Romance 
 Seminar
 
 \
 
 THE OLD FRENCH GRAIL ROMANCE 
 
 PERLESVAUS 
 
 A STUDY OF ITS PRINCIPAL SOURCES 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES 
 
 OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 1899 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVEKSITY 
 
 BALTIMORE 
 
 JOHN MURPHY COMPANY 
 igoa
 
 COEKECTIONS. 
 
 P. 2, line 23, before which insert a comma. 
 
 P. 2, add note to 1. 23 : Seint Greed, part II, London, 1876. 
 
 P. 3, note 4, add comma after text. 
 
 P. 9, 1. 11, for text read texts. 
 
 P. 18, 1. 22, for reprinted read printed. 
 
 P. 25, 1. 24, for show read shows. 
 
 P. 27, 1. 16, omit comma at the end of the line. 
 
 P. 36, lines 18 and 26, for Glapissante read glapissante. 
 
 P. 37, 1. 9, after Perceval omit period. 
 
 P. 38, L 17, /or would read aAouM. 
 
 P. 44, 1. 13, after called insert a comma. 
 
 P. 49, 1. 1 0, after castle insert a comma. 
 
 P. 52, note, for only mentions read mentions only. 
 
 P. 67, note 4, 1. 22, omit of after or. 
 
 P. 68, 1. 16, for continuation read Continuation. 
 
 P. 73, 1. 13, omit comma after version. 
 
 P. 73, note 2, for continuation read Continuation. 
 
 P. 75, second line from the bottom, red poni for pout.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 PREFACE v 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE MSS 3 
 
 The Additional Matter found in MSS. O and P 9 
 
 On the Relation of the Manuscripts 15 
 
 LITERATURE CONNECTED WITH THE PERLESVAUS 20 
 
 Previous Views on the Perlesvaus 20 
 
 Discussion of the Above Views 35 
 
 RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERLESVAUS TO CRESTIEN'S PERCEVAL 43 
 
 The General Plan of the Perlesvaus 43 
 
 Comparison of the Versions of the Grail Episode 48 
 
 Relation of the Versions to Each Other 54 
 
 Origin of the Chessboard Story in Perlesvaus 59 
 
 Other Agreements with Crestien's Poem 61 
 
 RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERLESVAUS TO THE CONTINUATIONS OF THE 
 
 PERCEVAL 66 
 
 a. Pseudo-Gautier 66 
 
 b. Gautier 73 
 
 c. Manessier 78 
 
 d. Gerbert 87 
 
 THE DATE OF THE PERLESVAUS 99 
 
 CONCLUSIONS 102 
 
 APPENDIX : I. Text 106 
 
 II. Genealogy of the Grail Family 110 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ill 
 
 LIFE . . 115
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This study is here published substantially as it was submitted 
 to the Johns Hopkins University in 1899 for the degree of Doctor 
 of Philosophy. A few changes have since been made in it, but 
 these are mainly in matters of detail. A more thorough revision, 
 for which I did not have time, would doubtlessly have gone far to 
 improve it. I trust, however, that the results it contains will be 
 none the less evident because they are not always presented in the 
 best possible form. 
 
 The subject of the investigation was suggested to me by Pro- 
 fessor F. M. Warren of Yale University. To him I am indebted 
 for many valuable suggestions. My thanks are also due the heads 
 of several great libraries of Europe for various courtesies and 
 for much timely assistance. In this regard, I am under special 
 obligations to Mr. Nicholson of the Bodleian Library and to M. 
 Macon, the librarian of the memorable Due d'Aumale. 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, June 1st, 1902.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Old French romance, Perlesvaus^ with which the following 
 pages deal, was published in 1866 in conjunction with the Perceval 
 of Crestien de Troyes. Since the date of its publication, the work 
 has several times been the object of more or less fruitful discussion. 
 The past investigation on the subject, however, has been limited 
 merely to the bearing the romance has on questions relating to the 
 Holy Grail. The Perlesvaus, it seems, has shared the fate of most 
 Grail works in that its importance for the history of the Grail 
 legend has for the time being overshadowed the interest in the 
 work itself. While several permanent contributions have been 
 made with respect to parts of the romance, there has been thus far 
 no independent attempt to learn definitely the origin and the 
 nature of the work. 
 
 The need then of a special study of the Perlesvaus will be readily 
 admitted. Certainly, the romance is of sufficient importance as a 
 Grail work to justify such an undertaking; moreover, aside from 
 its connection with the Grail legend it possesses a peculiar interest 
 as one of the earliest examples of French literary prose. Conse- 
 quently, if the Perlesvaus is, as it has been held to be, chiefly a 
 compilation from other contemporary works, the first step in the 
 further study of it is to ascertain from what particular sources it 
 was compiled. At the same time the question of the extent and 
 nature of the indebtedness to these sources should be considered. 
 It is with a view to the partial settlement of these two questions : 
 the particular sources of the Perlesvaus and the relation of the 
 romance to these sources, that the present study is made. 
 
 The previous studies dealing with the work serve as a starting- 
 point for the investigation in hand. A review of this literature 
 
 1 Perceval le Oallois ou le Conle du Qraal. Premiere partie : le roman en prose. 
 Ch. Potvin, MODS, 1866. 
 
 1
 
 2 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 will be made in order to indicate the results thus far reached by- 
 writers on the subject and to determine what special points are still 
 open to discussion. This method will define largely the course of 
 the present study. As to the limits of the study, it was at first 
 planned to take account of most of the sources of the Perlesvaus, 
 the order in which the sources were to be treated being as far as 
 possible according to their relative importance. That is, those 
 works were to be considered first to which the Perlesvaus appeared 
 to be most closely related ; those were to be considered next with 
 which it showed less connection ; and so on, as its affinity with the 
 works in question diminished. For so full a treatment, however, 
 more time and space would have been necessary than could be 
 given to the study. Accordingly the relationship of the romance 
 only to its more important sources will be considered here. 
 
 The present inquiry, however, had necessarily to be preceded by 
 an examination of the MSS. of the Perlesvaus. The modern edition 
 of the romance was published by Potvin from a single MS. in the 
 Bibliotheque de Bourgogne at Brussels, though variants were also 
 given from a Bern MS. which contains two fragments of the work. 
 Since the publication of Potvin's edition, however, five additional 
 MSS. have come to light containing the Perlesvaus in some form or 
 other; and in 1876 the Rev. Robert Williams edited a Welsh 
 translation (with a Modern English rendition by himself) which 
 M. Gaston Paris ascribes to a better French text than that of 
 Potvin's MS. The necessity is thus apparent of considering first 
 this additional MS. material before proceeding to the study of the 
 work. Three of the MSS. unknown to Potvin (which are virtually 
 two as the third is a late copy of the second) are in Paris, a fourth 
 is in Chantilly, and a fifth at Oxford. The present writer has made 
 a somewhat detailed examination of these MSS. and has also partially 
 verified the Potvin text according to the Brussels MS. ; the results of 
 this examination will be found in the following pages.
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE MSS. 
 
 The MS. at Brussels l being that from which the Perksvaus is to- 
 day known was made the basis of the following examination of the 
 MSS. as well as of the study proper of the romance. As Potvin 
 gave details concerning this MS., 2 1 shall not give a description of 
 it here. For those that are interested in the text, it may be said 
 that the editor did not quite retain the physiognomy, as he ex- 
 presses it, of the MS. ; several changes have been introduced into 
 the text which are not mentioned among the editor's proposed cor- 
 rections. 3 Although I do not know to what extent these changes 
 were made, yet those that I have found are slight and merely 
 improve the text. 4 As a rule Potvin gives a faithful copy of the MS. 
 
 Besides being separated into branches, the romance in the Brus- 
 sels MS. (B) is divided into paragraphs or chapters: these divi- 
 sions Potvin reproduces from the MS. The average length of the 
 paragraph is less than a page of print (octavo), the longest being 
 over four pages and the shortest seven lines. The chief aim in 
 -examining the other MSS. of the romance was to see in what 
 respects they differ from B as regards contents. But owing to the 
 limited time at my disposal it was impossible to collate thoroughly, 
 word for word, the Potvin text with the other five MSS. Hence 
 the following plan was pursued : the opening lines of each Potvin 
 paragraph were carefully compared with the corresponding passage 
 in each of the other MSS., in the same way the last few lines of each 
 paragraph were compared, and where the paragraph was too long 
 it was split up into sections and a similar comparison was made. 
 
 l BMiothlque de Bourgogne, 11, 145. 2 Op. cit., p. 354. 
 
 *Ibid., p. 358. For instances, cf. ff. 74 c., 76 b., 77 a. 
 
 * Cf. f. 74 c., the MS. reads : que nos meslre de nos metriez nostre chief en autretel 
 abon bandomme. Potvin leaves out the italicized words but without mentioning 
 the omission. The MS. is evidently a copy of a poor text as the italicized 
 words show. 
 
 3
 
 4 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 The following is a detailed account of the variants from B thu* 
 found together with a description of the individual MSS. 
 
 Hatton 82 (0) : This MS., 1 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, 
 was first mentioned by Stengel in his edition of Durmart le Galois. 2 
 He again refers to it in the Rivista di Filologia Romanza?, in con- 
 nection with a MS. of the Perceval of Crestien de Troyes. There 
 he says in part : " Questo codice del secolo XIII, e consta di 
 ff. 87 in foglio piccolo, ciascuna pagina divisa in due colonne . . . 
 non v'ha dubbio che il testo del codice Hatton assai migliore di 
 quello del cod. del sign. Potvin. Notero inoltre che le varianti 
 che egli trassi del cod. Bernese ed inseri nella sua edizione ne 
 sono tutte ne setnpre esatte." 
 
 The MS. is in vellum and is well preserved. The folios have 
 four columns of 47 lines each. Beginning with the text, there 
 are 88 ff. and not as Stengel states 87. The handwriting of the 
 MS. appears to be of about the middle of the thirteenth century. 
 Above the text f. 1 a, there are two superscriptions, the one above 
 the other. The first or upper one, in ordinary cursive writing, 
 reads : Le seint Genert Le liure Sire . . . Alayn. The second or 
 lower one is the superscription proper : Le seint Graal, le liuer sire 
 Brian fiz Alayn. 
 
 As to these superscriptions, Mr. Nicholson, the librarian of the 
 Bodleian, thinks the upper one cannot be earlier than the sixteenth 
 century, possibly even, it is of the seventeenth. The superscription 
 proper, he holds, is of the first half of the fourteenth century, or 
 of the very end of the thirteenth century. It is practically certain 
 that it is not in the same handwriting as the body of the text, 
 which is undoubtedly of the thirteenth century. An indication 
 of this last fact is that the capitals are omitted throughout the 
 text, leaving space for the illuminated capitals that were never 
 inserted; thus, it is probable, too, that the scribe left the title for 
 the illuminator. Still on f. 1 a the scribe of the lower superscrip- 
 tion has supplied one capital (namely, L) in the same ink and 
 style as the superscription itself. The Hatton MS. came into the 
 
 1 These MSS. are treated in the order of their importance. 
 *SluUg. lilt. Verein, vol. cxvi. *i, 192.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 5 
 
 Bodleian library about 1620, which may be taken as a broad 
 terminus ad quern for both superscriptions as neither of them was 
 written after that date. 
 
 The MS. begins, just as B, with : 
 
 L'estoires du saintisme vessel que on apele Graal o quel li pr.ecieus 
 sans au sauueeur, etc. 
 
 It ends : 
 
 Id fuut li saitismes cotes du graal. Josephes par cui il est en 
 ramebrance done la beneicon nre seigneur atoz cex qui lentedent 7 
 qui loneurent. li latins de cui cist estoires fu tretiez en romdz. en lille 
 daualon en une sainte meson de religion qui siet au chief del mares 
 auenturex. la o li rois artuz 1 la roine gisent. par le tesmoignage 
 des preudomes religieus qui la dedez sont qui tote lestoire en ont uraie 
 des le qmecement desqen la fin. 
 
 The last fifteen lines of B are not found in this MS. 1 
 
 The MS. differs from B in the following respects : 
 
 At f. 50 b (Pot., p. 212, 1. 4), after the word abeissa, the text 
 -continues at once, without any seeming interruption, with the next 
 paragraph in Potvin, beginning : atant es-voz; that is, an omission 
 of eleven lines is made. The word devisse, on f. 57 c (Pot., p. 238, 
 1. 11), is followed by a passage, 2 covering about three columns in 
 the MS., for which there is no equivalent in B. 
 
 B. 2V. /. 1428. (JP) : A full description of this MS. is given 
 by Wechssler. 3 I am indebted to him for part of the account I 
 give here, which, however, I have verified. The MS. is wrongly 
 designated in the Catalogue des manuscrits frangais I, ancienfonds* 
 as Saint Graal. Wechssler says : " P. Paris hat jedoch ihren 
 eigenartigen Inhalt bereits erkannt. Es findet sich vorn von seiner 
 Hand, die mir durch Eintragung als solche bekannt ist, folgende 
 Bemerkung : Le roman de Perlesvaus ou Perceval qui semble avoir 
 
 1 Divisions of the text into branches occur at the following places in the MS. : 
 f. 5 d (= Pot., p. 23), f. 8 a (= Pot., p. 35), f. 10 c (= Pot., p. 48), f. 13 d (= Pot., 
 p. 59), f. 16 b (= Pot., p. 71), f. 24 d (= Pot., p. 105), f. 28 d (= Pot., p. 121), 
 f. 45 c (= Pot. p. 187), f. 60 d (= Pot., p. 248), f. 75 b (= Pot., p. 301 ). 
 
 * Cf. appendix for a copy of this passage. 
 
 3 Zfrp. xx, 80. 4 Paris, 1868, p. 224.
 
 6 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 et remanU pour devenir celui de Perceval le Gallois. 11 a et 
 imprimS a la suite du St. Graal sous le litre Le second volume du 
 St. Graal contenant la conqueste. ... St. Graal f aide par Lance 
 lot Galaad Perceval Sohort. Paris Galiot du Pre 1516, petit in 
 fo. P. Paris hat das Werk also bereits mit einera Drucke identi- 
 fiziert: das ist das wesentliche an der im uebrigen nicht recht 
 klaren Notiz." 
 
 The MS. is carefully written and consists of 158 ff., with four 
 columns of forty lines each to a folio. It is bound in brown 
 leather, and on the back is inscribed, Roman des Chevaliers de la 
 table ronde. Wechssler ascribes it to the thirteenth century. As the 
 writing is rather pale and there are no miniatures, it was probably 
 written during the second third of that century, perhaps about 
 1240. The beginning and end of the MS. are lost. On f. 1 a, a 
 more recent scribe has put : S" r greal . . . Romant de m+ gauuin 
 . . . MCCCXIIL 
 
 The text begins with (Pot., p. 21, 1. 14) : uient socorre et lifrere 
 au ch'r ueirmeil q*l ocist en la forest, etc. It ends (Pot., p. 340, 1. 
 16) : pRl' senuait qme cil qi est en grant desirrier daqplir son afaire 
 
 7 molt couoite le raler el chastel la ou la chaene dor saparut a lui. 
 Jcar il ne vit onqs mais manoir q' tant li pleust. II atant chevauchie 
 q'l est ven' en la diver. 1 
 
 A number of apparent breaks are found in the text which are 
 probably due to the fact that the folios were shifted when the MS. 
 was bound. They occur at intervals from f. 48 down through 
 f. 53; but with a little care the reader can readjust the folios 
 for himself. 
 
 There are, however, two genuine gaps in the MS. The one is 
 between ff. 46 and 47 and corresponds to Pot. pp. 123 and 124, 
 and the other between ff. 50 and 51, corresponding to Pot. pp. 133 
 and 134. As two pages of text in Potvin would be equivalent to 
 about one folio of P, it is likely that in each of these cases a folio 
 was lost from the MS. 
 
 1 New branches begin at the following places : f . 1 d (Pot., p. 23), f . 6 b (Pot. t 
 p. 35), f. 11 c (Pot., p. 48), f. 17 a (Pot., p. 59), f. 22 c (Pot., p. 71), f. 33 b (Pot., 
 p. 94), f. 38a (Pot., p. 105), f. 46 b (Pot., p. 121), f. 78c: une des maistres branches 
 dtl graal (Pot., p. 187), f. 109 d (Pot., p. 248), f. 137 c (Pot., p. 301 }.
 
 A Study of the. Perlesvaus. 7 
 
 Chantilly JMES. (C) : This version of the Perlesvaus is a 
 part of the famous MS. in the private library of the Due d'Aumale 
 (which now belongs to the Institute of France) at Chautilly, France. 
 Gaston Paris called attention to the version in the Romania. 1 I 
 had access to the MS. in the summer of 1896. 
 
 It is catalogued as no. 626 (XIV H ) and our romance extends from 
 f. 214 recto to f. 243 verso ; thus, the version covers only 177 pages 
 or about one-half of the Potvin text. The MS. is bound in leather ; 
 on the back we read : La Conoiss de Toutes Choses 1250. The 
 index mentions the Perlesvaus as, Li estore del Graal (en prose), 
 whereas the superscription itself (f. 214) reads : La Queste du Saint 
 Graal. The version agrees with B as far as it goes. It breaks 
 off suddenly with : ensi auons nos tot perdu secest uoirs car 
 madame ma mere na respit desire en son eastiel q dusq u vne quin- 
 salne(Pot., p. 178,1. 17). 2 
 
 B. N. /. 120 (G), (Arsenal MS. 3480): Wechssler 3 has 
 mentioned that the beginning of the Perlesvaus, as far as the return 
 of Arthur to his court, occurs in these two MSS. of the Graal- 
 Lancelot Cycle. 
 
 In ffr. 120 the fragment is found from if. 520 a 522 d ; it there 
 constitutes the beginning of the third book of the Prose Lancelot 
 or, more specifically, of the Quete. The text of the fragment is in 
 substantial agreement with that of B as far as Pot., p. 19 (f. 522 b), 
 where Arthur is told about Perceval. Instead of the reading which 
 then follows in B : il fu fiuz Vilein le gros des vans de Kamaaloth, 
 et est apeles Perlesvax, G has : il est nepueu du roy pellefiz de lafille 
 du roy peschour ; that is, Galaad is the hero of the story in G and 
 not Perceval. Accordingly too, the account of Perceval's boy- 
 hood, which is thereupon related in B, is lacking entirely in G 
 which goes on at once with Pot., p. 21, 1. 18 : Sire or vos ai-je dit, 
 etc. These changes, of course, were made in G in order to make 
 
 1 xxn, 296 ; cf. also Wechssler, I. c. 
 
 2 At the following places in the MS. there are indications of new divisions 
 (branches) of the subject : f. 217 b (Pot., p. 23), f. 218 a (Pot., p. 35), f. 220 a 
 (Pot., p. 48), f. 222 a (Pot., p. 59), f. 224 b (Pot., p. 71), f. 230 c (Pot., p. 105) 
 f. 232 d (Pot., p. 121). /. c.
 
 8 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 this excerpt from Perlesvaus agree with the account in the Quete. 
 The excerpt ends with Pot., p. 24, 1. 7 : et revindrent a la cort a 
 grant esploit. 
 
 The Arsenal MS. (3480) is according to Wechssler a copy of G, 
 and the extract from the Perlesvaus found in it is practically 
 identical with that in the latter MS. 
 
 From the foregoing we see that MS. O is the fullest version of 
 the Perlesvaus extant. Save for the lack of eleven lines (f. 50 b, 
 corresponding to Pot., p. 212, 11. 4-15) and the last fifteen lines, 
 it comprises all of MS. B, and, in addition, a complete version of 
 the episode of the Cercle cTor, a portion only of which episode is 
 found in MS. B. The fact that the aforesaid eleven lines are also 
 omitted in the Welsh text may be of value in determining the 
 relation of the Welsh version to O. From the point of view of 
 completeness, the Brussels MS. and the Welsh text probably rank 
 next in importance. Then follows MS. P. This MS., although 
 it also possesses the complete version of the episode of the Cercle 
 d'or, mentioned above, has suffered considerably. The beginning 
 and the end are missing, and there are two gaps, a folio each in 
 extent (between ff. 46 and 47 and between ff. 50 and 51), in the 
 body of the MS. The last MS. of importance, outside of the Bern 
 fragments, 1 is the Chantilly MS. It is to be regretted that little 
 more than half of the Perlesvaus is covered by it, as the MS. is in 
 such excellent condition. 
 
 The fragment of the Perlesvaus in the MS. of the Graal-Lancelot 
 Cycle is too short to be of much value. Nevertheless, it is inter- 
 esting to note how the author of this cycle used the introduction 
 of our romance for his version of the Quete, in leaving out the 
 story of Perceval's boyhood and making a substitution for his 
 descent that answers verbatim the origin of Galaad, as given 
 in the Quete. 
 
 All of these MSS. resemble each other closely, and doubtlessly 
 belong to the same redaction. In all of them the episodes follow 
 in the same order and relate the same facts. Those of them that 
 are incomplete suffered through external circumstances, such as 
 
 'Bern 113.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 9 
 
 rough handling after being written, and seldom through conscious 
 alteration by scribes. Thus, what is missing in MS. B. can be 
 supplied from the other MSS. 
 
 THE ADDITIONAL MATTER FOUND IN MSS. O AND P. 
 
 Pot., p. 235 ff., is, in a way, a continuation of Ga wain's adven- 
 ture with the two damsels of the Tent, related on pp. 6171. This 
 episode is incomplete in B, and we must supply between the words 
 devisse and li rois artus (p. 238, 1. 11) a passage from O or P 1 
 in order to complete it. The same episode is found in the Welsh 
 version (W), and there the passage missing from B is also given in 
 full, although the Welsh scribe, or the scribe of his source, cut 
 the narrative severely toward the end of the episode. The episode 
 may be called that of the Cercle d'or. 
 
 An English synopsis by me of the Welsh and Potvin text will 
 be found in the ensuing pages. When the two disagree, I point out 
 in what the disagreement consists. Where the omission occurs in 
 B, it was supplied from O or P ; the versions in these two MSS. 
 were reduced to one version, as the story in both is the same. 
 
 Arthur and Gawain, riding in search of Lancelot, meet a knight 
 from the land of the Cercle d'or. The knight tells them that the 
 queen of that country, whose vassal he is, is in great distress 
 because she has been robbed of the famous Cercle d'or, which 
 Perceval gave her after he had won it from the Chevalier au 
 dragon (Nabiganz). The Cercle is now offered as the prize of a 
 tournament which will be held near the Tent where Gawain 
 removed the Evil Custom. The knight says that Nabiganz is 
 on his way thither to win it back. 
 
 After parting with the knight the King and Gawain go to the 
 Tent, which they find furnished as Gawain had found it on his 
 previous 2 visit. They at once make use of all the comforts of the 
 Tent ; wherefore, however, they are reproached soon after by the 
 two damsels to whom the tent belongs. The older of the damsels, 
 particularly, is angry with Gawain for having previously spurned 
 
 1 Cf. above. * Pot., p. 66.
 
 10 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 her love. Gawain seeks to excuse his present conduct by saying 
 that since the Evil Custom has ceased the Tent should be open 
 to all knights. 
 
 The visitors are then told that the tournament for which they 
 have come will last three days. The younger damsel begs Arthur 
 to be her knight in the tournament. As a mark of courtesy, 
 Arthur agrees to her request, but, to conceal his identity, he calls 
 himself Arthur of Tincarduel. The next day, which is the time 
 set for the tournament, the older damsel obtains Gawain's promise 
 to fight for her. She stipulates, however, that he is not to let 
 anyone know who he is; for this reason she gives him a suit of 
 red armor. The color of Arthur's armor, which is given him by 
 the younger damsel, is gold. 
 
 Meantime the bearer of the Cercle d'or has arrived at the Tent r 
 as well as Nabiganz and many other knights ; the ranks are then 
 drawn up for combat (I'asanblee estoit devisse). 
 
 [O and P.] 
 
 Before the jousts begin the younger damsel exhorts Arthur to 
 use his arms well in her behalf, as they are the handsomest and 
 best of any. Arthur says he relies on God to help him. The 
 older damsel repeats her instructions to Gawain, adding that on 
 his return he must be ready to do her pleasure. Gawain thanks 
 her and then rides forth with Arthur, amidst the cheers of the 
 damsels. 
 
 On the field the two knights fight like lions. The horses of 
 those whom they vanquish they send to the damsels. Gawain 
 has an encounter with Nabiganz and unhorses him. Arthur is 
 as brave as Gawain, so that none excell the pair. When the 
 tournament is called for the day, they are commonly admitted to 
 be the victors. The other knights proclaim Gawain un mout bons 
 chevaliers. 
 
 At the Tent, the victorious knights are hailed with delight by 
 the damsels and their dwarf. After eating Gawain and Arthur 
 go straight to bed. In the morning the damsels come to their 
 bedside. Now the older damsel reminds Gawain of a promise he 
 recently gave the Roi de la Gale; to wit, to comply with the first
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 11 
 
 request that any damsel should thereafter make of him. Thus she 
 bids him be the worst knight that day at the tournament and 
 wear his own armor so that all may recognize him. The king's 
 armor on this day is azure. 
 
 The knights line up, and the jousts are continued (li renc estoit 
 devisse). 
 
 [Pot.] 
 
 Arthur is as valiant as on the first day. Gawain, however, yields 
 to his opponents. When attacked by Nabiganz he draws under 
 the shelter of Arthur's blows. His conduct, fills the King with 
 shame. In the evening the dwarf of the damsels jeers at Gawain. 
 The judges of the tourney do not know whom to proclaim victor 
 as the Red Knight and the Gold Knight apparently were not 
 present on the second day. To the King's advice to do better when 
 the contest is resumed, Gawain replies that he must obey the 
 damsel as long as he is in her power. 1 
 
 On the third and last day of the tournament Gawain and Arthur 
 are allowed to go forth as they did on the first day, except that 
 Gawain wears the gold armor and Arthur the red. Gawain is now 
 as bold as ever, and conquers all his opponents; in a tilt with 
 Nabiganz he strikes him from his horse. The King purposely 
 holds back li contes dist so that Gawain may have the prize. 
 Thus, when the tournament ends, the Gold Knight (Gawain) is 
 declared to be the winner of the Cercle. 
 
 The damsels joyously welcome Gawain, whom, however, no one 
 has recognized because of the gold armor. The dwarf, who knows 
 Gawain only from the fight on the second day, maintains that the 
 Gold Knight is superior to Gawain, le Couart. At night the Damsels 
 offer the King and Gawain favors but are rebuked and told to be 
 virtuous. At this the damsels grow angry and plan to do them 
 injury, but desist from this intent as Gawain has promised to 
 restore the Cercle to the Queen of the Cercle d'or, the mistress of 
 the damsels. Moreover, the damsels are satisfied that Gawain 
 keeps his word. At daybreak the King and Gawain leave the 
 Tent for further search of Lancelot. 2 
 
 1 The Welsh text breaks off here. 
 
 a At this point the Welsh text resumes the narrative and continues parallel to 
 the B version.
 
 12 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 From a perusal of this episode, which I have given thus at 
 length, we see that it was added to the preceding one of the Tent 
 as an evidence of Gawain's fidelity and courtesy. The story is 
 filled with a spirit of self-denial. The tournament described lasts 
 three days. On the first and third days Gawain (who is the 
 important person) wears other armor than his own ; not being 
 recognized by his opponents, his deeds cannot possibly redound 
 to his personal glory. On the second day he is compelled as 
 an outcome of a promise to put on his own armor and to play 
 the part of a coward. When we consider Gawain's character in 
 the romance the test is not an easy one for him to stand. Not 
 only does it require considerable self-control for so valiant a 
 knight as he, willingly to yield in the tournament, but the 
 shame of the situation is increased by the fact that he is not 
 allowed to retrieve his honor on the third day by fighting under his 
 own name. 
 
 Now, the story of the first day and of the beginning of the second 
 day, on , which the damsel reminds Gawain of his promise, con- 
 stitutes the passage wanting in B. 1 However, a few pages further 
 on 2 we find an indication that such an account went before. What 
 else should the author refer to by the words : Li chevalier distrent 
 a leur ostiex cor ne savoient il qui doner le cercle d'or, puis que li 
 chevaliers aux armes d'or, et oil aux armes vermeilles n'i estoient. 
 Quar il furent li mielz feissant le premerein jor de Vasanblee, when 
 only one day's tournament had been related ? Likewise, in the 
 passage immediately preceding the combat, the damsel gives Gawain 
 armes vermeilles, with the words : gardez qu'eles soient bien anploiies 
 neje ne veuil que vos ne soiiez mie conneus aux armes. 
 
 It is necessary to call attention here to another point in the later 
 history of this episode. The episode is mentioned in Sir Frederick 
 Madden's Syr Gawayne? though in connection with the Queste 
 (Qaete) del Saint Graal. After a few remarks on the relation of the 
 Quete to the Prose Lancelot, in which Madden says that Perceval, 
 Gawayne, Lancelot and his son Galaad, are the knights celebrated 
 in the Quete, the following occurs : " the exploits of Gawayne are 
 marked (here) by singular love of peril, determination, valor, gen- 
 
 1 p. 238. * p. 239. 3 London, 1839 ; p. xix.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 13 
 
 erosity and courage. His adherence to the laws of knighthood 
 is tried severely more than once, especially at the tournament 
 against Nabigan de la Roche, 1 where, in consequence of a vow 
 taken to grant the first request made of him, he is enjoined to 
 act the part of a coward, and sustains unmoved the jeers of the 
 assembly." 2 
 
 From this reference, and from the fact that no such episode as 
 that mentioned by Madden occurs in Furnivall's edition or the 
 Hengwrt MS. Quete, 3 it is obvious that Madden's idea of the Quete 
 embraced several works and not the single romance which we 
 designate by that name. The fact was mentioned before that 
 Paulin Paris had identified the contents of MS. P with Le second 
 volume du St. Graal, contenante la conqueste du . . . St. Graal 
 faicte par lancelot, etc., Paris, galiot du Pre, 1516 petit in fo. 
 Wechssler, too, 4 says the Perlesvaus and the Quete were published 
 together in early texts. He cites an edition of 1523 by Philippe le 
 Noir, Paris; 5 which contains the Livre del Graal, the Perlesvaus 
 and the Quete. Moreover, the Welsh text follows the Quete in 
 the Hengwrt MS. In the Paris library there are two incunabula 
 containing the Perlesvaus. The one is the work referred to by 
 P. Paris, 6 and the other is a later edition of this, bearing the date 
 1523 (nouuellement imprime a Paris, par Phelippe le noir libraire 
 et relieur iure en Luniversite de Paris); that is, the edition which 
 Wechssler knew. It is practically certain, therefore, that Mad- 
 den's reference to Vol. II of a 1516 edition is the work which 
 Paris had in mind, and that, by using the title of Queste (Quete) 
 
 1 The italics are mine. 
 
 * For this episode Madden refers us in a note (op. cit., p. xix) to vol. u, f. 183, 
 ed. 1516 (of the Quele). 
 
