CHAPTER XII
CONCLUSION
We have now reached the final stage of our Lancelot studies, and it only remains for us to gather up the threads of the previous investigation, and to endeavour to formulate the results at which we have arrived. We have seen that the Lancelot legend was one of remarkably speedy growth. We find no mention of the hero's name before the latter half of the twelfth century, yet within ten years of that first mention he is the most famous of Arthur's knights, and the lover of the queen.207
We have examined the legend (a) in the form of a loosely constructed biographical romance, composed of episodes originally foreign to each other; (b) in detached episodic poems; (c) in its final form as the most important member of a great prose cycle; and we have found that in all this mass of literature the only really distinctive and individual trait on which we could lay our finger was the story of the hero being stolen as a child and brought up by the mistress of a water kingdom.208
Into the question of the character of the Lady of the Lake we have not entered deeply; we have seen that she touches on the one side the mysterious queen of the Other World, on the other the scarcely less enigmatic Morgain le Fay, King Arthur's sister. The subject was too wide in extent to be adequately treated in this series; it demands separate study, but the result, so far as the Lancelot legend is concerned, was to lead us to believe that the root of that legend was a lai, presumably Breton, dealing with the theft of a king's son by a water fairy; a theme which afterwards underwent considerable expansion, in the course of which the characters of the hero and of his patroness alike became greatly modified from the original conception.
The final and best known form of the story was mainly influenced by the introduction of a motif foreign to the earlier and tentative development, i.e. that of Lancelot's love for the wife of his lord. This motif, however, we saw reason to believe, did not really represent the earlier tradition of Guinevere's infidelity, but was a practically new development introduced under the dual influences of a special social condition and the high popularity of the earlier Tristan story. As to the reasons which determined the choice of Lancelot as the queen's lover, we found ourselves unable to express any decided opinion.209
But from its very earliest stages the Lancelot story came into contact with another and highly popular tale, the legend of Perceval. The earlier and later biographical forms (Lanzelet and the prose Lancelot) and the episodic romances (Le cerf au pied blanc and Morien) show traces of contact, direct or indirect, with this story; while the precise statements of certain MSS.210 make it quite clear that even at an advanced stage of its evolution the Lancelot legend formed part of a cycle of which the most important member was the story of Perceval and the Grail.
This continued contact with the Perceval story, with the resulting developments, appears to be the most important factor in the evolution of the Lancelot legend, and one which has hitherto been overlooked.
So far as the evidence at our disposal permits us to trace it, the course of development seems to have been the following. Gradually the legend of the Grail,211 originally foreign to the Perceval story, completely dominated that story and changed the character of the hero, who became transformed into an ascetic celibate; while, on the other hand, the growing popularity of the Lancelot story had reacted prejudicially on the position alike of Perceval and the still earlier hero Gawain as knights of King Arthur's court. Eventually the two competing centres of romantic interest were Lancelot and the Grail, and it became necessary to combine them in such a manner that the latter, while still retaining its sacrosanct character, should yet contribute to heighten the fame of the popular 'secular' hero.
Such a combination was possible, under certain conditions, and an ingenious writer, perceiving this possibility, turned it to account by inventing the Galahad Queste, which, poor and inadequate as a Grail romance, yet as a contribution to the Lancelot cycle had a very certain and decided value. It put the final touch to the evolution of the hero by enabling him to take part, under circumstances which should vicariously increase his fame, in the great adventure of the Arthurian cycle, the Grail Quest; it also restored superficially the unity of the cycle, which had been injured by the cleavage between the Grail and the other sections, caused by the growing popularity of Lancelot as compared with Perceval.
While Gawain and Perceval were the leading heroes of the Arthurian cycle, a Perceval Queste was natural; but as soon as these two were supplanted in the popular favour by Lancelot, the Perceval Queste, as an integral part of the cycle, became more and more inharmonious. A change in the interest of the later Lancelot development was inevitable, and that the change took place precisely at the psychological moment is, I think, proved by the practically universal welcome accorded to the Galahad Queste. With unanimous consent the Perceval Queste appears to have been discarded as a part of the cycle, although in its independent form it still retained its popularity.
