florete, Escanor, Meraugis de Portlesguez, Le Chevalier du Pape-gau, Peredur, Parzival (Belacane, Condwiramurs), Perlesvaus (La Roine as Puceles), La Queste del Saint Graal (li Chastiaus as Puceles). The Besieged Ladies must be distinguished from those who are imprisoned, abducted, enchanted, disinherited, or otherwise persecuted. Nor should they be confused with similar heroines who are not besieged, like Laudine in Yvain, whose champion must defend a fountain, or like the lady of Ile d'Or in Le Bel Inconnu, whose champion must defeat all other aspirants for her hand for a certain period.
2 Sir Thomas Malory, Works, ed. E. Vinaver (Oxford, 1947), i, 293-363. The date is 1469-70. Some of the traditional elements in Gareth are discussed by R. S. Loomis, M LA, liv (1939), 656-668; ibid., XLVIII (1933), 1021-23; MP, XLIII (1945), 64 f.; Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance (New York, 1927), pp. 84-89. See also A. C. L. Brown, Iwain, [Harvard] Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, vii (1903), 142 ff., and R. Zenker, Ivainstu-dien, Beiliefte zur ZRP, LXX (1921), 308-317,18 f. For other discussions, not concerned with the traditional material, see E. Vinaver, Medium Aevum, i (1932), 157-167, and his commentary in Malory, Works, iii, 1417 ff.; R. H. Wilson, PMLA, lviii (1943), 1 ff.
8 Malory, Works, i, 296.
4 Oddly enough, the Red Knight's reason for the siege seems to have nothing to do with Dame Lyones; according to his explanation (i, 324 f.), he had slain all the knights because of a vow to a damsel to fight until he should encounter either Gawain or Lancelot, whom she believed responsible for her brother's death. Yet before the battle he says to Gareth (i, 321) : “… I warne the well, she is my lady and for hir I have done many stronge ba-tayles.” This confusion evidently results from the conflation of a story about a love-vow similar to that of Mabonagrain in Erec (ll. 5367 ff.) with the more usual version in the Besieged Lady tradition in which the besieger is an unsuccessful suitor.
5 For a discussion of these interruptions see Loomis, PMLA, xlviii, 1022f.
6 Malory, Works, i, 61, iii, 1299 ii. The use of place names as personal names is not limited to Malory. For example, Wolfram's Gahmuret, the name of Parzival's father, is derived from the French place name Gomeret (Parzival, ed. E. Martin, n, 16; Newstead, RR, xxxvi [1945], 20f.). Cf. also Parzival, Bk. i, 56,11. 18 f: den fuort ein feie in Feimurgán, diu hiez Terdelaschoye. In the Middle English Arthour and Merlin, ed. E. Kôlbing (Leipzig, 1890), Ygerne's husband is regularly named Tintagel; e.g., 11. 2240 ff.: Pe noble baroun Tintagel, bat was douke of Cornwayle, Hadde spoused Ygerne, saunfaile. For other illustrations, see H. Newstead, Bran the Blessed in Arthurian Romance (New York, 1939), pp. 110, 122.
7 Romania, xxv (1896), 16 ff. Cf. J. D. Bruce, The Evolution of Arthurian Romance, 2 ed. (Gôttingen—Baltimore, 1928), i, 180; G. Schoepperle, Tristan and Isoll (Frankfurt—London, 1913), ii, 273; E. Brugger, MP, xxii (1924), 159 ff., MP, xxvi (1928), 1 ff.; James B. Johnston, Place-Names of Scotland (London, 1934), p. 243. Cf. also Brugger, MP, xxxviii (1941), 267 ff.
8 Guillaume le Clerc, Fergus, ed. E. Martin (Halle, 1872), p. 180,1.15: “Jo sui dame de Lodien.” Cf. ibid., p. xxi.
9 This parallel is not even mentioned in R. H. Wilson's rather pretentious article on the sources of Gareth, MLA, lviii, 1 ff.
10 Fergus, pp. xix-xxiv; M. Schlauch, M LA, xxliv (1929), 360–376.
11 The series of adventures concerning the Besieged Lady begins at p. 41,1. 28 of Martin's edition.
12 hope to discuss at another time the name Galiene given to the Lady of Lothian. For the present, we may note that Galiene is the name of a fay in Galiens li Restores, ed. E. Stengel (Marburg, 1890), pp. 173 ff., who becomes godmother to the hero and bestows gifts upon him.
