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composition of all our extant texts. As to the origin of this Matiere de Bretagne, and the circumstances under which it became a favourite theme for See also:

LITERARY

literary treatment, two diametrically opposite theories are held. One body of scholars, headed by See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor Wendelin See also:

Forster of See also:

BONN

Bonn, while admitting that, so far as any historic basis can be traced, the events recorded must have happened on insular ground, maintain that the knowledge of these events, and their romantic development, are due entirely to the Bretons of the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent. The See also:

BRITISH

British who fled before the See also:

Teutonic and Scandinavian invasions of the 6th and 8th centuries, had carried with them to See also:

ARMORICA (AREMORICA)

Armorica, and fondly cherished, the remembrance of Arthur and his deeds, which in See also:

time had become interwoven with traditions of purely See also:

Breton origin. On the other See also:

side of the Channel, i.e. in Arthur's own See also:

LAND

land, these memories had died out, or at most survived only as the faint See also:

ECHO (Gr. I'Xw)

echo of historic tradition. Through the See also:

MEDIUM

medium of See also:

French-speaking Bretons these tales came to the See also:

COGNIZANCE (Lat. cognoscere, to know)

cognizance of See also:

NORTHERN

Northern French poets, notably Chretien de See also:

TROYES

Troyes, who wove them into romances. According to Professor Forster there were no Arthurian romances previous to Chretien, and equally, of course, no insular romantic tradition. This theory reposes mainly on the supposed See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of pre-Chretien poems, and on the writings of Professor H. Zimmer, who derives the Arthurian names largely from Breton roots.

This represents the prevailing standpoint of See also:

German scholars, and may be called the " See also:

CONTINENTAL

continental " theory. In opposition to this the school of which the See also:

LATE

late Gaston See also:

Paris was the leading, and most brilliant, representative, maintains that the Arthurian tradition, romantic equally with historic, was preserved in See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales through the medium of the bards, was by them communicated to their See also:

Norman conquerors, worked up into poems by the Anglo-See also:

NORMANS

Normans, and by them transmitted to the continental poets. This, the " insular " theory, in spite of its inherent See also:

PROBABILITY (Lat. probabilis, probable or credible)

probability, has hitherto been at a disadvantage through lack of See also:

POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence, but in a recently acquired MS. of the British Museum, Add. 36614, we find the first continuator of the See also:

Perceval, Wauchier de See also:

DENAIN

Denain, quoting as authority for stories of See also:

GAWAIN (Fr. Walwain (Brut)

Gawain a certain Bleheris, whom he states to have been " See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born and bred in Wales." The identity of this Bleheris with the Bledhericus mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis as Famosus ille Tabulator, living at a bygone and unspecified date, and with the Breri quoted by See also:

Thomas as authority for the See also:

Tristan See also:

story, has been fully accepted by leading French scholars. Further, on the evidence of certain See also:

MSS. of the Perceval, notably the Paris MS. (Bibl. Nat. 145o), it is clear that Chretien was using, and using freely, the See also:

WORK

work of a predecessor, large fragments of which have been preserved by the copyists who completed his unfinished work. The evidence of See also:

RECENT

recent discoveries is all in favour of the insular, or French, view. So far as the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, as distinguished from the provenance, of this subject-matter is concerned, it is largely of folk-See also:

lore origin, representing the working over of traditions, in some cases (as e.g. in the See also:

account of Arthur's See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth and upbringing) See also:

COMMON

common to all the See also:

ARYAN

Aryan peoples, in others specifically See also:

CELTIC

Celtic. Thus there are a number of See also:

PARALLELS

parallels between the Arthurian and the Irish heroic cycles, the precise nature of which has yet to be determined. So far as Arthur himself is concerned these parallels are with the Fenian, or Ossianic, cycle, in the See also:

case of Gawain with the Ultonian.

In its literary form the cycle falls into three See also:

groups:—pseudohistoric: the Histories of Nennius and Geoffrey, the See also:

BRUT, BRUTE

Brut of See also:

WACE, HENRY (1836– )

Wace and See also:

LAYAMON

Layamon (see ARTHUR) ; poetic: the See also:

WORKS

works of Chretien de Troyes, Thomas, Raoul de See also:

HOUDENC (or HOUDAN), RAOUL DE

Houdenc and others (see GAWAIN, PERCEVAL, TRISTAN, and the writers named above); See also:

PROSE

prose: the largest and most important See also:

GROUP

group (see See also:

GRAIL, See also:

LANCELOT (Lancelot du Lac, or Lancelot of the Lake)

LANCELOT, See also:

MERLIN, TRISTAN). Of these three branches the prose romances offer the most insuperable problems; none can be dated with any certainty; all are of enormous length; and all have undergone several redactions. Of not one do we as yet possess a See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical and See also:

COMPARATIVE

comparative See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text, and in the absence of such texts the publication of any definite and detailed theory as to the See also:

EVOLUTION

evolution and relative position of the See also:

SEPARATE

separate branches of the Arthurian cycle is to be deprecated. The material is so vast in extent, and in so chaotic a See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition, that the construction of any such theory is only calculated to invite refutation and discredit. The best See also:

general study of the cycle is to be found in Gaston Paris's See also:

MANUAL

manual La Littirature francaise au moyen See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age (new and revised edition, 1905). See also the introduction to vol. See also:

xxx. of Histoire litteraire de la See also:

France. For the theories as to origin, see the Introductions to Professor Forster's See also:

EDITIONS

editions of the poems of Chretien de Troyes, notably that to vol. iv., Der Karrenritter, which is a See also:

long and elaborate restating of his position. Also Professor H. Zimmer's articles in Gattingische gelehrte Anzeigen, 12 and 20. For the Insular view, Ferd. See also:

Lot's " Etudes sur la provenance du cycle arthurien," Romania, vols. See also:

XXIV

xxiv.–xxviii., are very valuable. For a popular treatment of the subject, cf.

Nos. i. and iv. of Popular Studies in See also:

ROMANCE

Romance and Folk-lore (Nutt). See also:

Robert. See also:

Huntington See also:

Fletcher's " The Arthurian Matter in the See also:

CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

Chronicles " (vol. x. of Harvard Studies and Notes in See also:

PHILOLOGY

Philology and Literature), is a most useful See also:

SUMMARY

summary. (J. L.

End of Article: ARTHURIAN LEGEND

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