 3 The Welsh text. 4 1. c. 
 
 5 Though the title page of the 1516 edition mentions only the name of Galiot 
 du Pre, the colophon adds that of Michd le Noir: nouuellement imprime a Paris, 
 Par Jehan petit yaliol du pre et michel le noir Libraires demourans a Paris; cf. 
 the title page which reads: lesqlz liures ne furent iamais imprimez iusques a 
 present. 
 
 8 A number of copies from these two editions were sold at good prices between 
 (he years 1784 and 1836. A list of these sales is given by Francisque Michel 
 in the preface to his edition of the metrical Joseph (.Roman du St, Graal, Bor- 
 deaux, 1841).
 
 14 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 for the whole work, Madden failed to distinguish between the 
 Quete proper and the Perlesvaus. 
 
 To revert to the episode of the Cercle d'or, we see clearly from 
 the above that the portion missing from the Brussels MS. is essen- 
 tial to the episode. An omission of this nature must have been 
 due to accident. The episode, when originally committed to 
 writing, was complete; hence the loss occurred through careless 
 handling of a MS. It will be remembered that in MS. O the 
 lost portion covers three columns, while in P it covers five. The 
 relation in size of the three MSS. to one another is as follows : 
 
 (a) O, 88 if., four columns, forty -seven lines. 
 
 (6) P, 158 ff., four columns, forty lines. 
 
 (c) B, 112ff., four columns, forty lines. 
 
 It can be approximately calculated that if the missing passage 
 covers three columns in O and five in P, it must have extended 
 over about four columns in B. But four columns are equivalent 
 to one folio. Then the problem would be solved if it could be 
 shown that a folio had been lost from B. This, however, is not 
 possible ; the missing passage could not have occupied one folio by 
 itself in B., as the point where it would now have to be inserted * 
 is not at the end of a folio, but in the middle of one. At this 
 point, moreover, the scribe gives us no hint that he was aware of 
 an omission. 
 
 Nevertheless, we have every reason to believe that if a folio is 
 not lost in the Brussels MS., such was the case with the MS. of 
 which, I hold, it is a copy. The Brussels MS. seems to belong to the 
 second half of the thirteenth century, 2 and between that date and 
 the possible date of the composition of the romance 3 there is ample 
 time to justify the assumption of other MSS. The text before the 
 omission concludes with the words, I'asanblee estoit devisse, and 
 the omitted portion itself ends, li renc estoit devisse; so that the 
 text after the omission might be joined to either ending without 
 an apparent break in the argument. The Brussels scribe did not 
 find the latter ending (li renc estoit devisse), but not seeing any 
 
 1 Folio 76 a, thirteen lines from the bottom. 
 
 8 The writing is of the middle of the thirteenth century. 
 
 3 Cf. below.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 15 
 
 difficulty in passing from the folio ending I'asanblee estoit devisse 
 to li rois Artus fieri des esperons, etc., it did not occur to him 
 that a folio was missing. 
 
 Strictly speaking, the Welsh text gives in full only the first 
 day's combat, the instructions of the damsel as to how Gawain 
 is to comport himself on the second day, and a brief account of 
 how Gawain carried them out. The third day's tournament is 
 not related. 1 
 
 ON THE RELATION OP THE MANUSCRIPTS. 
 
 Allowing for the loss of a folio 2 from the body of the Welsh 
 text, we may safely say that three of our MSS. have come down to 
 us practically unchanged in form and matter since they were 
 written. These are the MS. in the Brussels library, that at Oxford, 
 and the Welsh text ; the last forming part of the so-called Hengwrt 
 MS. In the circumstances, it is remarkable that each of these MSS. 
 should end, if not in a different way, at least at a different place in 
 the narrative. The Brussels MS. is the longest, going fifteen lines 
 beyond MS. O. And the Welsh text (W) is the shortest, lacking 
 the whole last branch except the description of how the Grail castle 
 fell to the care of " two knights from Wales," after the Grail had 
 been taken away and the place became enveloped in mystery, 
 a description which gives the romance an ending without bringing 
 in Perceval's visit to the island of the monks. 
 
 The romance proper concludes with the words with which the 
 Welsh text leaves off. MSS. O and B bestow the blessing of Joseph 
 upon all who hear it, and say further that the Latin work from which 
 it was translated into Romance was found in the isle of Avalon, 
 41 according to the testimony of the good religious men, who are 
 there, and who have the entire story from the beginning unto the 
 end." With this the Oxford text closes. B, however, adds: 
 "After this follows the tale relating the union of Brians and 
 
 1 The relation of the Welsh text to the Oxford MS. I hope to bring out 
 eventually in a separate publication. It is quite possible that the Welsh 
 translator had difficulty in reading French and hence omitted the passages 
 that were hard for him to translate. 
 
 'Namely, folio 177; cf. Rev. Kobt. Williams, op. cit., p. 615.
 
 16 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Claudas against Arthur. How Galobrus of the Red Land came 
 to the court to aid Lancelot, being of his lineage. This tale is 
 long and full of adventure but the book will close now until some 
 other time." Then, at the end : " The lord of Cambrai had this 
 book written for the lord of Neel. Once before only it was trans- 
 lated into Romance, but this (translation) is so old, one can hardly 
 make out the letters. And may the lord Johan de Neele know 
 that he must keep this tale pure nor ought it to be told to evil- 
 thinking people, for a good thing that is spread among bad people 
 is never recorded faithfully." The incunabula containing the 
 Perlesvaus break off at the same point at which "W ends. 
 
 The facts we learn from B : that the romance was translated once 
 before and that the present copy was intended for the seigneur de 
 Neele, are interesting, and the last one especially may be of 
 use when we come to consider the question of authorship. For 
 the present, it is sufficient to state that I know of no other refer- 
 ence in any of the MSS., including MS. B, which leads one to believe 
 that the romance, as we have it, was a second translation from the 
 Latin. If all of the known French MSS. represented a second 
 translation from the Latin, it is curious that the scribe of B should 
 be the only one to mention the fact; and, moreover, why is it not 
 noted in the body of the text ? A reference to it would have been 
 very appropriate, for example on page 306 (Potvin) : Josephus nos 
 dist, por I'escriture qui le nos recorde de quoi cist estoires fu traites de 
 latin en roumanz, que nus ne doit estre en doutance que ces aventures 
 avenissent a eel tans an la Grant Breteigneiet an tons les autres 
 roiaumes. 1 
 
 On this point, P and C unfortunately throw no light. But it is 
 of value to remember that a MS. was postulated as anterior to B, of 
 which B was supposed to be a copy. Freymond 2 and Heinzel 3 
 presumably knowing the text of the Perlesvaus only as it is pub- 
 lished, agree, from the ending, that the romance once formed 
 part of a large cycle of romances. A conclusion of this sort is 
 being reached with most all of the Arthurian prose-romances we 
 possess. Heinzel thinks that the Perlesvaus was followed by a sort 
 
 1 Of. Potvin, op. cit., vol. I, p. 218. Cf. Zffup., xvil, 2. 
 
 3 Cf. below.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 17 
 
 of Lancelot in which the events of the other war against Arthur 
 are found which the scribe of B did not have room to add. Could 
 not our postulated MS. have been the Perlesvaus part of the cycle ? 
 Then, the scribe of B (or of a MS. of which B is a faithful copy) 1 
 copied it and, in order to obtain credit and credence for the facts 
 he narrated, he falsely claimed to have made a fresh translation 
 from the Latin. 
 
 Whether it is permissible to put faith in what he says about the 
 illegibility of the first translation, which would belong to the cycle, 
 is hard to say. The fact that he apparently detected no hitch in 
 the episode of the Cerde d'or, when he copied it, might argue 
 against such an assumption ; or was the folio really illegible, 
 perhaps partially destroyed, and did the scribe of B attempt to 
 palliate this defect so as to conceal his omission ? However that 
 may be, since the other MSS. (O and "W) have a better version of the 
 episode than the version in B, it is possible that they are nearer 
 to the original text than B, which was an excerpt made from a 
 cycle of romances for the seigneur de Neele. Thus, the Oxford 
 group (W and O) might be derived from the MS. which was the 
 original of the source of B. 
 
 But no matter how far back we go, the fact remains that the 
 Perlesvaw is not complete in itself but must have belonged to 
 a cycle ; the wars of Arthur are not over, Claudas and Brians 
 are still at large and overshadow the King's triumph. The 
 only way in which we could suppose that the Perlesvaus began 
 and ended where it now does would be to assume that the 
 wars of Brians against Arthur were interpolated into it from 
 some other romance. As yet we have no work to which they 
 can conscientiously be traced. 2 The chief difficulty is that all 
 the MSS. are so much alike that they cannot be grouped ac- 
 cording to their points of disagreement. Doubtless, if they 
 were carefully collated and the language of each were studied, 
 much of the uncertainty would be removed. Thus far, how- 
 
 1 It may be necessary to postulate this intermediate stage, cf. below. 
 
 * Cf., in addition to the references given by Heinzel ( Ueber die franzoesischen 
 Gralromane, Wien, 1892), p. 177, Perceval, v. 33615 ffi, for a war between Arthur 
 and Carras and Claudas.
 
 18 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 ever, a satisfactory showing of the MS. relations does not seem 
 possible. 
 
 At present the following points are deducible : 
 
 (a) The dedication to Jean de Nesle is, as we have seen, found 
 only in the Brussels MS., and as the Brussels MS. is not the original 
 MS., this dedication does not appear to have been originally attached 
 to the romance. 
 
 (6) Hence no importance is to be given to the statement that 
 this is a second translation from the Latin. Evidently, the 
 original of the present form of the romance was not so regarded, 
 but only the copy presented to Jean de Nesle. 
 
 (c) The incunabula, which, by the way, possess the episode 
 of the Cercle d'Or in full, probably owe their version of Per- 
 lesvaus to MS. P. It could not have been taken from B for the 
 very fact that B lacks the complete form of this episode. We 
 cannot look upon O as its source, as the incunabula have the 
 very distinctive ending of the Welsh text, which ending is quite 
 different from that of O ; at the same time the Welsh text was 
 not the source, 1 as it contains only a part of the episode of the 
 Cercle d'Or. The incompleteness of C and of the Bern MS. 
 speaks for itself. Moreover, it is natural to assume that the 
 incunabula were reprinted from a MS. in the city of Paris. The 
 form of P does not permit us to regard this MS. as a part of the 
 cycle in which the Perlesvaus was originally incorporated; the 
 Quete follows Perlesvaus in the incunabula, and we have no in- 
 dication that it was substituted for a Lancelot (the romance which 
 is thought to have followed the Perlesvaus in the cycle). The 
 appearance of the Livre del Graal, Perlesvaus and Quete under 
 one cover I consider to be an arrangement of the publisher, who, 
 possibly, was led to it from a mercenary point of view. 
 
 (d) If the incunabula thus partly represent the Paris MS., the 
 conclusion of the latter can be supplied from them. This is said, 
 with some reservation, as the sixteenth century publisher may have 
 seen fit to change a point or two in the wording of his text, but 
 
 1 This, of course, leaves open the possibility that the incunabula were derived 
 from the source of W ; it remains to be seen whether this source can be identified 
 with P.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 19 
 
 the general agreement of his text, at the close, with W would 
 serve to show that he did not depart here to any extent from his 
 original. 
 
 NOTE. A word seems appropriate here in reference to the fragments of the 
 Perlesvaus in Berne 113, especially as Stengel says the variants given by Potvin 
 " ne sono tutte ne sempre esatte." True as this may be, for Potvin does make 
 mistakes, it is hardly possible that he overlooked any important variation in the 
 narrative, as he collated the fragments word for word with his own text (cf. 
 Potvin, op. cit., vol. i). Dr. E. C. Armstrong (of Johns Hopkins University) 
 kindly went over these fragments for me in 1896 and found no interruption 
 in the argument, showing that no serious omissions occur in the fragments 
 themselves.
 
 LITERATURE CONNECTED WITH THE 
 PERLESVAUS. 
 
 In the main, the researches of previous writers with respect to 
 the Perlesvaus cluster about the following points : 
 (a) The nature and origin of the romance ; 
 (6) The relationship of the romance to the other works of the 
 Grail cycle ; 
 
 (c) The affinity of the Perlesvaus with other literature than that 
 
 included by (6) ; 
 
 (d) The date of composition of the Perlesvaus ; 
 
 (e) The derivation, date, etc., of the special text (MS. B.) pre- 
 sented to Jean de Nesle. 
 
 I shall state now in chronological order and with reference, as 
 far as possible, to these five points, the views that have been brought 
 forward concerning the romance ; then I shall take up these views- 
 in the order in which they are stated and comment on them. 
 
 PREVIOUS VIEWS ON THE PERLESVAUS. 
 
 Although Sir Fred. Madden * and the Grimms 2 evidently knew 
 the Perlesvaus from the incunabula in which it was published, the 
 first writer to submit the romance to an examination was Ch. Pot- 
 vin in the introduction to his edition of the Conte du Graal and 
 Perlesvaus? 
 
 According to Potvin the works of the Grail legend may be 
 divided into three groups : 
 
 I. Those previous to the eleventh century (either previously 
 committed to writing or merely traceable in origin to a period 
 
 l l. e. *Cf. Altdeutsehe Wadder, Vol. i, Cassel, 1813, p. 2. 
 
 1 Cf. above, p. 1. 
 20
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 21 
 
 previous to 1000 A. D.), which represent national legends of the 
 conquered Britons ; 
 
 II. Those of the eleventh century, representing the introduction 
 of Christianity into Britain and the rise of a church militant spirit ; 
 
 III. Those of the twelfth century, which culminate in the chiv- 
 alric epic. The Perlesvaus belongs to the second group and owes its 
 origin (a) to the religious dissentions in England between the 
 Saxons, converts to Roman Christianity, and the Britons, adher- 
 ents of the heretic Irish Church. The Grail and the Lance, we 
 are told, were originally the national emblems of the Britons. 
 As such they were cherished even after the Britons had accepted 
 Christianity from the Irish. Finally, through the influence of St. 
 Augustine and his followers, they were identified with Christian 
 relics (those of Calvary), and thus they became symbols of the 
 Church. In the Perlesvaus, they are the special insignia of the 
 true faith and the bone of contention between Saxon and British 
 Christians. The theme of the romance is clearly indicated in 
 the words : effacer la mauvaise loi et exhausser la loi nouvelle ; l 
 Perceval is the champion of the true faith, and his mission is 
 to overcome and convert the infidels ; viz., the heretic Britons. 
 Many of the distinguishing features of the romance are ex- 
 plained in the light of this mission : the chastity and austerity 
 of the hero (Perceval), the absence of love scenes, the wars of 
 massacre and ruin, the pitiless treatment of the vanquished, etc. 
 
 As regards the second point (6), Potvin classes the Perlesvaus 
 with the Grand St. Graal and the Prose Merlin on account of its 
 religious trend and the type of adventures it relates. He thinks 
 the Grand St. Graal and the Prose Merlin, although composed late, 
 are much akin in spirit to the groundwork of the Grail legend. 
 It would thus seem to Potvin that there once existed a Grail cycle 
 which had three parts, as follows : (1) Graal, which related the 
 origin of the relic ; (2) Merlin, celebrating the national struggle 
 of the Britons against the Romans and early Saxons ; (3) Perceval, 
 depicting the civil war for religion and the triumph of Christianity. 
 
 The Quete, which agrees with the Perlesvaus in also haying 
 three heroes but only one perfect knight (Galaad), was not a source 
 
 1 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 16.
 
 22 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 of the Perlesvaus but rather itself modelled upon our romance- 
 The reasons given for this conclusion are : that in the r6le of a 
 Grail hero, Perceval antedates Galaad ; that Lancelot in the Quete 
 is unfaithful to his traditional love for Guenevere; and that 
 Galaad's illegitimate birth and his spotless life (in the Quete) are 
 contradictions which one would not expect to find in an early 
 treatment of the Grail legend. The Perceval (Conte du Graal) 
 Potvin places in the third period of the development of Grail 
 works. The Norman conquest effected by degrees the transforma- 
 tion of the ecclesiastical romances into the epic of chivalry, and 
 in the hands of the court poet, Crestien de Troyes, the Perlesvaus 
 or, at any rate, materials from it, took shape as the Perceval. 
 
 The third point (c) Potvin does not consider. As for (d), it has 
 already been mentioned that Potvin places the composition of the 
 romance in the eleventh century. The author's (sc. the scribe 
 of B) word may be accepted that the work was fashioned after an 
 old Latin book, written by Joseph, le bon clerc, which had been 
 previously translated into French. 1 This translation, Potvin 
 assumes, was made at the time when Hildebrand was striving for 
 the rights of the church and the celibacy of the clergy ; that is, 
 a short while after the Latin original was composed, during the 
 eleventh century. Our present copy (e) the bishop of Cambrai 
 had made for Jean de Nesle, castellan of Bruges, in the hope 
 of arousing interest in the crusades. Villehardouin puts Jean de 
 Nesle among those who took the cross in 1200; Rudolfus de 
 Niceto makes the castellan of Bruges and the bishop of Cambrai 
 appear in 1189 before St. John of Acre. This copy, Potvin argues, 
 was thus made toward the end of the twelfth century. In sub- 
 stance, however, it is similar to the lost Latin version, and the 
 spirit of the work contrasts markedly with that of Crestien's poem. 
 
 The next writer to consider the Perlesvaus was M. Hucher in 
 connection with one of the prose texts which he edited in 1875. 2 
 The sura of his remarks in regard to the work is that it is not based 
 on the Didot-Perceval (the text he is editing), and that, although 
 containing a few traces of Crestien's Perceval, it is largely an original 
 
 1 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 306. 
 
 1 Cf. E. Hucher : Le Saint Qraal ou Le Joseph d'Arimathie, Paris, 1875, Vol. I, 
 p. 377.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 23 
 
 production. Zarnke, who in 1876 made the first systematic survey 
 of the Grail cycle, has scarcely more than Hucher to say concerning 
 the work. 1 He gives the following grouping of the romances of 
 the Grail cycle: (1) Joseph of Robert de Borron ; (2) Grand St. 
 Graal; (3) Quete ; (4) Perceval; (5) Continuations of the Perce- 
 val; (6) Didot-Perceval ; (7) Perlesvaus. The Perlesvaus is put 
 last because the narrative of the romance (die fabel) presupposes 
 the Perceval of Crestien, and the fact that the work is ascribed to 
 an angel shows the influence of the other romances of the cycle. 
 
 More elaborate views than any of those I have mentioned, 
 appeared a year later (1877) in the well-known treatise on the 
 Grail-legend by Zarnke's pupil, Birch-Hirschfeld. 2 In regard to 
 (a), this writer is of the opinion that the work belongs to a class of 
 French romances whose authors tried to satisfy their readers with a 
 hap-hazard succession of adventures. It is admitted, however, 
 that the Grail forms the center of interest, and that the 
 action is placed to a certain extent about the quest of the Grail. 
 The second point (6) is treated at considerable length, and forms 
 really the burden of Birch-Hirschfeld's investigation of the subject. 
 
 The Perlesvaus is not one of the earliest Grail romances, for two 
 main reasons : the Perceval of Crestien must be assumed as 
 antecedent to it ; 3 the disconnected references in it to the Early 
 History 4 of the Grail show that the author was acquainted with 
 a work in which that particular phase of the legend was treated 
 in full. The following borrowings from the Perceval are claimed : 
 
 (1) The inquiry of the boy Perceval about knights. 5 
 
 (2) His departure on the day following this inquiry : Quant vint 
 Pendemain la matinee, li vallez se leva et oi les oisiaus chanter, et se 
 panssa qu'il iroit deduire an la forest par le jour qui biaus estoit, 
 Compare with this Crestien. 6 
 
 Et cil oisel en lor latin 
 Docement content au matin. 
 
 1 Cf. Paul and Braune's Beitraeye, Vol. III. 
 
 'Die Sage vom Oral, Leipzig, 1877, ch. 4. 
 
 1 Cf. below for proofs. 
 
 4 Cf. Nutt, Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail, London, 1888 ; p. 65. 
 
 6 Potvin, op. tit., Vol. i, p. 20. V. 1285.
 
 24 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 (3) Perceval monta sor un des chaceors son pere et porta ses 
 gave(r}los comme galois. Compare Crestien : * 
 
 De Galois fu appareillies ; 
 and Ses gaverlois en vot porter. 2 
 
 (4) Perceval's meeting with two knights, the one in red armor, 
 the other in white ; the death of the red knight (chevalier vermeil). 
 Cf. the Red Knight episode in the Perceval. 
 
 (5) The education of the boy in solitude and his utter ignorance 
 of knighthood ; incidents which are out of place in Perlesvaus as 
 the hero's father is still living when he leaves home. 
 
 (6) The fact that the chief characters are not given their real 
 names but are known by appellativa instead ; as, la veve dame, li 
 fiuz la veve dame. 3 All additional agreements which are found 
 between the Perceval and our romance can thus be explained by 
 the fact that the latter work is dependent on the former. The 
 numerous allusions in Perlesvaus to a former visit of Perceval to 
 the Grail Castle are best explained in this manner. 4 
 
 The Continuations of Crestien's poem are also set down as prior 
 to our work. Such, according to Birch-Hirschfeld, is certainly 
 the case with those of Gautier (Gautier here includes Pseudo- 
 Gautier) and Manessier, and probably the Continuation of Ger- 
 bert. To Gautier the Perlesvaus is indebted for: (1) the 
 story of the knight whom Lancelot is forced to behead ; (2) the 
 wonderful game of chess ; (3) the hound awaiting Perceval at the 
 Grail Castle ; (4) the figure of the white stag on Perceval's shield. 
 The episode of the Craven Knight (Chevalier Couart) must be 
 derived from the Continuation of Manessier, that of the Dragon 
 Knight (Chevalier au Dragon) from the Continuation of Gerbert. 
 Birch-Hirschfeld observes that in general the episodes taken from 
 these two continuators are found classed together in Perlesvaus. 
 He thinks that the story of the Beste glapissante and that of the 
 Priests and the Cross also came from the Gerbert Continuation, 
 though the author of the Perlesvaus reversed the sequence of the 
 
 l v. 1797. v . 1801. 
 
 1 These names show that the hero's father died in the course of the story. 
 4 Birch-Hirschfeld thinks that the Lance was not originally connected with the 
 Grail, Crestien having first placed them together.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 25 
 
 stories (that is, Priests and Cross, Beste glapissante) and made 
 them practically one story by changing the allegory. In 
 Gerbert, the noisy young of the Beste are those who disturb 
 the church (= mother) service by talking. We can scarcely 
 expect to find in the prose work, he says, this satirical allusion 
 to circumstances of Gerbert's own lifetime. Here the allegory 
 refers to Christ and the twelve tribes of the Jews, with which 
 meaning it is hard to reconcile the noisiness of the young. More- 
 over, the Beste in the romance seeks refuge at the cross because 
 the above change of allegory necessitated the union of the Beste 
 story with that of the Priests and the Cross. On the other hand, 
 the German critic sees no valid reason why, if Gerbert had found 
 these stories united, he should have separated them and changed 
 their order. 
 
 A further sign that our romance is indebted to the works in 
 question is seen in the fact that the versions it contains of the 
 above incidents and stories differ in a uniform way from the other 
 versions mentioned. In every case the Perlesvaus version lacks 
 the clearness and force of the corresponding version in the Perceval. 
 It is thus obvious to Birch-Hirschfeld that Crestien and his con- 
 tinuators did not make use of the Perlesvaus since one cannot 
 assume that each of these authors would have treated the same 
 source in just the same way. The general obscureness of the Per- 
 lesvaus versions, however, show that they are not direct copies, but 
 only "reminiscences" of the Perceval versions. 
 
 Furthermore, the Quete and the Grand St. Graal are claimed as 
 probable sources of the romance. Among the evidences of the 
 Quete in it, are : 
 
 (1) The white shield with the red cross, which is brought to the 
 court at Pannenoiseuse, 1 to be called for by Perceval ; cf. in the 
 Quete, the shield intended for Galaad. 
 
 (2) Perceval is destined to open a tomb and behold a dead 
 knight in full armor; 2 cf. Galaad raises the slab of a tomb and 
 finds an armed knight beneath. 
 
 1 Birch-Hirschfeld (p. 141) says Kamaalot, but this is a mistake ; cf. Potvin, op. 
 &., Vol. i, pp. 26 and 140. 
 
 ' Cf. Potvin, op. cil., Vol. I, p. 179.
 
 26 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 (3) Perceval's uncle is called Pelles ; cf. the Fisher King in the 
 Quete has the same name. 
 
 (4) The ship in which Perceval goes to various islands reminds 
 one of Galaad's ship. 
 
 (5) The Perlesvaus closes with Perceval's departure from Great 
 Britain in this ship never to return ; cf. the conclusion of the 
 Quete, where Galaad leaves in like manner with the corpse of 
 Perceval's sister. 
 
 (6) Lancelot is a Grail seeker; cf. the Quete. 
 
 (7) Lancelot's guilty love for the Queen is the cause of his not 
 seeing the Grail and the subject of several sermons; likewise in 
 the Quete. 
 
 But the dependence of the Perlesvaus on the Grand St. Graal 
 is hard to prove. 1 The name Joseph, the fact that he is the 
 first to celebrate mass, and dictation by an angel claimed as 
 the source of the story, are traits which suggest the Grand 
 St. Graal. Further, Perceval's zeal to convert the heathen 
 at any cost is consistent with the spirit of the Grand St. 
 Graal. The tone of the Perlesvaus associates it most with the 
 Quete : the hero is of the ascetic type and we miss the treatment 
 of love common to many Arthurian romances. Even Gawain 
 is exemplary in this respect, the author evidently wishing to 
 oppose the worldliness of Crestien's heroes. The objection that 
 the central figure of the Quete, Galaad, is not even mentioned is 
 anticipated by the statement that " this last independent attempt 
 at a Grail romance" reinstated Perceval in his former rights 
 because the author realized him to be the traditional Grail seeker. 
 To support this statement Birch -Hi rschf eld cites the claim of 
 our author that he is giving oldest and most reliable account of 
 the Grail. 2 
 
 Nevertheless, the author of the Perlesvaus was not servile to 
 his models ; he changed his material freely to suit his own tastes. 
 The character of the sick king (Fisher King), for instance, who 
 expects to be healed by the Grail knight, has undergone altera- 
 tion. Here his illness is brought on by the failure of Perceval to 
 
 1 Birch-Hirschfeld, however, argues thai an author so well versed in Grail works 
 as the writer of Perlesvaus could not have been ignorant of the Grand St. QraaL 
 *Cf. Potvin, op. ciL, Vol. i, p. 219.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 27 
 
 ask the question concerning the Grail, and his wish to see his 
 nephew, the Grail knight, is not fulfilled. The nature of these 
 changes, however, is thoroughly in keeping with the fact that the 
 Perlesvaus is the latest work of the Grail cycle. 
 
 As for the date when it was composed (d), Birch-Hirschfeld 
 makes no distinction between this and (e), the date of the special 
 text given to Jean de Nesle. Accordingly, he is of the opinion 
 that the Perlesvaus was composed after Gerbert wrote his Con- 
 tinuation ; that is, in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. 
 The Jean de Nesle mentioned in the text (B) is not the person by 
 this name that died before Acre in 1187, but rather the one who 
 sold his castellany to the countess of Flanders in 1225; hence the 
 omission of the title chatelain in the text. Concerning (c), the 
 German scholar has nothing to say. 
 
 Curiously enough, while the treatise of Birch-Hirschfeld was 
 challenged on a number of points, his views on the Perlesvaus, 
 until recently went unnoticed. Even in Nutt's Studies, 1 which 
 appeared in 1886, we find the Perlesvaus dismissed with the asser- 
 tion that it is " too late and unoriginal " to be of use in a study of 
 the origin of the Grail legend. In a review of Nutt's book, 2 
 Gaston Paris protests against this writer's neglect of the Perles- 
 vaus. Paris says there : " II (Nutt) n'a pas, si je ne me trompe 
 discerne 1 la vraie place du roman en prose de Perlesvaus (ou de 
 sa source) dans 1'ensemble du cycle, et il en a mSconnu 1'importance 
 et la date, suivant a tort en ce point 1'opinion de M. Birch- 
 Hirschfeld." 
 
 In La litterature frangaise au moyen dge, 3 we have a brief sum- 
 mary of Paris' own view in regard to the work, though no attempt 
 is made to substantiate the view. Paris thinks the romance may 
 have existed at first in a versified form. As to the romances with 
 which it is connected, he says nothing beyond expressing the belief 
 that it entered largely into the composition of the original Quete, 
 and that the primitive prose Lancelot got its notion of the Grail 
 from it. However, he elsewhere makes the statement 4 that Lance- 
 lot, being known from the Conte de la Charrette and the prose 
 
 1 Op. ciL, p. 64. J Romania, xvm, 588. 
 
 2nd edition, Paris, 1890, p. 100, 102. * Op. cit., p. 100.
 
 28 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Lancelot as the lover of Guenevere, cannot conquer the Grail in 
 the Perlesvaus because here the holy vessel can only be won by 
 a pure knight. This statement would lead one to infer that the 
 prose Lancelot was a source of the Perlesvaus instead of the latter 
 being, as was said, a source of the prose Lancelot. A final refer- 
 ence by Gaston Paris to the romance is found in a notice on 
 Golther's article Chrestiens Conte del Graal in seinem Verhdltniss 
 zum Wdlschen Peredur und zum Englislien Sir Perceval, 1 to the 
 effect that as long as Golther and Nutt continue " a uegliger de 
 parti pris le Perlesvaus," their discussions seem to him (Paris) to 
 be useless. The fact is there also mentioned for the first time that 
 in places the Perlesvaus touches directly on Celtic tradition. 
 
 Lastly, the most recent and extensive contribution on this sub- 
 ject are the researches of Richard Heinzel on the French side of 
 the Grail question, 2 which were published in the same year (1891) 
 in which Paris wrote the notice just mentioned. In re-examin- 
 ing the French Grail romances (and it is noteworthy that 
 Heinzel drew his information directly from the texts instead 
 or relying as did Birch-Hirschfeld on summaries of them), it 
 was Heinzel's purpose to ascertain the conceptions that the 
 individual authors had of the Grail legend, and if possible to 
 explain whence these conceptions were derived. 3 He thus, has 
 little to say on the nature and origin of the works them- 
 selves (a). The Perlesvaus, he believes, represents the end of a 
 Saga-development which brings out the warlike nature of the 
 Grail hero alongside of his chastity. This characteristic of the 
 romance is seen in the fact that Perceval does not receive the 
 "Grail Castle from the Fisher King but has to conquer it from the 
 King of the Chastel Mortel. 
 
