''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' () is an Arthurian romance by French poet

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

. It was written c. 1180 simultaneously with ''

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart'' () is a 12th-century Old French chivalric romance">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... chivalric romance poem by ...

'', and includes several references to the narrative of that poem. It is a story of knight-errantry, in which the protagonist

Yvain In Arthurian legend, Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', ''Ywan'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table. Tradition often portrays him as t ...

is first rejected by his lady for breaking a very important promise, and subsequently performs a number of heroic deeds in order to regain her favour. The poem has been adapted into several other medieval works, including '' Iwein'' and '' Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain''.

Synopsis

In the narrative,

seeks to avenge his cousin,

Calogrenant The Knights of the Round Table (, , ) are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are a chivalric order dedicated to ensuring the peace ...

, who had been defeated by an

otherworld In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his desc ...

ly knight Esclados beside a magical storm-making stone in the forest of

Brocéliande Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly t ...

. Yvain defeats Esclados and falls in love with his widow Laudine. With the aid of Laudine's servant Lunete, Yvain wins his lady and marries her, but

Gawain Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned und ...

convinces him to leave Laudine behind to embark on chivalric adventure. Laudine assents but demands he return after one year. Yvain becomes so enthralled in his knightly exploits that he forgets to return to his wife within the allotted time, so she rejects him. Yvain goes mad with grief, is cured by a noblewoman, and decides to rediscover himself and find a way to win back Laudine. A lion he rescues from a dragon proves to be a loyal companion and a symbol of knightly virtue, and helps him defeat a mighty giant, three fierce knights, and two demons. After Yvain rescues Lunete from being burned at the stake, she helps Yvain win back his wife, who allows him to return, along with his lion.

History and connections

''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' was written by

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

, simultaneously with his ''

'', between 1177 and 1181. It survives in eight manuscripts and two fragments. It comprises 6,808 octosyllables in rhymed couplets. Two manuscripts are illustrated, Paris BnF MS fr. 1433 and Princeton University Library Garrett MS 125 (c. 1295), the former incomplete with seven remaining miniatures and the latter with ten. Hindman (1994) discusses these illustrations as reflecting the development of the role of the knight, or the youthful

knight-errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective '' errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric ...

, during the transitional period from the high to the late medieval period. The first modern edition was published in 1887 by Wendelin Förster. Chrétien's source for the poem is unknown, but the story bears a number of similarities to the hagiographical ''Life of

Saint Mungo Kentigern (; ), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptis ...

'' (also known as Saint Kentigern), which claims Owain mab Urien as the father of the saint by Denw, daughter of Lot of Lothian.Duggan, Joseph J. (1987). In Chrétien de Troyes; Burton Raffel, ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'', pp. 214–216. Yale University Press. The ''Life'' was written by Jocelyn of Furness in c. 1185, and is thus slightly younger than Chrétien's text, but not influenced by it. Jocelyn states that he rewrote the 'life' from an earlier Glasgow legend and an old

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

document, so that some elements of the story may originate in a British tradition. The name of the main character Yvain, at least, ultimately harks back to the name of the historical

Owain mab Urien Owain mab Urien (Middle Welsh Owein) (died c. 595) was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends w ...

(fl. 6th century). Other narrative motifs in ''Yvain'' have been convincingly traced to early Celtic lore. ''Yvain'' had a huge impact on the literary world. German poet

Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...

used it as the basis for his masterpiece '' Iwein'', and the author of '' Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'', one of the Welsh Romances included in the ''

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

'', recast the work back into its Welsh setting. The poem was translated into a number of languages, including the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

'' Ywain and Gawain''; the

Old Norwegian Old Norwegian ( and ), also called Norwegian Norse, is an early form of the Norwegian language that was spoken between the 11th and 14th century; it is a transitional stage between Old West Norse and Middle Norwegian. Its distinction from O ...

Chivaldric ''Ívens saga'', and the

Old Swedish Old Swedish ( Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1375 unti ...

'' Herr Ivan''. The Valþjófsstaður door in Iceland, c. 1200, depicts a version of the ''Yvain'' story with a carving of a knight slaying a dragon that threatens a lion; the lion is later shown wearing a rich collar and following the knight, and later still the lion appears to be lying on the grave of the knight.

References

Bibliography

*Chrétien de Troyes; Owen, D. D. R. (translator) (1988). ''Arthurian Romances''. New York:

Everyman's Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It began in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division ...

. . *Chrétien de Troyes; Raffel, Burton (translator) (1987). ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion''.

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

. . *Lacy, Norris J. (1991). "Chrétien de Troyes". In Norris J. Lacy, ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp. 88–91. New York: Garland. .

External links

* * (includes ''Yvain'')
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at Princeton University Library
(page has a links to a pdf file of a facsimile of Garrett MS 125)
''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' in a freely-distributable PDF document
* {{Authority control 1170s books 12th-century poems Arthurian literature in French French poems Medieval French romances Love stories Works by Chrétien de Troyes Knights-errant

Synopsis

History and connections

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links