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The “Fair Unknown” in Malory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
A resemblance between Malory's story of Gareth in Book vii of the Morte Darthur and the romances of the “Fair Unknown” group has been noted frequently, and described as “slight,” “undeniable,” or “distant” according to the critic's point of view. It has never been considered in any of the thorough studies of the group, and has more than once been completely ignored in the presentation of similarities between Malory's account and other medieval stories.
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References
1 Ed. H. Oskar Sommer (London, 1889–91), i, 213–272.
2 Libeaus Desconus, ed. Max Kaluza (Leipzig, 1890); Renaut de Beaujeu, Le Bel Inconnu, ed. G. Perrie Williams (Paris, 1929); Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois, ed. J. M. N. Kapteyn, Vol. i, text (Bonn, 1926); Carduino, ed. Pio Rajna, I Cantari di Carduino … di Tristano e Lancieletto (Bologna, 1873).
3 In addition to the critics represented by the quotations following, see Gaston Paris, “Fragment du Vallet a la Cote mal Tailliee,” Romania, xxvi (1897), 280; W. P. Ker, Epic and Romance (London, 1908), p. 343; Vida D. Scudder, Le Morte Darthur of Sir Thomas Malory (London, New York, 1921), p. 218; Roger Sherman Loomis, Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance (New York, 1927), p. 85, and “The Visit to the Perilous Castle: A Study of the Arthurian Modifications of an Irish Theme,” PMLA, xlviii (1933), 1021.
4 Sommer, op. cit., iii, 8–9.
5 Jessie L. Weston, The Legend of Sir Gawain (London, 1897), p. 63.
6 Eugène Vinaver, Malory (Oxford, 1929), p. 138.
7 E. Kölbing, “Zur Ueberlieferung und Quelle des Mittelenglischen Gedichtes: Lybeaus Disconus,” Englische Studien, i (1877), 121–169; Albert Mebes, Ueber den Wigalois von Wirnt von Gravenberg und seine altfranzösische Quelle (Neumünster, 1879); Gaston Paris, “Études sur les Romans de la Table Ronde: Guinglain ou le Bel Inconnu,” Romania, xv (1886), 1–24, reprinted Histoire Littéraire de la France, xxx (1888), 171–199; Kaluza, op. cit., pp. cxxxi–cxlv; Albert Mennung, Der Bel Inconnu des Renaut de Beaujeu in seinem Verhältnis zum Lybeaus Disconus, Carduino und Wigalois (Halle, 1890); Paris, review of Kaluza and Mennung, Romania, xx (1891), 297–302; William H. Schofield, Studies on the Libeaus Desconus (Boston, 1895. Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol. iv); Franz Saran, “Ueber Wirnt von Grafenberg und den Wigalois,” Paul and Braune's Beiträge, xxi (1896), 253–420; reviews of Schofield by Ferdinand Lot, Le Moyen Age, ix, first series (1896), 149–155, and Emmanuel Philipot, Romania, xxvi (1897), 290–305.
Kaluza, op. cit., pp. [129] ff., cites parallel passages to the Libeaus Desconus from Malory as well as the Bel Inconnu, but never expresses himself on the relationship involved. A beginning toward a systematic comparison has been made in an unpublished M.A. thesis by Amelia C. Phetzing, The History of the Fair Unknown (University of Chicago, 1920), pp. 32–37.
8 A. C. L. Brown, Iwain (Boston, 1903. Harvard Studies and Notes, Vol. viii), pp. 142–144; Alice Buchanan, “The Irish Framework of Gawain and the Green Knight,” PMLA, xlvii (1932), 322, 337; Helaine Newstead, “The Joie de la Cort Episode in Erec and the Horn of Bran,” PMLA, li (1936), 22. Loomis, “Malory's Beaumains,” PMLA, liv (1939), 656–668, brings into consideration the similarity of the names Beaumains and Li Biaus Descouneüs, but no other resemblances.
9 Medium Aevum, i (1932), 157–167.
10 Ibid., p. 158.
11 E. Löseth, Le Roman en Prose de Tristan (Paris, 1891), secs. 66–74, 86 n. 1–90, 92–94; Morte Darthur, i, 338–353.
12 “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 165–166.