 As to (6), the only work of those mentioned by Birch-Hirschfeld 
 which Heinzel feels certain our author used is the Crestien portion 
 of the Perceval. In addition, however, to the borrowings from 
 Crestien cited above, Heinzel claims several others : the wording 
 of the question concerning the Grail, cui on en servoit; the fact 
 
 1 Romania, xx, 504. 
 
 * Veber die franzoezischen Gralromane, Denkschriften der kgl. Akademie der 
 Wissenschaften ; Vienna, 1891, 196 pp., 4to. 
 3 Op. dt., p. 1.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 29 
 
 that the Grail is carried past Perceval into une autre chambre at the 
 Grail Castle ; the claim that the Fisher King's pastime is due 
 to his illness. He admits as only probable the supposition that the 
 Perlesvaus is based on the Continuations of the Perceval. Thus far, he 
 thinks, the dependence of the romance on the Continuation of Ger- 
 bert has been brought out best. He suggests further that the idea 
 of the Fisher King's country as an unusually fertile place may be 
 a reminiscence of Pseudo-Gautier's account of the Grail country. 1 
 However, Heinzel rejects the more important points made by 
 Birch-Hirschfeld in favor of the priority of the Quete and the 
 Grand St. Graal. In Perlesvaus, the white shield with the sign 
 of the cross was originally the property of Joseph of Arimathia, 
 the cross was not put on it until after the crucifixion ; the shield 
 in the Quete and Grand St. Graal belongs to Evalach Modrain, 
 at first Josephe (not Joseph) had adorned it with a cross of red 
 cloth, then he painted a cross on it with his own blood. The Per- 
 lesvaus account thus represents a simpler, and therefore older, form 
 of the Joseph legend than the account of the other two works ; this 
 fact is further confirmed by the circumstance that Josephus Flavius 
 is named as the author of the Latin version of our romance. 
 The general resemblance of Perceval's voyages with those of 
 Galaad does not show that our romance was based on the Quete. 
 Heinzel thinks rather that the model for Perceval's journey to the 
 island of the monks was some version of the legend of Brendan. 
 The kind of greeting extended to Perceval and the idea of an 
 island inhabited only by monks suggest the Brendan legend. 
 This view is further supported by the reference in Perlesvaus to 
 the terra repromissionis. Nor can we accept Birch-Hirschfeld's 
 belief that our romance follows the example of the Grand St. 
 Graal in naming an angel as its source. The Grand St. Graal 
 claims to have come from Christ Himself and to have been 
 recorded at His command by a recluse, the boldness of which 
 claim indicates that this work is a more recent composition than 
 the Perlesvaus. Besides an angel as the source of a romance again 
 suggests the Brendan, aber deren deutschen Fassung. 2 
 
 1 The land grows very fruitful after Gawain's visit to the Grail Castle. 
 J Cf. Shroeder, Scmct Brandan, Erlangen, 1871, p. 14 ff.
 
 30 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 In accordance with the method of treatment pursued by Heiuzel 
 in the case of each of the works he considers, the latter gives 
 a detailed account of the leading characteristics of the Grail legend 
 that appear in our romance. It is worth while noting his observa- 
 tions regarding such of these characteristics as throw light especially 
 on its relationship to the other romances of the Grail cycle. 
 
 The Grail is a basin, in which the blood of the Saviour was 
 caught as He hung on the cross. But it is uncertain who held the 
 Grail ; the Perlesvaus contains several conflicting statements. 1 Je 
 vi le Graal, fit li mestres avant que li Rois Peschieres Joseph, qui ce 
 onques fu, recueUi le sane Jliesu- Christ ; from this passage we can- 
 not determine whether or not the author also understood by the 
 Grail the vessel used at the Last Supper (cf. Second Interpolation, 
 Pseudo-Gautier). 
 
 Joseph of Arimathia was the first possessor of the Grail and 
 the Lance ; he was imprisoned by Pilate and went by the name 
 Rois Peschierres (Fisher King). There is a curious passage in 
 the text, 2 saying that on the island of the monks Perceval 
 found an 1 mout biau leu 1 tonnel autre tel conme si fust d'ivoire, et 
 estoit si granz que il avoit 1 chevalier dedanz touz armez. II (Perce- 
 val) esgarde la dedans et voit le chevalier, et I'aresna meintesfoiz, mes 
 onques li chevaliers ne vot respondre. The story goes on to say that 
 Perceval enquired who this might be, but was told that he 
 would not find out until he came to the island a second time. 
 This second visit is mentioned, but not described, in the Perlesvaus. 
 Heinzel thinks the knight in the tonnel was Joseph. In a simi- 
 lar manner, he says, Malory's paraphrase of Huth's Continuation of 
 Merlin 3 says (on the occasion of the douloureux coup inflicted on 
 the Fisher King, Pellehan, in the Grail Castle) that Balaain fled 
 from room to room, and at last entered a handsomely decorated 
 place where someone lay upon a sumptuous bed, with the holy 
 lance at his side ; this was Joseph of Arimathia. 
 
 Now the fact that neither Joseph in Malory nor the knight in 
 Perlesvaus (also Joseph) is dead, but is lying in a miraculous sleep, 
 to Heinzel's mind shows that Joseph once took the same part in 
 
 1 Cf. Heinzel, op. cit. t p. 178. * Cf. Potvin, op. til., p. 328. 
 
 s Cf. Merlin, ed. Gaston Paris et Jacob Ulrich, soc. des anc. textes franc., Paris, 
 1886, Vol. n, p. 27.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 31 
 
 legend that the father of the Fisher King has in Crestien, Bron 
 (or Petrus) in Robert de Borron, Evalach-Mordrain in the Grand 
 St. Graal; namely, Joseph was still to see the Grail champion. 
 
 Perceval is descended from Joseph, probably in the same manner 
 as in the Second interpolation in Pseudo-Gautier : Perceval's mother 
 was the daughter of Joseph's sister, Veronica, and Nicodemus. 
 
 Perceval is the nephew of the Fisher King. Crestien, 1 how- 
 ever, considers them cousins. Perceval's father is Elain (Vilain, 
 Villein, Vilan, Julien) li Gros, son of Glais li Gros, who had 
 twelve sons. Heinzel does not attempt to explain definitely the 
 relation of this Alain to the Alains mentioned in Robert, the Didot- 
 Perceval, the Grand St. Graal; but from references he gives to 
 other parts of his treatise 2 we learn the following : 
 
 Robert de Borron's conception of Alain (one of twelve brothers, 
 at first vowed to chastity, 3 then willing to marry in order to beget 
 Perceval 4 ) is probably due to a confusion of a missionary Alain 
 with Alain, the ancestor of an illustrious family. The author of 
 the Grand St. Graal corrected this confusion according to older 
 traditions, in which the two Alains are kept distinct. The second 
 Alain, namely the ancestor, may be historical, as is apparently 
 inferred from the Grand St. Graal and the Didot- Perceval, in 
 which this Alain has the surname li Gros. 6 
 
 The Grail in the Perlesvaus probably represents the chalice of 
 the mass as regards only the vessel itself and not its contents. 6 In 
 this respect the Perlesvaus occupies an intermediate position between 
 the Joseph of Robert, which confuses the service 1 of the Grail with 
 the sacrifice of the mass, and the Grand St. Graal, in which, 
 although the Grail is placed on the altar, mass is celebrated with 
 a chalice containing bread and wine, by a regularly ordained priest. 
 
 The question concerning the Grail (cui on en servoif) is not in 
 Perlesvaus, as it originally was, the means by which the hero identi- 
 fies himself (cf. the Joseph of Robert de Borron), but a charm which 
 cures disease ; 8 it may be asked by Gawain and Lancelot as well 
 as by Perceval. According to Crestien, Manessier and Didot- 
 
 1 Cf. v. 7789. J Cf. op. cii., p. 174. 
 
 1 Joseph, v. 2959. * Ibid., vv. 3091, 3467. 
 
 5 Cf. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 122. 6 Cf. ibid., pp. 87 and 232. 
 
 7 Cf. Joseph, v. 2682. 8 Cf. Heinzel, op. cit. t p. 15.
 
 32 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Perceval, the asking of the question both identifies the hero and cures 
 the Fisher King ; according to Gautier, it identifies the hero and 
 restores the land to fruitfulness ; according to Pseudo-Gautier it 
 has only the last effect. The admonition Gawain receives to ask 
 the question, Heinzel considers an imitation of Pseudo-Gautier. 1 
 
 The idea that the Grail Castle is hard to find, which occurs in the 
 Pseudo-Crestien, 2 the Domanda* and Parzival* and which must 
 be presupposed for Gautier's Continuation and the Qu&te, Heinzel 
 thinks originated from the motif of Robert de Borron that the last 
 possessor of the Grail 5 has to seek for the previous keeper of it. 
 
 Relative to (c), the agreements of the Perlesvaus with other 
 works than those of the immediate Grail cycle, Heinzel brings 
 forward a number of points. _ 
 
 (1) The legend of Brendan was a source of the romance. 6 
 
 (2) The monastic government of the monks' island in Perlesvaus 
 (a parallel to the theocratic dynasty of the Fisher Kings in 
 Robert) is equipped with characteristics resembling the knightly 
 orders, especially the Templars. The monks wear white garments 
 with red crosses on the bosoms. Their authority extends over 
 distant islands, in charge of which they place governors with royal 
 prerogatives. If the latter manage well, they are advanced; if 
 not, they are deposed and punished. 7 
 
 (3) The influence of the Evangeliwn Nicodemi is seen in the fact 
 that Joseph rides a white mule, though our author attributes this 
 feature to Josephus. That Pilate, who gives Joseph the body of 
 Christ, 8 should also be the person who thrusts him into prison is 
 probably a slip on the part of our author. 
 
 (4) The burial of Lohot 9 bears a close resemblance to Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth's description of the burial of Arthur in Avallon. 
 
 (5) The adventure of Perceval's sister at the Dangerous Ceme- 
 tery resembles the episode of the damsel at the G-aste Chapele in 
 the Chevalier as deus espees. 10 
 
 1 Perceval, v. 20239. * Ibid., v. 99. s Fol. 17 a. 
 
 4 Parzival, 250, 29. 5 Joseph, vv. 2819, 3128. 6 Of. above. 
 
 7 Cf. Heinzel, op. cil., pp. 133, 176, for references to works in which this idea is 
 mentioned. 
 
 8 Potvin, op. cil., Vol. I, p. 2. 9 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., p. 170. 
 
 10 w. 440-960.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 33 
 
 (6) Several of the relics mentioned by Perlesvaus are found in 
 JSqjhelijn. The Lancelot of 1533 2 and Claris et Laris 3 have a 
 king au cercle d'or. 
 
 (7) Some of the features of the romance are found in Wolfram's 
 Parzival : in Perlesvaus a flame descends upon the Grail Castle, in 
 Parzival a dove brings a consecrated wafer to the Grail ; Gawaiu 
 shows compassion for the Grail king in both works; 4 the monks 
 on the island call to mind Wolfram's Templeisen. 5 
 
 (8) But Gaston Paris' assertion 6 that our romance was a source 
 of the primitive prose Lancelot may be called in question. There 
 is no special similarity, says Heinzel, between the extant Lancelot 
 and the Perlesvaus ; the characters of Gawain and Lancelot are 
 4t entirely different" in the two romances, nor is Lancelot's con- 
 nection with the Grail family the same ; further, Lancelot in the 
 Lancelot is the father of the Grail hero (Galaad), an idea which is 
 incompatible with the ascetic trend of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 From the evidence at hand, Heinzel does not try to establish 
 the date when the romance was composed (d). In the summary 
 of results of his investigation 7 it is merely stated again that the 
 Perlesvaus is based on the Perceval proper and probably on the 
 Continuation of Pseudo-Gautier. Evidently Heinzel is unwilling 
 to commit himself as to the other continuators. 
 
 On the whole, however, he believes the work is a mixture of 
 data relatively old and new. Signs of a more recent date are seen 
 in the misinterpretation of the sources established above, and in 
 the following : 
 
 (1) The Fisher King is not sick but becomes so through the 
 failure of Perceval to ask the question concerning the Grail. 
 
 (2) The fact that Perceval has to conquer the Grail Castle from 
 the King of Chastel Mortel, which is a special form of legend, 
 -contradicting the older data of Robert de Borron. 
 
 (3) The title, Fisher King, applied to Joseph of Arimathia. 
 The romance certainly stands alone in this respect. Robert and 
 the Grand St. Graal first use the name in reference to Bron or 
 
 1 Cf. Paul's Grundriss. Vol. ir, fols. 37 c, 39 c. v. 25038. 
 
 4 Parzival, 795, 29. 6 Cf. also A. V. Scharffenberg, Titurel. 
 
 a Cf. above. 7 Heinzel, op. cil., p. 189. 
 
 3
 
 34 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Alain ; but it may have been transferred directly from Petrus r 
 whom Heinzel believes bore it first, to Joseph. 
 
 (4) The five muances in which the Grail appears ; the mass of 
 relics mentioned ; Gawaiu and Lancelot as contrasts to Perceval, 
 whereas Crestien and his continuators, as well as the author of 
 Didot- Perceval only mention Gawain ; the fact that Kei's character 
 is wholly perverse. 
 
 (5) The name Perlesvaus, Pellesvaus (sg. Parluifet) ; which- 
 Heinzel terms etymologische spielerei. 
 
 Among the characteristics of more remote date, Heinzel places r 
 
 (1) The question concerning the Grail. 1 
 
 (2) The two Idealreiche, as Heinzel calls them, over which 
 Perceval reigns : the kingdom of the Grail, and the monks' island 
 in which Pelles was renowned. 
 
 (3) The fact that the monks on the island at first do not possess 
 the Grail, though they have charge of Joseph in a trance. This 
 trait 2 is older than the story of Joseph and the Grail at the Grail 
 Castle in the Huth Continuation (Merlin). 
 
 Concerning the present text (e), Heinzel supposes that the romance- 
 originally formed a part of a cycle, 3 from which this MS. (B) was 
 copied. The work that followed the Perlesvaus in this cycle must 
 have been a sort of Lancelot since the wars of Briant and Claudas- 
 were still to be narrated. Heinzel gives reference to several worka 
 which record wars between Claudas, Ban de Benoic and Lancelot ; 
 but, he says, Briant des Hies is not mentioned as a participant 
 in these wars. 4 However, as Gottfried's Tristan 5 tells us that 
 Arondel was an island lying between Britanje and Engelant r 
 Heinzel identifies the Briant of our romance with Briant d'Aron- 
 del. 6 The kinship between Lancelot and Briant is authenticated 
 by other sources, as, for example, the Lancelot. 1 In conclusion,. 
 
 i Cf. Perceval, w. 4423, 4471, 4480. 
 
 'This may be a remnant of the primitive Joseph-legend, not yet united with, 
 the legend of the Grail. 
 
 3 Cf. above. 
 
 *Cf. the Vulgata Continuation of Merlin (at the end) and the beginning of the 
 Lancelot ; also the third book of the Lancelot. For the references given by Hein- 
 zel to works in which Briant is mentioned, cf. op. cit., p. 177. 
 
 6 v. 18692. 6 Durmart le Qallois, w. 6703, 7745. 
 
 ' Cf. Heinzel, op. cit., pp. 178, 141, 157.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 35 
 
 the Perlesvaus and the romance which followed it in the cycle were 
 intimately related since the Perlesvaus deals with incidents belong- 
 ing in reality to the other work. 
 
 DISCUSSION OF THE ABOVE VlEWS. 
 
 Potvin's views on the Perlesvaus require no special consideration 
 here as, in the main, they have already been implicitly refuted by 
 the arguments of Birch-Hirschfeld and Heinzel. The falsity of 
 Potvin's position in regard to the age and origin of the Perlesvaus 
 is especially clear from the few proofs which these scholars adduce 
 for the priority of Crestien's poem over the romance. There are, 
 however, one or two points in Potvin's presentation of the subject 
 which have not been settled by the later critics and which thus 
 remain to be considered. These points are the suggestion that 
 the Perlesvaus was a source of the Quete (Potvin is unques- 
 tionably right in claiming that the Quete is not a source of Perles- 
 vaus), 1 and the testimony drawn from Villehardouin that Jean de 
 Nesle took the cross in 1200, and that consequently the present 
 copy of the Perlesvaus, which is dedicated to Jean de Nesle, was 
 written before this date. The latter point particularly should be 
 considered as it bears directly on the question of the relationship 
 of Perlesvaus to the Continuations of the Perceval. 2 
 
 The views of Hucher and Zarnke may be passed over without 
 comment as they are not substantiated with adequate evidence; 
 moreover, the article containing Zarnke's views was superseded 
 soon after its publication by the treatise of Birch-Hirschfeld. 
 
 As has been seen, this last scholar represents the extreme to 
 Potvin in assigning the romance an unimportant position in the 
 Grail cycle. The errors that Birch-Hirschfeld seems to have 
 made in this respect, for the most part, have been corrected 
 by Heinzel. For the reasons Heinzel mentions it is very likely 
 that Perlesvaus is quite independent of the Quete and the Grand 
 St. Graai instead of being derived in part from these works, as 
 Birch-Hirschfeld maintained. 
 
 On the other hand, as Heinzel admits, Crestien's Perceval must 
 have been a source of our romance. The evidence adduced by 
 
 1 Of. above. *Cf. below.
 
 36 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Birch-Hirschfeld to this effect cannot be disputed. However, as 
 this evidence is taken mainly from one part (the first) of our 
 romance, there may be further agreements with the Perceval in 
 other parts of the work. Although Heinzel here supplements 
 Birch-Hirschfeld's work by adducing further points (chiefly con- 
 cerning the Grail), neither of these writ rs attempts to ascertain 
 the extent to which the romance is based on the Perceval. Further- 
 more, Birch-Hirschfeld apparently overlooks the possibility that 
 the continuators of the Perceval and our author had a common 
 source for some of the episodes l in question above. We not in- 
 frequently come across stories in Arthurian literature which are 
 the common property of several works, and the relationship 
 of such stories is seldom the simple matter that Birch-Hirschfeld 
 supposes in this instance. At all events, before we can accept 
 his view that the Perlesvaus is based on the Continuations of the 
 Perceval, it will be necessary to make a careful comparison of the 
 episodes corresponding to one another in these works. 
 
 As to the Beste Glapissante, a priori Gerbert's version of 
 this story seems in no way superior to the version in our romance. 
 Certainly Gerbert would have shown lack of skill had he not 
 separated this episode from that of the Priests and the Cross 
 (supposing he found them thus united), inasmuch as the church 
 would then be seeking refuge at the foot of the Cross, a notion 
 which Gerbert surely did not have in mind. Our writer's treat- 
 ment of both episodes, however, is in harmony with the rest of 
 his work ; the Beste Glapissante episode is connected with the 
 greatest event in sacred history, and the noise of the Beste 1 's young 
 is made to symbolize the revolt of the Jews against Christ, who 
 was nevertheless to be regarded as their creator. 
 
 The date of the romance, as I have said, has not been satisfac- 
 torily established by Birch-Hirschfeld, and as Heinzel makes no 
 effort to determine it more precisely, this point is yet to be settled. 
 
 Paris' views, as they are not supported by proof, have only the 
 value of suggestions. The fact, however, is to be emphasized that 
 the French scholar holds the romance was a source of the original 
 Qudte, in which belief he was in a way anticipated by Potvin. 
 
 1 For specific reasons why the Perceval proper and the Perlesvaus are not derived 
 from a common source, see below, p. 57.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 37 
 
 But whether or not it originally had a versified form, seems likely 
 to remain largely a matter of conjecture, unless additional MSS. 
 are found which throw light on the question. Surely, the MSS. 
 that are now known belong to one and the same prose redaction. 
 
 The work of Heinzel on the Perlesvaus is thus the most serious 
 contribution that has been made to the subject. Accuracy in deal- 
 ing with his material explains largely the advance that this scholar 
 has made on his predecessors. The reason that several questions, 
 such as the kinship of the romance to the Continuations of Perceval. 
 are still left open, is evidently that an adequate treatment of them 
 could not be compressed within the bounds of his treatise. 1 Heiu- 
 zel's work, however, is rich in single observations and suggestions, 
 especially in regard to entirely new points of interest in the romance. 
 
 To consider now, in detail, some of the special points which 
 Heinzel brings forward. Our author's description of the fertility, 
 etc. of the Grail country is taken to indicate a knowledge of 
 Pseudo-Gautier's works. This argument does not convince. After 
 all, this description of the Grail country may be a mere fore- 
 shadowing of a later description of the same place as a paradise 
 abode, 2 in which nothing is lacking that ministers to the needs of 
 men. Even the first account 3 says that the Castle was avironnez 
 de granz eves et planteureuse de tons biens ; and the second, in 
 which 4 its proximity to the paradis terrestre is brought out, dis- 
 tinctly states that it was " as rich and beautiful as many times you 
 have heard related." Apparently, thus, our author conceived of 
 the Grail country as a kind of Eden, 5 the fertility of which is 
 not, as in the Continuation of Pseudo-Gautier, the result of 
 Ga wain's visit. 
 
 Again, it may be doubted that the Perlesvaus is closely connected 
 with the Second Interpolation into Pseudo-Gautier's part of Perceval. 
 It is true, the two works agree that the Grail was used to catch our 
 Lord's blood as He hung on the cross, but Perlesvaus has the same 
 agreement with the Continuation proper of Pseudo-Gautier, the 
 Continuation of Manessier and the Didot- Perceval. It may be 
 reasonably doubted, too, that the Perlesvaus imitated the Second 
 Interpolation in giving Perceval's ancestry. The author could not 
 have meant to imply that Perceval's mother was the daughter of 
 
 ' Cf. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 1. * Of. Potvin, op. tit., Vol. i, p. 249. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 83. * Ibid., p. 248. 5 The Castle is even called Eden.
 
 38 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Joseph's sister, Veronica, and Nicoderaus. True, the Brussels 
 MS. read : Oil qui _.'u chies du lignage de par sa mere ot non Nico- 
 demus. But this is evidently a corruption. 1 It is said of the 
 tomb at Kamaalot that Perceval had been told it was older than 
 his great-grandfather. 2 Later the tomb opens, 3 and a knight, 
 lying in full armor, comes to view ; from letters found with the 
 body, it is learned that the knight was " one who aided in taking 
 our Lord from the cros.." Of course, Nicodemus is meant. 4 
 The authority, thus, of the Bern MS. ; that is, du lignage de par 
 son peie, must be followed. This reading is further upheld by 
 MS. G and the Welsh text. 
 
 The Perlesvaus states clearly that Joseph took Christ down from 
 the cross. 5 However, as Heinzel says, who collected Christ's blood 
 is not easy to determine. If in preference to MS. B, we followed 
 the Welsh text, " and he kept with him the spear and the vessel, 
 in which he (Joseph) had collected the blood that was in the gore 
 of the wounds, when He came down from the cross ; " we would 
 have to admit that Joseph also received the Saviour's blood in 
 Perlesvaus, though not until the body had been removed from the 
 cross, an idea which conflicts with that stated above. But, the Welsh 
 scribe probably felt the same indecision that we experience now, 
 and gave us his translation in order, at least, not to disagree with 
 the clear statement of fact found on this matter in other works 
 (cf. the Joseph and the Grand St. Graal). The line, cil qui le 
 creoient reeiurent peoureusement le sane qui decouroit de ces plaies, 
 quant ilfu mis en la croiz, as Heinzel quotes it, must be the cor- 
 rect reading for this passage; the Oxford, Grail-Lancelot and 
 Bern MSS. agree in this. There were several persons (oil) who 
 caught the Saviour's blood. 
 
 There is, however, still another account of the crucifixion in 
 Perlesvaus : 6 de I'autre part de la croiz avoit un homme qui ne 
 sanbloit mie estre liez, mes il reconfortoit la dame le plus bien qu'il 
 povet. II i avoit unes autres genz qui recoillent son sane an un 
 seintime vessel que I' on tenoit. The un homme must be St. John 7 
 and the unes autres genz, the same persons referred to in the passage 
 
 1 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., Vol. i, p. 358. a Ibid., p. 18. 
 
 76id., p. 179. *Cf. below. 
 
 6 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., Vol. i, p. 176. 6 Potvin, op. dt., Vol. i, p. 318. 
 
 7 Cf. John xrx, 26, 27.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 39 
 
 above (ciF). It would simplify matters considerably if we might 
 infer that Joseph and Nicodemus are referred to, but the objection 
 to this inference is that none of the gospels represent Joseph 
 as present at the crucifixion. 1 
 
 Thus it seems that Perlesvaus is really divided between the two 
 set accounts of the first use made of the Grail ; namely, that in the 
 Perceval, as exemplified especially by Pseudo-Gautier and Manes- 
 sier, and that in the Metrical Joseph of Robert de Borron. Accord- 
 ing to the former account, the Grail is the vessel in which Christ's 
 blood was received as He hung on the cross ; and in the latter, it 
 is the vessel used at the Last Supper ; that is, it existed before 
 Joseph (or any one else) used it at the crucifixion, and it was the 
 receptacle of Christ's blood after His body had been removed 
 from the cross. But our author's account of the Early History 
 was probably derived, at least, indirectly, from Robert de Borron. 
 In proof of this, compare the following passages from the Perles- 
 vaus and the Metrical Joseph : z 
 
 Gawain is told at the Chateau de I'Anqueste that two of the 
 sealed heads, which the damsel has in her cart, are those of Adam 
 and Eve. Ele dist verite conme Joseph nos tesmoigne, car il nos dit 
 par remanbrance que par envie fu Adanz traiz, etc. Continuing, 
 the priest, who is addressing Gawain, says : Vos savez bien, que par 
 la pome que Eve fist mangier a Adam, alerent autresint an anfer, 
 aussint li bon comme li mauvais ; et, par son peuple giter d'anfer 
 devint Diex hons, et gita ces anmis hors d'anfer par sa bonte et par 
 sa puissance ; et por ce nos Jet Joseph reverance (remembrance) del 
 chastel au noir hermit qui senefie anfer, et que li Bons Chevaliers an 
 geitera ceus fors qui dedanz sont. Et vos di que li noirs hermites est 
 Lucifer qui autresint est sires d'anfer comme il vost estre de paradis. 3 
 
 Cf. Le pueple que il (Christ) feit avoit 
 
 D'Evein et d'Adam, convenoit 
 Raiembre et giter hors d'enfer, 
 Que tenoit enclos Lucifer 
 Pour le pechie d'Adam no pere, 
 Que il fist fere Eve no mere 
 Par la pomme qu'ele menja 
 Et qu'ele son mari donna.* 
 
 1 Cf. Matthew, xxvii, 57. 2 F. Michel : Roman du St. Graal, Bordeaux, 1841. 
 
 3 Perlesvaus (Potvin, op. cit., Vol. i), p. 79. 4 Metrical Joseph, vv. 81-88
 
 40 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Joseph of Arimathia was sodoiers Pilate for seven years ; as- 
 payment for his services, he asked permission only to take the 
 Saviour's body down from the cross. This seemed little to Pilate 
 for Joseph had served him well. If he had demanded gold or 
 property, it would have been given to him willingly. When 
 Pilate gave Joseph the body, it was thought that he would drag 
 it through the city and cast it out into a foul place. But li bons 
 soudoiers laid it in the sepulchre, and kept the lance with which 
 Christ had been struck, and the holy vessel in which those that 
 believed in Him received the blood taken from His wounds. 1 
 
 The tongs used at the crucifixion are found in the tomb of 
 Nicodemus. 2 Nicodemus assists Joseph at the descent from th& 
 cross 3 . . . la doulor que Damdiex soufri ; car Vangoisse fu si 
 granz que la pierre enfondi* 
 
 Cf. A lui (Pilate) servoit uns soudoiers 
 
 Qui souz lui cut V. chevaliers.* 
 
 Joseph comes to Pilate and says : 
 
 . . . servi t'ei longuement 
 Et je et mi V. chevalier 
 Ne n'ei eu point de lanier, 
 Ne ja n'en arei guerredon 
 Fors tant que me donras un don 
 De ce que touz jors promis m'as 
 Donne-le-moi, povoir en has. 8 
 
 Pilate tells him to make his request : 
 
 " Je demant le cors de Jhesu 
 Qu'il ont a tort en croiz pendu. 1 ' 
 Pilates mout se merveilla 
 Quant si don demanda, 
 Et dist Pilates : Je quidoie 
 Et dedenz mon cuer pensoie 
 Que greigneur chose voussiez 
 Et, certes, que vous 1'eussiez. 
 Pour ce que son cors demandez 
 Pour vos soudes vous 1'arez." 7 
 
 1 Perlesvaus, p. 2. 2 Ibid., p. 179. s Ibid. 
 
 4 Ibid., p. 206. s Metrical Joseph, w. 119-120. 
 
 8 Metrical Joseph, v/442 ff. T Ibid., v. 455 ff. 
 
 NOTE. As Heinzel has remarked, the accounts of Pilate in the Perlesvaus are 
 contradictory. The reason for this is probably that our author confused the two-
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 41 
 
 Joseph returns to Pilate without the body because of the angry 
 crowd of Jews ; then Pilate sends Nicodemus with him : at the 
 same time he gives Joseph le veissel (sc. Grail). 
 
 Nychodemus si s'en entra 
 Chies un fevre que il trova ; 
 Tentilles prist et un martel 
 Qu'ilec trouva, mout 1'en fu bel 
 Et vinrent a la crouiz errant. 1 
 
 Finally : 
 
 Et cil andui en haut munterent 
 Et Jhesu de la crouiz osterent. 
 Joseph entre ses braz le prist, 
 Tout souef a terre le mist, 
 Le cors atourna beleraent 
 Et le lava mout nestement. 
 Endrementier qu'il le lavoit, 
 Vist le cler sane qui decouroit 
 De ses plaies, qui li seinroient 
 Pour ce que lavees estoient : 
 De la pierre adonc li membra 
 Quifendi quant li sans raia 
 De sen coste, oufuferuz. 
 Adonc est-il errant couruz 
 A son veissel et si 1'a pris, 
 Et lou li sans couloit 1'a mis. 2 
 
 Or fu li sanz touz receuz 
 
 Et an veissel touz requeilluz.* 
 
 Et en une pierre le mist (that is, the body of Christ) 
 Qu'il a son wis avoit eslist.* 
 
 The general course of the present study is now clear. The first 
 step will be to determine more fully than has yet been attempted 
 the relationship of the romance to the Perceval of Crestien. Here 
 there are three possibilities to be taken, into account : either our 
 author drew on the Perceval directly, with a copy of the poem, 
 before him ; or, he made use of an intermediate stage, a more or 
 
 distinct streams of Pilate tradition current in his day. For an account of the 
 mediaeval legends of Pilate, cf. E. du Meril, Poesies popidaires latines du moyen 
 age, Paris, 1874, p. 314 ff. 
 
 1 Metrical Joseph, v. 521 ff. Metrical Joseph, v. 549 ff. 
 
 J Ibid., w. 573-74. 4 Ibid., vv. 578-79.
 
 42 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 less hackneyed version of the original poem ; or, indeed, as Birch- 
 Hirschfeld suggested, he based his work on a mere recollection of 
 the Perceval, which he had read or heard recited on some previous 
 occasion. 
 