Naturally all the branches of the cycle into which the new Queste had been adopted were more or less affected by it; in some cases the references to the coming Grail Winner were more or less vague, and would apply as well to the later as to the earlier hero; in other instances they were amplified but not altered, thus introducing confusion into the text (this is, I suspect, the case with the Merlin Suite). The romances that represented the Early History, as introduction to the Queste, were naturally the most affected, and at the present moment it is extremely difficult to decide whether the Grand S. Graal be a direct amplification of the Joseph of Arimathea, constructed with a view to the Galahad Queste, or whether, in its existing form, it depends upon an intermediate version the données of which would agree with the cyclic Perceval.
In any case the 'net' result was, I believe, the substitution of the name of the supposed author of the Queste, Walter Map, for that of the traditional author of the earlier Perceval-Grail story, Robert de Borron; and to ascribe to Map that cyclic redaction of the Arthurian romances which had previously been ascribed to de Borron.
I think that much of the difficulty hitherto experienced in determining the order and date of the various Grail romances has arisen from our very natural tendency to regard these romances as a group apart, and to compare them exclusively with each other; whereas they should be treated as members of the cycle, and compared with the other branches of the cycle. More especially is this the case with the Galahad Queste; treated as a Grail romance proper, it is inexplicable, and appears to represent no possible step that can be postulated in the natural evolution of the Grail legend. We could imagine the honour transferred from father to son (as a matter of fact it is Lohengrin and not Galahad who should be the successor to Perceval); but this sudden break in the tradition by which the honour passes to the race of King Ban, no relationship between Perceval and Lancelot being previously hinted at, is, considered in itself, most perplexing. On the other hand, treat the Queste as an integral part of the Lancelot cycle, and it not only explains itself, but gives us valuable assistance in 'placing' the earlier versions.
At the same time it is obvious that the theory here advanced only applies to the later stages of the Grail tradition; it does not touch the problem of the origin of the Grail itself, or its first connection with Perceval.
In the course of our investigation we found it necessary to devote especial attention to the work of Chrétien de Troyes, endeavouring to ascertain the exact position which, in the evolution of the Arthurian romantic cycle, should be ascribed to this famous poet. It became clear that a very considerable portion of the matter with which he dealt belonged by its nature to the domain of what we call folk-lore; and by reason of that nature could not have been invented by the poet, but must have ante-dated, in some instances by many centuries, any possible literary rendering. Judged by the rules laid down by scientific authorities on comparative religion, and story-transmission, Chrétien could not have been an inventor, but only a brilliantly successful re-teller of stories long known and popular. Instead of standing at the source of Arthurian romantic tradition, he was swept into the current at a comparatively late period of its evolution. To solve the complex problems of Arthurian romance we must go behind Chrétien: it is the period preceding, not following, his work in which the solution of our puzzles must be sought.
To this Chrétien himself bears witness. The position claimed for him by certain modern scholars is not that which he claimed for himself; he never professed to be telling a story no one had ever heard before, though he may have flattered himself, not without reason, that he was telling it better than it had ever previously been told. He was dealing with heroes and adventures already well known to his public. The manner in which he introduces, or refers to, incidental characters makes it abundantly clear that he expected his readers to understand his allusions. Especially is this noticeable in the case of Perceval, who has been claimed, with more zeal than discretion, as one of his most famous creations. He alludes to the hero in a manner that makes it quite evident that this story was well known, and the name familiar, to the public, some decades before Chrétien himself undertook to tell it.
As practical results arising from these studies I would claim:
a That we, in future, place the evolution of the Perceval story at a much earlier date than we have hitherto been willing to assign to it.
b That we admit the possibility of very important variations in the tale, some of them being anterior to Chrétien's version.
c That we recognise that this story of Perceval was of capital importance in the general evolution of the Arthurian cycle.
d That in the mutual relations between the Perceval-Grail and Lancelot stories we have the key to the final shaping of the entire cycle.
These principles admitted, and I think the evidence adduced goes far to prove their soundness, it is obvious that in order to establish and appraise the above relations at their full value, we must have complete and critical editions of all the principal texts. As matters stand at present, the only texts which can be said to have been in any sense critically treated are the Didot Perceval, and the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach for the older story, and the Charrette for the younger. We have been waiting for years for a critical edition of the Conte del Graal, and when we get it will the editor have taken into consideration the various additions to Chrétien's text, and the version of the Dutch compiler, or will it be Chrétien's portion of the poem alone? In that case it will not help us very far. We need sorely a critical edition of the curious Perceval li Gallois, with its blending of wild, folk-lore features with late proselytising and allegorising tendency, its baffling parallels to the German Parzival.
