(1) A Welsh version, "Geraint the Son of Erbin", included in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of "The Mabinogion" (London, 1838-49; a modern edition will be found in Everyman Library, London, 1906), tells the same story as "Erec et Enide" with some variations. This Welsh version has also been translated into modern French by J. Loth ("Les Mabinogion", Paris, 1889), where it may be consulted with the greatest confidence. The relation of the Welsh prose to the French poem is a moot point. Cf. E. Philipot in "Romania", XXV. 258-294, and earlier, K. Othmer, "Ueber das Verhaltnis Chrestiens Erec und Enide zu dem Mabinogion des rothen Buch von Hergest" (Koln, 1889); G. Paris in "Romania", XIX. 157, and id. XX. 148-166. (2) We frequently read in the romances of a hunt at Easter (F.). As here, so in "Fergus" (ed. Martin, Halle, 1872), p. 2 f., the knights hunt a white stag, which Perceval finally slays, but there is no mention of the ceremony of the bestowal of a kiss. (3) Chretien nowhere gives any description of the nature of the Round Table. With him, it is an institution. Layamon in "Brut" and Wace in "Le Roman de Brut" are more specific in their accounts of this remarkable piece of furniture. From their descriptions, and from other sources in Welsh and Irish literature, it is reasonable to suppose that the Round Table had a place in primitive Celtic folk-lore. Cf. L.F. Mott, "The Round Table" in "Pub. of the Modern Language Association of America", XX. 231-264; A.C.L. Brown, "The Round Table before Wace" in "Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature", vii. 183-205 (Boston, 1900); Miss J.L Weston, "A Hitherto Unconsidered Aspect of the Round Table" in "Melanges de philologie romane offerts a M. Wilmotte", ii. 883-894, 2 vols. (Paris, 1910). (4) There exists a romance devoted to Yder, of which G. Paris printed a resume in "Hist. Litt. de la France", XXX., and which has been recently edited by Heinrich Gelzer: "Der altfranzosische Yderroman" (Dresden, 1913). There are apparently three different knight of this name in the old French romances (F.). (5) The word "chastel" (from "castellum") is usually to be translated as "town" or strong place within fortifications. Only where it plainly refers to a detached building will the word "castle" be used. (6) A "tercel" is a species of falcon, of which the male bird is one-third smaller than the female. (7) A "vavasor" (from "vassus vassallorum") was a low order of vassal, but a freeman. The vavasors are spoken of with respect in the old French romances, as being of honourable character, though not of high birth. (8) The numerous references to the story of King Mark, Tristan, and Iseut in the extant poems of Chretien support his own statement, made at the outset of "Cliges", that he himself composed a poem on the nephew and wife of the King of Cornwall. We have fragments of poems on Tristan by the Anglo-Norman poets Beroul and Thomas, who were contemporaries of Chretien. Foerster's hypothesis that the lost "Tristan" of Chretien antedated "Erec" is doubtless correct. That the poet later treated of the love of Cliges and Fenice as a sort of literary atonement for the inevitable moral laxity of Tristan and Iseut has been held by some, and the theory is acceptable in view of the references to be met later in "Cliges". For the contrary opinion of Gaston Paris see "Journal des Savants" (1902), p. 297 f. (9) In the Mabinogi "Geraint the Son of Erbin", the host explains that he had wrongfully deprived his nephew of his possessions, and that in revenge the nephew had later taken all his uncle's property, including an earldom and this town. See Guest, "The Mabinogion". (10) The hauberk was a long shirt of mail reaching to the knees, worn by knights in combat. The helmet, and the "coiffe" beneath it, protected the head; the "ventail" of linked meshes was worn across the lower part of the face, and was attached on each side of the neck to the "coiffe", so that it protected the throat; the greaves covered the legs. The body of the knight was thus well protected against blow of sword or lance. Cf. Vv.711 f. (11) This passage seems to imply that charms and enchantments were sometimes used when a knight was armed (F.). (12) The "loges", so often mentioned in old French romances, were either window-balconies or architectural points of vantage commanding some pleasing prospect. The conventional translation in the old English romances is "bower". (13) Tristan killed Morholt, the uncle of Iseut, when he came to claim tribute form King Mark (cf. Bedier, "Le Roman de Tristan", etc., i. 85 f., 2 vols., Paris, 1902). The combat took place on an island, unnamed in the original text (id. i. 84), but later identified with St. Samson's Isle, one of the Scilly Isles. (14) The same act of feeding a hunting-bird with a plover's wing is mentioned in "Le Roman de Thebes", 3857-58 (ed. "Anciens Textes"). (15) For such figurative expressions used to complement the negative, cf. Gustav Dreyling, "Die Ausdruckweise der ubertriebenen Verkleinerung im altfranzosischen Karlsepos", in Stengel's "Ausgaben und Abhandlungen", No. 82 (Marsburg, 1888); W.W. Comfort in "Modern Language Notes" (Baltimore, February 1908). (16) Chretien in his later romances will avoid compiling such a prosaic blue-as is found