 In a similar way the romance will be treated in its relation to the 
 Continuations of the- Perceval : here the further possibility of the 
 existence of a common source must be considered. Then an effort 
 will be made to establish the date of the present text of the work. 
 Finally, I trust, the discussion of these questions will point the 
 way to the other bodies of romance and legend from which the 
 Perlesvaus sprang.
 
 RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERLESVAUS TO 
 CRESTIEN'S PERCEVAL. 
 
 THE GENERAL, PLAN OF THE Perlesvaus. 
 
 Before considering the obligations of onr author to Crestien de 
 Troyes one or two further facts about the Perlesvaus should be noted. 
 The romance is very long, as we have seen, and the number 
 of episodes in it is proportionately large. According to the MSS., 
 it is divided into eleven principal branches or chapters, of which 
 the first is a sort of prologue to the entire work. In this chapter 
 the main facts of the hero's origin are given, and these are followed 
 by an episode picturing the condition of the Arthurian Court at the 
 time when the story begins. In so far as this episode reflects the 
 spirit which pervades the work it is of importance to outline it here. 
 
 One day, at Carduel, Guenevere suddenly begins to weep because 
 she thinks Arthur has fallen under the wrath of God. In bygone 
 days knights without number flocked to his court, but now it is 
 deserted, and adventures, once of so frequent occurrence, take place 
 there no more. The King's power has changed to weakness, and 
 his desire to win honor and exercise bounty is almost gone. The 
 only salvation from the present evil is for the King himself to 
 undertake a pilgrimage to the Chapel of St. Augustine. The 
 journey thither is fraught with peril, the Chapel can only be found 
 through divine grace, and the place where it is situated is full of 
 danger. Bad as things are, however, Arthur is no coward and is 
 quite ready to undertake the quest. He even wishes to go unaided, 
 but the Queen prevails upon him to take along a squire at least. 
 
 Accordingly, Arthur chooses one Chaos, the son of Yvain 
 PAoutre, and instructs him to make his preparations immediately 
 for an early start the next day. Chaos gets ready what he needs 
 and then lies down without undressing. Soon he falls asleep and 
 
 43
 
 44 A Study of the Perlesvam. 
 
 has a dream. He dreams the King had set out alone, leaving 
 him to come after. When finally he followed, he came first to a 
 chapel encircled by a grave-yard. Entering in, he found a knight 
 in a bier, about which there were four lighted candles. For some 
 reason he removed one of the candle-sticks, and having concealed 
 it on his person, left the chapel. He had not ridden far into 
 a wood, when an ugly black-man rode up to him and accused him 
 of the theft of the candle-stick. In spite of the latter's threatening 
 appearance, he refused to give it up, saying he would make a 
 present of it to Arthur. Whereupon the black-man, enraged at 
 his obstinacy, ran a knife into him. With a cry Chaos now wakes 
 up, and finds that he is in fact seriously hurt ; and, curiously, the 
 candle-stick is in his possession. The King and Queen are called 
 and after confessing his sins, Chaos dies. The candle-stick remains 
 with Arthur, who gives it later to St. Paul's Church in London,, 
 which was at that time newly founded. 
 
 The King, realizing it to be God's will, goes on his quest alone. 
 After an adventure at a hermitage, where he hears angels and 
 devils disputing over the soul of a hermit, who is about to breathe 
 his last, he meets a damsel at the edge of a wood. From her he 
 learns that the chapel is in a glade near by ; further, that no one 
 ever returned from it alive without being cured of his ills. 
 
 Arthur is not long in reaching the Chapel, and from the outside 
 (he cannot enter because of an invisible barrier) listens to a mass 
 and has a vision of Christ as Child and Saviour. When the mass 
 is over, he is allowed to go 'in. The celebrant, a hermit, who 
 knew Arthur's father, Pendragon, exhorts him to renounce his 
 bad ways. Diex vos leist vostre vie amander, the hermit says, 
 ainsint que vos puissiez aidier a esfacier la mauvaise loi et essaucier 
 la hi qui est renouvelee par le crucefiement du seint prophete. Great 
 distress had recently come upon the land through a young knight 
 who, having stayed at the ostel au riche roi Peschour, had neglected 
 to ask the purpose of the Holy Grail and the Bleeding Lance 
 (li seintimes Graus, et la lance dequoi li fiers seigne par la 
 poig(ri)te ; lie ne demanda de quoi ce servoit ne dont ce venoit ; var., 
 ne cui on en servoiC), though he had seen them both. For this 
 reason all countries are rent by war, and knights are contending 
 among one another as he shall see. Surely the time is come for
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 45 
 
 the sovereign court of the world to recover its power, and to set 
 an example to mankind de bienfaire, et de largesce et d'onor. 
 
 The cure of the King is now accomplished except that he still 
 has to sustain the attack of a black knight, as the hermit had said. 
 Of course the knight is overcome, and Arthur undergoes fresh 
 danger in getting his head for the damsel at the edge of the wood. 
 This damsel is in search of Perceval. From her lips Arthur 
 learns the story of Perceval's youth, and the episode closes with 
 Arthur's happy return to the Court. 
 
 A few words concerning this episode will suffice as it really 
 interprets itself. God has withdrawn his favor from knights and, 
 in consequence, the whole court has fallen into a state of decadence, 
 indicated by the lack of adventure and the (moral) languor of the 
 Xing, because the ideals of knighthood are worldly and vain. As 
 a result, the good suffer with the bad : Perceval has seen the Grail 
 but was unable to speak the words which would deliver its keeper. 
 The Chapel of St. Augustine, as its name shows, is the symbolic 
 sanctuary of the British Church. That Arthur should go thither 
 to be instructed in the true ideal of knighthood is significant for 
 several reasons. 
 
 First, it shows at once the standpoint of the author regarding 
 his own work. The Arthurian stories are to be lifted out of the 
 sphere of human aims and desires and interpreted in the spirit of 
 religion. The beau ideal of Chivalry is not to be the practice of 
 courtly love or the quest of mere adventure, but the service of 
 Christianity. The knight that craves glory, shall fight for his 
 faith and shall convert the heathen. Thus the quest of the Grail 
 will be the successful accomplishment of a war waged for the good 
 of the Church, and the holy vessel itself will stand for the 
 spiritual goal which many will seek but only the perfect knight 
 attain. 
 
 Then, as Arthur is the political head of the world, his experi- 
 ence at the Chapel indicates the union of the temporal with the 
 spiritual order ; an inference, it seems, which the author intended 
 his readers to make. The belief that human welfare is dependent 
 upon the alliance of the State with the Church was a ruling idea 
 of the Middle Ages', and one especially apt to be held by a church-
 
 46 A Study of the Perlesvaus, 
 
 man. This also explains why Arthur himself afterwards goes on 
 the quest of the Grail." J 
 
 Finally, the mention of St. Augustine's name here and, later, of 
 that of Gregory 2 is interesting as it led PotvSn to connect the work 
 with the conflict in the early English Church between the followers 
 of the Roman bishop and those who looked to Ireland for the seat 
 of the Christian faith. Without doubt, the author of Perlesvaus 
 was an ardent supporter of the Roman party, if as it appears from 
 the above, he was interested in the conversion of England and the 
 extermination of the heathen, but that the Perlesvaus was a direct 
 plea for the rights of the See of Rome over the refractory Celts is 
 hardly to be supposed. The ecclesiastical future of England was 
 decided at Whitby in 664, and we may be certain that the romance 
 was not written before the last part of the twelfth century, 3 a long 
 time after the above conflict had been settled. I am much more 
 inclined to think that the purpose of the author of Perlesvaus was 
 to advance the cause of a crusade by urging knights to fight for 
 their faith. We know, for example, that monks, in preaching the 
 crusades, borrowed similes for their sermons from Arthurian 
 legend. 4 As to whether he had a definite crusade in mind, this 
 question will have to be considered in its proper place, when the 
 date of the romance is considered. For the present, we need to 
 note only that it is animated with the crusade spirit. It expresses 
 above all a new ethical ideal in the passionless, faultless, type of 
 the hero ; an ideal which has apparently left its mark on subse- 
 quent literature. 5 In this respect, especially, our author's con- 
 ception differs from that of Crestien, whose higher poetic gift is 
 evident in the human quality of his hero, susceptible to temptation 
 and capable even of failure. 
 
 With this idea of the shaping factor in the work, it is possible 
 to detect a rough plan in the arrangement of the subject-matter. 
 Branches II, III, IV, V and VI come practically under one head 
 and treat of Gawain's quest of the Grail. In proof of his merit 
 
 1 Cf. Potvin, op. tit., Vol. i, p. 218 ; Arthur beholds two suns in the sky. It is 
 plain that the author was connected with the Church. 
 Cf. Ibid., p. 250. 3 Cf. above. 
 
 4 Cf. Hist. Litt, Vol. xxx, p. 250. 
 
 5 Viz., the Qu&e, Mort d' Arthur, etc.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 47 
 
 as a Grail-knight, he has to obtain, through various adventures 
 and hardships, the sword with which John the Baptist had been 
 beheaded, the latter being the leader of religious heroes. 1 Then 
 the Grail Castle is open to him, the reason he fails in the object 
 of his quest, is that he lacks grace ; without it the human will is 
 powerless. 2 
 
 In the seventh branch, Perceval appears on the scene. He was 
 sick when he left the castle of the Rich Fisher, 3 and since then has 
 been at the hermitage of King Pelles. At this point he enters 
 the story. 
 
 The eighth branch is Lancelot's Grail adventure. In love with 
 the Queen, he is the victim of his own faithfulness, since the 
 Grail does not appear to any knight who is not, at least during 
 the quest, austerely pure. 
 
 In the ninth branch (termed in the MSS. : une des maitres 
 branches), Perceval, the perfect knight, conquers the Grail Castle 
 from his wicked uncle, the King of Chastel MorteL The Grail, 
 which presumably had been carried off to heaven when the Castle 
 passed into evil hands, is visible again in the chapel where it was 
 woot to be, with many other relics. The Fisher King having 
 died before the Perceval's coming, of course, the traditional ques- 
 tion concerning the Grail is omitted. 
 
 Branch X is concerned in particular with Arthur's search for 
 the Grail. This has already been mentioned. 4 Strictly, the much- 
 disputed wars of Arthur, which occur in this branch, form a sec- 
 tion apart, the leading motif of which is an intrigue against 
 Lancelot. 5 Gietmann, very correctly, has placed them in a separ- 
 ate chapter in his translation of the Perlesvaus. 6 
 
 The closing chapter of the romance is an account of how Perceval 
 roots out the last evil in the world, after which he ascends a ship 
 and sails away to the land of double promise (terra repromissionis), 
 whither the Grail had gone, and he is seen no more. 
 
 Into this elastic framework a great number and variety of inci- 
 
 J Cf. Gietmann, Ein Oralbuch, Freiburg, 1889, p. 410; also Matthew xi, 11. 
 * Cf. Potvin, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 90. 3 Cf. ibid., p. 105. 
 4 Cf. above. * Cf. Potvin, op. eit., Vol. i, pp. 254, 99. 
 
 Op. cit., p. 301. Gietmann's work is of no scientific value but it gives at times 
 a good interpretation of the allegory in the romance.
 
 48 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 dents, mainly Arthurian, have been set. For the most part, these 
 incidents are found in a shorter form than that in which they 
 originally occurred. Thus episodes which cover considerable space 
 in some romances (for example, the episode of the Chessboard in 
 Oautier's Continuation of Perceval) occupy but a few lines here. 
 Many are given only in outline, 1 and some are almost frag- 
 mentary. 2 Naturally, their meaning had frequently (and some- 
 times their structure) to be changed in order to suit the aims of 
 the author. 3 As in all such works, there are, however, quite a 
 number of episodes that have no connection with the ground-work 
 of the romance but seem to have been added to swell the narrative.* 
 
 COMPARISON OF THE VERSIONS OF THE GRAIL EPISODE. 
 
 The necessity of comparing the Perlesvaus with the Perceval in 
 detail, episode for episode, was demonstrated above ; but until we 
 reach the Grail episode, none of the adventures in the two works 
 correspond. The Perlesvaus form of this episode will now be 
 compared with the version in the French poem. 
 
 Our author gives four separate accounts of the appearance of the 
 Grail to knights, 5 though only two of these have any similarity 
 with Crestien's narrative. These two 6 are partly the same account 
 and when they differ merely supplement each other. They may 
 thus be considered a single version. A somewhat minute analysis 
 of the episode is as follows : 
 
 I. Arrival at the Grail Castle. 
 
 Crestien: 7 Perceval has recently left Biau-Repaire and is in 
 search of his mother, when he comes to a river en la vallee d'une 
 
 1 Almost all of the Perlesvaus episodes impress one that way; compare, for 
 instance, the Proud Damsel story (Potvin, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 55) with what is 
 plainly a version of the same story in the Vengeance de Eaguidel (Hist. Lilt., 
 Vol. xxx, p. 55). 
 
 * Of. the version of the Chessboard episode outlined below. 
 
 1 Cf. the Besie Qlapissante story mentioned above. 
 
 4 Cf. the following episodes: the Green Knight (cf. below), the Proud Damsel 
 (cf. note, above), the Cercle d'Or (cf. above) and Marin le Jalous (cf. Potvin, 
 op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 48-52). 
 
 6 Pot., op. cit., Vol. i; pp. 83-90, 128 ff., 208-217, 248-51. 
 
 6 Ibid., pp. 83-90 and 128 ff. 7 w. 4150-4259.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 49 
 
 engarde. The river is swift and deep, and he fears to cross it. 
 Proceeding along the bank to a cliff, which apparently blocks the 
 road, he suddenly beholds a boat on the river, in which are two men. 
 
 En mi 1'ewe tout coi esturent 
 E tres bien aancre se furent ; 
 E cins qui devant fu pescoit 
 A la ligne, et si assachoit 
 Son amencon d'un poissonet 
 Petit plus grant d'un vaironet. 
 
 Perceval enquires the way of those in the boat and is directed, by 
 the fisher, to the top of the cliff whence, he is told, he will see a 
 castle in a valley beyond, pres de riviere et pres de bois. 
 
 Perceval rides to the summit of the cliff but perceiving at first 
 only land and sky, he blames the fisher for misdirecting him. 
 Finally, however, the tower of a castle hard by comes to view. 
 Perceval is not long in reaching the castle where he is royally 
 welcomed by four squires. Two of the squires help him to dis- 
 arm, the third looks after his horse, and the fourth provides him 
 with a scarlet cloak. He then waits in an ante-room until sum- 
 moned by the host of the castle, who is in fact the fisher. 
 
 Perlesvaus: 1 The first of the two versions here ; namely, Gawain's 
 visit to the Grail Castle, differs entirely from the Crestien story until 
 after the arrival at the castle; hence it may be disregarded for the 
 present. We find the passage for comparison in Lancelot's quest 
 of the Grail : 2 
 
 After visiting many strange places, Lancelot comes one day to 
 a stream flowing through a meadow. The meadow, which is 
 skirted by a forest on two sides, is covered with flowers. In front 
 of him, on the stream, Lancelot sees a boat in which there are two 
 white-haired knights and a damsel, holding a truncated human 
 head in her lap. In the center of the boat there is a knight, qui 
 peschoit a { enmecon dont la verge sanble d'or et prenoit mout granz 
 poissons. 3 The boat has a smaller one in tow into which the 
 knight throws his fish. 
 
 1 Pot., Vol. i, pp. 83-90, 128 ff. 'Ibid., p. 128. 
 
 * John, xxi, 11 : " and drew the net to the land, full of great fishes, a hundred 
 and fifty and three. 
 
 4
 
 50 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 At the sight of the party, Lancelot stops to ask whether he may 
 find shelter near by. In reply, they direct him to a castle beyond 
 a mountain (outre cele monteigne.) In a short time Lancelot has 
 reached the foot of this mountain, and comes upon the cell of a 
 hermit. In view of his quest (a si haust ostel) he enters the cell 
 to confess his sins ; but notwithstanding the hermit's entreaties, he 
 refuses to renounce his love for the Queen. 
 
 The rest of this account, how Lancelot persists in cherishing this 
 love and how, consequently, the Grail is not visible to him, con- 
 tains few points of interest and may be safely omitted. It is note- 
 worthy only that the Grail Castle has not the same appearance to 
 him that it has to Gawain. 
 
 To revert now to the first account : Over the gate of the Grail 
 Castle, Gawain sees an image of the Saviour, between images of 
 St. John and the Virgin, and a figure of an angel pointing to the 
 chapel in which the Grail is kept. The angel has a jewel in his 
 breast, showing that the lord of the castle is pure. In the gate- 
 way a lion keeps guard, but at the sight of Gawain it lies down. 
 
 Having placed his shield and his spear against the wall of the 
 castle, Gawain ascends by marble steps into a hall. The hall is de 
 leus en leus a ymages d'or peinte. In the center of it, on a couch, 
 he finds an empty chess-board. 1 Presently two knights come to 
 wait on him, and two damsels bring him a cloak of silk and gold. 
 Although no candles are visible, the hall is as bright as by daylight. 
 
 II. In the presence of the Fisher King. 
 
 Crestien : 2 Now, two squires lead Perceval into a hall before 
 their lord. The latter is seated on a bed ; his hair is gray and 
 
 ses cies ert encapeles 
 D*un sabelin noir come meure, 
 D'une porpre vols par deseure, 
 Et d'autel fu la reube toute. 
 
 A large fire is blazing in front of him in the chimney, which is 
 supported by four columns of solid brass. In the space round the 
 fire four hundred men could be seated. 
 
 1 The Welsh text makes no mention here of the chess-board. 
 w. 4259-4365.
 
 A Study of the Perksvaus. 51 
 
 The host excuses himself for not rising to greet Perceval, and 
 bids him sit down next to him. While they are conversing 
 about Perceval's journey, a youth enters with a sword on which is 
 written that it will never break, save in one peril known only to 
 its maker. It is a present from la sore pucele, the host's niece ; the 
 host may give it away provided it is put to good use. Only three 
 of the kind exist, and he who made them will make no more after 
 this one. The host bestows it upon Perceval for whom it was 
 intended. After girding it on to see how it looked, Perceval 
 hands it to the squire who has charge of the armor at the castle. 
 
 Perlesvaus: 1 Gawain is conducted into the presence of the 
 Fisher King. The room is strewn with erbe vert et de rosel. 2 
 The King is lying on un lit cordeiz dont li quepou estoient d'ivoire ; 
 under ,him, une coute de paille, over him, a cover of sable with 
 costly lining. He wears un chapel de sebelin convert d'un vermeil 
 samiz de soie, and his head is resting on a scented pillow, which 
 has brilliant gems at its corners. A pillar of copper, surmounted 
 by the image of an angel holding a cross (part of which is the true 
 cross), and four candle-sticks of gold are part of the riches of 
 the room. 
 
 After receiving the King's greeting, Gawain presents him with 
 the sword of St. John ; this the King entrusts to a damsel's care, 
 his niece. In the meanwhile two damsels come and sit down at the 
 King's feet. The strong light in the castle, Gawain is told, is due to 
 his arrival. He would have received a better welcome if the King 
 had not fallen sick through the failure of a certain knight (Perceval) 
 to speak une soule parole (that is, in regard to the Grail). The King 
 cautions Gawain not to commit the same error when he is shown 
 the Grail. Then Gawain and the host's niece begin to talk about 
 Perceval. 
 
 III. The Passing of the Grail. 
 
 Crestien : 3 A squire issues from a room bearing a lance with 
 a white blade ; from the point of the lance drops of blood are 
 falling into his hand. Perceval is anxious to inquire concerning 
 
 1 p. 86. 
 
 *Cf. Nutt, op. cit., p. 27 (in the summary of Diu Krone). 
 
 3 vv. 4365-4513.
 
 52 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 the marvel but refrains because be has been taught (by Gonemans,. 
 his uncle) not to speak unless spoken to. Next come two squires- 
 each holding a candlestick, and along with them a damsel, carry- 
 ing un graal. The graal is so brilliant that it outshines the light 
 of the candles as the sun and the moon outshine the stars. This 
 damsel is followed by another with a plate. The finest gems in 
 the world adorn the graal. 
 
 After passing by, the procession goes into another room, and 
 still Perceval does not dare to ask about the graal : qui on en ser- 
 voit. Then supper is served : the abundance of things to eat and 
 the splendor of the occasion surpass anything ever before seen. 
 The table is d'ivoire ; the cloth, whiter than any a legate, a cardinal 
 or a pope ever used ; the plate, talleoir d'argent. Cerf de graisse 
 au poivre caut is served as the chief dish, and dades, figes et nois 
 moscades, Et geroufles, puns de grenades, etc., follow. The bever- 
 ages are of various kinds, among them piument u n'ot fie miel ne 
 poiwe. In the meanwhile, the graal is brought by again, 
 
 Qu' a cascun mes que 1'on servoit, 
 Par devant lui trespasser voit 
 Le graal trestout descovert ; 
 
 yet Perceval chooses to put off asking about it until the morrow. 
 
 Perlesvaus : l Gawain is lead away from the host of the castle, 
 back into the hall. There he now finds twelve hoary knights, each 
 older than a hundred years though seeming to be scarce forty. He 
 is placed at a moid riche table d'ivoire and the knights take their 
 places about him. He is told to remember the King's entreaty to 
 ask about the Grail. The dishes served are : lardez de cerf, venison 
 de cenglier and many others. On the table were riche veisselment 
 d'argent et les granz coupes d'or couvesclees. Candles, too, were 
 lighted yet la grant clartez qui la dcdenz aparoit esconssoit la lour* 
 
 This light proceeds from the Holy Grail, which a damsel now 
 brings forth from the chapel (of the castle). She is accompanied 
 by a damsel, carrying the Lance. From the point of the Lance 
 
 1 pp. 87-89. 
 
 8 Wolfram ( 235) only mentions the unusual brightness of Repanse's (the- 
 bearer of the Grail) countenance, saying nothing of the brilliancy of the GraiL
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 53 
 
 drops of blood trickle into the Grail. Side by side, the damsels 
 walk past the knights, who forget to eat because of the si douce et 
 si seintime odour. As they pass, Gawain has visions of a chalice 
 in the Grail l and two angels with lighted candles. The damsels 
 then carry the relics into une autre chapele, and Gawain, who has 
 become pensive, is reminded only of God. 
 
 In this way the Grail is shown three times. 2 The second time 
 Gawain sees the figure of a child in the Grail and three angels 
 instead of two ; moreover, three drops of blood, presumably from 
 the Lance, fall on the table. Gawain stoops to kiss these, but 
 failing to touch them, grows more thoughtful than before. Though 
 urged by one of the knights to speak, he remains silent. The third 
 time, his vision becomes a King nailed to a cross (Christ). Again 
 his companions beg him to speak, but the sympathy he feels for 
 the suffering King seals his lips. Thereupon the Grail and Lance 
 are carried back to the chapel whence they proceeded. 
 
 IV. The Departure from the Castle. 
 
 Crestien : 3 The host bids Perceval good- night and is carried 
 into his room. Perceval also goes to bed, attended by several 
 squires ; however, in the morning when he awakes he is alone. 
 He tries to go into other rooms of the castle but is prevented by 
 bolted doors. Finally he obtains egress from the castle, and finds 
 outside his horse in readiness for him. Thinking that the inmates 
 of the castle have gone into the forest to hunt, he starts over the 
 drawbridge which is down. Before he is quite over, it is raised 
 by unseen hands and he is saved only by a leap of his horse. 
 Although he calls, no answer is given. He then rides into 
 the forest. 
 
 Perlesvaus:* The table, etc., is removed, when the Grail has 
 disappeared, and Gawain is left alone in the hall. At the end of 
 the hall, the doors of which are now all closed, his eye again falls 
 on the chessboard, which now has gold and silver men on it. 
 
 1 dont il ni iert geires a icest tens. 
 
 1 The second time, the damsels comes from la Chambre (?). 
 
 3 vv. 4513-4600. * pp. 89, 90.
 
 54 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Gawain goes up to it and begins to move the silver men ; there- 
 upon the gold men play against him of their own accord, and he is 
 checkmated twice. He avoids a third defeat by interrupting the 
 game. A damsel then comes out of a room and orders a youth to- 
 take away the board. 
 
 At last, Gawain, who is very tired, falls asleep and does not 
 awake until roused by a horn in the morning. He is unable to 
 bid the Fisher King good-bye as the doors are all bolted. Service 
 is going on in the chapel but he cannot get in. A damsel tells 
 him this is due to his mout pen de parole* although he is not to 
 blame for not having had leave to speak. Again the horn sounds 
 and Gawain hears a voice, crying to hurry for the bridges are 
 now lowered ; soon they will be raised against the king of Chastel 
 Mortel, who is besieging the castle. Gawain goes out, finds hi& 
 horse and arms ready and rides into the forest. 
 
 RELATION OF THE VERSIONS TO EACH OTHER. 
 
 From the foregoing analysis the general agreement of the two 
 versions is seen to be striking. The only marked difference between 
 them consists in the incidents of Gawain's entry to the Grail 
 Castle (by the marble steps and the painted hall) and his subse- 
 quent experience with the chessboard, for which the Perceral has 
 no equivalents. I shall discuss this point in full later, but I will 
 say here that the presence of these features in our romance may be 
 due to the influence of Gautier. 2 It is now necessary to determine 
 more precisely wherein the versions agree and wherein they differ* 
 
 I. In both it is only the Fisher King that fishes; 3 the hero 
 (Perceval or Lancelot) is directed to a castle beyond a mountain, 
 though no mountain would be expected in the prose work, in 
 which the river flows through a meadow, 4 not la vallee d'une 
 
 Cf. Wolfram (247). 
 
 . . . . ir sit ein gans 
 moht ir gerxieret ban den flans, 
 und het den writ gevraget ! 
 vil priss iuch bit betraget. 
 J Cf. below. 
 
 1 Both describe his amenfon, which is not mentioned in Didot-Perceval. 
 4 Cf. Didot-Perceval (Hucher, Le Saint Graal, Mons, 1874), Vol. i, p. 463.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 55 
 
 angarde; at the castle the hero waits in an ante-room until called 
 by the host. On the other hand, the flowery meadow and other 
 minor descriptive features of our romance are lacking in the 
 Perceval; further, Lancelot and Gawain have no difficulty in at 
 once finding the castle, hence do not doubt the host's word. 
 
 II. The descriptions of the host agree in most of the details. 
 The pillar of copper may be a reminiscence of Crestien's columns 
 of brass. A sword figures prominently in both stories : in the 
 Perceval the hero is presented with a sword, in the Perlevaus he 
 presents one to the host ; in each instance the host'sjniece has a 
 hand in the transaction. But our romance has no direct equiva- 
 lent for the history of the sword and makes no mention of a fire. 
 To be sure, the sword which Gawain gives away is connected with 
 the history of John the Baptist and several incidents concerning it 
 were previously told. 1 Our romance gives a new explanation of 
 the Fisher King's illness ; namely, Perceval's failure to enquire 
 concerning the Grail. The inference to be drawn from this pre- 
 supposed visit to the Grail Castle was pointed out above. 2 
 
 III. At this point the agreement is less marked. In Perceval 
 the Grail and the Lance are brought into the hall successively, in 
 the order indicated ; in our work they appear side by side, in such 
 proximity that the blood dropping from the Lance falls into the 
 Grail. Crestien relates that the meal is served before the host 
 and Perceval together, in the hall where they met; whereas, 
 according to our author, Gawain leaves the host, passes into a hall 
 and takes a seat at the table with twelve hoary knights. The 
 description of these knights is a further sign that the author was 
 acquainted with legends like the Brendan? The prose version 
 has no parallel to the tailleor d' argent, which Crestien associates 
 with the Grail. 
 
 But both versions agree that the resplendence of the Grail sur- 
 passes the light of candles, though the author of the prose work 
 does not distinctly state that the " gleam " springs from the vessel 
 itself, and the candles he has in mind are those of the hall. How 
 absurd then it was to introduce a set of candles into the Grail 
 
 1 Potvin, 1. c., p. 74. Cf. p. 24. 
 
 3 Cf. above ; also Potvin, 1. c., p. 38 : quant Fan i a este un an, ne sanble il que Pan 
 t ait esle un mois.
 
 56 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 procession, since Crestien's only reason for mentioning candles 
 was to compare them to the Grail, and this comparison had already 
 been made in our romance. Moreover, Crestien alone explains 
 the question concerning the Grail. He states that the Grail gives 
 sustenance to the host's father ; on this account it is carried into 
 another room. But in our work, cui on en servoit refers to no par- 
 ticular person, and why the Grail should be carried into une autre 
 chapele is just as obscure. 
 
 Other reasons underlie Gawain's silence than an uncle's advice, 
 which is the cause of Perceval's reticence. Gawain's re very over 
 the three drops of blood suggests another well-known incident of 
 the Perceval. 1 One night, while Perceval sleeps, there is a snow- 
 storm, and a flock of wild geese, blinded by the snow, has one of 
 its number wounded by a falcon. Three drops of blood fall on the 
 snow from the wounded goose, and when Perceval rises in the 
 morning and sees them, he falls into deep thought over the red 
 and white in his love's face. Several of Arthur's knights, who 
 arrive on the scene, try to rouse him, but none succeeds until 
 Gawain entreats him with kind words. 2 The fact that Perceval's 
 
 1 v. 5545; cf. also, Loth, Les Mabinoyion, Paris, 1889, Vol. n, p. 70 (Peredur 
 ab jEtwoc), in which the simile is elaborated. In Diu Krone (Nutt, op. cit., p. 27) 
 the Grail contains three drops of blood, and three streams of blood flow from the 
 lance in Peredur (Loth, op. cit., Vol. n, p. 60). 
 
 * Consult on this episode : Heinrich Zimmer, Keltische Sludien, zweiter Theil, 
 Berlin, 1884. Professor Zimmer gives an Irish analogue from the book of 
 Leinster, containing the Peredur-form of the simile. On Zimmer's article in 
 turn, consult Golther, Chrestien's conte del Gracd in seinem Verhaeltniss zum wael- 
 schen Peredur und zum englischen sir Perceval, Sitzunb. der K. Bayer. Acad. der 
 Wissensch., 1890, n, 2, p. 185. I agree fully with Golther that the Peredur ver- 
 sion of the episode is a combination of the Crestien version and the Irish tale (or 
 a story like it) cited by Zimmer. 
 