And if we are at a loss for material to adequately criticise the earlier story, what of the later? Considering the highly mythic, prehistoric character of so much of the Arthurian tradition, the disappearance of so many of the intermediate stages, and the consequent difficulty in fixing the earliest form of any characteristic feature, it would seem that our best plan would be to start from the final form assumed by the cycle and work gradually backward, since for a certain period, at least, we might hope to find solid ground beneath our feet. But the most important text for this final form of the Arthurian cycle, the prose Lancelot, remains unedited. And indeed it might well seem to be a work beyond the powers of any one scholar; the number alike of MSS. and of printed editions is so large; they are so scattered, no important library but can show one or more Lancelot texts, and we cannot afford to leave even one of all this mass unexamined. The great discrepancy between the printed texts which the foregoing comparison has shown us; the pregnant hints as to earlier redactions, which the passages I have quoted from M. Paulin Paris and Professor Heinzel assure us may be found in the MSS., are all indications of the vast extent of the task which confronts us.
Yet this much is certain, until it is boldly grappled with, and scholars are in possession of a complete critical edition of the Lancelot in which all the varying adventures shall be carefully chronicled, and all the traces of earlier redactions duly noted, any studies such as these in the preceding pages, be they the work of scholars of the very first rank, will always be liable to the necessity of revision, or the risk of subversion, by the accidental discovery of some hitherto unknown factor.212
This appears to me to be the great and pressing question which confronts Arthurian scholars; we desire our work to have a permanent value, yet we are leaving undone that which, to all appearance, is the surest means of securing such permanence.
A work of such magnitude can, I think, only be grappled with by a body of scholars, a chief editor, assisted by a group of sub-editors. The great extent and diffusion of the material (the Lancelot MSS. are, as I said before, practically scattered all over Europe), render it impossible for any one man to hope to complete the task within a reasonable term of years. I do not know what may be the principles regarding the choice of publications by the Sociétié des anciens textes Français, whether their aim be the introduction to the public of MSS. of which unique copies alone exist, rather than to publish critical editions of more easily accessible texts; but if the latter should lie within their province, I cannot imagine any publication that would be more warmly welcomed by Arthurian scholars, or that would be of greater interest and more enduring benefit to the students of mediæval literature, than a full and complete edition of the prose Lancelot.
APPENDIX
THE DUTCH LANCELOT213
(Opens with short introduction alluding to Meleagant, thus pre-supposing the Charrette adventure.)
Line 20. Eight days after Whitsuntide A., his knights, and twelve tributary kings are hunting in a forest. Guinevere and her maidens ride to see hunt escorted by Kay, Segramore, Dodinel, and Lancelot. Knight rides up and seizes queen's bridle. Her knights resent this. K., S., and D. are overthrown. L. is about to joust when maiden rides up and demands his aid, he is pledged to her. L. asks permission to fight first; overthrows and badly wounds knight, and follows maiden. Wounded knight is tended by queen's people.
Line 245. Queen sends K. after L., whom he finds fighting with two knights; K. gives him his horse; returns to queen.
Line 352. Queen is hungry. Dodinel and Segramore go to find food. Come to a pavilion with knight, he and S. fight, D. looks on. Maid on mule rides up, calls D. to go with her. Knight flies and S. is left alone.
Line 444. Segramore meets one of A's horsemen pursued by two (1533, three) knights, rescues him and overthrows knights. Comes to a pavilion; dwarf stands at door, strikes S.'s horse with stick. S. chastises him. Lady appears and reproaches S., he is struck with her beauty. Enters pavilion and finds Calogrenant prisoner. He had come there and blown horn at maid's request, two armed knights appeared and overthrew him. S. blows horn. Red Knight appears; they fight, well-matched. A knight arrives, carries off maiden. R. K. begs truce that he may pursue them. S. will do so too. Cal. is released (1533, R. K. remains to guard C.). S. pursues ravisher, comes to hill and fair meadow, ten pavilions by a fountain. Knight with thirty companions appears and demands joust. S. overthrows him and asks news of maiden. Knight will tell him if S. will grant first request asked. Leads him to pavilion with maid and four knights. Maid will return with S.; has been brought against her will. A knight throws knife at S. who cleaves his head with sword. Others attack S., who slays first, and others fly. Rides off with maid to ten pavilions, ten knights ride out, S. must go with them to their lord or joust; chooses latter. They ask his name, he is Segramore die Wonderlike. Another knight appears, S. must leave maiden or joust. He is Brandalis, rejoiced to meet S., would entertain him. S. says he must return to queen who waits by 'Elfin Spring.' B. will escort maiden to her ami. S. rides off to house of Mathamas (his original destination), finds him and knights in hall, and demands provisions for queen. M. and his men treacherously attack S., finally overpower and throw him into dungeon, where he is wellnigh starved, but M.'s daughter takes pity upon him, and brings him food.