13 Fergus, p. 106,11. 28 ft.
14 PMLA, xlviii, 1022 f.
15 Malory, Works, I, 314 f.
16 MP, XLIII, 65 f.
17 In Malory, Lynet's refusal to reveal her mistress's name is Arthur's justification for restraining his knights from the adventure. In Fergus, the knights are absent seeking for Fergus. It is curious that the Dutch Ferguut (ed. E. Verwijs, J. Verdam, rev. G. S. Overdiep [Leiden, 1924]) should name Galiene's messenger Lunette instead of Arondele (11. 4338, 4577 ft).
18 Gareth's connivance in this scheme, which unquestionably weakens the motivation of the episode, is probably not an original element. The number of illogical features in the incidents at Castle Perilous beside the Isle of Avalon, such as Gareth's failure to recognize Lyones after her beauty had inspired him so profoundly at the siege, suggest that this sequence is misplaced. Cf. PMLA, XLViii, 1023.
19 Fergus, pp. xxiii f.; MLR, xx (1925), 158 ff.; PMLA, XLIV, 363–376.
20 Historia Regum Britanniae, ed. A. Griscom (New York, 1929), pp. 428 (“Loth de Lo-donesia”), 444, 446 f., 454. Cf. Wace, Le Roman de Brut, ed. Ivor Arnold, 2 v. (Paris, 1938, 1940), 1. 8822: “Loth aveit nun, de Loeneis.” See also Bruce, Evolution, i, 41 ii.
21 Historia, pp. 427 f. In Wace the name occurs only once, in 1. 8819.
22 The single exception is De Ortu Waluuanii, ed. J. D. Bruce (Göttingen—Baltimore, 1913), a Latin romance of the 13th century, where the name Anna given to the wife of Loth (p. 92) is clearly a borrowing from Geoffrey, whose influence on the author is conspicuous (ibid., pp. lx ff.).
23 Li Chevaliers as Deus Espees, ed. W. Foerster (Halle, 1877), ll. 2942 ff.:
Morcades, the sister of Arthur, is the mother of Gawain by Lot in the Enfances Gauvain, ed. P. Meyer, Romania, xxxix (1910), 1-32. So, too, in Diu Cráne, ed. G. H. F. Scholl (Stuttgart, 1852), Morchades or Orcades is Arthur's sister (11. 20967, 21031 ff., 21727, 21771, 22320 ff., 23722). Morgawse is the name given in Malory's Book of Gareth to the sister of Arthur, the wife of King Loth, and the mother of Gawain and Gareth (Malory, Works, I, 317, 338–340). One of the most characteristic motifs attached to Morgain, her gifts of a fine horse, armor, and wealth to her protégé, is also attached to Morgawse (ibid., I, 340):
“Sir”, seyde the quene of Orkenay unto kynge Arthure her brother, “wete you well that I sente hym unto you ryght well armed and horsed and worshypfully besene of his body, and golde and sylver plente to spende.” “Hit may be so”, seyde the kyng, “but thereof sawe we none, save that same day that he departed frome us knyghtes tolde me that there com a dwarff hyder suddeynely and brought hym armour and a good horse full well and rychely beseyne. And thereat all we had mervayle, frome whens that rychesse com. …” On this motif see Loomis, Speculum, xx, 183 ff., and Newstead, PMLA, LXI (1946), 927930. On Morcades cf. Bruce, Historia Meriadoci and De Ortu Waluuanii, p. xlvii, n. 1, and L. A. Paton, Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance (Boston, 1903), p. 138.
24 Cf. Bruce, Historia Meriadoci, p. xlvii, . 1, and Zenker, ZFSL, XLVIII (1925-26), 88 f.
25 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 185-197: this article provides the basic clues to the connections of Morgain with the Besieged Ladies; since its publication I have exchanged opinions with Professor Loomis. Cf. also Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 19-23; Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 936-940.
26 Benoit de Ste. Maure, Roman de Troie, ed. L. Constans (Paris, 1904), 11. 8024 ff.
27 The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances, ed. H. O. Sommer (Washington, 1906–16), v, 218.
28 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 193-203; T. P. Cross, MP, xn (1915), 605; Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 146 ff.; Zenker, ZFSL, XLVIII, 84.