 Doubtless Golther would have strengthened his view considerably by citing the 
 list of similar stories adduced in a commentary on this episode by the Grimms 
 ( AltdeuL Waelder, Vol. I, Cassel, 1813). But it is worthy of remark that Golther 
 and Zimmer, in fact everybody except Hertz (Parzivdl, zweite Auflage, Stuttgart, 
 1898, p. 509), overlooked the work that the Grimms had already done. The 
 Grimms, for example, give in full (p. 10) the Irish story in which Prof. Zimmer 
 fancied he had discovered the common source of the Peredur and Crestien versions 
 of the episode under discussion. Furthermore, in a note (to p. 2) they write : 
 
 " Auch in Roman du S. Graal versinnt sich Gauvain ueber die drei Blutstrop- 
 fen der heiligen Lanze, welche Sage halb hierher gehoert (edition de 1521, fol. 
 145 a)." This must be our romance, although the only incunabula of it with 
 which I am acquainted are those of 1517 and 1523 (cf. above).
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 57 
 
 revery here has the same motive as Gawain's above, of course, 
 may be accidental ; each writer may have hit upon the motive 
 independently. Nevertheless, if the Perlesvaus is based on the 
 portion of Perceval written by Crestien, as there is reason to believe, 
 this motive probably was one of the many features which our author 
 borrowed. The fact then that the subject of the revery was changed 
 would be explained by the religious nature of the Perlesvaus, in 
 which an adventure of love would have been quite out of place. 1 
 
 IV. The important features of Perceval's departure also occur 
 in the prose version, but in a somewhat obscure form. Gawain is 
 left alone at night, instead of being surprised (like Perceval) to 
 find the hall deserted when he awakes in the morning ; and the 
 drawbridge of the castle is not raised while he is crossing it, but 
 he is told by a voice to hasten for presently it will be raised. 
 
 What now is the inter-relation of the two versions? The 
 decisive points in proof of the general priority of the Perceval 
 were already adduced by Birch-Hirschfeld and Heinzel. These 
 are : the question concerning the Grail, the carrying of the Grail 
 into une autre chapele, the reason given for the host's fishing, and 
 the presupposed visit of Perceval to the Grail Castle. To these 
 features may be added: the fact that the castle lies beyond a 
 mountain, while all along the country was said to be flat, and the 
 candles which the angels carry by the side of the Grail ; traits 
 which it is impossible to believe our author invented. It is 
 
 1 It should be noted here that one of the striking features of the Qudte, observed 
 hy Nutt, is that the Grail strikes its beholders dumb, Nutt remarks (op. cit., 
 p. 76) : 
 
 " It is in any case difficult to believe that if the writer of the Queste, with his 
 strong tendency to mystic allegory, had had before him the highly spiritual pre- 
 sentment of the Grail-power in B (sc. Robert), he would have neglected it in 
 favor of the materialistic description he uses. In one point this version differs 
 from all others, the dumbness with which the Grail strikes those to whom it 
 appears." The last observation, concerning the dumbness, is interesting. Gaston 
 Paris (op. til., 60) holds that the original Quett, now lost in French, but preserved 
 in Portuguese, was partly based on Perlesvaus. The above trait disagrees wholly 
 with the rest of the description in the Qudte ; hence, a very plausible explanation 
 of its origin is to attribute it to the influence of the Perlesvaus, in which the 
 dumbness which overcomes Gawain at the sight of the blood of the Lance is the 
 cause of his silence in regard to the Grail.
 
 58 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 thus evident either that the versions are derived from a common 
 original, or that the prose version is based on the Perceval account. 
 The first supposition may at once be set aside ; yet a few words 
 by way of explanation are necessary. 
 
 No third version that might serve as a source for the two works 
 is known to exist. While a number of other Grail works contain 
 an episode with many of the characteristics detailed above, a direct 
 relationship to any of these works is out of question. 1 Moreover, 
 it is to be noted that the prose version contains no important vari- 
 ation from the Perceval which cannot be attributed to a difference 
 of setting, to the substitution of prose for verse, or to the influence 
 of the mystical views of the writer. 
 
 If then it is certain that the prose version is based on the 
 Perceval, the question to consider is the nature of the dependence. 
 In determining this the minor differences between the versions are 
 of importance. The number of details in which the versions dif- 
 fer shows that their relationship is not close. But most significant 
 is the different order in which certain details, common to both, are 
 arranged in each version. It is this difference which leads in the 
 prose version to such inconsistencies as a mountain in a country 
 termed level and candles illuminating an object which itself emits 
 light. If we suppose that our author was actually transcribing a 
 a copy of the Perceval at least, of that part of it which contains the 
 Grail episode, we must assume that in making changes he had a 
 plausible end in view. His aim may have been nothing more nor 
 less than to adapt Crestien's episode to the plan and spirit of his 
 own composition, without claiming the. credit of having invented 
 the story. Or, it may have been his aim to be considered original, 
 though from the character of his modifications we should never 
 suspect that it was. It is incredible, however, that the above in- 
 consistencies could have been purposely made in compliance with 
 either of these aims. 
 
 This discussion is sufficient to prove that the Perlesvaus version 
 was not modelled directly upon the Perceval. Even the possibility 
 
 1 Namely, Parzival (Bk. v), Didot- Perceval, Welsh Peredur, Diu Krone, and the 
 Q^ete. The chronological argument excludes Parzival, the Didot- Perceval has 
 been assigned its true place by Heinzel (op. cil., p. 117 ff.) ; with the other works 
 the agreement is slight.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 59 
 
 that it was derived from an intermediate source, a popularized 
 form of Crestien's poem vanishes, if we consider the absolutely 
 senseless way in which certain traits of the Perceval have been 
 retained. Obviously, the easiest conclusion is to agree with Birch- 
 Hirschfeld that the author wrote the version wholly, or in part, 
 from memory. That is, he followed the Perceval blindly for as 
 much of the story as he remembered and as suited his special 
 purposes. In this way, he may at times have varied from the 
 original while under the impression that he was true to it. The 
 fact that the version apparently contains no borrowings from 
 Crestien in the matter of phraseology lends strength to this view 
 of its origin. 
 
 ORIGIX OF THE CHESSBOARD STORY IN Perlesvaus. 
 
 We now have to consider the incidents of Gawain's entry into 
 the Grail Castle (by way of the marble steps and the painted hall) 
 and his experience with the chessboard, which are not related by 
 Crestien, either in connection with the vision of the Grail or else- 
 where in his portion of the Perceval. Although these incidents 
 are separated in the prose version by a series of events, they are 
 parts of an identical story. It is probable that this story was 
 originally distinct from the Grail episode. An independent ver- 
 sion of it is found in the Continuation of Gautier. 1 Briefly out- 
 lined, the Gautier version runs as follows : 
 
 Arriving one day before a certain castle, Perceval dismounts 
 from his horse, leans his shield against the base of the main-tower, 
 and ascends by a flight of stairs into a hall. The hall is described 
 as being very beautiful ; it is decorated with all sorts of armor, 
 lances and swords, but no living soul is in it. Perceval sits down 
 for a while on a couch and lets his eye wander about : 
 
 Et vit la sale toute painte 
 N'i avoit angle ne fust tainte. 
 
 Presently he becomes aware of a door which opens into another 
 room. Entering this room, which is filled with a sweet odor, he 
 comes upon a chessboard. 
 
 1 v. 22400 ff.
 
 60 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 For point d'asur et de fin or 
 Moult 1'eurent fait par grant sens Mor: 
 Li rices eskes d'or polis 
 D'esmeraudes et de rubis. 
 
 He moves a pawn (paonnet errant), and noticing that his move 
 produces a counter-move on the opposite side of the board, he 
 begins a game with no other opponent than the chessmen them- 
 selves. In this way he is mated three times. After the third 
 defeat, however, filled with anger, he seizes the chessmen, goes to 
 the window and is about to cast them into the moat below, when 
 suddenly a beautiful damsel rises to the window and intercedes for 
 the chessmen. Perceval is at once so struck with her beauty that 
 he promises to restore the chessmen to the board, provided she 
 will grant him her love. 'This the damsel is willing to do on 
 stipulated conditions, which Perceval proceeds to fulfill. 
 
 The story is also found in the Welsh Peredur * and the Didot- 
 Perceval, 2 though for reasons stated above it is improbable that 
 either of these forms was the source of our version. It is to be 
 noted, moreover, that they contain no reference to the painted hall 
 (with the steps leading to it), which Gautier and our author both 
 record, furthermore, the latter alone describe the chessboard 
 and in similar terms. Both state that the knight is in a deserted 
 hall, in which there is this beautiful chessboard. The chessmen 
 of one color play against him of their own accord, and mate him 
 twice. During the third game he grows angry and resorts to 
 violence. According to Gautier, the damsel prevents him from 
 destroying the chessmen; and in Perlesvaus, a damsel simply has 
 the board and men removed. 
 
 In the absence of other possible sources there is thus no reason 
 to question that the version in our romance is based on that of 
 Gautier. Certainly, there is much less reason to believe that our 
 author originated the story. The episode is not told by Crestien, 
 and of the romances in which it is found, Gautier's Continuation 
 is in every respect nearest to our romance. 
 
 But in Perlesvaus the details of the story are neither so com- 
 plete nor so clear as in Gautier's poem. The appearance of the 
 
 1 Cf. Loth, Les MaAinogion, Paris, 1889, Vol. n. 
 s Cf. Hucher, op. cit., Vol. i, p. 439.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 61 
 
 damsel, for example, is as pointless as are many details in other 
 episodes of Perlesvaus', her presence was not required, since Gawain 
 was not going to destroy the chessman as Perceval intended to do 
 according to Gautier. Indeed, the inter-relation of the two ver- 
 sions does not seem to differ from the relationship we found above 
 to exist between our romance and the Perceval proper. Further, 
 the manner in which this story is confounded with the Grail epi- 
 sode confirms the view that our author composed his work from 
 memory. 
 
 OTHER AGREEMENTS WITH CRESTIEN'S POEM. 
 
 No further agreements of importance between the two romances 
 are to be found. There is, to be sure, a story in Perlesvaus of a 
 damsel in a beleaguered town, whom Perceval rescues and whose 
 affection he thus wins calling to mind the Blanchefleur 1 episode 
 of Crestien ; but the similarity here is entirely too vague to be 
 due to imitation. Moreover, this story has certain general traits 
 in common with Crestien's Yvain a and the experience of Gawain 
 at the Castle of Wonders in Perceval, 5 a fact which indicates rather 
 that our author and Crestien followed similar forms of the well- 
 known legend of the Land of Women. 4 
 
 The fact that the remainder of the Perlesvaus presents no im- 
 portant situations resembling those of the Perceval proper is not 
 surprising. We saw above what a different construction from 
 Crestien our author places on the Grail quest. The principal epi- 
 sode of the Perceval, the pivot so to speak on which the poem 
 turns, and the salient facts of the hero's origin were, as we observed 
 turned to account in the composition of the prose work. But we 
 cannot suppose that the author ever intended to imitate even as 
 regards the framework those episodes of Perceval in which the 
 hero is fitted for the accomplishment of his quest. Crestien's idea 
 that experience of the world is essential to man's happiness is 
 
 1 Cf. Perlesv., pp. 113 ff., 136 ff. A knight, Clamadex, plays a part in the Per- 
 lesvaus tale ; cf. the role of Clamados in Perceval (v. 3197). 
 
 2 Perceval is in reality the damsel's greatest enemy, yet she falls in love with 
 him at first sight; cf. Perlesv., p. 117. 
 
 3 Perceval like Gawain breaks a spell; the damsel's castle being a sort of 
 fairy-land. 
 
 4 Cf. Meyer and Nutt, The Voyage of Bran, London, 1895, Vol. I, p. 164.
 
 62 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 surely incompatible with our author's austere convictions as to the 
 chief aim in life. Besides, so far as this experience meant practice 
 in arms, it was a stage of development which his hero had long 
 ago reached. Hence, even if it were proved that he was acquainted 
 with additional episodes of Crestieu's work, it is easy to see why 
 he might have disregarded them. 
 
 In Perlesvaus, Perceval first appears on the scene at the cell of 
 the Hermit King, his uncle. By this fact the author may have 
 wished to indicate that his story (proper) was to begin precisely 
 where Crestieu's main narrative breaks off; namely, with the 
 noted repentance of Perceval on Good Friday. The remainder 
 of Crestien's share of Perceval is concerned with the expedition of 
 Gawain to Moutesclaire, to rescue a damsel, and the adventures 
 which befell him on the way. In this portion there is little or 
 nothing which could have appealed to our author's fancy. 
 
 The Perlesvaus, however, contains several minor traces of the 
 Perceval proper, which are worth noting : 
 
 1. It is possible to assume that the Damsels of the Cart 1 (not 
 " Chair," as the Welsh translator supposed) were suggested by 
 Crestien's Loathy Messenger. 2 The Damsels come with a message 
 from the Fisher King ; that is, from the Grail Castle, much as the 
 Loathy Messenger comes, who knows all about the unfortunate 
 events at the Grail Castle and is incensed because of them. The 
 leader of the Damsels refuses to dismount from her mule ; she may 
 not dismount where there are knights, until the Grail be won. 
 
 Crestien straightway says of his Messenger : 3 
 
 Jusque devant le roi se lance 
 La damosele sor la mule. 4 
 
 Whilst the Damsels of the Cart are not noted for their ugliness, 
 as Crestien's Messenger is, they all suffered more or less harm 
 from Perceval's failure to inquire as to the use of the Grail. The 
 first of them, upon a mule whiter than snow, is beautiful of body 
 but not of countenance ; she carries her right arm in a sling and 
 her head is quite bald. The second Damsel rides like an esquire 
 with a wallet. The third goes on foot and carries a whip with 
 
 1 Perlesvaus, p. 24 ff. 8 v. 5981. 
 
 J v. 6016. 4 Perceval is to blame for her discourtesy.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 63 
 
 which she drives along the horses of her companions. Further- 
 more, the leader says : mes chies estoit mout biaus et cheveluz et 
 galonez de riches trecours d'or, au point que li chevaliers vint an 
 I'ostel le riche roi Pescheor, mes je deving chauve por ce qu'il nefist 
 la demande. On that very account, the Fisher King fell ill : toutes 
 les terres an furent conmeues en gerre: ne chevalier n'an contre puis 
 outre ou il n'eust contacon d'arme sans nule autre achoison. The 
 Cart which is drawn after her is a symbol of Fortune : car autre- 
 sint comme li chars vet sor les roueles, demaine ele le siecle aus .11. 
 damoiseles qui la suivent. 
 
 With these features may be compared : the fact that the Loathy 
 Messenger rides a fauve mule, carrying a whip in her right hand ; 
 that she is so hideous que riens si laide a devise nefu neis dedens 
 infer; the greeting she gives Perceval : 
 
 Ha ! Perceval, fortune est cauve 
 Derriere et devant chevelue 
 
 . . . tu ne 1'as desiervi mie 
 Fortune quant tu 1'encontras. 
 
 Further, that the Fisher King's illness would have been cured 
 had the question about the Grail been asked now, however : 
 
 Dames en perdront lor maris, 
 Tieres en seront essilies, 
 Et pucieles desconsellies ; 
 Orfenes, veves en remanront ; 
 Et maint chevalier en morront; 
 Tout cil mal avenront par toi. 
 
 At the same time this notion of the Damsels of the Cart may 
 antedate the composition of the Perceval. They evidently are 
 under the protection of some Re'me de Puceles, a common figure 
 in Breton lays, and the Loathy Messenger may occupy a similar 
 rank. But the Damsels and their Cart typify Fortune, while the 
 Messenger merely refers to Fortune. In the literature of the time, 
 invocations etc. of Fortune and her wheel abound, we have but to 
 glance through the Romans d'aventures to find them ; and there is 
 scarcely an Arthurian romance which does not contain a damsel- 
 messenger.
 
 64 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 2. The Lonely Forest is also mentioned in Perlesvaus: la. 
 soteinne forest, 1 la forest souteinne. 2 
 
 Compare Crestien : 
 
 li fius a la vaive dame 
 De la foriest soutaine? 
 Si (Perceval) se met esfories soulaines.* 
 
 3. Gawain never conceals his name : 
 
 " Mes nons nefu onques celez puis que i'an le me 
 
 demandast. L'an m'apele Gauvain, le neveu le roi 
 
 Artu." 5 
 " Damoisele," fet-il, " mon non vos doi-je bien dire. 
 
 L'an m'apele monseigneur Gauvain le neveu le roi 
 
 Artu." 6 
 
 Compare Crestien : 
 
 " Onques mes noms ne fu celes 
 En lieu ou il me fust requis ; 
 N'onques encore ne li dis 
 S'ancois demandes ne fu." T 
 
 4. In Perceval, the first knight that Perceval sends to Arthur's 
 court is Clamados; the latter has instructions from Perceval to 
 console the damsel whom Kex had slapped on the cheek for 
 intimating (by laughter) that Perceval is the flower of chivalry. 
 Further on in the poem we read : 
 
 De la bufle que ele ot prise 
 Estoit-ele bien respassee ; 
 Mais oubliee ne passee 
 La honte n'avoit-ele mie 
 Que mout est mauvais qui oblie 
 S'on li fait honte ne laidure. 8 
 
 A scene similar to this occurs in Perlesvaus 9 where a damsel is 
 the means by which Kex is convicted of murdering Lohot, the son 
 
 1 Perlesv., p. 151. 2 Ibid., pp. 181, 187. 
 
 3 Perceval, V. 1288. * Ibid., v. 2895. 
 
 5 Perlesv., p. 57. 6 Ibid., p. 29. 
 
 7 Crestien, v. 7000 ff. Of. also Pseudo-Gautier, v. 12073. This is one of 
 Gawain's commonest characteristics ; cf. for other romances in which it is found, 
 Hist. Lilt., Vol. xxx, pp. 1-270. Crestien, however, is the first author, in point 
 of time, to mention it. 
 
 8 v. 4076. 9 p. 222.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 65 
 
 of Arthur. The romance says : La damoisele qui le coffre aporta 
 se fut bien vengiee de la honte que misires Kex li seneschauz lifist 
 un jor qui passa, car ceste chose ne fust pas si toste seue se par lui 
 nefust. What this honte was, the romance does not state. There 
 is no objection, however, against connecting it with the above 
 account in Perceval. 
 
 5. In view of the advice Perceval receives from Gonemans in 
 Perceval: 1 " ne soies trop parliers .... Li sages le dist et retrait 
 qui trop parole pechie fait," it is significant that in praising the 
 hero in Perlesvaus Joseus the Hermit says : 2 Si ne vost onques 
 gaster sa parole. 
 
 So, too, (Dresden's Veve Dame sums up her counsels to her 
 son, before he departs into the world, with the words : . . . " Ne 
 deceez De son lignage (his father's) ne del mien" 3 At Kamaalot, 
 in Perlesvaus* she expresses about the same sentiment in : " Si 
 ne forligneroiz mie vostre lignage." 
 
 1 v. 2840. 2 p. 151. 
 
 3 v. 1615. *p. 185. 
 
 5
 
 RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERLESVAUS TO THE 
 CONTINUATIONS OF THE PERCEVAL. 
 
 . PSEUDO-GAUTIER. 
 
 The first continuator of Crestien's poem carried the work down 
 to v. 21916, completing the Gawain episode, but leaving unfinished 
 the main narrative which relates to the Grail. His name is not 
 known, but as his portion of the work was formerly incorporated, 
 without distinction, in that of Gautier de Dourdan, he is now 
 generally called Pseudo-Gautier. The celebrated story of Carados 
 and his supernatural father, which for a long time was ascribed to 
 Gautier, properly belongs to his share of the poem. In this story, 
 it will be remembered, Birch- Hirschfeld saw the origin of Lance- 
 lot's adventure at Gaste Oite, 1 related in our romance. 
 
 Considering that there are altogether eight versions of this story 
 extant, five of which had been brought to light before Birch - 
 Hirschfeld's treatise was published, it is surprising that this 
 writer should dispose of the Lancelot version in the brief manner 
 we observed above. He claims to be satisfied that our author took 
 the story from the work of Pseudo-Gautier, because " der ihm doch 
 als Fortsetzer von Chrestiens Gedichte am ehesten zur Hand sein 
 konnte." ' But he offers no evidence in confirmation of this view, 
 which has thus the value only of supposition. 
 
 Since Birch-Hirschfeld's book appeared, light has been thrown 
 on the Lancelot version in another connection. The Middle Eng- 
 lish form of the story, that of Syr Gawayne and the Grene Knyght, 
 early became the subject of investigation because of its distinctive 
 poetic qualities. 3 In a study of this version, Miss Martha C. 
 
 1 Cf. above, p. 24. 
 
 2 Birch-Hirschfeld, op. cit., p. 138. 
 
 8 Ed. Richard Morris, E. E. T. S., London, 1869, 2nd edition. The other ver- 
 sions of the story are found in : Heinrich v. d. Tuerlin, diu Krone, ed. J. H. F. 
 Scholl, Stuttgart, 1852 ; IM Mule sam Frein in Me"on, Nouveau Recueil, I, 15 ; the 
 
 66
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 67 
 
 Thomas, 1 following a suggestion of Sir Fred. Madden, adduced 
 reasons to show that the English poet united in his work individual 
 traits of the Carados and Lancelot versions. That is, the fact is 
 there brought out that our romance and the English poem possess 
 in common characteristics of the story which are not mentioned by 
 Pseudo-Gautier. Furthermore, these characteristics are shown to 
 be more archaic than those of the Pseudo-Gautier version. This 
 agreement between our romance and the English poem Gaston 
 Paris, in his criticism of Miss Thomas' work, 2 admits to be true, 
 although he later rejects 3 the idea that the English poet used 
 either of the French versions mentioned. The source of the Eng- 
 lish poem, according to Paris, was rather an Anglo-Norman work, 
 which is now lost, but which may have been the prototype also of 
 the Perlesvaus and Pseudo-Gautier versions. 4 
 
 Irish tale Fled Bricrend, of which G. Paris gives an outline in the Hist, litt., vol. 
 xxx, p. 77 ; the same in another form, in the Book of the Dun Cow, from which it 
 was translated by Kuno Meyer ( Revue Celtique, vol. xi v, p. 455 ) ; Gauvain et Hun- 
 baut in MS. of the Chantilly library, for contents cf. Hisl. Hit., vol. xxx, p. 69. 
 
 1 Syr Gawain and the Green Knight, Zuerich, 1883. 
 
 2 Romania, xn, 377. 3 Hist, litt., vol. xxx, p. 71 ff. 
 
 *The episode is probably originally a "test" story, pure and simple, like the 
 lit merveilleux, for example (cf. Chev. a Vepee, ed. Armstrong, Baltimore, 1900, vv. 
 453-781). This type is represented in the Fled Bricrend, where the episode is 
 used to prove the valor of Cuchulinn. In this early type, the form of the chal- 
 lenge reveals the superhuman nature of the challenger : the hero knows from the 
 start that he is dealing with a magician (contrast with this the "one stroke for 
 another" of the Grene Knyght version). If allowance be made for certain dif- 
 ferences in detail, etc., the Carados and Grene Knyght versions may be classed 
 with this type. On the other hand, in diu Krone, Mule sans frein and Lancelot 
 versions, the episode is found connected with a visit to an enchanted castle or 
 city, whither the hero goes and submits to the " test" in order to break a spell. 
 In general, we thus have two distinct types of the story. Others have already 
 pointed out that the Lancelot and Grene Knyght versions agree, as against the 
 other versions, in the fact that the hero flinches at the first return blow. In all 
 the versions, except the Carados, the challenger uses an axe ; in only the Dun 
 Cow, Mule sans frein and Grene Knyght is he a giant. In the Irish versions and, of 
 course, the Mule sans frein and diu Krone, the return strokes are given the next 
 day ; in the other versions they are given the next year. On that occasion, 
 according to the Grene Knyght and Mul,e sans frein, the hero sees the challenger 
 come forth from a cave. Further, the Lancelot, diu Krone and Mule sans frein 
 differ fiom the other versions in the form of the challenge (the hero has the 
 choice of accepting the " test" or of losing his head on the spot). A thorough 
 study of the episode remains to be made.
 
 68 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 This discussion suffices to show that the latter must be regarded 
 as in the main independent of one another. In several features 
 the Lancelot version agrees with the form of the story embodied in 
 the romance La mule sans frein ; but the question of this relation- 
 ship cannot be discussed here. It would be interesting to know 
 whether our author was acquainted with two versions of the story : 
 the one being the Carados version ; and the other, a version similar to 
 the Mule sans frein type. Then we might suppose that he received 
 the suggestion for his own version from the poem of Pseudo- 
 Gautier, and the material for it from some other work. But as 
 there is no means of answering this question, it may also be dis- 
 missed. Suffice it to add that the Carados adventure, interesting 
 as it is in itself, has long been recognized to be out of place in the 
 poem of Pseudo-Gautier ; * it has no direct bearing on the princi- 
 pal narrative, and apparently serves to throw the entire work into 
 confusion. 
 
 The independence of our romance and the present continuation 
 with respect to this episode is all the more striking, as there are 
 at least two agreements between them which apparently show 
 that they are related. The story at the basis of the first of these 
 agreements is told thus by Pseudo-Gautier : 
 
 In a combat with Brun de Bralant Gawain had received a 
 wound ; until this wound is healed, he is in Arthur's care and must 
 remain quiet. In the course of time, however, he grows weary of 
 doing nothing and longs for a combat ; so one morning he has 
 himself hastily armed and makes his escape. But Kei, the seneschal, 
 sees him ride forth and at once reports the fact to the King. 
 
 " Vostre neveu aves perdu.'' 2 
 "Tos quide estre garis et sains; 
 
 Puis qu'il sera fors as plains, 
 
 Se il trueve aucun chevalier 
 
 Qui le voelle contraloier 
 
 Tantost a lui se combatra, 
 
 La cars novele desrompra 
 
 Si morra ileuc maintenant." 3 
 
 Arthur rides in pursuit, but on reaching Gawain learns that the 
 latter has no intention to engage in combat : 
 
 1 Cf. Heinzel, op. tit., p. 32. z v. 11945. 3 v. 11953.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 69 
 
 " Ains me voel deduire et esbatre " 
 and 
 
 " Pour assaier et pour sentir 
 Se d'armes me poroie aidier 
 Se j'en avoie onques mestier." 
 
 So the King permits him to proceed. 
 
 After riding some distance, Gawain crosses a stream and 
 
 Viers une lande s'adreca 
 A .1. bruellet qu'il ot veu 
 Mervelles bel et bien fuellu. 
 
 The weather is fair, and the grove is filled with birds, 
 
 Que cantent cler et docement ; 
 Mesire Gauvains les entent 
 S'arestut por oir les sons 
 Et les dous cans des oisselons 
 Et, quant un poi les ot ois, 
 Ses cuers en fu moult esjois ; 
 II point et fist .1. grant esles 
 
 He now feels that his old strength has come back, and before he 
 is aware of having gone far, he has passed several such groves. 
 
 N'a talent de venir arriere, 
 Ains pense qu'en nule maniere 
 Arriere en Post ne tornera 
 Tant c'aucune noviele ora' 
 Que il ait trovet aventure. 
 
 This wish is fulfilled, for presently he arrives before a tent, the 
 sole inmate of which is a beautiful damsel. The damsel receives 
 him with joy and offers him favors which he is only too ready to 
 accept. As a consequence of his relations with her, he is soon after 
 waylaid by her father and brother. A conflict ensues, which is 
 about to be decided in his favor, when suddenly his old wound 
 begins to bleed and he has to sue for peace. 
 
 The passage corresponding to this in Perlesvaus runs as follows : * 
 
 A longing for combat drives Perceval who has been ill forth 
 
 from the cell of his uncle, the Hermit King, while the latter is 
 
 away. Parluifet (sc. Perceval) se santi plus heitiez et plus viguereus 
 
 1 p. 105.
 
 70 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 qu'il ne souloit estre. II ot les oisiax chanteler en la forest et li cuers 
 li conmance a espandre de chevalerie, et li souvient des aventures qu'il 
 souloit trouver es fores et des damoiseles et des chevaliers que souloit 
 ancontrer, ne fu onques mes plus antalantis d'armes qu'il estoit lores, 
 por ce qu'il avoit tant sejorne. II sant la vigor an son cuer et la 
 force en ces manbres et la volante an sa panssee, il s'est armez tantost 
 et met la sel sor son cheval et monte tantost. 
 
 Perceval enters the forest which was large and shady ; riding 
 until he conies to a large glade (lande), he stops under .1. arbre 
 foillu qui estoit au chief de la lande } and longs for a combat. By 
 and by, he hears a horse neighing in the forest. He prays God 
 that a knight may be near : " si que je puisse esprouver se il a force 
 ne valor ne chevalerie en moi. Quar je ne sai ore de quel povoir je 
 sui, ne mes tant que je sens mon cuer sein et mes membres haitiez." 
 Hence, he hopes that the knight may be a match for him, but God 
 grant " qu'il ne m'ocie ne je lui." Thereupon a knight appears 
 and Perceval challenges him. 
 
 While the knight and Perceval are measuring lances, the Hermit 
 King returns to the cell, and seeing that his nephew is gone, sets 
 out to find him. Attracted by the sound of blows, he comes upon 
 the two fighting. Fearing for the welfare of Perceval, he proceeds 
 at once to interrupt the conflict. His arrival proves indeed to be 
 opportune as Perceval and the stranger, who turns out to be 
 Lancelot, are both wounded. 
 
 The second passage of Pseudo-Gautier which has a close parallel 
 in our romance, goes thus : l 
 
 On returning to the Court, from the Grail Castle, Gawain, over- 
 come by fatigue, repairs early to bed and falls into deep slumber. 
 Arthur, however, is kept awake by a severe thunder-storm. 
 
 A cele nuit que je vos di, 
 Plut et touna et esparti, 
 Li airs fu par la grant color 
 Commens en grant tenebror. 
 
 Despairing of repose, he slips over a cloak (chape") hurriedly 
 brought by his chamberlains, and thus scantily clad, has himself 
 carried into a room facing the sea. The poet here remarks : 
 
 1 v. 20857.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 71 
 
 Je vos di issi com je pans 
 Que on poroit d'iluec aler 
 Por une posterne a la mer. 
 
 From a window of the room, Arthur watches the storm. When 
 it has somewhat abated, he discerns a light over the sea, which 
 seems to be a star. Seeing that the light approaches, he calls his 
 chamberlains, and they all wonder what it can be. Presently, 
 however, they are able to make out a beautiful skiff drawn by 
 a swan. Arthur is not a little concerned over this unusual sight. 
 When the boat reaches the foot of the castle (sor les estres), the 
 swan shrieks and flaps its wings. Arthur immediately has the 
 postern opened and steps into the boat. 
 
 Ens est entres, adonques voit 
 As .11. cies .11. cierges ardans 
 Ains mais n'avoit veu si grans. 
 
 In the middle of the boat there is 
 
 . . . . un cier pale roe" 
 Tant a fin or fait et onore". 
 
 On this was lying a knight, grans et membrus, who was pierced 
 through the body. Never had the King beheld a knight so fair 
 in death. A letter is found with the body giving instructions as 
 to what is to be done with it. 
 