13 MSS. B.N. fr. 750 and 12599 give a third time: Löseth, op. cit., secs. 71–72.
14 For references in the Prose Lancelot and Tristan on addition to that quoted by Vinaver, see my Characterization in Malory: A Comparison with his Sources (Univ. of Chicago Diss., typewritten, 1932; essential portion printed, Chicago, 1934); pp. 83–85. Cf. also the references to Gaheriet's “biaus cors,” etc., in Wauchier, ed. Ch. Potvin, Perceval le Gallois ou le Conte du Graal (Mons, 1866–71), ll. 21,454–57, 21,477–82; the appearance of a handsome brother of Gawain named Bêâkurs in the Parzival, ed. Karl Bartsch, Parzival und Titurel (Leipzig, 1927–32), stanzas 39, 323–324, 720–722; and the comments by Weston, The Legend of Sir Perceval (London, 1906–09), i, 247–248, ii, 202–203, and E. Brugger, Zeitschr. f. fr. Spr. u. Lit., xxxi (1907), Part ii, pp. 144–145. But all that these poetic references can indicate is the quality of Gaheriet's beauty, and perhaps a nickname indicative of it, not a specific “Fair Unknown” story attached to him.
15 Morte Darthur, i, 219; Sommer, The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances (Washington, 1909–16), v, 39–41; Vinaver, “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 159–160.
16 “A Romance of Gaheret,” p. 161.
17 Morte Darthur, i, 226, 243–245; Vulgate Version, v, 27, 37, 42–43. That the dwarf who warns approaching knights that they must fight with Guinas belongs to Guinas is never stated specifically, but appears obvious.
18 “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 160–161. The italics are Vinaver's.
19 Morte Darthur, i, 234, 241–242, 246; Vulgate Version, v, 35 ff., 43–46.
20 “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 162–163. See my Characterization in Malory, Chap, ii (unpublished), on Malory's use of the names of minor characters in general, and in particular pp. 35–36 for references to the numerous appearances, outside Book vii and the Tristan material, of Dinadan (there is an additional reference to him, Morte Darthur, i, 791), Epinogris, La Cote, Palomides, Sadok, and Safir. This material is forthcoming in JEGP under the title “Malory's Naming of Minor Characters.”
21 Morte Darthur, i, 214–215. For the relationship to Dinadan, revealed in the Tristan not in the main La Cote story but in later episodic adventures, see Löseth, op. cit., sec. 372, and p. 348, n. 2.
22 Morte Darthur, i, 270.
23 “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 163–165. Compare Characterization in Malory, Chap. v.
24 “A Romance of Gaheret,” pp. 157–158, 161–162, 165. But cf. p. 163, where the mere presence of Tristan characters is considered sufficient to define a “branch.”
25 Ibid., p. 163.
26 MSS. B.N. fr. 99 (M.L.A. Rotographs, No. 188), fols. 130 r○ col. a-143 r○ col. a, 174 v○b-180 v○a, 183 v○b-199 r○a; B.N. fr. 103 (M.L.A., 218), 95 v○a-107 v○a, 133 v○b-144 v○b; B.N. fr. 334 (M.L.A., 220), 103 r○b-114 v○b, 144 v○a-149 v○b, 153 r○a-168 r○a. These manuscripts, studied for reasons of availability, were reproduced originally by the M.L.A. because they are the closest to Malory's version of the Tristan (see Löseth, op. cit., pp. xxii–xxiii, and passim; Vinaver, Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut dans l'Oeuvre de Thomas Malory, Paris, 1925, pp. 35—[87], and Malory, pp. 138–140). This provides little or no reason to believe that they are close to Gar. MSS. 99 and 334 present nearly identical texts; MS. 103, which is in most respects closest to Malory in that part of the text containing LC, is compressed to the point of omitting a few significant details. Although none of the three contains the material of Löseth's secs. 71–75, derived from MSS. 750 and 12,599, neither is there any parallel to this material in Gar.
27 The abbreviations are borrowed from Schofield's Studies, which has been of great assistance in making comparisons of the Fair Unknown group with Gar. and LC. These comparisons, however, have been made with the originals.