29 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Vita Merlini, ed. J. J. Parry, University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature (Urbana, 1925), ll. 908 ff. On Morgain and Avalon, see Paton, Fairy Mythology, Index, s.v. “Avalon”; Loomis, RR, xxrx (1938), 176 f.; Speculum, xx, 190; MP, XLiir, 66. Geoffrey, of course, in the Historia (ca. 1136) mentions Avalon as the place where Arthur was taken to be healed : “Sed et inclitus ille rex arturus letaliter uulner-atur est qui illuc ad sananda uulnera sua in insulam auallonis euectus” (Historia, ed. Gris-com, p. 501). Cf. also the passage from the Gesta Regum Britanniae quoted in Paton, op. cit., pp. 46 f.
30 Christian von Troyes, Erec uni Enide, ed. W. Foerster (Halle, 1890), 11. 1954 ff. Guingomars is a variant of Guingamors : cf. Foerster's list of variants.
31 Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 920–930.
32 Gringamor's rôle as Lyones's brother instead of her lover is an instance; another is the inconsistent characterization (PMLA, XLVIII, 1023).
33 These are not the only ones, of course. The close connection with the Perilous Ford motif (Loomis, MP, XLIII, 63 ff.), the association of magical objects like the ring and the shield with the Lady of Lothian, and the marvelous horse which Fergus acquires are other traditional themes.
34 J. B. Johnston, Place-Names of Scotland, p. 170; Brugger, ZFSL, XLIV2 (1917), 91-98; A. B. Hopkins, The Influence of Wace on the Arthurian Romances of Crestien de Troies (Menasha, 1913), pp. 141–144; J. S. Stuart Glennie, Arthurian Localities (Edinburgh, 1869), pp. 52 f.; R. Blenner-Hassett, Speculum, xvii (1942), 253.
35 It occurs in Geoffrey's Historia, p. 259; cf. Wace, I, 11. 1518 ff. It is also used in King David's charters, 1142-50 (Johnston, Place-Names of Scotland, p. 170). See Brugger's acute comments, ZFSL, XLIV2, 92–95.
36 For example, the Prose Tristan (E. Lôseth, Le roman en prose de Tristan [Paris, 1890], p. 94) locates the “chastel aux Pucelles” near “Londres.” La Quesle del Saint Graal (ed. A. Pauphilet [Paris, 1923], p. 47) places it near the Severn. Cf. Perlesvaus, ed. W. A. Nitze, et ai. (Chicago, 1937), ii, 294 ff.
37 Fergus, p. 106, 11. 29 ff. Cf. Brugger, Kastner Miscellany (Cambridge, 1932), pp. 96 ff.
38 Ed. G. Paris, Romania, viii (1879), 61–64,11. 6 ff.
39 Doon, 1. 7. Daneborc is indisputably Edinburgh; see Paris, ibid., p. 59, and Brugger, ZFSL, xliv2, 91 ff.
40 Doon, 1. 15. These two references will serve to correct Blenner-Hassett's statement, Speculum, xvii, 253 f., that “the epithet Castle of the Virgins occurs frequently in various forms in Arthurian Romance, but in no instance except the present [i.e., in Geoffrey's Historia] is any specific locality implied.”
41 Historia Meriadoci and De Ortu Waluuanii, ed. J. D. Bruce, pp. 89 ff.
42 Ibid., p. lvi. On the influence of Geoffrey, see pp. viii, lxiv.
43 Ibid., p. lviii.
44 Der altfranzosische Yderroman, ed. H. Gelzer (Dresden, 1913), 11. 70–136.
45 De Ortu, p. 90: “Belli autem exordio Miles cum tunica armature remoto et prerupto loco secesserat.” Cf. Arthur's response to Gawain's taunt, p. 91 : “ ‘Hie tuam satis probita-tem expertam habeo, qui, aliis pugnam adeuntibus, te nemoris abdidisti latebris’.”
46 In Manessier's continuation of the Conte del Graal (C. Potvin, Perceval le Gallois [Mons, 1866-71], iv, 11. 36462 ff.) a rather colorless version of the siege is attached to a “Castiaus as Puceles.” Saigremor comes to the castle and is welcomed by its mistress “vielle et kenue.” Calides de la Marche is besieging the castle because she will not permit him to marry the damsel he loves. Saigremor offers to fight Calides. He defeats the besieger in single combat and makes him surrender to the lady. She then generously permits Calides to marry the maiden he had desired. Much ado about nothing!