Line 1050. Dodinel and maid meet knight and lady richly dressed, with dwarf. D. greets dwarf, who makes no answer but tries to kiss maiden, who throws him to the ground. Knight tries to kill maiden, but is unhorsed by D. and sent prisoner to queen. He is Maroc van den Ynsen Roken, 'twixt Ireland and Scotland. (1533, Marruc le roux, no island named.214)
Line 1267. Lancelot meets a black rider unarmed with knight's head on saddle-bow, asks L.'s name, bids him give him his armour, L. has pledged himself so to do (reference to adv. in earlier part of prose L.). L. does so. Knight is 'Griffoen van den quaden passe.' He rides thus past the Elfin Spring. Queen sees him in L.'s armour with head at saddle-bow and thinks L. is slain. Kay and other knights pursue him, and are overthrown, Kay taken prisoner. Queen and maidens remain at spring weeping.
Line 1425. Lancelot meets maiden, who hails him as best knight in the world, thinks he is Gawain215 (1533, knows him for L.), whose presence in land of Strangore is much desired. Leaves him, and L. and attendant maiden come to house, where they are well received.
Line 1480. Dodinel comes to a deep river crossed by narrow plank. Maiden crosses safely, plank will not bear weight of an armed man. D. falls into water and is nearly drowned. When he reaches bank maid has disappeared. Castle near at hand, knight comes out and challenges D., who is too exhausted to answer and is taken prisoner.
Line 1565. Queen and maidens return to court in great grief, tell A. what has chanced. (1533, Queen's account does not agree with facts of story. She says 'prisoner has gone after knight.' What prisoner? Probably Segramore's, but she says they have heard nothing of S.) Ten knights will go in quest of L. Gawain chooses his companions: Ywein, Garhies (Gariët general spelling), Gurrehes, Mordrec, Hestor van Maris, Acgloval ('twas he brought Perceval to court), etc. (Neither D. L. nor 1533 give ten names, the latter adds to those mentioned Les Hardi [le Laid Hardi?] and Brandalis.) They take an oath to seek a year and a day. They ride to the 'Swerte cruce' (here we have story of Joseph of Arimathea and King Agestes [Agrestes] from G. S. Graal). Gawain harangues them, they will separate, and search forest for a week. Hear loud cries, maiden meets them, and says best knight on earth is being slain. Leads them to a valley where one knight fights against ten. Gawain and companions rescue him and put others to flight. Knight has two swords. Gawain asks reason. Knight explains. He is Eliezer (1533, Helye), son of the rich Fisher who holds the Grail. One sword is that with which Joseph of Arimathea was wounded (here adventures of Joseph as in G. S. Graal); it is broken and can only be mended by him who achieves adventures of the Grail. Ywein begs E. to accompany them in their search for Lancelot, he would doubtless fulfil the test. E. refuses, must return to his father. They separate, agreeing if they find L. to send him to E. (which they do not do).
Line 2335. Agloval rides five days without special adventure. Meets wounded knight who prays his aid. A. jousts with and overthrows pursuer. Makes him ask pardon of first. Spends night in castle of second, who is Griffoen van den quaden passe. A. tells him name and quest. G. conceals share in adventure, tells A. he will find Kay at a hermitage. When A. has ridden away sets K. free, and tells him to go to hermitage, not saying whence he came. K. does this, meets A., hears of quest and follows him.
Line 2565. Gawain rides three days without adventure. Comes to castle of Mathamas where Segramore is imprisoned. Being weary rides past without greeting. M. pursues him, they joust, M. is overthrown. S. is released and M. sent prisoner to court.