28 Gar. (Morte Darthur, Vol. i), pp. 213–217. LC: MS. 99, 130 r○a-134 r○b; MS. 103, 95 v○a-97 v○b; MS. 334, 103 r○b-106 v○a; cf. Löseth, op. cit., secs. 66–68, and Morte Darthur, i, 338–341, neither of which contains all the details cited. BI, ll. 11–280; LD, ll. 40–279; Wig., ll. 1489–1883; Car., Cantare I, stanza 30–Cant. ii, st. 8.
29 MSS. 99, 130 r○b; 103, 95 v○a; 334, 103 r○b, all give tie hero's beauty. MS. 103 omits his large size. MS. 99 has a misreading of “xxx” for his age in place of the “xix” and “vingt” of the other two.
30 MSS. 99, 134 r○b; 334, 106 v○a. In MS. 103, 97 v○b, neither of the explanations of the king's ignorance is offered. The contradition is noted by Löseth, op. cit., pp. 53–54, with the conclusion that MSS. 99, 100, and 335, in which the king does not ask the name, are correct. But contrary to Löseth's statements, MS. 99 does, fol. 131 r○a, have the king ask and learn the name, and it does contain the explanation that he forgot it.
31 For the knowledge of the father's identity, see Wig., 1302–07; Car., i, 29.
32 See Romania, xxvi, 277 (ll. 47–62), 279–280.
33 Ibid., p. 277 (ll. 63–66). In MS. 334, 103 v○b-104 r○a, the king assigns him to Gaheriet alone, but Lamorak joins in looking after him; and this is the normal version as given by Löseth, op. cit., sec. 66. In MSS. 99, 131 r○, and 103, 96 r○a, he is assigned to both.
34 Wig., 1622–1725. Wigalois is knighted on Pentecost, and the damsel comes “zen næhsten sunewenden.” This has been interpreted by Saran, op. cit., p. 307, to mean a year's interval. But there would have been a solstice soon after the Pentecost mentioned, and the narrative would be moving very casually to skip over more than a year with no indication but the word next.
35 LC: Romania, xxvi, 277–278 (ll. 74, 76, 124, 143); BI, 4973; Car., i, 22.
36 Their handsomeness is noted in MSS. 99, 134 r○a, and 103, 97 v○a, but not MS. 334, 106 r○b.
37 Car., i, 4–31.
38 Morte Darthur, i, 353. Cf. Löseth, op. cit., sec. 94, and Index; MSS. 99, 199, r○a; 103, 144 v○b; 334, 168 r○a.
39 Gar., 221–231. LC: MSS. 99, 193 v○a-198 v○a; 103, 140 v○b-144 r○b; 334, 162 v○a-167 r○b; Löseth, op. cit., sec. 94; Morte Darthur, i, 349–351. In LC the brothers are guarding bridges, in Gar. no specific obstacles. But MSS. 99, 187 r○b, and 334, 156 r○b, refer to the places of difficulty as “pas,” while Gar., 229, calls them “perillous passages.” In Gar. the brothers are met singly, never—as twice in LC—in groups.
40 Gar., 216–230. LC: MS. 99, 133 v○b-143 r○a, 174 v○b-180 v○a, 183 v○b-193 r○a, 195 v○b; MS. 103, 97 r○b-107 v○a, 133 v○b-140 r○b, 142 r○a; MS. 334, 106 r○a-114 v○b, 144 v○a-149 v○b, 153 r○a-162 r○a, 164 r○b; Löseth, op. cit., secs. 68–74, 86 n. 1–90, 92–94 (sec. 73, from MS. 750, gives an earlier softening of heart not borne out by the damsel's subsequent conduct); Morte Darthur, i, 341–349. BI, 228–860 (most like Gar. and LC in having her definitely want the hero to turn back); LD, 181–477; Wig., 1812–1923. In Car., ii, 7 ff., she never shows any hostility.
41 Paris, Romania, xxvi, 280, mentions the similarity of his reconstruction of the La Cote poem to both BI and Gar., but says nothing about a source relationship.
42 Existence of the first three points in the poetic LC cannot be confirmed by the extant fragment. Even the coat itself would seem, according to Gawain's remark that it was perhaps according to the stranger's us if not that of the court (Romania, xxvi, 277, ll. 56–58), to have been mautailliée in the sense of rude tailoring rather than of having been hacked by the murderer. But the very existence of these details in Car. can be taken as evidence that they were in the source of the Tristan. The last two points are paralleled in Wig. and BI, respectively, but in each case internal contradictions indicate that the details were superimposed on the source account. See Saran, op. cit., pp. 325–326, 330–332.