47 Ed. W. H. French, C. B. Hale, Middle English Metrical Romances (New York, 1930), 11. 955 ff. This romance is usually dated in the second half of the fourteenth century. For discussion see A. C. L. Brown, MP, xvi (1918), 559 ff.; xvii (1919), 361 ff.; xvii (1920), 201 ff., 661 ff.; xxii (1924), 79 ff., 113 ff.; also R. H. Griffith, Sir Perceval of Galles (Chicago, 1911).
48 Historia Meriadoci, p. lix.
49 Dr. Brugger, of course, is correct in pointing out that Edinburgh is not called a Land or an Isle of Maidens (ZFSL, XLIV2, 91). Consequently, Maydenlande is probably not to be identified specifically with Edinburgh, but even so, the name is close enough to have been easily confused with it. Furthermore, as we shall see presently, Morgain is undeniably connected with a Land of Maidens.
50 Since Gawain is the hero of De Ortu, this detail is obviously impossible. The combat of the hero with Gawain is missing in Yder, too, because only the beginning of the episode is preserved.
51 Malory, Works, i, 341.
52 ZFSL, XLIV2, 91.
53 L. A. Paton, Sir Lancelot of the Lake (New York, 1929), pp. 7–11; Fairy Mythology, pp. 185,187; Zenker, ZFSL, XLVIII, 69, 96.
54 Speculum, xx, 188, 190.
55 On Avallo or Avalloc as a personal name, see the texts cited by Loomis, loc. cit., 190 n. 6, and RR, xxix, 176 f.
56 VitaMerlini, 11. 908 ff. Cf. above, n. 29, and Loomis, M LA, LVI (1941), 907 f.
57 Cf. the reference of Pomponius Mela (ca. 45 A.D.) to nine priestesses who dwell in the island of Sena and whose supernatural powers correspond to those of Morgain and her sisters. Loomis, PMLA, LVI, 908; Speculum, xx, 188 n. 2., and 202; Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 43 f.
58 Paton, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, p. 12.
59 Ed. Clovis Brunei (Paris, 1943), 2 v.
60 For discussion see Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 931 and n. 46, 933 f., 935 f.; Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 250 ff.; A. Graf, Miti, Leggende, e Superstizioni del Medio Ew (Torino, 1892-93), ii, 303 ff. In Floriant et Florete, ed. Harry F. Williams (Ann Arbor, 1947), Morgain has a castle at Mongibel (Mt. Etna). In Le Chevalier du Papegau, ed. F. Heuckenkamp (Halle, 1896), p. 11, 1.18, she is called “Morgaine la fee de Montgibel.” In Maugis d'Aigre-mont, ed. F. Castets (Montpellier, 1893), 1. 6147, the phrase “For de Mongibel” is obviously a variant of the proverbial phrase “tot l'or d'Avalon”, which is recorded as early as 1130 in the Couronnement Louis.
61 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia, p. 501; Vita Merlini, ll. 929 ff.; Gesla Regum, Paton, Fairy Mythology, p. 46.
62 Paton, ibid., Index, s.v. “Morgain, balm of”; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 195 f.
63 Paton, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, p. 9.
64 Benoit de Ste. Maure, Roman de Troie, ed. Constans, i, ll. 8023 ff.; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 183 ff. Cf. La Bataille Loquifer I, ed. J. Runeberg (Helsingfors, 1913), 1. 2665: “Saut ou destrier ki fu Morgain la fee.”
65 Ed. Williams, 11. 786 ff. Cf. Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 931 ff.
66 Ed. French and Hale, Middle English Metrical Romances, pp. 345-380. Loomis, Speculum, xx, 189f.; Cross, MP, xii, 585 ff.; Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 925 ff.
67 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 189 f.
68 Paton, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, pp. 7-12. Cf. Maugis d'Aigrement, where Oriande la Fée de Mongibel similarly tells the hero his history only after he has defeated her foe. On the identity of Oriande la Fée and Morgain la Fée see PMLA, LXI, 933 f. Cf. Loomis, Speculum, xx, 188 n. 2.
