Arthurian Narrative in the Latin Tradition

272 Pages·1998·5.14 MB·English

by  Sian Echard

Arthurian Narrative in the Latin Tradition
Arthurian literature is a popular field, but most of the published
work focuses on the vernacular tradition. This book, uniquely,
looks at Latin Arthurian works. Geoffrey of Monmouth is treated
at length and this is the first book to put him in a context which
includes other Latin histories, monastic chronicles, saints' lives, and
other Latin prose Arthurian narratives. Like Geoffrey's works,
most can be associated with the Angevin court of Henry II and by
placing these works against the court background, this book both
introduces a new set of texts into the Arthurian canon and suggests
a way to understand their place in that tradition. The unfamiliar
works are summarized for the reader, and there are extensive
quotations, with translations, throughout. The result is a thorough
exploration of Latin Arthurian narrative in the foundational period
for the Arthurian tradition.
SIAN ECHARD is Assistant Professor in the Department of English
at the University of British Columbia. She is author, with Claire
Fanger, of The Latin Verses in the "Confessio Amantis": An
Annotated Translation (1991).

CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
General editor
Alastair Minnis University of York
Editorial board
Patrick Boyde, University of Cambridge
John Burrow, University of Bristol
Rita Copeland, University of Minnesota
Alan Deyermond, University of London
Peter Dronke, University of Cambridge
Nigel Palmer, University of Oxford
Winthrop Wetherbee, Cornell University
This series of critical books seeks to cover the whole area of literature written in the
major medieval languages - the main European vernaculars, and medieval Latin and
Greek - during the period c. 1100-1500. Its chief aim is to publish and stimulate
fresh scholarship and criticism on medieval literature, special emphasis being placed
on understanding major works of poetry, prose, and drama in relation to the
contemporary culture and learning which fostered them.
Recent titles in the series
29 Walter Haug Vernacular Literary Theory in the Middle Ages: The German
Tradition in its European Context 0 521 34197 3
30 Sarah Spence Texts and the Self in the Twelfth Century 0 521 57279 7
31 Edwin Craun Lies, Slander and Obscenity in Medieval English Literature:
Pastoral Rhetoric and the Deviant Speaker 0 521 49690 X
32 Patricia E. Grieve "Floire and Blancheflor" and the European Romance
0 521 43162 X
33 Huw Pryce (ed) Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies 0 521 57039 5
34 Mary Carruthers The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric, and the
Making of Images, 400-1200 0 521 58232 6
35 Beate Schmolke-Hasselmann The Evolution of Arthurian Romance: The Verse
Tradition from Chretien to Froissart 0 521 41153 X
36 Sian Echard Arthurian Narrative in the Latin Tradition 0 521 62126 7
A complete list of titles in the series can be found at the back of the book

Arthurian Narrative
in the Latin Tradition
SIANECHARD
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www. Cambridge. org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521621267
©Sian Echard 1998
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1998
This digitally printed first paperback version 2005
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Echard, Sian.
Arthurian narrative in the Latin tradition / Sian Echard.
p. cm. (Cambridge studies in medieval literature; 36)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 62126 7 hardback
1. Latin literature, Medieval and modern — Great Britain — History and criticism.
2. Romances, Latin (Medieval and modern) — History and criticism.
3. Geoffrey, of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, 11007-1154. Historia
regum Britanniae. 4. Arthurian romances - History and criticism.
5. Great Britain - History - Henry II, 1154-1189.
6. Britons — Historiography. 7. Narration (Rhetoric).
8. Rhetoric, Medieval. 9. Twelfth century.
I. Title. II. Series.
PA8045.G7E25 1998
870.9'351-dc21 97-42206 CIP
ISBN-13 978-0-521 -62126-7 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521 -62126-7 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521 -02152-4 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-02152-9 paperback
FOR MY PARENTS

Contents
Acknowledgments pdge xi
Note on translations xi
Introduction: Latin Arthurian narrative and the 1
Angevin court
1 "The Anger of Saturn shall fall": Geoffrey of Monmouth's 31
Historia regum Britannie and the limits of history
2 "This is that Arthur": chronicle responses to Arthur 68
3 "Are you the only uncivilized knight produced by sweet 107
Britain?": Arthurian episodes and knightly conduct
4 "Understanding the thing as it is": De Ortu Waluuanii 131
and the challenge of interpretation
5 "Diesfantastica": the Historia Meriadoci and the adventure 159
of the text
6 "When I have done you will be little the wiser": 193
Arthur and Gorlagon, Vita Merlini, and parody
Conclusion: "A wise man may enjoy leisure": The place 232
of Latin Arthurian literature
List of works cited 240
Index 249
IX