43 Cf. Rajna, op. cit., pp. xiv–xxx; Mennung, op. cit., pp. 38–44; Schofield, Studies, pp. 146–154, 183–196, 237–238; Lot, op. cit., pp. 151–152; Philipot, op. cit., p. 301.
44 Perceval le Gallois, ll. 11,987–12,393; 16, 917–18,232; 19,457–19,632; 20,367–20,752—not to be confused with the account in the Wauchier continuation, ll. 33,378–33,404, of a son of Gawain clearly identified as “Guiglains” and “li Biaus Desconéus,” the hero of LD-BI. Cf. Paris, Romania, xv, 18–20; Mennung, op. cit., p. 16; Schofield, Studies, pp. 191–92; Lot, op. cit., p. 152.
One of the two contradictory versions of the story in pseudo-Wauchier, that in which Gawain rapes the sister of Bran de Lis, is reflected in Wig., 1511–13:
eine maget wol getân
die greif er über ir willen an,
sô daz si weinde unde schrê.
But there is probably no Fair Unknown source relationship to be inferred, any more than from the fact that “Cil a la cote mautaillie” is mentioned in BI, 49.
45 LD, 1309–1548; Car., ii, 8–20; BI, 1875–2492, 3593–5309.
46 Gar., 235–255. Phetzing, op. cit., pp. 34–35, points out the similarities of the double heroine and the tournament, but not that of magical interference with the love-making, and goes into no detail.
47 See above, n. 28.
48 Gar., 217–230; BI, 281–1874; LD, 280–1308; Wig., 1884–3131; Car., ii, 8, 20–39.
49 In LC one conquered knight is made by Lancelot to swear fealty to Arthur, MSS. 99, 199 r○a; 103, 144 v○b; 334, 168 r○a; Löseth, op. cit., sec. 94. But he is sent to court only in Morte Darthur, i, 352.
50 See above, n. 40. Her explanation, Morte Darthur, i, 349, that she rebuked him only out of kindness, is not in the source, and could not very well have been, since in it she has often wished to see La Cote defeated or killed and thus out of her way.
51 Gar., 228–234; BI, 2493–2838; LD, 1549–1848. In Wig., 3885–3954 (cf. also 1932–2016), the account has been greatly altered; in Car. there is no such figure.
52 This identification is made by Phetzing, op. cit., p. 36, without details.
53 Gar., 250.
54 Gar., 235–240; BI, 1875–2192; LD, 1309–1485. In Car., ii, 8–9, there is no battle, and the description of the castle is different; in Wig. the whole enchantress episode is missing.
55 Gar., 241–250; BI, 2193–2492, 3915–5054. LD, 1486–1548, and Car., ii, 9–20, have only the first visit to the enchantress.
56 Gar., 242.
57 It has been suggested by Lucy A. Paton, Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance (Boston, 1903), p. 70, that the name of Gringamor and the location of his castle on the Isle of Avalon (Gar., 255) are derived from Guigomars, the lord of Avalon, in the Erec (ed. Wendelin Foerster, Halle, 1896), ll. 1954–1955. Guingamuer, identifiable as this same knight because of the epithet de Fine Posteme attached to his brother in both passages, is mentioned in BI, 5521, but with no reference to Avalon.
58 Gar., 250–263; BI, 5055–6107.
59 BI, 5055.
60 Gar., 250.
61 Gar., 255.
62 Gar., 255 ff. BI, 5565 ff., 6025–30.
63 Gar., 256; BI, 5549 ff.
64 Gar., 270; BI, 6191–6246; LD, 2206–23; Wig., 9420–42; Car., ii, 71.
65 Gar., 213–214; Wig., 1552–53. If this is not a coincidence it runs counter to the theory of Paris, Romania, xxvi, 280, that “Beaumains” is a corruption of “Beau Mauvais,” or that of Loomis, PMLA, liv, 659, that it is a corruption of “Gauuains.”