69 Ed. G. H. F. Scholl, 11. 17319 ff.
70 In Gerbert's continuation of the Conte del Graal (Gerbert de Montreuil, La Continuation de Perceval, ed. M. Williams [Paris, 1922], i, 11. 3008 ff.), Perceval's wounds are healed by a miraculous ointment provided by the lady of the Chastel as Puceles.
71 Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 74-80; W. von Wurzbach, Geschichte des franzosischen Romans (Heidelberg, 1912), p. 77. Ogier le Danois is usually dated in the fourteenth century.
72 Kristian von Troyes, Yvain, ed. W. Foerster (Romanische Bibliothek, Halle, 1926), 11. 2887 ff. This romance is dated ca. 1173; Bruce, Evolution, I, 102 f.; W. Foerster, Worter-buch (Halle, 1914), pp. 33 ff.
73 Yvain, ll. 3316 ff: Mes sire Yvains congié li quist.
74 Les Mabinogion, trans. J. Loth, 2 ed. (Paris, 1913), ii, 34–38; The White Book Mabino-gion, ed. J. Gwenogvryn Evans (Pwllheli, 1907), cols. 250–254.
75 This black horse seems to be a genuine Celtic feature: PMLA, LXI, 928 f., and n. 38; Cross, MP, xii, 652 ff.; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 191 f.; T. M. Chotzen, Neophilologus, xviii (1933), 51 ff., 131 fi.; E. Hull, The Cuchullin Saga (London, 1896), pp. 239 f., 259, 277 f.
76 This feature, as we shall presently see, was not borrowed by the author of Fergus from Yvain; it is rather an element of the original Celtic tradition from which both stories are ultimately derived.
77 In this case, the Welsh version is clearer than the French. Chrétien gives no motivation for the count's attack upon the Lady of Noroison.
78 The box of ointment recalls the “biihse” of the queen of Meideland in Diu Cráne, In the Vulgate Lancelot (ed. Sommer, in, 417), La Dame du Lac, who, like the queen of Meideland in Lanzelet, fosters the hero from infancy and gives him a white horse and armor (ibid., 118), later cures him of madness by means of an ointment, like the Lady of Noroison.
79 The Welsh version is again clearer than Chretien's text, and probably closer to the source. Cf. Hartmann von Aue, Iwein, ed. H. Naumann, H. Steinger (Leipzig, 1933), 11. 3698ff.:
80 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 191 ff.; Cross, MP, xii, 599 ff.
81 See above, pp. 815–816.
82 Paton, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, pp. 7 ff.
83 See above, p. 811; 11. 1954 ff.
84 Die Lais der Marie de France, ed. K. Warnke, 3 ed. (Halle, 1925), pp. 233 ff. Cf. PMLA, LXI, 920 ff.
85 Cf. also Hartmann von Aue, Erec, ed. Naumann, Steinger, who reports (1. 5179) that Fámurgán could “ûf dem wage und drunder leben.”
86 Paton, Fairy Mythology, passim; Cross, MP, XII, 585 ff.; Zenker, ZFSL, XLVIII, 82–92; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 183 ff.
87 Cross, MP, XII, 605 f., 623 ff.; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 191 f.; J. R. Reinhard, The Survival of Geis in Mediaeval Romance (Halle, 1933), pp. 234 fi. On the date of the Irish text see A. C. L. Brown, The Origin of the Grail Legend (Cambridge, Mass., 1943), p. 43.
88 Cross, MP, xii, 606; Paton, Fairy Mythology, p. 160. Cf. the parallel between Owein's black horse and the black horse yoked with the Gray of Macha to Cuchulainn's chariot. Both of Cuchulainn's horses return to the lake at his death. Cf. n. 75 above.
89 One redaction of this text is as early as the eighth century: E. Hull, Cuchullin Saga, pp. 164-169. On the identity of Macha and the Morrigan see Cross, MP, XII, 605; Loomis, Speculum, xx, 192; Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 146 ff. Cf. also C. Donahue, PMLA, LVI (1941), 6, 12 n. 64.
90 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 194 ff.; MP, XLII, 66 ff.