 Accordingly, the King has the knight carried into the hall and 
 the next morning Gawain and the other knights of Arthur's court 
 find him there, much to their surprise. Arthur feigns ignorance 
 as to the knight's origin, ainsi qu'il n'en seust noient, having 
 previously imposed silence upon bis chamberlains. The swan, of 
 course, had gone away with the boat the night before 
 
 Le cisne crie et braiot et fe"ri 
 Forment les elles en la mer, 
 Et si conmencha a tourner 
 Son calant moult isnelement, 
 A une caine d'argent ; 
 .1. aniel d'or el col avoit 
 Qui a la caine tenoit ; 
 Li cierge estaignent lor clarle 
 Et tout tourna en obscurte. 
 Si demenoit por son signor 
 Li cisnes si tres grant dolor.
 
 72 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 The event in Perlesvaus, 1 which may be compared to this, is as 
 follows : 
 
 One night Arthur awakes in the middle of his " first slumber " 
 and is unable to sleep again. So he arises, and throwing over a 
 chape grise, passes into the main-hall of the castle, which faces the 
 sea. From the window he sees that the sea is unusually calm, 
 " without a trace of a storm." Pleased with the sight, he remains 
 at the window to gaze. 
 
 Very soon he sees far in the distance the gleam of a candle, as 
 it were. Wondering what this may be, he is amazed to see a ship 
 appear, which in spite of the calm rapidly approaches the castle. 
 At first there seems to be no one aboard save an old man at the 
 helm. On the arrival of the ship at the castle, Arthur has trouble 
 in reaching it on account of the flot de la mer. This difficulty, 
 however, is overcome by the help of the steersman, who lowers a 
 small boat which takes him alongside. Upon the ship, Arthur now 
 finds a knight in full armor, lying on an ivory table. The 
 knight's head rests on his shield, and il avoit a son chevez deus 
 gram teurtiz de chandeles en chandeliers d'or et a ces piez autresint. 
 His hands are crossed on his breast. Arthur thinks he has never 
 before seen so fair a knight. 
 
 The context shows that the knight is Perceval. By and by, he 
 arises and goes into the palace, where he takes possession of the 
 hound and shield left there for him by the Damsels of the Cart. 
 But he cannot be induced to stay; returning with these to the 
 ship, he quickly sails away, in the same mysterious way he came. 
 The following morning the knights of the Court hear of his visit 
 and regret having missed him. 
 
 In the case of both stories, it is noticeable at a glance that the 
 Perlesvaus agrees with the poem of Pseudo-Gautier only up to a 
 certain point. In the first instance, the agreement stops with the 
 arrival at the tent ; in the second, with the removal of the knight 
 to the hall. Both stories may be roughly divided into two parts : 
 (a) an introduction, in which a special trait of a knight is brought 
 out, (6) an episode composed of incidents springing more or less 
 from this trait. The two works agree on (a), while they differ as 
 
 1 p. 142.
 
 A Study of the Perksvaus. 73 
 
 to (6). Thus the presumption is that our romance is not based 
 here on a different source from the work of Pseudo-Gautier, since 
 the agreement is not between complete episodes, which may have 
 existed in other forms, but between special incidents employed in 
 a similar way. The resemblance consists as much in the mode of 
 composition as in the kind of material used. 
 
 To my mind, therefore, the passage in Perlesvaus relating to 
 Perceval's eagerness in arms was undoubtedly modelled upon the 
 account of Pseudo-Gautier. As to the other story, the resemblance 
 here is less marked because the Pseudo-Gautier version is evidently 
 colored with the Chevalier au cygne legend. The arrival of a 
 knight in a mysterious ship from some unknown shore is a common 
 incident in Arthurian literature. But the account in Perlesvaus is, 
 so far as I know, the only version, which is as complete as that 
 of Pseudo-Gautier, 1 or which agrees with it in most details. 2 
 
 6. GAUTIER. 
 
 In considering the Grail episode we already had a proof of our 
 author's familiarity with Gautier's portion of the Perceval. 3 Our 
 inference then was drawn from the fact that, barring a few varia- 
 tions of detail, the two writers give identical accounts of the Chess- 
 board story. This story, including the incidents based on it, occu- 
 pies the greater part of Gautier's work. Its influence on our 
 romance may be seen in one or two additional points. 
 
 1 There is, it is true, a version resembling in outline that of Pseudo-Gautier in 
 the Vengeance de Raguidd (ed. Hippeau, Paris, 1862, vv. 82-174). A comparison 
 of the two, however, will show that they differ on several important points on 
 which our romance and the work of Pseudo-Gautier agree. 
 J The following minor agreements may be noted : 
 
 At Castel Orguellous (Perceval, v. 18680 ff.) nothing is done from Saturday 
 until Monday prime. 
 
 U face biel, u face lait 
 La mere Dieu est honeree 
 Ens el castiel et celebree 
 
 So, too, in Perlesvaus, no one may enter the Grail Chapel (ja home ne prouvoire) 
 where services are held in honor of the Virgin from Saturday noon until Mon- 
 day after early mass, on account of the relics that are kept there (pp. 89, 176). 
 
 The continuation of Pseudo-Gautier is really a glorification of the character of 
 Gawain ; cf. our author's characterization of him (pp. 153, 241). 
 
 3 vv. 21917-34934.
 
 74 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 For the stag-hunt, which Perceval undertakes in behalf of the 
 Damsel of the Chessboard, he is given a valuable hound. After 
 overtaking the stag and cutting off its head, he is robbed of the 
 hound by a " maid of ill-chance." He succeeds in getting it back, 
 but only to have both it and the stag's head stolen by a knight who 
 is riding by. Finally, Perceval recovers the head and the hound, 
 and they are delivered to the damsel, though not without considerable 
 trouble. In Perlesvaus , l one of the things by which Perceval could 
 be recognized was a white stag painted on his shield. Perceval keeps 
 this shield until he comes to Arthur's court and obtains there the 
 one he is to carry on his Grail quest. On that occasion, it will be 
 remembered, he also obtains a hound which had been brought 
 thither for him. 2 The opinion of Birch-Hirschfeld, that these 
 features were derived from the work of Gautier, may thus be 
 upheld. 
 
 There is another link between the two works in the main Grail 
 narrative. On his way back to the Chessboard Castle, Perceval 
 according to Gautier meets in a forest a remarkably beautiful 
 damsel, who is pursuing a runaway mule. He soon catches the 
 mule for her and aids her to mount on its back. Then he rides 
 along with her, though evidently against her wish. While he 
 wonders what her objection to him can be, his attention is attracted 
 by a great light in the forest ; turning to question his companion 
 about it, he finds that she has disappeared. Thereupon it sud- 
 denly grows dark and a violent storm breaks loose. 
 
 p. 21. 
 
 2 Of. in the following passages the joy of the hound at the sight of its master : 
 
 Quant li brakes parler 1'oi 
 
 Del lit saut sus encontre li, 
 
 Si saut et trep et cler glati ; 
 
 Cel moult biel le conjoi 
 
 Et aplanoie de la main. (Gautier, v. 30029 ff.) 
 
 Tantost conme il oi la damoisele (the sister of his master, Perceval), il vint a lui et 
 li fet la greiynor joie que Can veist onques feire a bracket. La reine et ces puceles s'en 
 merueillent mout et la damoisele meismes a qui li brachez feisoit joie, car, onques puts 
 qu'tt u en la sale aportez, ne lui virent conjoir nuttui. (Perlesv., p. 141). 
 
 it bracket, qui en la sale estoit, oi le chevalier, il vient vert lui le le cours et li saust 
 entre les janbes, i li fet mout grant joie. Et li chevaliers le conjoil (p. 143).
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 75 
 
 Et une pluie a amende 
 Si grant et si desmesure'e 
 Que c'ert vis que trestout fondiat 
 Et la grans fories ca'ist. 1 
 
 The storm grows so in fury that Perceval has to cover his head 
 with his shield, and take shelter under a tree until it is over. 
 
 The next day he meets the damsel again and learns from her that 
 the light came from the Grail ; she, however, had seen no storm : 
 
 " Nenil, fait ele, sire, voir : 
 Ains ne me poc apierchevoir 
 Que pleuve caist ne tormente : 
 Ains estoit la nuis bele et gente 
 Et coie et sans vent et sieVie, 
 Et de la clarte que veistes, 
 Ne sai s'onques parler oistes 
 Del rice roi ki est pesciere, 
 Si pres maint outre une riviere ; 
 Si vint anuit en la foriest." 2 
 
 The Perlesvaus mentions a similar storm which is also felt only 
 by the Grail-seeker. 3 Gawain is caught in it just after he has left 
 the Grail Castle, while still in the neighboring forest. Here the 
 storm seems to be the merited punishment for his reticence while 
 in the presence of the Grail. At least, a squire tells him : " vos I' 
 avez deservi" though the same squire adds : " car itele est la coutume 
 de la forest." The main points of the Perlesvaus version are : 
 Gawain rides into the forest ; so great a storm comes on that he 
 believes the trees will be uprooted. The rain pours down in 
 torrents. He has to cover his horse with his shield to keep it 
 from drowning. In this sad plight he rides on till he reaches a 
 stream. Beyond the stream, a knight and a damsel are riding in 
 great comfort through a meadow. Above them the sky is clear 
 and the sun is shining brightly. Gawain is amazed that it rains 
 so hard on him whilst the knight and his lady have fair weather. 
 
 Turning again to Gautier, we notice that before Perceval and 
 the damsel part, she lends him her mule which will conduct him 
 in safety wherever he may wish to go, provided he wears on his 
 finger a ring that she has given him. In fact : 
 
 " Et del pout de voirre passer 
 Ne vos estuet estre en paour." 
 
 J v. 27925. 2 v. 28056 ff. 3 p. 92.
 
 76 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Our author attributes similar qualities to the mule of Joseph of 
 Arimathea. Before Perceval makes his final assault on the Grail 
 Castle over the nine bridges the hermit to whom he confesses 
 gives him Joseph's mule with the words : Vos I'amenroiz avec vos, 
 die vos suivra mout volentiers, et si porterez un /anon (of. the ring in 
 Gautier). . . . quant vos seroiz grevez de vostre chevalerie, montez 
 desor la mule et prenez le fanon, si perdront vostre anemi ausques 
 de lor force. 
 
 The above descriptions of the storm agree in too marked a way x 
 not to be in some way related. At first glance, owing to the 
 briefer form of the Perlesvaus account, one would suppose that 
 they were derived from a common source. The fact, however, 
 that our romance shows traces of borrowing from Gautier in other 
 places, makes it possible to assume that our author took the inci- 
 dent directly from Gautier's work. But as concerns the mule and 
 the ring, I do not think that any importance can be attached to the 
 occurrence of like features in Perlesvaus. 2 A white mule is found 
 also in La Mule sans frein, which will bring its rider in safety to 
 a place where there is a magic bridle ; so that this notion of safe- 
 conduct by a faithful animal, notably a mule, may have been 
 common. 
 
 The portrayal of Perceval's visit to his old home 3 seems to be 
 the last noteworthy point in which our author followed Gautier. 
 A discussion of this incident is scarcely necessary as the borrowing 
 is evident from the fact that he gives us the same situation as 
 Gautier, while no other form of the incident is known which he 
 could have used. 
 
 Gautier 4 begins the story with Perceval's arrival in the Waste 
 Forest, u mainte fois este avoit. But it is so long ago since he was 
 there that he barely recognizes the place. By and by, he thinks 
 he must be nearing the manoir of his mother. He passes the tree 
 where he met the knight : 
 
 . . . . " ki m'ensegna 
 Le roi Artu qui me douna 
 Les armes taintes en vermel." 
 
 1 Gautier and our author apparently stand apart from the other romancers 
 in describing a storm which only the Grail-seeker undergoes. 
 1 Cf. above, p. 32, for the probable origin of Joseph's mule. 
 3 p. 171. *v. 25760.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 77 
 
 On he goes, becoming more and more anxious about his mother : 
 
 De sa mere pities le prent, 
 Car bien li venoit de nature. 
 
 At last he reaches the memoir, is hospitably received and 
 
 Une moult tres cointe puciele, 
 Blance com flours en may novele, 
 
 comes to greet him ; it is his sister. Perceval knows for sooth : 
 
 .... que c'est sa suer ; 
 
 Mais ne vot descovrir son cuer, 
 
 Car il voloit ancois atendre. 
 
 A demander et a aprendre 
 
 Combien a que morte est sa mere, etc. 
 
 But the damsel, whom he reminds of her brother, begins to weep. 
 Thereupon Perceval weakens, and confesses that in fact he is her 
 brother. 
 
 In Perlesvaus 1 we read that Perceval has just left a hermit's cell 
 and is riding alone through a forest, when suddenly he feels his 
 heart stirred with an irresistible desire to see his mother. In a 
 few moments, he comes upon a damsel, kneeling under a tree, who 
 prays aloud for assistance. She begs that Perceval may come 
 soon to rescue her mother from the Sires des Mores. Seeing the 
 knight, she implores his aid without knowing who he is. 
 
 He, however, set bien qu* ele est sa soeur, mes il ne veust encore 
 descouvrir ne demonstrer la pitie par defors. Nevertheless, he 
 promises his aid. Leaving her, he rides to the end of the forest, 
 whence he sees the castle of Kamanlot in the distance, dont il oissi 
 vallez quant il odt le chevalier au vermeil escu. The sight pleases 
 him much. His sister suddenly rejoins him, and they ride thither. 
 On the way Perceval " opens " a tomb, whereupon he hears great 
 rejoicing at the castle where they know that this feat can only be 
 accomplished by Perceval himself. 2 
 
 1 P . 171. 
 
 2 As a minor agreement, compare the frequent allusions in both works to the 
 fact that Perceval is li miudres chevaliers. Perlesvaus, pp. 21, 43, 131, 142, 171, 
 179, 208, etc. Gautier: v. 24341 (at the amorous ford), Pot. iv, p. 295 (the 
 bridge of glass), v. 29471 (the tournament held by Arthur), Pot. iv, p. 318 (the 
 Knight of the Tomb says so), v. 34040 (ibid., the Damsel of Mont Dolourous), 
 Pot. v, p. 149 (the Fisher King says God made him so)..
 
 78 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 c. MANESSIEE. 
 
 Thus far the results of our study have been comparatively simple 
 and definite. Though the body of the romance is made up of 
 materials drawn from various and often unrelated sources, the 
 central theme and many accessory episodes are clearly traceable to 
 the Perceval and its first two Continuations. The relationship of 
 the work to the remaining Continuations is more difficult to 
 determine. The agreements here are inconclusive as a class ; and 
 the fact that they are not connected with the main Grail story 
 increases the probability that they were derived from a common 
 source. 
 
 Birch-Hirschfeld maintains that our author's relations to Man- 
 essier, the first of the later continuators, are apparent from " certain 
 borrowings." But the only instance of borrowing he gives is the 
 tale of the Craven Knight. He observes that the incident of the 
 latter's death is not related by Manessier, and adds that the story 
 being thus amplified in our romance proves that our author did 
 not invent it. As the German scholar adduces no further evidence 
 in support of his view, its ultimate acceptance or rejection seems 
 to hinge on the derivation of the Craven Knight tale. Before 
 entering upon a discussion of this story, it will thus be advisable 
 to re-examine Manessier's poem in order to make sure that it con- 
 tains no further agreements with our work which the previous 
 commentators may have overlooked. 
 
 At first glance, the name Camaalot, as the location of Arthur's 
 court, suggests a connection between the two works as the name 
 occurs also in the Perlesvaus. To be sure, our author thus desig- 
 nates Perceval's former home in the isle of Wales, but he clearly 
 distinguishes this place from the Camaalot * in Logres (England), 
 where he says the " tellers of tales " place Arthur's court. In the 
 Perlesvaus the court is usually held at Carduel or Pannenoiseuse, 
 while Manessier 2 regularly locates it at Camaalot. 
 
 1 p. 251 ; our author spells the name, Kamaalot. 
 * vv. 35635, 42543.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 79 
 
 The name does not occur in any portion of the Perceval which 
 we have thus far discussed. We do, however, find it in the Qu&te 
 as the accepted location of the Round Table. It may therefore be 
 supposed that Manessier derived it thence since his use of the 
 Queie is admitted. 1 But it is not necessary to hold that Manessier 
 transmitted the name to our author, who generally places the court 
 elsewhere. Exactly how our author became acquainted with the 
 name in its Arthurian sense is impossible to say. The .Quete 
 and Grand St. Graal, presumably being unknown to him, could 
 hardly have suggested it. 2 A much more plausible view is to 
 refer his knowledge of it to Crestien's Lancelot, 3 or to some similar 
 work, not of necessity connected with the Grail legend. 
 
 Again, we notice a certain kinship between the experience 
 Perceval passes through at the Chapel haunted by the Black Hand 
 and the visit his sister pays in Perlesvaus to the Dangerous 
 Cemetery. 4 A perusal, however, of the two stories will show that, 
 although they agree on several features, their general divergence is 
 too great to permit of their being in any sense identified. More- 
 over, as Heinzel has stated, a closer parallel to the Dangerous 
 Cemetery story is to be found in the Chevalier as deus espees. 6 But 
 it should be observed that all of the stories here mentioned, as well 
 as the adventure 6 of Arthur's squire in the first section of our 
 romance, are variations of the same type of episode, and are per- 
 haps descended from a common original. 
 
 Further than those stated, the Continuation of Manessier has no 
 points of resemblance with our work which cannot be ascribed to , 
 the fact that the two authors treat the same theme and have, in 
 part at least, the same literary antecedents. 7 We can now pass on, 
 
 1 Cf. Heinzel, op. cil., pp. 73 and 186. 
 
 2 Cf. Sommer : Malory's Morte d' Arthur, London, 1890, vol. II, p. 157 and Rhys : 
 Studies in the Arthurian Legend, Oxford, 1891, pp. 15 and 50. 
 
 3 v. 34. 
 
 4 Cf. vv. 39816, 39866, 39970 (Manessier), 34434, ff, 35434 (Gautier). 
 
 6 Cf. above, p. 32. 
 
 8 This story is quoted in L'histoire de Foulkes Fitz-Warin (ed. F. Michel, Paris, 
 1840; p. 110) of the latter part of the thirteenth century, a valuable com- 
 mentary on the popularity of our romance. 
 
 7 Cretien, Pseudo-Gautier and Gautier; cf. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 186.
 
 80 A Study of the Perlesyaus. 
 
 without further delay, to a consideration of the Craven Knight 
 episode, an analysis of which, according to Manessier and our 
 author respectively, is as follows : 
 
 Manessier 1 : One day, while riding along, Perceval meets a 
 strange knight going at great speed. The latter so says the 
 poet is either overburdened with sorrow or out of his wits. His 
 hauberk, his shield and his helmet are dangling from his neck 
 against the crupper of his horse, and his lance is fastened lengthwise 
 to its side. Perceval, of course, is much surprised at the strange 
 appearance the knight presents. 
 
 The stranger, however, is extremely courteous and very good- 
 looking. 
 
 Et fu li plus biaus chevaliers 
 
 C'on trouvast en .XXX. millers; 
 
 Onques si biaus, a son avis, 
 
 Ne vit de cors ne de vis : 
 
 He is large and powerful but more timid than a hare. The reason 
 he rides thus, he tells Perceval, is that he will fight with no one : 
 
 .... car il n'a cure 
 Que nus li face ja laidure ; 
 N'a que faire de soi combattre 
 Ne ke nus del cheval 1'abate ; 
 " Mious voel en pais parmi la terre 
 Aler por mes affaires querre 
 Que moi faire batre et ferir, 
 Que biens ne ni'en poroit venir ; 
 Et k'aroie jou gaengie 
 Se on m'avoit a rnort plaie 
 U navre por gesir au lit ? " 
 
 Perceval replies that he ought to be ashamed of such conduct, and 
 speedily induces him to adjust his armor. But the knight insists 
 that he will not use his arms. 
 
 " En pais voel ma vie aciever 
 Et tote folie eskiver." 
 
 They ride along, however, together, and before long hear cries of 
 1 vv. 42125-42519, 43719-44057.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 81 
 
 distress in the distance. Going in the direction whence the cries 
 proceed, they come upon two damsels about to be burned at the 
 stake by a band of (ten) robber-knights. True to his word, the 
 strange knight refused to lift a hand in behalf of the damsels, 
 while Perceval naturally hastens to their rescue. 
 
 Meantime while Perceval is fighting, his companion looks on 
 trembling. When attacked by any of the robbers, he claims to 
 have no part in the affair. This plea the former ignore, and deal 
 him blow after blow until he is wounded. Thereupon he suddenly 
 grows angry, and turning on his assailants, he stretches several of 
 them dead on the ground. Finally, with his help Perceval suc- 
 ceeds in subduing the whole band. Together they then accompany 
 the damsels back to their home. 
 
 Perceval and his unknown companion appear again at the 
 tournament which King Baudemagus is holding with the " King 
 of the Hundred Knights." There the strange knight and Perceval 
 enter the lists against the knights of the Round Table, and are 
 very successful. Perceval fights Gahariet and the strange knight, 
 Mordret. 
 
 After the tournament the strange knight is pleased with the 
 good blows he has dealt : 
 
 Ains mais n'en fist tout en sa vie ; 
 Or li prent talens et envie 
 De si bien faire ke nului 
 Ne puisse mes dire de lui 
 Chose ki tourt a vilonie ; 
 Toute couardie renie. 
 
 Now Perceval parts company with the stranger, but beforehand he 
 asks him his name ; the knight answers : 
 
 " Li Biaus Mauvais m'apele-on ; 
 Icestui nom me fu donnes 
 Le jour ke je fu adoubes." 
 
 Perceval says rather ought he to be called li Biaus Hardi ; 
 
 " Car biaus, sages et hardis estes 
 Et chevaliers preus et honestes, 
 Si 1'ai moult bien apierceu 
 A ceste assemblee et veu."
 
 82 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Perceval, in turn has revealed his name, and li Biaus Hardi is 
 very sorry to leave him ; 
 
 Car, se il fust a son talent, 
 Ja ma is a mil jour de sa vie 
 Ne partist de sa compagnie. 
 
 Later on, 1 relating his adventures to King Arthur, Perceval 
 mentions the strange knight's name as Chevalier Hardi. 2 
 
 Perlesvaus 3 : Gawain is passing through the forest adjoining the 
 castle of Marin the Jealous, 4 when he suddenly sees before him a 
 knight riding in a very curious fashion : a recullons an mout 
 sauvage meniere ce devant derriere, et avoit les reignes de son chevel 
 ires parmi son piz. His shield and sword are upside down ; his 
 hauberk and choses defer are tied to his neck. 
 
 The knight, as soon as he perceives Gawain, begs not to be 
 harmed, and says that he is the Craven Knight, the vassal of the 
 Damsel of the Cart. 5 Recognizing Gawain, he proceeds to re- 
 adjust his armor on the spot. 
 
 While they are talking, a stranger rides up and suddenly attacks 
 Gawain. In the combat, which follows, the .Craven Knight has a 
 chance of witnessing Gawain's prowess. This leads him to remark 
 afterward that he would have fled, if he had been in Gawain's 
 place, for he prizes peace above all things : " car il ne vient de gerre 
 semalnon; nejen'oi onques plaiene bleoeure .... etje voi vostre 
 viaire tot depfaie et navre an plusors leus. y> He gives Gawain some 
 further news of the Damsels of the Cart, whereupon the two 
 separate. 
 
 We read of him again further on in the Perlesvaus. 6 This time 
 in connection with Perceval. The Grail hero meets him in a 
 forest, where he appears grant et bel et bien forni et adroit et tout 
 
 ^.45149. 
 
 2 This name, however, is not given him, as Birch-Hirschfeld claims (cf. above, 
 p. 24 ; Sage vrnn Oral, p. 139), in v. 43300. 
 
 3 pp. 52 ff., 189 and 301. 
 * Ibid., pp. 48-52. 
 
 5 Cf. above, p. 62 ; the knight's cowardice is connected here with the failure of 
 the Grail quest. 
 
 6 p. 189 ; cf. also p. 148, where a second meeting with Gawain is related, but 
 this passage has no importance.
 
 ^i Study of the Perlesvaus. 83 
 
 arme sor son cheval, though he frankly confesses his cowardice and 
 his fear of being slain. Perceval replies that he shall be made 
 courageous : cest grant doumache que couardie est herbergiee en si 
 biau chevalier. But the knight objects to having either his courage 
 or his name changed ; he even tells Perceval : vos me volez ocirre. 
 
 They have not proceeded far together, when they hear cries of 
 distress in a distant part of the forest. Perceval makes the knight 
 go thither with him, though the latter protests. They find there 
 a powerful knight unmercifully beating two forlorn damsels, in 
 whom they recognize the sisters of Gawain's friend, the Poor 
 Knight. Instead of braving the oppressor in person, Perceval 
 forces his companion to oppose him. Unable to escape, the Craven 
 Knight at first sustains blow upon blow unmoved. Finally, how- 
 ever, inflamed at the sight of his own blood, he strikes his assailant 
 such a stroke that the latter rolls on the ground. The Craven 
 Knight then cuts off his head, and presents it to Perceval. 
 
 Now he realizes the folly of his former cowardice, and gladly 
 accepts from Perceval the name Chevaliers Hardiz. In proof of 
 his courage, he leaves Perceval in order to escort the damsels back 
 to their home. 
 
 A final reference to him occurs toward the close of the romance * : 
 
 The merciless Aristot is attempting to carry off Perceval's sister, 
 and the ( Bold Knight ' is defending her. Aristot is the embodi- 
 ment of cruelty and tries to kill all knights that come his way. 
 Happily, Perceval arrives in time to rescue his sister, but her brave 
 defender is seriously hurt. He dies soon after in a hermit's cell, 
 whither Perceval has carried him, consoled by the fact that he 
 had seen Perceval again. 
 
 The last incident, the knight's death at the hands of Perceval's 
 great enemy, is of course the main point upon which the romances 
 differ. And yet one must admit that this conclusion in Perlesvaus 
 is somewhat more than a mere addition. In a measure our author 
 lets us expect it from the start, again and again the Craven Knight 
 expresses his fear of being killed. On the other hand, Manessier 
 gives but one reference to such a possibility, v. 42161 ff. : 
 
 1 p. 301.
 
 84 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 . . . . " k'aroie jou gaengie 
 Se on m'avoit a mort plaie 
 U navre por gesir au lit," 
 
 and the context shows that no emphasis can be put on the reference. 
 The above difference, however, dwindles in importance when we 
 consider that the versions agree on the change wrought in the 
 character of the knight, which is after all the dominant feature of 
 the episode. 
 
 The question arises what is the nature of the story itself? Do 
 the poets intend to record an actual experience of Gawain and 
 Perceval? This is hardly possible. Upon reading the adventure, 
 one is at once struck by the fact that the chief actors in it are pre- 
 eminently types of knighthood. It matters little whether the 
 knight is corrected of his cowardly ways by Gawain or by Perceval 
 as long as both are distinguished for valor and hence worthy to be 
 imitated. The incidents of the story are likewise arbitrary and 
 made to illustrate a special idea. Obviously the story has a didactic 
 purpose. We cannot go far wrong in calling it a knightly fable, 
 if the term be admissable. 
 
 Regarded in this light, it is possible to assume that the versions 
 have different morals. According to Manessier, the Craven Knight's 
 main characteristic beside his cowardice in his beauty. Apparently, 
 he does not fear death half as much as the loss of his good looks : 
 
 E fu li plus biaus chevaliers 
 C^on trouvast en .xxx. millers ; 
 
 . . car il n'a cur 
 Que nus li face ja laidure. 
 
 It is this fear of being scarred and disfigured which keeps him 
 from becoming a valiant knight. Consequently, the story-teller'a 
 object may be considered fulfilled when he had represented the 
 knight as disdainful of his looks in the face of imminent combat. 
 Chivalry is a stern mistress, who claims of the true knight the 
 sacrifice of every selfish thought. Above we saw Gawain yield his 
 pride * ; here a knight must give up his beauty. 
 
 Such is without doubt the fundamental idea of the Manessier 
 version, though Manessier would have added much to the force of
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 85 
 
 the tale by representing the knight at the end as really disfigured. 
 We must suppose either that this idea was not grasped by our 
 author, who confused also the details of Manessier's version, or that 
 he was not acquainted with Manessier's work and derived the 
 story, and possibly the moral as he gives it, from some other source. 
 As I intimated above, our author indicates that he conceived of the 
 knight's cowardice as having its roots primarily in a fear of death. 
 At any rate, the Coward's actions when he meets Perceval, and 
 ever afterward until he is made brave, seem to be ruled by this 
 motive. The fearless way in which he lays down his life for his 
 friend is therefore noteworthy. Nevertheless, his first appearance 
 on the scene, in Gawain's company, places him in much the same 
 light as in Manessier. His hauberk and choses de fer are tied to 
 his neck, he desires peace and avoidance of plaie et bleceure. He 
 even remarks (a trait lacking in Manessier) that Gawain's face is 
 scarred and ugly from the battles he has waged. But he adjusts 
 his armor as soon as he sees Gawain, and says that he is the 
 * Craven Knight ' before Gawain has a chance to taunt him ; 
 incidents which are evident corruptions of the original story. 
 
 The beauty of the knight is mentioned only once in our romance, 
 and then in the second part of the version where the death idea is 
 uppermost. On the whole, the details of this part are worked out 
 along the same lines as the Manessier form : Perceval and the 
 Coward rescue two damsels from the clutches of robbers, the 
 knight will not fight until wounded, etc. The name 'Bold 
 Knight,' however, is given the Coward directly after the rescue ; 
 whereas the change of name is not made in Manessier until he has 
 proved his valor, alone, in a tournament against the very flower of 
 chivalry, the knights of the Round Table. 
 
 Since Manessier's version is so clearly the superior one, both in 
 conception and execution, the first of the above alternatives seems 
 the more acceptable ; namely, that our version is a reproduction of 
 the Manessier form of the story, altered, and rearranged because 
 incompletely remembered. Against this conclusion, however, the 
 following points may be urged : 
 
 1. Manessier is evidently not the originator of this story. A 
 sure sign of this we find in the names Siaus Mauvais and Biaus 
 Hardi, neither of which is mentioned until the knight makes his
 
 86 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 final appearance. From what we saw of the meaning of the 
 Manessier version, the name Biaus Mauvais (or better still, Biaus 
 Couarz) would have been more appropriate before the fighting 
 takes place, inasmuch as the knight is then handsome but 
 craven ; while after the combat in which he distinguishes himself, 
 if the story is to be carried out consistently, he should have been 
 called Li Laiz Hardis being brave but ugly. For, although the 
 disfigurement of the knight is not recorded by Manessier, it is an 
 essential part of the original story. The poet should have made 
 some reference to the sacrifice of the knight's beauty, if for no 
 other reason than to point iiis moral. 1 The fact that, on the con- 
 trary, Manessier again emphasizes the knight's beauty, shows that 
 his version is distinctly second-hand. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the name Li Laiz Hardis, postulated 
 by me, actually occurs in the Erec of Crestien de Troyes. 2 It is 
 also mentioned in Le Bel Inconnu? a romance of Gawain's son, 
 although its occurrence there is to be attributed to influence of the 
 Erec.* Crestien mentions the name in the long list he gives of the 
 knights at Arthur's Court, and curiously the name which imme- 
 diately preceeds it in this list is li -Biaus Couarz. 
 