66 Gar., 267; Wig., 9599–9610.
67 Stanzas 185b, 185c. Cf. Kaluza's Introduction, pp. xx–xxiii, xxxviii.
68 LD, st. 185a; Car., ii, 69–71; Gar., 252–253, and see above, sec. F.
69 Gar., 215–216, 232; Car., ii, 3–5.
70 Gar., 226; LD, 202–203, 286, 306. See also above, n. 39. In BI, 323 ff., this spot of the first adventure is the “Gué Perilleus.”
71 Gar., 251, 271–272; LD, 1285–96. There is something of the sort in BI, 5291–92:
Les quatre prisons retenés
De no mainie les tenés.
But the Round Table is not specifically mentioned.
72 See above, secs. C and D.
73 This agreement of LD and Wig. constitutes additional evidence, not noted by Schofield, Studies, pp. 217–218, that neither LD nor Wig. can be derived from BI. Similarly, LD, 595–597, and Wig., 2035–38, agree that a special “logge” (“gemach”) of leaves is constructed in the woods before the giant fight.
74 This seems to be a compromise by Renaut in borrowing from the Erec, ll. 5696–5701, 5765–67, in which everyone leaves the castle.
75 Ll. 5367–6169.
76 See Sommer, Morte Darthur, iii, 148–175, 249–272; Vinaver, Malory, pp. 134–138, 150–152; Vinaver and E. V. Gordon, “New Light on the Text of the Alliterative Morte Arthure,” Medium Aevum, vi (1937), 81–98; and my “Malory, the Stanzaic Morte Arthur, and the Mort Artu,” MP., xxxvii (1939–40), 125–138.
77 See above, n. 7, and particularly Schofield, Studies, pp. 56–106.
78 The details 1 east easily explainable on the basis of the use of the LD-BI source are (a) the striking opening, with the hero interrupting the meal with his demand for a boon, against which LD-Wig.-Car. all agree—but which could have been easily remembered, and is a good bit like LC; (b) Gawain's volunteering his attentions to the hero, whereas LD and Wig. agree on the king's assigning him to Gawain's care—but the BI-Gar. agreement, if not the result of memory, could be a coincidental product of a decision by the author of Malory's source to make Gawain's and Lancelot's later kindnesses more like their original speaking for the hero, and more appropriate to the kitchen-boy story; (c) the host's riding part of the way with the hero—but this is partially paralleled in the Erec, 11. 5692–5827. The ford and the heads on stakes, although not in Wig. or Car., could easily have existed in the LD-BI source; in fact the heads turn up in LD, 777–783, transferred to the castle of the sparrowhawk knight.
79 Cf. Paris, review of Foerster's Erec, Romania, xx (1891), 153 n. 4, 156 n. 2; Lot, “Celtica: Mabonagrain,” Romania, xxiv (1895), 321–322; Schofield, Studies, pp. 117–133; Philipot, “Un Épisode d'Érec et Énide: La Joie de la Cour.—Mabon l'Enchanteur,” Romania, xxv (1896), 258–294; Paris, Romania, xxv, 294 (a footnote to Philipot's article).
80 Loomis, Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance, p. 86, cites parallels to Gar. on this and related points from the Atre Perillos and Eger and Grime. In PMLA, liv, 663, he repeats these parallels, and adds those from the Erec, although still not considering the Fair Unknown resemblances. See, however, James R. Caldwell, Eger and Grime (Cambridge, 1933), pp. 111–120, for an argument that both redness and magically increasing strength are commonplaces, and in Eger and Grime may have been borrowed from Gar.
81 Wm. A. Nitze, “The Romance of Erec, Son of Lac,” MP, xi (1913–14), 476–477, argues for the primitiveness of the use of the horn as a challenge, but makes no specific statement as to the direction of literary borrowing.
82 See Brown, Iwain, pp. 142–144.
83 Loc. cit.
84 See A. H. Krappe, “Guinglain chez l'Enchanteresse,” Romania, lviii (1932), 426–430.
85 See Buchanan, PMLA, xlvii, 322, 337; Loomis, Celtic Myth, pp. 87–88; PMLA, xlviii, 1021–23; PMLA, liv, 661f. Although Loomis states that Gar. is related to the Fair Unknown group, he treats the story of the love affair and Lynet's interference as an independent episode borrowed from some other source.
86 Cf. Schofield, Studies, pp. 156, 198–199; Paris, Romania, xxv, 294.