Line 2685. Hector216 seeks in forest up and down for eight days; ninth, comes to where Dodinel fell into water, crosses safely and rides to castle. Knight attacks him and is overthrown, makes feint to yield and tries treacherously to stab H. H. smites off his head. Folk of castle receive him gladly, tell him of D. who is freed. Maiden explains knight was her ami and hated D. who had overthrown him at a tourney, she had been forced to fetch him hither on pain of death. H. tells D. of quest; he will join. Leave castle and ride to trysting-place. All meet, have heard nothing of L. Part in great grief, knowing it will be long before they meet again.
Line 2925. Gawain rides fifteen (1533, twelve) days without adventures. Comes to an abbey where he leaves his arms and takes others. Spends Sunday there. On Monday rides forth, comes to a spring, unhelms to drink, maid rides up, knows him, and takes him to castle. Lord of the castle arrives with thirty knights. A great tourney to be held on the morrow two miles hence. Mabonars (1533, Marbortas), the king of Galehout's race (1533, Galehout's cousin), has summoned it at Castle 'van der Molen,' will give hawk to best knight and circlet to his lady. Maiden prays G. to help her lover Taganas (1533, Tanaguis le blanc). On the morrow go to tourney. Argument between maiden and 'a king's niece' as to whose knight is the best. At first G. overthrows all adversaries. Then Red Knight appears, prolonged struggle, G. is unhorsed, R. K. rides away, G. follows, overtakes him at forester's house. It is Hector, who is much grieved at what he has done. G. forgives him, and they continue quest together. Third day (1533, time not mentioned), come to ruined chapel and churchyard wherein is marble tomb with inscription to effect that only the 'keytive' knight who has failed through 'luxurien' to achieve adventure of the Grail can fulfil this. Enter churchyard, find burning tomb with twelve others round it, upright sword on each. G. will test adventure, enters enclosure, is attacked by swords, beaten to the ground, when he recovers consciousness is outside. Tries again, with even worse result. H. also tries, fails; letters appear on the door that none shall dare adventure till the 'son of the dolorous queen' come.217 They leave chapel and ride till they come to two roads by a cross on which is written 'whoso takes left-hand road shall not escape without much dishonour; of right-hand nothing shall be said save that there is much danger.' H. insists on going to left though G. would dissuade him. They separate.
Line 3535. Gawain comes to pavilion where six knights are at meat, he greets them, they make no response. G. seats himself and begins to eat, they order him to stop, and on his refusing attack him with swords and axes. G. slays one, cuts off arm of another, rest flee. Rides away, comes to a valley where he sees castle surrounded by deep water, goes towards it. Hears cries from a tower, enters and finds maiden in bath of boiling water (1533, does not say water is boiling, and states that she only expects aid from Lancelot), prays him to lift her out; he fails, she tells him he will not go hence without shame, and that only 'the best knight in the world' can help her. G. goes to castle, is well received. As they sit in the hall out of the chamber whence the king came (1533, he sees 'entrer parmi une verriere') there comes a dove with censer in beak.218 All are silent and kneel till dove has passed through hall and entered a chamber. Then tables are prepared and all sit down in silence. G. wonders much. Out of chamber where dove entered comes the fairest maiden G. has ever seen, holding above her head a vessel in the shape of a cup. The vessel 'ne was van houte ne van stene, ne van metale negene.' All kneel as she passes, save G., and the tables are filled with the best food on earth. When she has passed all but G. have been provided with food; he doubts if he has done amiss. After the meal all leave the hall, doors are closed, and G. is left alone. He lies down beneath a window. A man (dwarf?) appears and tells G. to go into a chamber where none shall see him, would strike him, but G. takes staff out of his hand, warns him he shall not depart without dishonour. (1533, G. is only told 'fuyez vous en d'icy, vous n'y devez m'y estre, car en vous a trop villaine chose.' G. sees bed through open door, and enters chamber of own accord.) G. goes into the chamber, sees a fair bed and sits down upon it. Hears a voice warning him if he sit unarmed on 't bedde van aventuren' he will surely die. Arms himself; a sword (1533, lance) with fiery blade enters room, smites him so sorely he cannot defend himself: becomes unconscious, on recovery feels that blade is being drawn out of his wound. Lies till daylight. (1533, Quant il fut ennuyte si que l'en y veoit mauvaisement fors que de la lune qui luysoit a plus de