91 See above, p. 816.
92 Loomis, Speculum, xx, 195 f. One of these was recorded as early as the twelfth century by Walter Map, De Nugis Curialium, ed. M. R. James (Oxford, 1914), pp. 72 f. See for the others, J. Rhys, Celtic Folklore, Welsh and Manx (Oxford, 1901), I, 1-74; E. S. Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales (London, 1890), pp. 274–278, 301–307,325-330; T. Gwynn Jones, Welsh Folklore and Folk Custom (London, 1930), pp. 61 ff.
93 Rhys, Celtic Folklore, I, 11 ff. Cf. Hartland, Science of Fairy Tales, pp. 326 ff.
94 Paton, Fairy Mythology, pp. 43 f.: “ … sanare, quae apud alios insanabilia sunt, scire ventura et praedicare.” Cf. Loomis, PMLA, LVI, 907 f.
95 On the date see Brown, Origin of the Grail Legend, pp. 16 f. The text has been recently edited and translated by Myles Dillon, Serglige Con Culainn (Columbus, Ohio, 1941); the recensions are discussed on pp. v ff. Cf. also T. P. Cross, C. H. Slover, Ancient Irish Tales (New York, 1936), pp. 176, 184.
96 Serglige, ed. Dillon, p. 48.
97 Serglige, p. 32: “ am not able to fight with men today,' said he.” Cf. Arthur's words in Sir Perceval, 11. 1077 ff.:
This detail makes little sense in the story because of Arthur's instantaneous recovery when he hears that Perceval has undertaken the enterprise.
98 Serglige, ed. Dillon, p. 40.
99 Malory, Works, i, 326.
100 Ibid., i, 328. “Woodenesse” means rage or madness.
101 The parallel of Yvain's madness with Cuchnlainn's in the Serglige was established many years ago by A. C. L. Brown, Iwain, p. 40.
102 Serglige, ed. Dillon, p. 31 : “ ‘Cuchulainn, the delay in thy sickness will not be long./ The daughters of Aed Abrat would heal thee, if they were with thee’.” Also Liban (p. 32) tells Cuchulainn, “Thou shalt be healed, and what is lacking in thy strength will be supplied.”
103 Cross, Slover, Ancient Irish Tales, pp. 38 f., 45. Cf. also Donahue, PMLA, lvi, 3 f.
104 Owein, although it undoubtedly contains much Celtic tradition, must be disqualified as evidence on this particular point because of its close connection with French romance.
106 W. J. Gruffydd, Math vab Mathonwy (Cardiff, 1928), pp. 23–27.
106 Ibid., pp. 96 f.: “We can, then, confidently assert that in M the swearing of the three destinies has in the process of the development been transferred from the person whose life is threatened to another; that is, from the king to his daughter [i.e., Arianrhod].”
107 Ibid., p. 352. It is worth observing that in one group of texts representing the Morgain traditions the arming of the hero is heavily stressed. In Floriant et Florete, 11. 815 ff., much is made of the splendid white armor with which Morgain arrays her foster son. So, too, in Lanzelet, the Lady of the Sea gives her foster son armor “white as a swan.” And in the Vulgate Lancelot (ed. Sommer, in, 111–118), the Lady of the Lake precedes the arming of Lancelot, her fosterling, with an elaborate lecture on the chivalric significance of the weapons she is about to give him.
108 Christian von Troyes, Der Percevalroman (Li Contes del GraaT), ed. A. Hilka (Halle, 1932), 11. 1706–2973.
109 It is difficult, in view of this description, to understand how Blancheflor's conduct can be interpreted as chaste (e.g., Holmes, Studies in Philology, XLIV [1947], 470).
110 Cross, MP, xii, 622 ff.; Newstead, PMLA, LXI, 919 ff.
111 The name of Elancheflor's castle, Belrepeire, may also be traditional. In the Enfances Gauvain (Romania, xxxix, 1–32) Belrepeire is the name given to the castle of Morcades, the sister of Arthur, the mistress of Loth, the mother of Gawain. We have already discussed (above, n. 23) the influence of Morgain upon this figure. Now, in Arthour and Merlin, Belisent is the name of this same character—the sister of Arthur, the wife of Lot, the mother of Gawain. Moreover, like Morgawse, she gives each of her sons fine armor and a horse. In the light of all these connections with the basic traditions of Morgain, the variant reading Belissant for Blancheflor in 1. 2912 may well represent a cognate tradition instead of a scribal aberration.