 Et li quinz fu li Biaus Coarz. 
 Li sistes fu li Lez Hardiz. 
 
 Our episode shows us that these knights were originally one per- 
 son. Crestien frequently confused the material he uses ; we have 
 a notable example of his blundering in one of the chief episodes 
 in Erec. 6 The important thing, however, is that Crestien's mention 
 of these names bears out our view that Manessier did not originate 
 
 1 The omission of the last incident of the Perlesvaus version from this discussion 
 calls for some explanation. Is the Coward's death a part of this episode ? If in 
 Manessier the knight has to sacrifice his beauty, should he not in our romance 
 give up his life ? That the version may be thus interpreted, can, I think, be 
 admitted. But I do not believe that two distinct forms of the story existed 
 originally. Manessier, it seems to me, represents not only the more artistic but 
 the more primitive form of the story. Thus, I hold that our author grafted this 
 feature upon his source merely in order to complete the biography of the knight 
 or, indeed, in order to enforce the special moral of his version. 
 
 2 Ed. W. Foerster, Halle, 1896, v. 1691. 
 
 3 Ed. Hippeau, 1860, v. 5394. 
 
 * Cf. W. H. Schofield, Studies on Libeaus Desconiis, Boston, 1895, p. 106. 
 8 v. 5465 ff.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 87 
 
 the episode but derived his version of it from an earlier and prob- 
 ably more perfect form. To this earlier form the references in 
 Erec are probably to be traced. 
 
 2. In like manner we might say that the Perlesvaus version is 
 independently descended from this unknown original, though the 
 question is not one that admits of direct proof. In one point this 
 version seems to be more primitive than Manessier : the knight at 
 once notices the scars Gawain has in his face and remarks on them. 
 
 While the examination of this episode thus points to no definite 
 conclusion, the evidence is by no means of a kind to lead one to 
 accept the view that our romance is necessarily based on the work 
 of Manessier. This is the only episode which our author and 
 Manessier have in common, and the indications at present are that 
 they derived it separately from the same source, or from sources 
 which were closely related. 
 
 d. GERBEBT. 
 
 The means at our disposal to determine our author's literary 
 relationship to Gerbert are not much better than they were in the 
 case of Manessier. The problem here is further complicated by 
 the fact that scholars J have as yet reached no definite understanding 
 as to the precise connection of Gerbert's work with the other 
 Continuations of Crestien's poem. 
 
 Nor have we any certain knowledge concerning the original 
 form of Gerbert's poem. The work is extant in but one MS., 
 and as found there, interposed between two other works, Gaston 
 Paris 2 supposes that its beginning and end have suffered abbre- 
 viation. Moreover, Potvin did not publish this MS. in full but 
 only such parts of it as he deemed essential for an understanding 
 of the story ; the trend of the remaining parts is stated in his own 
 words. Fortunately, the portion published contains everything 
 of importance for our purpose. 
 
 Let us now consider briefly the origin of Gerbert's work. 
 Heinzel 3 holds that it shows traces of the influence of Crestien 
 
 1 Cf. the contradictory statements of Heinzel (op. dt., p. 78) and Gaston Paris 
 (Hist. Litt., vol. xxx, p. 42.) I agree with Paris, cf. below. 
 a Cf. Paris, Manuel, 2nd ed., 1890, p. 99. 
 3 Cf. op. eit., p. 186.
 
 88 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 and the other continuators. At the same time he maintains that, 
 by drawing also on the Quete, Gerbert flatly contradicts the data 1 
 of Manessier. The last observation, however, is seen to lack force 
 when we consider that Gerbert's use of Manessier's work may 
 be seriously questioned. Heinzel 2 himself admits certain notable 
 differences between the two Continuations. The points in which 
 they agree, and on which their relationship has been based, are 
 these: 
 
 1. Both writers describe a visit to the Chateau des Puceles ; 
 
 2. Perceval breaks his sword in both narratives ; 
 
 3. In both Perceval is tempted by the Devil in the guise of 
 a woman. 3 
 
 The first reason Heinzel tacitly concedes to be poor, since he 
 remarks in a foot-note 4 that Gerbert's version of the incident 
 differs (weicht a&) from Manessier's, as well as from the versions of 
 Gautier and the Quite. But the second and third reasons are also 
 inadequate. Gerbert relates that Perceval breaks his sword against 
 the gate of Paradise ; there is a mystery about the occurrence : the 
 smith, whom Perceval meets later, knows how the sword was 
 broken as soon as he sees it. But, according to Manessier, the 
 sword breaks off quite naturally in a conflict with a band of ten 
 knights. Again, Manessier's version of the temptation, as Heinzel 
 remarks further on, 6 resembles more closely the account in the 
 Quete than that given by Gerbert. In Manessier and the Quete, 
 the Devil first tries to drown Perceval, but no't succeeding, he 
 comes to him in the shape of a beautiful woman ; on each occasion 
 Perceval saves himself by making the sign of the cross. In 
 Gerbert, on the other hand, (so far as we can tell from Potvin's 
 brief summary) Perceval is simply tempted by the woman to 
 commit carnal sin and resists, and afterward he is tempted again, 
 with the promise that if he yields the secrets of the Grail will be 
 made known to him. Thus, Manessier and Gerbert having both 
 drawn on the Quete, it is more probable that these incidents are 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 76. * Op. cit., pp. 75-76. 
 
 8 Heinzel mentions as a further agreement " the knight in the tomb," who 
 treacherously asks Perceval's aid. But this point Manessier has in common with 
 Gautier, not Gerbert, as the reference to v. 29682 shows. Heinzel later (p. 76) 
 corrects the mistake. 
 
 * Op. cit., p. 76. ;p. 76.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 89 
 
 part of their common gleanings than that Gerbert derived them 
 from Manessier and then varied from him to the extent noted. 
 
 This being the case, it is plain that our author may have used 
 either one of these Continuations without having used the other ; 
 if he is indebted to Gerbert for material, we do not on that 
 account have to assume that he is also indebted to Manessier, and 
 moe versa. As we noted above, 1 the question whether he was 
 acquainted with Gerbert must be decided from three episodes. 
 The first of these, in point of order, is the well-known story of 
 the Beste glapissante. Allusions are also made to this remarkable 
 animal in the Huth Merlin 2 and the Portuguese Domanda? and 
 an account of its birth and doings is found in the prose Tristan, 
 of which Loeseth has made an analysis. 4 But a mere glance at 
 these works will show that the accounts they give of the animal 
 have but a vague connection with the episode our author and 
 Gerbert relate. All that is necessary, therefore, is to compare the 
 Perlesvaus version of the episode with that of Gerbert in order to 
 see whether Birch-Hirschfeld is correct in making the one the 
 derivative of the other. As the episode, however, is found linked 
 to that of the Priests and the Cross, the two stories will here be 
 considered together. An outline of them follows. 
 
 Perlesvaus: 5 Having staid with his mother as long as she 
 wished, Perceval again enters the grant forest soutine and rides 
 until he enters a beautiful glade. In the center of the glade he 
 sees a red cross and at the further end of it, seated in the shade of 
 the forest, a knight arrayed in white, who is holding a golden 
 vessel in his hand. Opposite the knight sits a damsel, young and 
 fair, clad in white samite. 
 
 Presently a white doe comes forth from the forest into the glade. 
 In size it is between a fox and a hare. 6 It is much frightened 
 
 1 Cf. p. 24. 
 
 1 G. Paris and J. Ulrich, Merlin (Soc. des anc. textes franc.) Paris, 1886, vol. I, 
 pp. 149, 160. 
 
 s K. von Reinhardstoettner, o Historia dos Cavalleiros da Mesa Redonda e da 
 Demanda do Santo Graal, Berlin, 1887, p. 59. 
 
 * Le Roman en Prose de Tristan, analyse critique, by E. Loeseth, Paris, 1891, 
 p. 498. 6 p. 187ff. 
 
 The text says: "larger than a fox and smaller than a hare,'' evidently a 
 corruption.
 
 90 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 because there are fawns in its womb which bark like hounds. 
 Fleeing from the sound, it comes toward Perceval, who is about 
 to take it on his horse when the knight in white calls out to him 
 to let it feire sa destinee. 
 
 The doe then runs to the cross, and its young are brought forth. 
 But they are not of the mildness or the beauty of the mother. 
 The latter crouches before them comme se ele lor criast mem. 
 They surround her and tear her to pieces, but they cannot eat of 
 her body or remove it from the cross. The head, however, they 
 devour ; whereupon they become mad and run into the forest. 
 
 The knight and the damsel now approach the spot where the 
 doe is lying and each puts some of its flesh into the golden vessel, 
 then they kiss the spot and worship at the cross. When they are 
 through, Perceval kneels down at the cross to pray. 
 
 By and by, two priests issue from the forest on foot and inter- 
 rupt his devotions. Perceval then withdraws from the cross, and 
 one of the priests takes his place, " kissing the cross and showing 
 great joy." Before long the other priest drives away the first with 
 a stick, and approaching the cross himself, smites it and laments 
 at the same time. Perceval inquires why he commits so sacrile- 
 gious an act but receives no answer. 
 
 According to Gerbert, 1 Perceval sees two priests before a cross : 
 the one strikes it with a stick, as if he wished to upset it, until 
 his breath is exhausted ; and the other worships it on bended 
 knees, a jointes mains. Perceval addresses one of them, Gerbert 
 does not say which. 
 
 Mais d'autre chose ara entente 
 
 Perchevax, a poi de saison. 
 
 This is an animal grant a merveille. It flees at once from 
 Perceval. Its young within it bark like dogs that might be 
 chasing it. Perceval pursues it an entire day. Finally, the young 
 are born and at once devour the mother, leaving only the bones. 
 Then they go mad and eat up one another. 
 
 The meaning attached to the acts of the priests is the same in 
 both works : the one rejoices over the liberation of the damned 
 
 1 Potvin, op. cit., vol. yi, pp. 219-222.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 91 
 
 from hell by the death of the Saviour, and the other sorrows over 
 the agony Christ suffered. The Perlesvaus states that the priests 
 were called Jonas and Aliexes, but Gerbert does not mention their 
 names. The allegory of the Beste was explained above. 1 
 
 It should be noted here that before this explanation is given in 
 Gerbert, the Hermit King says to Perceval : 
 
 " Biax amis, ne vous anois 
 Se je mec alques a respondre, 
 Et contra volra despondre, 
 Je li proveroi orendroit 
 Que j'en dirai raison et droit 
 Qu'en la vie de Dieu me fie." 
 
 These words, primarily an apology for the length of what follows, 
 may also have been intended as a vindication of the meaning given 
 the episode. The Hermit King intends to prove that he tells the 
 truth about the story. Gerbert seems to have realized that the 
 episode could be interpreted in other ways too. Possibly even, his 
 own explanation is a substitution for one that was previously 
 current. 
 
 As I remarked above, 2 the light in which Gerbert regards the 
 two episodes explains the form and the order he has given them. 
 As a matter of fact they are not 'separated,' but placed in the 
 inverse order of the Perlesvaus versions : while Perceval is still 
 pondering over the behavior of the . priests, the Beste appears. 
 Thus, while the arrangement of the episodes in our romance 
 admits the possibility that Gerbert derived them thence, the 
 additional allegory of the knight and the damsel in Perlesvaus 
 argues against such an hypothesis. However, then the other 
 possibility remains that Gerbert and our author drew on a common 
 original. 3 Before attempting to settle the problem definitely, let 
 us consider the third episode common to the two romances : the 
 story of the Chevalier au dragon. 
 
 The Perlesvaus * version runs thus : 
 
 Coming to Kardeil (Carduel), Perceval finds the Court in great 
 distress because the land is being laid waste by a knight with a 
 fiery shield, whom no one has been able to resist. The knights of 
 
 'pp. 25, 36. J p.36. 
 
 3 Cf. p. 42, above. * pp. 192-201 .
 
 92 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 the Court greet Perceval with joy and for a while their anxiety 
 subsides. 
 
 But the destroyer claims other victims, and one day when the 
 Court is at dinner, a damsel-messenger appears and invokes 
 Perceval's aid. Elinant de Cavalon, Perceval's cousin, beloved by 
 the messenger's mistress La Damoisele au cercle d'or, has recently 
 been slain by the dreaded enemy. The messenger has brought 
 along the corpse of Elinant, and promises Perceval the Cercle d'or, 
 if he succeeds in avenging him. 
 
 Perceval yields to her entreaty, and they set out together, 
 accompanied by Lancelot and Gawain. Presently, they come to 
 a castle, "turning more swiftly than the wind." Lancelot and 
 Gawain are here left behind, and Perceval and the damsel ride into 
 the castle alone. The inhabitants of the place are under the spell 
 of the * old law.' * From this Perceval promptly delivers them, 
 thereby pleasing the damsel, who is now certain that he will 
 avenge his cousin. They then ride on, the damsel taking the lead, 
 and soon reach the Hies des Oliphanz. This is the abode of the 
 damsel's mistress ; it was the most beautiful spot on earth until 
 the Chevalier au dragon the knight with the fiery shield made 
 it desolate. 
 
 They find the destroyer under an olive tree with four of his 
 victims lying dead about him. A short distance away the Queen 
 of the Cercle d'or stands at the window of her castle, weeping. 
 Seeing the cross on Perceval's shield, she vows to become a 
 Christian if he is victorious. Perceval and his companion now 
 approach the fiend. The latter is immensely tall; his shield is 
 noirs et granz et hideus, there is a dragon-head on it which belches 
 forth feu etflanbe, creating a horrible stench. This is so bad that 
 the messenger is forced to fall back, leaving Elinant's corpse at 
 Perceval's side. 
 
 After eyeing Perceval with scorn, the Chevalier au dragon 
 comes toward him with a huge 'red-hot' sword. The lance 
 with which Perceval defends himself is at once consumed by the 
 flames from the dragon-head. The latter, however, are powerless 
 against his shield, which contains relics of the Lord. Unable to 
 harm Perceval in this way, the destroyer burns up the body of 
 
 1 Cf. above, p. 9.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 9& 
 
 Elinant. This serves only to enrage Perceval, who redoubles his 
 efforts. He gives the destroyer several blows with his sword. 
 In return the knight wounds him in the shoulder. Exasperated, 
 Perceval drives his sword through his opponent's shield. A great 
 turmoil then ensues : the dragon-head utters a loud cry, turns on 
 its master in great rage (sic), burns him tout en poudre, and leaving 
 the shield it goes off into the sky like lightning (sic). 
 
 Perceval is immediately cared for by the Queen and her 
 messenger, who binds up his wound. The Queen then summona 
 her knights, and having given Perceval the Cercle d'or, she and 
 her people receive baptism at his hands. 
 
 I now give Gerbert's version. 1 Just how the story is here 
 introduced is difficult to tell. It seems the damsel (whether it is 
 the one of the Cercle d'or in person is not stated) meets Perceval 
 and knows by the shield he carries that he is to avenge her on the 
 Chevalier au dragon. 
 
 The latter, she tells him, is the brother of King Maragon ; he 
 lives on one of the islands of the sea, which he has peopled with 
 an evil race. Sometime ago he surrendered to the Devil with the 
 agreement that he was to prevail over all his enemies in battle. 
 Thus far no one has been able to withstand him because of the 
 ' black ' shield given to him by the Devil. The shield is : 
 
 . . . . " orrible et rubeste 
 D'un dragon i a une teste 
 Assise en 1'escu par tel art 
 Qu'il enflambe de fu et art 
 Celui qui a lui se combat." 
 
 She seems to think, however, that Perceval's shield is more 
 powerful. 
 
 Perceval is anxious to measure his strength against a knight 
 qui tant est plains de cruautez, and so the damsel offers to direct 
 Perceval to him. They come first to an abbey, the inmates of 
 which, though half-starved, rejoice at the sight of Perceval's 
 shield. Riding on, they meet victims of the knight, who try in 
 vain to dissuade Perceval from his perilous undertaking. Finally 
 the damsel's castle is reached, near which the knight is encamped. 
 
 1 Potvin, op. eit. t vol. VI, pp. 223-241.
 
 94 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Perceval immediately challenges him by sounding a bell that 
 hangs from a tree near by : 
 
 Tant durement le cloqne sone 
 Que toz 11 chastiax resone 
 Et toute Tost est estormie. 
 
 At the sound of the bell, all of the inhabitants of the castle mount 
 on the walls, even the lame and crippled. 
 
 Et la dame J monte en la tour 
 Et ses puceles tout entour. 
 
 The Chevalier au dragon can tell from the continued ringing of 
 the bell that his challenger is one of Arthur's knights. He at 
 once has himself armed, meanwhile boasting a great deal. The 
 four youths that wait on him hate the desloiax, li mals tirans. 
 This induces Gerbert to remark : 
 
 Bien doit avoir doel et contraire 
 Li home qui au deable sert ; 
 En la fin a che qu'il desert ; 
 (7 est permanablement infer, etc. 
 
 Having mounted his charger, the knight takes his lance, which 
 is grosse, roide etfors, and starts at full tilt for Perceval. 
 
 .Quant Perchevax venir le voit 
 Et voit 1'escu que il avoit 
 Plus noir qu'airement destempre, 
 Et vit le fu qui art le pre 
 Ki saut par la guele au dragon, 
 II sist al destrier arragon 
 Son escu devant lui mis. 
 
 But when the Devil in the dragon-head perceives the cross on 
 Perceval's shield, he roars like a bull : 
 
 Por che que Jhesucrist li rois 
 Venquist en la crois la bataille, 
 Por coi brisa infer sanz faille 
 Et en geta ses amis fora 
 Qui souffroient les tormens fors. 
 
 By this time the knight and Perceval have met, with lances set. 
 A flame shoots forth from the mouth of the dragon-head and burns 
 Perceval's lance to the hilt : 
 
 1 Of the Oerde d'or.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 95 
 
 Car ce estoit li fu d'enfer 
 
 Qui tout art quanques il ataint. 
 
 But the knight's shaft is also shattered. The force of the attack 
 is such that their horses do not rebound but are thrown together 
 in a heap. 
 
 Et si com li livres m'aprent, 
 
 Li fus art, trestot en esprent 
 
 As chevox les coles et les teates, 
 
 Qui trop estoient beles bestes. 
 
 Of course everybody expects to see Perceval consumed by the 
 flame. " Non fu" says Gerbert, " oiez merveille:" the red cross 
 on Perceval's shield comes into contact with the dragon-head on 
 the shield of his opponent ; a terrible noise ensues and the Devil 
 leaves the ' dragon/ disappearing into the air in the shape of a 
 crow. 
 
 The spectators shout to the knight to repent, but to no avail : 
 the fight is continued on foot. Realizing the advantage Perceval 
 has in his shield, the knight tries to snatch it from him. The 
 xcitement now reaches a high pitch : 
 
 La pucele au cercle d'or bat 
 Ses palmes, moult est esmarie, 
 Et reclame eainte Marie 
 Qu'ele deprit a son cher fil 
 Qu'il salve celui de peril 
 Qui por li a bataille prise. 
 
 Both knights fall to the ground exhausted. Perceval lets his 
 sword slip from his grasp j before he is able to recover it the 
 knight has dealt him a severe blow. 
 
 Thus the conflict rages to and fro until the knights decide to 
 fight it out with their swords alone. Accordingly, they lay down 
 their shields in the field. Th,e combat is renewed with fresh vigor, 
 and before long Perceval seriously wounds his opponent. Suddenly 
 a damsel appears, who picks up Perceval's shield and rides off 
 with it. The knight now succumbs to his wound and asks 
 Perceval for mercy. He says he would give a kingdom to be 
 "cured." Perceval replies that this is possible but in another 
 sense than the knight means : he must send for a priest and confess 
 his sins.
 
 96 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Gerbert uses this opportunity to make Perceval the mouth-piece 
 of several sententious remarks about the corruption of the world 
 and the wickedness of certain ' clerks ' who make their living by 
 deceiving others. 1 
 
 The knight, however, repents as Perceval wishes. 
 
 Eu orant va a Dieu morant 
 L'ame s'en va, li s'entent. 
 
 Perceval is praised by the Lady of the Cercle d'or, and, having 
 attended to the burial of the knight, he rides away in search of 
 his shield. 
 
 Undeniably these versions constitute a striking likeness between 
 the two works. With the exception of the prolongation of the 
 fight and the pardon granted the knight in Gerbert, they differ 
 only in matters of detail. From a purely narrative point of view, 
 however, Gerbert has the better version, notwithstanding his 
 tendency to moralize and to extend the story beyond its natural 
 length. If either version thus is secondary as compared with the 
 other, it is our author's. This characteristic is especially evident 
 from the fact that the knight is himself consumed by the dragon's 
 flames (instead of succumbing to the hero's superior knighthood), 
 and that the episode is made a sort of wager for the conversion of 
 the Queen, a trait of the story which is scarcely original but rather 
 the product of our author's religious ideas. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are several reasons for thinking that Gerbert 
 did not originate the episode. Foremost among these is the line : * 
 
 Et si com li livres m'aprent. 
 
 To support this statement, several passages from Gerbert might be 
 cited, showing that he must have relied to some degree on another 
 work. The precise nature of this work is of course unknown, 
 but it is safe to assume that it contained the episode in question. 
 We have negative evidence to the same effect in the mass of 
 details used in the acccount of the combat, and the long moraliza- 
 tions in which Gerbert indulges, which are frequently not even to 
 the purpose. 3 
 
 1 A special attack on lawyers. l Cf. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 82. 
 
 1 Cf. that on the evil ways of lawyers.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 97 
 
 It is to be regretted that Potvin says so little about the damsel 
 in whose behalf Perceval undertakes the adventure in Gerbert. 
 As one of the verses informs us, she is the Damsel of the Cercle 
 d'or but that is all we are told concerning her, and the episode 
 seems to have been introduced into the poem more on its own 
 merits than because it signifies her deliverance. The fact that the 
 damsel is apparently of no importance makes it appear that 
 Gerbert took the story out of its original background, which was, 
 as in the Perlesvaus, a special set of incidents connected with the 
 Cercle d'or, 1 and turned it merely into an illustration of Perceval's 
 prowess. 
 
 Potvin distinguishes the versions on the basis of the pardon 
 granted the knight, a feature which is peculiar to Gerbert. Another 
 noteworthy difference is the manner in which the dragon is 
 overcome. According to our author, Perceval drives his sword 
 through the 'head' in his adversary's shield. But Gerbert has 
 the distinctive trait that the Devil cannot resist the sign of the 
 cross, and is therefore powerless against Perceval's famous shield. 
 This shield is like that given Galaad in the Quete:"* no one but 
 he for whom it is destined can take it " and go unslain or unhurt." 
 As Gerbert is believed to have drawn on the Qudte, it is quite 
 probable that he borrowed the notion of the shield from it. 
 Whenever the Evil One attacks him, Galaad makes the sign of 
 the Cross and the Devil disappears with a crash (escrois). The 
 same expedient is employed by Perceval in Manessier and also in 
 Gerbert, 3 and always with the same result. If our author took 
 the episode from Gerbert, it is unusual, to say the least, that he 
 should have omitted a trait which tallies so well with the 
 symbolism of the rest of his work. 
 
 We thus see that none of these episodes throw much light on 
 the present question. Judging only by the versions outlined, we 
 may assume either that our author derived the episodes from 
 Gerbert, or that both writers appropriated them, quite indepen- 
 dently of one another, from some other work. The lack of strong 
 evidence in favor of either possibility is noteworthy. Of course, 
 
 1 Cf. above, p. 9. a Cf. Nutt, op. cit., p. 40. 
 
 3 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., vol. vi, p. 175. 
 7
 
 98 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 as stories the Perlesvaus versions are inferior to those of Gerbert. 
 I agree fully with Heinzel that in almost every case the former 
 impress one as the more recent versions. They bear the stamp of 
 1 re-workings/ if any of them do. Nevertheless, they may just as 
 well have been derived from Gerbert's source as from his own 
 poem. That Gerbert had an outside source, especially for the 
 story of the Chevalier au dragon, cannot be disputed. 
 
 It now remains to bring whatever external evidence there is to 
 bear on the problem of the relations between our work and these 
 last two Continuations. Gautier wrote his Continuation at the end 
 of the twelfth century. Manessier is thought to have completed 
 the Perceval between the years 1214 and 1220, and Gerbert's 
 portion of the poem is dated before 1225. 1 As concerns our work, 
 all that can be considered certain is that it was composed after the 
 Crestien, Pseudo-Gautier and Gautier portions of the Perceval 
 had appeared; that is, not before the year 1200. Hence, if any 
 further light is to be thrown on its relationship to Manessier and 
 Gerbert, the approximate date of its composition must first be 
 determined. 
 
 f. W. Hertz, Pareival, Stuttgart, 1898, p. 417.
 
 THE DATE OF THE PERLESVAUS. 
 
 We reached the conclusion above that the composition of the 
 romance was inspired by the crusades. 1 In fact, it appears from 
 certain references in the work 2 that it was intended as a sort of 
 crusade propaganda, although there are no indications that the 
 author had any particular crusade in mind. The dedication to 
 Jean de Nesle seems of little value in this connection because it is 
 found in but one MS., which is not the original. Nevertheless, 
 this dedication is the only reference we possess to the fact that the 
 work at least, the B version of it 3 was intended for a special 
 purpose. We have seen that all of the MSS. now known belong 
 to the same redaction. The original of MS. B must have been 
 written at about the same time that the original of the other MSS. 
 was composed. Consequently, were the date of the B version 
 determined, this would at least furnish us with a terminus ad quern 
 for the composition of the romance ; a downward limit being the 
 year 1200. 4 
 
 As regards Jean de Nesle, Potvin 5 identified him with the 
 feudal lord of this name who was castellan of the town of Bruges 
 from 1170 to 1212. The copy of the Perlesvaus, he thinks, was 
 presented to him as an incentive to join the crusades. Villehar- 
 douin, to whom Potvin refers, relates 6 that Jean de Nesle, 
 castellan of Bruges, was in charge of a part of the Flemish con- 
 tingent in the Fourth Crusade. The party under his leadership, 
 who were to join Baldwin in Venice and proceed thence for the 
 
 1 Cf. p. 46. 
 
 * Especially pages 1 and 15 of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 3 Cf. above, p. 14. By the B version I mean not only MS. B but also its 
 original. *Cf. p. 98. 
 
 5 Op. tit., vol. I, p. 355. Jean de Nesle must have been dead by 1212 since he 
 was then succeeded by his Ron. Cf. index to the work cited below, p. 100, note 1. 
 
 La Gmqueste de Constantinople, ed. N. de Wailly, Paris, 1872, \\ 8, 9, 48, 103. 
 
 99
 
 100 A Study of the Perhsvaus. 
 
 East, sailed from Flanders in June, 1202, and spent the winter in 
 Marseilles. They then set out to meet Baldwin, but missed him 
 through ill-luck and went on alone to Syria (Surie). Villehar- 
 douin does not state whether Jean de Nesle returned to Europe, or 
 not. 1 The Jean de Nesle, whom we find fighting in Philip's army 
 in 1214, is evidently his successor. 2 It was also the latter, who in 
 1224 sold the castellany of Bruges to the countess of Flanders, as 
 the result of a long-drawn quarrel. 3 
 
 Obviously thus, as the romance can be dated shortly after 1200, 
 we may accept the suggestion of Potvin that the Jean de Nesle of 
 MS. B was the person of this name prominent in the Fourth 
 Crusade. 4 Moreover, there is a reference, hitherto unnoticed, 
 which tends to show that this Jean de Nesle was also a staunch 
 friend of the Church at home, and might well have been the lord 
 to whom the bishop of Carnbrai saw fit to dedicate such a work as 
 the Perlesvaus. This reference is to be found in Migne, Dictionnaire 
 des Abbayes et Monast&res, 5 and relates te the founding of the 
 Abbaye aux Bois, near Nesle, 6 in 1202 (or 1200) by "Jean, 
 seigneur de Neele, chatelain de Bouges (Bruges) et Eustachie de 
 St. Paul (Pol), sa femrne." The marriage of Eustachie de St. 
 Pol to Jean de Nesle, castellan of Bruges, is further corroborated 
 
 1 This was his second trip to the East. His first trip took place in 1188, probably 
 under the standard of Philip Augustus ; at any rate, we find him with the army 
 encamped before St. John of Acre in 1190. Cf. Rodulfus de Diceto (not Niceto, as 
 Potvin says, cf. above, p. 22) in Recuett des historiens des Gaules et de la France, 
 by M. J. J. Brial, new edition by L. Delisle, Paris, 1878, vol. xvn, p. 636. 
 
 2 Cf. De geslis Philippi Augusti in ibid., p. 99, and Potvin, I. c.. The second 
 Jean de Nesle seems to have inherited the warlike instincts but not the pious 
 and upright disposition of his father. The unknown chronicler describes him 
 " procerus corpore et forme venustissimse, sed virtus animi venustati corporis in 
 eo minime respondebat." Cf. also, Extraiis des chroniques de S. Denis (in ibid.) 
 p. 405. 
 
 3 Cf. J. O. Delepierre: Precis des Annales de Bruges, Bruges, 1835, p. 21. The 
 price paid was 24,545 livres pariaes, 6 escalins and 8 deniers. 
 
 4 The omission of the title chatelain in MS. B, does not prove anything. The 
 references to Jean de Nesle in Rodulfus de Diceto and the Gestis Philippi Augusti 
 (cf. above) do not give the title. Cf. the view of Birch-Hirschfeld, above, p. 27. 
 
 6 Third series (Troisieme et derni&re encyclopedic theologique ou troisi&me et dernidre 
 eerie de dictionnaires sur toutes parties de la science religieuse), vol. XVI. 
 
 6 Cf. Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel, vol. xi, p. 240.
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 101 
 
 by Mas Latrie. 1 It is generally thought, too, that this Jean de 
 Nesle was the patron whom Audefrois li Bastars addresses in his 
 lyrics. 2 
 
 But Potvin is clearly wrong in claiming that the bishop of 
 Cambrai, the seignor de Cambrein 3 of MS. B, was Roger de 
 Wauriu, as the latter died in 1191. A more likely view is that it 
 was John III of Bethune, who was consecrated in 1200, and who 
 lost his life in the expedition against the Albigensians. 4 
 
 We may therefore infer that the Perlesvaus was composed 
 during the early years of the thirteenth century; 1200 is the 
 approximate date of Gautier's Continuation, and 1202 marks the 
 departure for the East of Jean de Nesle, to whom the B version is 
 dedicated. As Jean de Nesle made the Church a valuable gift 
 before he sailed, the B version may have been intended not only 
 as a spur to further service but also as an expression of deep-felt 
 gratitude. Of course, it is improbable that 1202 will ever be 
 accepted as the precise date of the B version, as this would place 
 it too soon after the actual composition of the romance. Indeed, 
 it is doubtful whether the exact date can be determined. But, 
 however that may be, it is reasonably certain that the romance 
 itself was written at about that period, and that the B text 
 appeared before 1212. Accordingly, the work must be considered 
 as independent of the Continuations of Mauessier and Gerbert, 
 neither of which was written until after 1214. 5 
 
 NOTE. I have not considered it necessary to discuss the question, whether 
 the romance existed originally in a Latin form. The mention of Josephus and 
 several other passages in the romance (pp. 1, 79, 152) to my mind show clearly 
 that the Latin original claimed by the author is a fiction. Cf. on this point, 
 Heinzel, op. cit., p. 172. 
 