in this passage, though similar lists of knights occur in the old English romances as late as Malory, though of some of them but little is known. Unfortunately, we have for the old French romances no such complete work as that furnished for the epic poems by E. Langois, "Table des noms propres de toute nature compris dans les chansons de geste" (Paris, 1904). (17) The only mention by Chretien of this son of Arthur, whose role is absolutely insignificant in the Arthurian romances. (18) What was this drinking-cup, and who sent it to Arthur? We have "Le Lai du cor" (ed. Wulff, Lund, 1888), which tells how a certain King Mangount of Moraine sent a magic drinking-cup to Arthur. No one could drink of this cup without spilling the contents if he were a cuckold. Drinking from this cup was, then, one of the many current tests of chastity. Further light may be thrown on the passage in our text by the English poem "The Cokwold's Daunce" (in C.H. Hartshorne's "Ancient Metrical Ballads", London, 1829), where Arthur is described as a cuckold himself and as having always by him a horn (cup) which he delights in trying on his knights as a test of their ladies' chastity. For bibliography see T.P. Cross, "Notes on the Chastity-Testing Horns and Mantle" in "Modern Philology", x. 289-299. (19) A unique instance of such a division of the material in Chretien's poems (F.). (20) Outre-Gales=Estre-Gales (v.3883)=Extra-Galliam. (21) Such fanciful descriptions of men and lands are common in the French epic poems, where they are usually applied to the Saracens (F.). Cf. W.w. Comfort, "The Saracens in Christian Poetry" in "The Dublin Review", July 1911; J. Malsch, "Die Charakteristik der Volker im altfranzosischen nationalen Epos" (Heidelberg, 1912). (22) With what seems to us mistaken taste, Chretien frequently thus delays mentioning the name of his leading charecters. The father and mother of Enide remain anonymous until the end of this poem. The reader will remark other instances of this peculiarity in "Yvain" and "Lancelot". (23) The maid Brangien was substituted for Iseut, the bride, upon the first night after her marriage with Mark. Similar traditions are associated with the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere, and of Pepin and Berte aus grans pies, the parents of Charlemagne. Adenet le Roi toward the end of the 13th century is the author of the most artistic treatments of Berte's history (ed. A. Scheler, Bruxelles, 1874). Cf. W.W. Comfort, "Adenet le Roi: The End of a Literary Era" in "The Quarterly Review", April 1913. (24) The reading "Sanson" (=Samson) is Foerster's most recent (1904) suggestion to replace the word "lion" which stands in all the MSS. Solomon's name has always been syonymous with wisdom, and Alexander's generosity was proverbial in the Middle Ages. For Alexander, cf. Paul Meyer, "Alexandre le Grand dans la litterature francaise du moyen age", 2 vols. (Paris, 1886), vol ii., pp. 372-376, and Paget Toynbee, "Dante Studies and Researches" (London, 1902), p. 144. (25) Of Arthur's several nephews, Gawain is represented by Chretien as peerless in respect of courage and courtesy. In the English romances his character steadily deteriorates. (26) This sentence contains the motive for all the action in the sequel. The same situation is threatened in "Yvain", but there Gawain rescues the hero from the lethargy, ignoble in the eyes of a feudal audience, into which he was falling. Cf. also "Marques de Rome" ("Lit. Verein in Stuttgart", Tubingen, 1889), p. 36, where the Empress of Rome thus incites her husband to the chase: "Toz jors cropez vos a Postel; vos n'estes point chevalereus, si come vos deussiez estre, si juenes hom come vos estes"; also J. Gower, "Le Mirour de l'omme, 22, 813 ff.: "Rois est des femmes trop decu, Qant plus les ayme que son dieu, Dont laist honour pour foldelit: Cil Rois ne serra pas cremu, Q'ensi voet laisser sou escu Et querre le bataille ou lit." (27) This brusque command, implying so sudden a change in Erec's attitude toward his wife, initiates a long series of tests of Enide's devotion, which fill the rest of the romance. Why did Erec treat his wife with such severity? In the Mabinogi of "Geraint the Son of Erbin", it is plain that jealousy was the hero's motive. The reader of "Erec" may judge whether, as we believe, the hero's sudden resolve is not rather that of a man piqued at being justly reproved by his wife for a delinquency he had not himself remarked; irate at his wife's imputation, and fearful of having forfeited her respect, he starts out to redeem his reputation in her eyes, and to maker her retract any insinuation she had made. Erec is simply angry with himself, but he expends his wrath upon his defenceless wife until he is reassured of her love and respect for him. (28) The situation here is a common one. Parallels will be found in the "Voyage de Charlemagne", in the first tale of the "Arabian Nights", in the poem "Biterolf and Dietlieb", and in the English ballad of "King Arthur and King Cornwall". Professor Child, in his "English and Scotch Ballads", indexes the ballads in his collection, which present this motive, under the following caption: "King who regards himself as the richest, most magnificent, etc., in the world, is told that there is one who outstrips him, and undertakes