A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail CycleThe early thirteenth-century French prose Lancelot-Grail Cycle (or Vulgate Cycle) brings together the stories of Arthur with those of the Grail, a conjunction of materials that continues to fascinate the Western imagination today. Representing what is probably the earliest large-scale use of prose for fiction in the West, it also exemplifies the taste for big cyclic compositions that shaped much of European narrative fiction for three centuries. A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle is the first comprehensive volume devoted exclusively to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle and its medieval legacy. The twenty essays in this volume, all by internationally known scholars, locate the work in its social, historical, literary, and manuscript contexts. In addition to addressing critical issues in the five texts that make up the Cycle, the contributors convey to modern readers the appeal that the text must have had for its medieval audiences, and the richness of composition that made it compelling. This volume will become standard reading for scholars, students, and more general readers interested in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, medieval romance, Malory studies, and the Arthurian legends. Contributors: RICHARD BARBER, EMMANUELE BAUMGARTNER, FANNI BOGDANOW, FRANK BRANDSMA, MATILDA T. BRUCKNER, CAROL J. CHASE, ANNIE COMBES, HELEN COOPER, CAROL R. DOVER, MICHAEL HARNEY, DONALD L. HOFFMAN, DOUGLAS KELLY, ELSPETH KENNEDY, NORRIS J. LACY, ROGER MIDDLETON, HAQUIRA OSAKABE, HANS-HUGO STEINHOFF, ALISON STONES, RICHARD TRACHSLER. CAROL DOVER is associate professor of French and director of undergraduate studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC. |
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Contents
The Making of the LancelotGrail Cycle | 13 |
Interlace and the Cyclic Imagination | 55 |
The Merlin and its Suite | 75 |
Verse and Prose Charrette | 95 |
La Mort le Roi Artu | 115 |
Malory and his Predecessors | 147 |
Lancelot in Italy | 163 |
The Spanish LancelotGrail Heritage | 185 |
The Lancelots of the Lowlands | 205 |
Towards a Modern Reception of the LancelotGrail Cycle | 237 |
Select Bibliography | 255 |
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Common terms and phrases
addition adventures Ages appear Arthur Arthurian beginning called Cambridge Cart century characters chivalry Chrétien Compilation complete contains contes continues court death Demanda early edition England English episode Estoire example fact father final followed fragments France French Galahad Gawain Geneva gives Grail Guinevere hand hero Holy illustrations important indicate initials Italy Joseph King kingdom knight lady Lancelot-Grail Cycle later Library lines Literature London Malory manuscripts means medieval mentioned Merlin Middle miniatures Mort Artu narrative opening original Paris Perceval Portuguese Post-Vulgate present Prose Lancelot provides Queen quest Queste question readers reference Robert romance Round Saint Graal story Studies Suite Table tradition translation Tristan verse vols volume Vulgate written York