 1 Tresor de Chrvnique, col. 1675. 
 
 * Cf. Hist. Litt., xviii ; also, Les plus ancient ehansonniers franfais (in Ausgaben 
 und Abhandlungen, xciv), by Jules Brakelman, Marburg, 1896, p. 93. Audefrois 
 
 mentions his patron as: 
 
 Qui de Niele est sire, 
 
 Li cortois et le sage. 
 
 'The bishops of Cambrai were suzerains of the territory in which Cambrai 
 was situated. 
 
 4 Cf. Mas Latrie, op. cit., col. 1402. 
 6 Cf. above, p. 98.
 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 Light has, I hope, been thrown by this study on the relationship 
 of the Perlesvaus to the Perceval and the Metrical Joseph. 1 Indi- 
 cations that the other French Grail works were sources of the 
 romance are entirely lacking, as Heinzel has already shown. 2 On 
 the contrary, it would seem, as Gaston Paris originally proposed, 8 
 that the Perlesvaus was itself one of the sources from which the 
 primitive Quele was compiled. With the Grand St. Graal and 
 the Didot-Perceval the work appears to be in no way connected.* 
 
 The results of the present study may be summed up as follows : 
 
 1. Our author followed the Joseph of Robert de Borron faith- 
 fully in the references he gives to the so-called ' Early History,' 
 except when the Joseph would have brought him into conflict with 
 the Crestien portion of the Perceval; then he wavers between the 
 Joseph and the Perceval. 
 
 2. The Perceval proper is the work with which he shows most 
 familiarity, and which must have served principally as his model. 
 The general design of the work, the account given of the hero's 
 boyhood, the two Grail adventures of Gawain and Lancelot are 
 proof that he knew it and that he used it abundantly. 
 
 3. His indebtedness was also shown to the first two Continua- 
 tions of Crestien's poem, by Pseudo-Gautier and Gautier. As 
 borrowings from Pseudo-Gautier we noted : the incident illustrat- 
 ing Perceval's zeal as a warrior, and the account of his arrival at 
 Arthur's court in the mysterious ship. From Gautier he took the 
 Chessboard episode and one or two features based on it, the storm 
 
 1 Cf. above, p. 39 ff. 2 Op. cit., p. 173. 3 Cf. above, p. 27. 
 
 *It mav be remarked here that it is impossible to bring the romance into 
 connection with the English Sir Perceval of Oalles (Thornton romances, ed. by 
 Halliwell, Camden Society, London, 1884) ; the latter is chiefly concerned with 
 the Great Fool tale and has no incidents in common with our romance. 
 
 102
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 103 
 
 in the forest which befalls only the Grail seeker, and Perceval's 
 return to his old home in the Lonely Forest. In addition, several 
 minor points were mentioned which were probably suggested by 
 these works. 
 
 4. But it cannot be supposed that he utilized the Continuations 
 of Manessier and Gerbert. The relation of the romance to Manes- 
 sier is in itself very doubtful. A possibility would exist that he 
 drew on Gerbert, especially since we learned that Gerbert worked 
 independently of Manessier, but that the date of the romance, 
 which we had to place within the limits of 1200-1212, definitely 
 establishes his independence of the last two Continuations. 
 
 As to the manner in which our author treated his sources, we 
 had the best illustration of his method in the Grail episode. Ex- 
 cepting the changes made on religious or moral grounds, he seems 
 to have been averse to altering the materials he wished to use, but 
 as far as possible wove them bodily into his story. Most of the 
 modifications we have found were probably unintentional. This 
 is as true of the incidents derived from Pseudo-Gautier and Gau- 
 tier as of those taken from Crestien. In fact, he apparently made 
 no distinction between the Perceval proper and the first two Con- 
 tinuations, seeing that borrowings from all three are intermingled 
 in his work, and that we know in one instance an episode from 
 Gautier was fused with one from Crestien. 1 Manessier informs us 
 that he knew the first three parts of the Perceval as one continuous 
 poem, 2 and our author was probably under the same impression. 
 Thus, there is nothing strange in the fact that he should confuse 
 them. 
 
 But he was above all a compiler, and not even a very skillful 
 one. Whatever originality he possessed is to be seen in the 
 general plot of the romance and the mystical spirit it breathes. 
 In the elaboration of his theme he depended upon others. That 
 he added no new material need not surprise us as few writers of 
 that time invented any of their stories. The adaptation of the 
 old matter to some new end was all that could be expected of any 
 poet. But unlike his great predecessor, Crestien, he shows no art in 
 mbellishing his material and in moulding it into new forms. His 
 
 1 Cf. above, pp. 59-61. 3 Cf. Potvin, op. cit., vol. n, p. 307 ff.
 
 104 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 work is full of inconsistencies, which can only be explained by the 
 supposition that it was written at least, for the most part from 
 memory. For this reason so many features lack point when 
 compared to the corresponding features of the Perceval. 
 
 NOTE. Several parallels to parts of our romance came to my knowledge after 
 the above pages had been written. I have brought them together here, but 
 without attempting to arrange them in any particular order, or to establish their 
 ezact relation to our work. 
 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of King Ritho (cf. Historia, vn, ch. v and 
 Hist, litt., xxx, p. 243-245) was probably the prototype of the Chaslel de Barbes 
 (p. 97), where shirts are made of the beards taken from the passers-by. Similarly, 
 the story of Arthur's birth (p. 229) goes back to that of the Historia, viu, ch. 19. 
 
 Gawain's adventurous history (p. 252) has been traced by J. D. Bruce (De Ortu 
 Waluuani, Mod. Language Publications, xm, p. 372) to the legend of Gregory 
 the Pope. Cf. in this connection, the account of the three Grigoires (Perlesv., p. 
 250) who bring the first church bells from the terre de promission (cf. above, p. 29). 
 
 The bridges which Gawain crosses on hia way to the Grail Castle (p. 84) remind 
 one of the Bridge of Souls in the mediaeval Visions (cf. Gaston Paris, Romania, 
 Xli, p. 508 ff. and Becker, Mediceval Visions of Heaven and Hell, Baltimore, 1899, 
 pp. 18 and 19). The Pont de PAnguile, the first bridge he crosses, has the same 
 traits as the Mohammedan bridge al Sirat : it is extremely narrow at first but 
 broadens beneath the foot-steps of the righteous. Khys (Arthurian Legend, p. 
 56) claims that it takes its name from the Irish 'Snake' or 'Rainbow' river, a 
 stream of venom which according to Taliessen flows round the world. This 
 would agree very well with the name Anguile, unless it could be shown that the 
 original name was Aiguile; i. e., Needle. Owein crosses such a bridge in St. 
 Patrick's Purgatory (cf. Krapp, The Legend of St. Patrick's Purgatory, Baltimore, 
 1900, p. 9). 
 
 The punishment which Perceval inflicts on the Sires de Mores (p. 184) is 
 another indication of the influence of Vision literature. According to the 
 Visions, e. g. Dante, Inferno, xu, 21, homicides are punished by being cast into a 
 lake of blood, "burning and filled with mire." The Sires de Mores is thrust 
 headforemost into a vat filled with his accomplices' blood, in which his head is 
 held submerged until he drowned. 
 
 The chief points of resemblance with the legend of Brendan have been men- 
 tioned by Heinzel (above, pp. 29 and 37) ; cf., for a full list of references, Gral- 
 romane, p. 172. Professor Rhys (op. dt., p. 300) has identified the Turning 
 Castle (p. 195 ; cf. above, p. 92) with Cser Pedryvan, called also Cser Sidi, which 
 Taliessin describes in his poem on the harrying of Hades. Caer Pedryvan means 
 the Four-horned or Four-cornered Castle, which brings to mind the City of the 
 Four Horns in the 'Earthly Paradise' (Perlesv., p. 328). 
 
 Cser Pedryvan and the Turning Castle both resemble the Island of the Open 
 Door in the Voyage of Maelduin (cf. Meyer and Nutt, Voyage of Bran, vol I, 
 p. 169). 
 
 Lot, the name of Arthur's son (p. 169) is connected by Rhys (op. dt., p. 61} 
 with the Welsh llachar, which means ' gleaming ' or ' flashing.' Lot's habit of
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 105 
 
 going to sleep on the bodies of his dead foes is explained (I. c.) as the remnant 
 of a nature myth, typifying the setting of the sun. But Khys is mistaken that 
 the island visited ' weekly ' by the King of Chattel Mortel (p. 137) is the same as 
 Puffin Island (cf. Khys, op. eit., p. 325), since the name Lannog, by which it is 
 called in the Welsh text (p. 276), is not found in any of the French MSB. but is 
 obviously an addition of the Welsh scribe. 
 
 The romance abounds in references to the Scriptures. The King of Chattel 
 Mortel is compared to Cain (p. 215). In regard to his death, it is said that " the 
 end of the wicked is bad" ; cf. Prov. xi, 5. The cruelty of Perceval toward the 
 Sires de Mores is justified by the ' Law,' which commands " que 1'on feist justise 
 des homicides et des traitors." Perceval's mother would have preferred a more 
 lenient course (p. 180), for " 1'escripture dit que 1'en ne doit mie feirc mal a ces 
 (ses) anemis, mes prier a Dieu qui les ament " (cf. Matt, vii, 1). She also claims 
 that it was Solomon who taught that " the sinner who curseth another curseth 
 himself also" (p. 180). P. 204 we have a somewhat blurred account of the 
 Manna story, cf. Exodus, xvi, 16. Judas Maccabee is cited (p. 32) as the founder 
 of falconry a reference, however, which is more mediaeval in its nature than 
 biblical. Finally, the influence of the Apocalypse is seen in the ' sealed heads ' 
 which the Damsel of the Cart carries about with her (p. 27) ; cf. Rev. vn, 3 : " till 
 we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the 
 number of them which were sealed, a hundred and forty thousand, sealed out of 
 every tribe of the children of Israel."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 TEXTS. 
 
 I give here copies of the passage (cf. above, pp. 5 and 9) in 
 which MS. B is deficient. For the copy taken from MS. O I 
 gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss Tolrnin Smith. 
 The copy from MS. P was made by myself. 
 
 (Oxford, Ration MS. 82, /. 57 c.) 
 
 la mainee damoisele apela lo roi artu sire fait ele u' auez les pi' 
 riches armes de lasemblee, & si estes li mielz armez, or gardez que 
 u' soiez hui bons ch?s por lamor de moi damoisele fait li rois den 
 le motroit que ie puise estre bon cie ailors e u' fait lainee damoisele 
 misire .G. gardez que Ion die bieii de u' & que Ion ne uous concise, 
 si gardez bien q' u' aiez uolente au repairier de faire mon plaisir 
 .da. fait il ml't grant merchiz quant u' le daigniez dire, puis se ptent 
 de la tete les petiz galoz sor frain e porsailet lor ceuaus. II ont 
 les esc' as cols fres e noueaus e les couu'tures aut e ces e les glaiues es 
 poinz e les espees caintes. les damoi les esgardent en lor aler ml't 
 uolentiers. si dient q'il perent bie estre bon ch?. damoi. fait la 
 mainee done sui ie bien a ami p mo cief fait ele oil. mais misire 
 .G. ne me respont mie a ma uolente. si licuit encore ml't bien 
 merir. 
 
 [Ajtant sunt li ch? asamble de totes pars e les roles uenues. li 
 roi e misire .G. se fierent en lasamblee ausi 9me. .ii. lions e abatent 
 en lor venir .ii. ch?s de coi misire .G. prent les ceuaus. si les 
 9mande si les 9mande au uaslet lo roi present as .ii. damoiseles 
 onques puis ne cei[?]ndirent le ior anP gaaig faire ne omques nasem- 
 blerent a rote que il ne pchassent. nos ne poeit sofrir lor meslee 
 106
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 107 
 
 longemt nabigans de la roche choisi misire G. & misire G. lui. il 
 seutreuienent de fsg^nt radonee misire G. le fiert p telair enmi le 
 piz que il abat e lui ceual tot en .i. mont. le roi artus neut mie 
 oiseus daut e part, aiz li laisent li plusor la uoie. asez iot des autres 
 ch?s bien faisanz mais il ne iot nul qui a lor bien fait sapuiast. il 
 donerent le ior asez de cops, e asez e' recoillerent. la samblee se 
 depti ala uesprer. li ch? se desarmerent as loges [ ] que cil as armes 
 dor e cil as armes uermeiles lont miels fait que n' des autres. & 
 dient que cil as armes [est] mout bos ch?s. li roi artur & misire .G. 
 sunt desarme. les damoi lor font ml't grant ioie. atant es u' .i. nain 
 uenu qui ert as (da)damoiseles fait il soiez ioiouses que toz sacor- 
 dent que uostre ch? lont miels fait que tuit li autre. li roi e misire 
 .G. sasiet au mangier, e les damoi a une riche table diuoire bendee 
 dor enuiron a riches pieres. e orent mes de uenoison a grant plente. 
 il furent serui en riche uaiselemente dor e darient. de uins & de 
 pimenz. li roi artus maia auec la damoi mainee. & misire .G. auec 
 laut e . il desiret ap's le mengier le dormir e le reposer car il estoient 
 ml't traueiliez des cops quil auoient donez e recheuz. il se couchie- 
 reut iusqua lendemain que li ior aparut beaus e clers e que li ch? 
 fu[erent leue par les loges. li plusors sarmoiet ia car il desirroient 
 la semblee. li roi e mibire furent leue. Atant ez u' les .ii. damo. ou 
 uienent. Misire art' de bretaigne b5 ior e buene auenture u' otroit 
 hui dex fait lamainee .da. e u' aiez ioie e honor fait li rois .da. fait 
 li autre menbre uos hui don roi de la gaise ou u' uos h'beiattes quat 
 uos eustes lespee comquise de coi saint iohan fu decolez. il la uolt 
 detenir de coi u' fustes ml't dolanz. mais il la u' redi p icel coue- 
 nant que u' feriez la p'miere chose q } da. u' diroit sanz 9tredit .da. 
 fait misire G. de ce me mbre il bie dont estes u' ia en9t e . Da. se 
 deu plaist ie ferai bien quant q' ie deurai se dex le me 9sent misire 
 .G. ie u' requier & p' por u' esprouer se u' estes si loials 9 o[n] dit. 
 que u' soiez hui a lasamblee li pis faisant de toz & que u' i faites 
 totes les coardies que u' puet faire. si narez autres armes que les 
 uos por uos miels conoistre. e se u' ainsi ne le faites u' aurez failli 
 des couenances que u' eustes e' couet lo roi sor nre fiance, e ie 
 meisme li irai dire .da. fait misire .G. ie ne failli onq's de chose 
 que ieuse en couenant. por ce que ie le puise ateindre. non ferai ie 
 de cestui se u' uolez. p mo cief fait ele oil. & si ne me priet u' 
 dou relaier q' ie ne feroie niet. la mainee baila le ior lo roi artu .i.
 
 108 A Study of the Perksvaus. 
 
 bloues armes aut'si 9me dazur si li proia e requist q'l les portast 
 por samor. lasablee fu 9mchie. misire .G. nout autres armes q' les 
 soues. il senuindrent a lasemblee. q' ia estoit ml't granz e les rotes 
 uenoiet de totes pars, li renc estoit deuise. li roi art' fiert eenaus 
 des espons. & abat .ii. chrs e' so uenir. misire .G. sabandone entre 
 .ii. rens 
 
 (B. N. f. 1428, f. 103 c.) 
 
 1. 9. la maiznee damoisele apela le roi artu. sire fait ele uos auez totes 
 
 les plus riches armes de lasamblee & si estes li plus biax armez q 
 ie onqs mais ueisse. Ore gardez que uos soiez hui bons ch'rs por 
 lamor de moi. Damoisele fait li rois damnedex le motroit que je 
 puisse estre bons & ci & aillors. & vus missire .G. fait li ainznee 
 damoisele gardez que Ion die merueilles de uos & que Ion ne uos 
 reconoisse. si gardez bien q uos aiez coer & uolente an repairier de 
 faire mon plaisir. Damoisele fait il molt grans merciz quant uos 
 le deigniez dire, puis se partent de la tente les petiz galos soz frai' 
 & porsaillent lor cheuax siq'l font la tere canbir desoz lor piez. II 
 ont les escus as cols fors & noviax & les couertures ouvrees & les 
 glaues espoiz & les espees caintes les damoiseles les esgardent en lor 
 
 Fol. 103 d. aler molt volentiers [si dient q'l perent bien este bon ch'r. Da- 
 moisele fait li mainznee dont ne sui io bien a ami par mon chief 
 fait ele oil. mes mesire .G. ne me respont mie a ma uolente. si 
 liq't encore ml't bien merir. 
 
 [AJtant sont asamble li ch'r de totes pars. & les rotes venues li 
 roit [s] & mesire .G. se fierent en lasamblee autresi 9me li lion. & 
 abatent en lor venir .11. ch'rs de qi mesire .G. prent les cheuax. si 
 les 9mande al uallet le roi presenter les deus damoiseles. Onqs puis 
 nentendirent le jor anul gaaig faire. Ne onqs nasamblerent a route 
 que il ne percasent Nus ch'r ne pooit soufrir lor mellee longuemet. 
 Nabigans de la roche choisi monseignor .G. & mesire .G. lui. II 
 sentrevienent de tres grant randonee. mesire .G. le fiert par teil air 
 enmi le piz. Que il abat tot en un mont & lui & le cheval a tere. 
 li rois art' ne rest mie oiseus dautrepart. Ainz li laisset li pluisor la 
 uoie quant il le uoient venir. Asez i out des autres ch'rs bien faisanz. 
 
 F. 104 a. Mais il nen i ot nul q' alor bie fait sapuiast. [II donerent le jor 
 assez de couls & asez en recoillirent. lasamblee departi ala uesprer. li 
 ch'r sedesarment as loges galesches. & dient entreux que cil as armes-
 
 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 109 
 
 dor & cil as armes uermeilles lont mielz fait que nus des autres. & 
 tesmoignent & dient que cil as armes uermeilles est molt boens ck'rs 
 <fe molt i a fait darmes. lirois art' & mesire .G. sont desarme ala 
 tente. les damoiseles lor font grant joie. Atant ezuos .1. nal venu 
 q'estoit as damoiseles. Damoiseles fait il soiez iojeuses. kar tot cil 
 delasamblee sacordent. Que votre ch'r lont mielz fait que tot li 
 autre. Li rois & mesire .G. furent molt houore en la tente & sasient 
 au mangier. & les damoiseles. Avne riche table divoire. bendee 
 dor environ a riches pieres precieuses. & eurent mes de Venison a 
 grant plente. II furent servi en riche vaisselemente dor & dargent 
 de vins & pivment. li rois art' manja auoeqs la damoisele mainznee 
 & mesire .G. auoeqs lautre. II desirrerent aps le mangier le dor- 
 mir. & le reposer. kar il estoient molt tra [veillez des cols q'l 
 auoient donez & receuz. Isse couchierent tresca lendemal que li 
 jorz aparut biax & clers & que li ch'r furent leue par les loges & par 
 les teutes. li plusor sarmoent ja q'desirroient lasa'blee. Li rois & 
 mesire .G. furent leue. Atant ezuos les .11. damoiseles ou vienent. 
 mesire art' de tintaguel bon jor & bon auenture vos otroit hui diex 
 fait li mamee damoisele. uos aiez joie & onor fait li rois. Mesire 
 .G. fait li autre damoisele membre uos hui del roi de la gase la ou 
 uos h'berjastes quat uos eustes lespee 9'qse de coi sains Johans fu 
 decolers. II la uolt detenir de coi uos fustes molt dolenz. mais 
 il le uos rendi par tel couenaiit que uos feriez la premiere chose que 
 damoisele uos requerroit. sanz Otredit. Damoisele fait mesire .G. 
 de ce me membre il bie. Dont nesterez uos ja fait ele enOtre se 
 dicu plaist. Mesire .G. je uos req'er & p' por uos esprouver seu' 
 estes si loiax 9me Ion dist. Que uos soiez hui a lasablee li pis faisauz 
 de toz & que uos i faites totes [les couardies & les mauvastiez que 
 n' ch'rs puist faire si narez autres armes q les ures por uos mielz 
 conoistre. siuos mosterez tot en apert. & seuos issi nele faites uos 
 imrez failli descouenances. que uos eustes en couent le roi sor uostre 
 fiance. & je meismes li irai dire. Damoisele fait mesire .G. jene 
 failli onqs de couenances porce que je le peuisse ateiidre. no ferai 
 je decestui se uolez que je la face, par mon chief fait ele oil. & * 
 ne me proit nus del relaier. kar jo nen feroie uoieut. La damoisele 
 malznee bailla le jor leroi artu vnes armes bloues autresi 9me 
 dazur. sili p'ia & req'st q'l les portast por la soue amor, li rois len 
 mercia molt, lasamblee fu comencie. mesire .G. not autres armes
 
 110 A Study of the Perlesvaus, 
 
 que les siues. parcoi il estoit conuz partot. II senvindrent ala- 
 samblee q' ja estoit molt granz & les routes venoient de totes parz. 
 li renc estoien deuise. li rois art' fiert cheuax des esporons 9me 
 F. 104 d. bos ch'rs & abat .11. ch'rs en son venir. me[sire .G. sabandone 
 
 II. 
 GENEALOGY OF THE GRAIL FAMILY. 
 
 (a) Maternal side. 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 Joseph of Arknathea (Fisher King, p. 340.) 
 
 Roi Peschierres ; 
 Peleur, W. 
 
 Ygloas, Yglais (p. 145) 
 (oldest after the Fisher 
 King, p. 207); 
 Iglais, Bern MS. ; 
 Iglais, O ; 
 Igleis, W. 
 
 Pelles. 
 the Hermit King, m. 
 sister of a hermit. 
 
 Josuias, p. 152 ; 
 Jornas, W. 
 
 Joseus, p. 209. 
 
 King of Chas- 
 tel Mortel, p. 
 215. 
 
 Perceval (usually known as Bon Chevalier) ; Dindrane, Dandrenor, p. 145 - r 
 
 Par-lui-fez, p. 87 ; Dradanes, MS. G.; 
 
 Perlesvaus, p. 105 ; Danbrann, W. 
 
 Percevax, p. 131 ; 
 
 Fil a la Veve Dame, p. 156 ; 
 
 Sodoiers Notre Seignor, p. 204. 
 
 (b) Paternal side. 
 
 Nichodemus (cf. above, p. 38). 
 
 Gais ; Glais, Bern MS. ; Gainiams, G ; Gais, C. 
 
 Ban de Benoiye, Julien (slain by a giant), eleven brothers. 1 
 
 cousin of Julien, Julien le Gros, p. 139, 
 p. 107. Vilain le Gros, p. 145 ; 
 
 Julain le Gros, O; 
 
 Alain le Gros, C ; 
 Lancelot. Earl Evrawg, W. (cf. Mabinogi of Peredur). 
 
 Perceval. 
 
 1 Chief among these are: 3, Bruns Brandalis (cf. Rhys, op. cit., p. 309); 5, 
 Brandalus de Gales (cf. ibid., p. 309) ; 6, Elinans de G(C)avalon (cf. Perceval, v. 
 6169) ; and 7, Galobrutes, Calobrutus (MS. O; cf. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 195).
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1 
 
 TEXTS. 
 
 Brendan (Anglo-Norman) : Lea Voyages Merveilleux de Saint Brandun ci la Recherche 
 
 du Paradis Ttrrestre, Francisque Michel, Paris, 1878. 
 Chevalier as deus Espees, ed. by W. Foerster, Halle, 1877. 
 Demanda : A Historia dos Cavalleiros de Mesa Redonda e Da Demanda do Santo 
 
 Graall, K. von Rheinhardstoettner (partial edition), Berlin, 1887. 
 Diu Krone of Heinrich von dem Tuerlin, ed. by J. H. F. Scholl (Bibliothek des 
 
 Litterarischen Vereins, vol. xxvii), Stuttgart, 1852. 
 Durmart: Durmart le Gallois, E. Stengel (Bibliothek des Litterarischen Vereins, 
 
 vol. cxvi), Stuttgart, 1873. 
 
 Erec : Erec und Enide von Christian von Troyes, W. Foerster, Halle, 1890. 
 Espurgatoire St. Patriz of Marie de France, ed. by T. A. Jenkins, Philadelphia, 
 
 1894. 
 Fled Sricrend, translated from the Irish by Kuno Meyer (Revue Celtique, vol. 
 
 xiv, p. 455), Paris. 
 
 Grand St. Graal: Le Saint-Graal, E. Hucher, Le Mans, 1875-78, vols. n and in. 
 Yvain: Der Loewenritter (Yvairi) von Christian von Troyes, W. Foerster, Halle, 
 
 1887. 
 Joseph (Metrical) : Le Roman du Saint Graal (by Robert de Borron), Francisque 
 
 Michel, Bordeaux, 1841. 
 Lais of Marie de France, ed. by Karl Warnke (as vol. VI of Bibliotheca Nor~ 
 
 mannica, ed. by Suchier), Halle, 1895. 
 Merlin (-Huth) : Merlin, Roman en Prose, publie avec la mise en prose dupo&me de 
 
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 Gaston Paris et Jacob Ulrich, (Socje'te' des Anciens Textes Fran9ais), 2 vols., 
 
 Paris, 1886. 
 Mart d* Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, edited with notes, study of the sources, etc. 
 
 by Oskar Sommer, 3 vols., London, 1890, 4o. 
 
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 Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach, ed. by Karl Bartech (Deutsche Classiker 
 
 des Mittelalters, vols. ix, x, xi, Leipzig), 1875-79. 
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 Mabinoyion (vols. in and iv of Court de Litleraiure Celtique par H. d'Arbois de 
 
 de Jubainville et par J. Loth) vol. II, Paris, 1889, p. 45. 
 
 1 This bibliography is by no means exhaustive. 
 
 Ill
 
 112 A Study of the Perlesvaus. 
 
 Perlesvaus : Perceval le Oallois ou le Conle du Graal, Premiere Partie : Le Roman en 
 
 Prose, Ch. Potvin, 1 vol., MODS, 1866. 
 Perlesvaus (Welsh text) : Y Seint Greal (2nd part) ed. by Rev. Kobert Williams 
 
 (vol. 1 of Selections from the Hengwrt MSS.), London, 1876. 
 Quite: La Queste del St. Graal, Furnivall (printed for the Roxburge Club, 
 
 London, 1864. 
 Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, R. Morris, (published for the Early English 
 
 Text Society) 2nd edition, revised, London, 1864. 
 Sir Perceval: Sir Perceval of Galles, J. O. Halliwell (Thornton Romances, printed 
 
 for the Camden Society), London, 1844. 
 
 Tristan (Prose) : Le Roman en prose de Tristan, le Roman de Palamede el la com- 
 pilation de Rusticien de Pise (analyse critique d'apres lea mss. de Paris), E. 
 
 Loeseih, Paris, 1891. 
 Villehardouin : Conqueste de Constantinople, ed. by N. de Wailly, Paris, 1872. 
 
 MONOGRAPHS, ETC. 
 
 Birch-Hirschfeld, A. : Die Sage vom Gral, Leipzig, 1877. 
 
 Freymond, E. : Beilraege zur Kenntniss der altfranzoesischen Artusromane (Zeitschrift 
 
 fuer franzoesische Sprache und Litteratur, vol. xvn, 1895, pp. 1-128). 
 Gietmann, G. : Ein Gralbuch (Perlesvaus translated into Modern German, with 
 
 explanatory notes, etc., vol. in of Klassische Dichter und Dichiungen ed. by 
 
 Gietmann), Freiburg im Breisgau, 1889. 
 Golther, W. : Chrestien's conte del Graal in seinem Verhaeltniss zum waelschen Peredur 
 
 und zum englischen sir Perceval (Sitzungsberichte der Koeniglichen Bayerischen 
 
 Academie der Wissenschaften, Band II, Abtheilung 2), Munich, 1890, pp. 171- 
 
 227. 
 
 Grimm, Briider : Altdeutsche Waelder, vol. i, Cassel, 1813. 
 Heinzel, R. : Ueber die franzoesischen Gralromane ( Denkschriflen der Kaiserlichen 
 
 Akademie der Wissenschaften, phUosophisch-hislorische Classe, vierzigsier Band), 
 
 Vienna, 1892, 189 pp. 
 Hertz, W. : Parzival von Wolfram von Eschenbach, neu bearbeitet, zweite Auftage, 
 
 Stuttgart, 1898. 
 
 Lot, F. : Etudes sur la provenance du cycle Arthurien ( Romania, xxiv.) 
 Madden, Sir Frederick : Syr Gawayne (a collection of ancient Romance-poems by 
 
 Scottish and English authors, relating to the celebrated knight of the Round 
 
 Table), printed for the Banatyne Club, London, 1839. 
 Nutt, A. : Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail, London, 1888. 
 Nutt, A. and Kuno Meyer : The Voyage of Bran Son of Febal to the land of the 
 
 Living, section 1, the Happy Otherworld, London, 1895. 
 Paris, G. : Eludes sur lea romans de la Table Ronde (Romania x and xn), Paris, 
 
 1881, 1883. 
 Paris, G. : Romans en vers du Cycle de la Table Ronde (Histoire Lilteraire de la 
 
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 LIFE. 
 
 I was born in Baltimore, Md., March 20th, 1876. I received my 
 early education in the private schools of Baltimore. In October, 1891, 
 I was matriculated at the Johns Hopkins University, at which institu- 
 tion I have since been a student. 
 
 After completing my college course in 1894, 1 entered the depart- 
 ment of Modern Languages, choosing French as my major subject, and 
 Italian and German as my first and second minors. The summers of 
 1895, 1896 and 1897 I spent abroad, acquiring a speaking knowledge 
 of French and engaged in research work in the libraries of Paris, 
 London, Brussels and Oxford. 
 
 While a graduate student I have twice held a University scholarship, 
 and in June, 1897, 1 was appointed Fellow in Romance Languages for 
 the ensuing academic year. 
 
 I take this opportunity to thank all those whose instruction I have 
 received for their constant courtesy and helpfulness to me. Above all, 
 I value the kindness and consideration shown me by Professor Elliott, 
 to whose scholarly judgment and wise guidance I owe more than mere 
 words can express. 
 
 BALTIMORE, April 15th, 1899. 
 
 115
 
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