to see for himself whether this is so, threatening death to the person who has affirmed his inferiority in case this is disproved." (29) The presence of the Irish in this connection is explained by G. Paris in "Romania", xx. 149. (30) Kay the Seneschal appears here for the first time in Chretien's poems with the character which he regularly ascribes to him. Readers of Arthurian romance are all familiar with Sir Kay; they will find that in Chretien, the seneschal, in addition to his undeniable qualities of bravery and frankness, has less pleasing traits; he is foolhardy, tactless, mean, and a disparager of others' merit. He figures prominently in "Yvain" and "Lancelot". His poetic history has not yet been written. His role in the German romances has been touched upon by Dr. Friedrich Sachse, "Ueber den Ritter Kei" (Berlin, 1860). (31) No meat was eaten because it was the eve of Sunday. (32) In the French epic poems and romances of adventure alike it is customary for giants and all manner of rustic boors to carry clubs, the arms of knighthood being appropriate for such ignoble creatures. Other instances of this convention will be remarked in the text. (33) There follows and excellent example of an old French lament for the dead. Such a wail was known in old French as a "regret", a word which has lost its specific meaning in English. (34) Many examples will be met of women skilled in the practice of medicine and surgery. On the subject, cf. A. Hertel, "Versauberte Oertlichkeiten und Gegenstande in der altfranzosschen Dichtung" (Hanover, 1908); Georg Manheimer, "Etwas liber die Aerzte im alten Frankreich" in "Romanische Forschungen", vi. 581-614. (35) The reference here and in v.5891 is probably suggested by the "Roman d'Eneas", which tells the same story as Virgil's "Aeneid", in old French eight-syllable rhymed couplets, and which is dated by the most recent scholarship 1160 circ. Cf. F.M. Warren in "Modern Philology", iii. 179-209; iii. 513-539; iv. 655-675. Also M. Wilmotte, "L'Evolution du roman francais aux environs de 1150" (Paris, 1903). Scenes from classical and medieval romance were for a long time favourite subject of portrayal upon cloths and tapestries, as well as of illuminations for manuscripts. (36) Various conjectures have been advanced concerning the significance of this strange adventure and its mysterious name "La Joie de la cour". It is a quite extraneous episode, and Tennyson in his artistic use of our hero and heroine in the Idyl of "Geraint and Enid" did well to omit it. Chretien's explanation, a little farther on, of "La Joie de la cour" is lame and unsatisfactory, as if he himself did not understand the significance of the matter upon which he was working. Cf. E. Philipot in "Romania", xxv. 258-294; K. Othmer, "Ueber das Verhaltnis Chrestiens Erec und Enide zu dem Mabinogion des rothen Buch von Hergest" (Bonn, 1889); G. Paris in "Romania", xx. 152 f. (37) The following description of Erec's reception is repeated with variations at the time of Yvain's entrance in the "Chastel de Pesme Avanture" ("Yvain", 5107 f.) (F.). (38) For such conventional mediaeval descriptions of other-world castles, palaces, and landscapes, cf. O.M. Johnston in "Ztsch fur romanische Philologie", xxxii. 705-710. (39) Tiebaut li Esclavon, frequently mentioned in the epic poems, was a Saracen king, the first husband of Guibourne, who later married the Christian hero Guillaume d'Orange. Opinel was also a Saracen, mentioned in "Gaufrey", p. 132, and the hero of a lost epic poem (see G. Paris, "Historie poetique de Charlemagne", p. 127). Fernagu was another Saracen king, killed in a famous encounter by Roland, "Otinel", p. 9 (F.). For further references to these characters, see E. Langlois, "Table des noms propres de toute nature compris dans les chansons de geste" (Paris, 1904). (40) There is a similar picket fence topped with helmets in the "Las de la Mule sanz frain", v. 433 (ed. By R.T. Hill, Baltimore, 1911). (41) For such magic horns, cf. A. Hertel, "Verzauberte Oertlichkeiten", etc. (Hanover, 1908). (42) In fact, nothing is known of this "lai", if, indeed, it ever existed. For a recent definition of "lai", se L. Foulet in "Ztsch. fur romanische Philologie", xxxii. 161 f. (43) The sterling was the English silver penny, 240 of which equalled 1 Pound Sterling of silver of 5760 grains 925 fine. It is early described as "denarius Angliae qui vocatur sterlingus" ("Ency. Brit"). (44) Macrobus was a Neoplatonic philosopher and Latin grammarian of the early part of the 5th century A.D. He is best known as the author of the "Saturnalia" and of a commentary upon Cicero's "Somnium Scipionis" in that author's "De republica". It is this latter work that is probably in the mind of Chretien, as well as of Gower, who refers to him in his "Mirour l'omme", and of Jean de Meun, the author of the second part of the "Roman de la Rose". (45) For fairies and their handiwork in the Middle Ages, cf. L.F.A. Maury, "Les Fees du moyen age" (Paris, 1843); Keightley, "Fairy Mythology" (London, 1860); Lucy A. Paton, "Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance", Radcliffe Monograph (Boston, 1903); D.B. Easter, "The Magic Elements in the romans d'aventure and the romans bretons" (Baltimore, 1906).
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