quarante fenestres qui tout estoient ouvertes; lors regarde monseigneur G. en une chambre qui estoit pres de lui.) Sees a great serpent enter the hall, making fearful noise, out of its mouth come small serpents. Leopard attacks serpent, fierce battle. When serpent finds it cannot slay leopard returns to hall (chamber?), where the small serpents attack it. They slay each other. A great wind rises, which sweeps hall clean. G. hears women weeping, rises and sees twelve maidens come weeping and kneel before door where dove went in. They depart, and an armed knight comes and bids G. go and rest on a bed in another chamber, he may no longer stay here. G. refuses, they fight fiercely all day, at last fall exhausted. It begins to thunder, the whole palace trembles, G. is deafened by the sound, knows not if it be day or night (1533, if he be living or dead). A great wind rises (1533, soft and sweet), and he hears voices, two hundred at least, singing so sweetly, nothing on earth can be like to it. He cannot understand all the words, only 'Glorie ende lof moete hebben ewelike die coninc van hemelrike.' The palace is filled with a sweet smoke. Opens his eyes and sees the maiden of evening before with vessel, preceded by two censers (1533, and two cierges), places vessel on silver table, ten censers give sweet smell around it. Voices sing 'Ere, bliscap, ende lof moete hebben ewelike, Die soete here van hemelrike.' Maiden carries vessel back to chamber. Hall grows dark and windows fly open (1533, and close again). G. can see nothing, but feels he is healed of his wounds, rises and looks for knight with whom he had fought, but can find nothing. Hears people enter and feels himself taken by hands and feet, bound, carried out of hall, and laid on a cart. Daylight comes, he is still in the cart, to which a wretched horse is harnessed; feels himself shamed. A maiden (1533, une vieille) comes and drives the horse out, as they pass the gateway the people mock at and pelt G. When bridge is passed maiden looses his bonds and tells him to leave the cart, he has been there long enough. G. asks name of castle, it is Cambonoyc.219 He curses the day he was born and made knight to be thus shamed. Rides all day, at evening comes to hermitage, where he is kindly received. Hermit asks his name, and is rejoiced at hearing it. Where has he spent the night? G. will not say at first. (1533, G. shows shame at being praised. H. comforts him; no man but knows misfortune. G. says no man has had such ill-luck as he for fifteen days. H. asks how, and G. tells all.) When he does tell, H. keeps silence for a long time, then tells him he has seen the Holy Grail, his own sin prevented him from being fed by it. (1533, quant vous ne luy feistes honeur bien vous deistes mesadvenir.)220 G. asks meaning of serpent; it is A. his uncle. He shall leave his kingdom in charge of his kinsmen and go to fight a knight whom he cannot overcome; on his return his own kinsmen shall fight against, and slay him. It shall come about through G. himself. He must swear not to reveal what H. has told him to any one. G. spends night there, and in morning rides forth to seek Hector.
Line 4260. Hector rides till eventide, meets a dwarf, who warns him, but will give no explanation. H. rides on and comes to a stone on which it is written, that no one enters this land save to his shame. Then meets two maidens who lament over him. Comes to a castle surrounded by water, over which is a bridge. A maiden sitting under a tree greets him kindly, and tells him there is a knight at the bridge who jousts with all comers, and throws the vanquished into the water. H. overthrows knight and crosses bridge. The gates are closed, none may enter save by swearing to put an end to the evil customs of the castle. H. swears and enters. Asks what are the customs. There is an evil knight there who fights with all who come; if victorious he drives them naked through the streets; also he has dishonoured more than one hundred (1533, forty) noble maidens. H. bids them lead him to knight. They take him to a fair garden, well planted with trees, in the midst of which is an open space. They show him an ivory horn hanging on a tree, if he sound it the knight will come.221 He does so and a 'hunch-backed and ugly' (1533, grant) knight, on a white horse, appears unarmed, and asks H. his name. If he will swear to renounce evil customs H. will tell him, not otherwise; knight prefers to fight. Folk tell H. it was a ruse coming to him unarmed, had he made terms and disarmed, he would have been overpowered at once. Knight returns in red armour. After fierce fight H. slays him and learns he must now deliver lady of the castle, who is in a cave guarded by two leopards (1533, lyons). This he does; slays leopards and releases lady, who is joyfully received by the people. She is Argale van Grakenlant (1533, Grindelain), and Lancelot's cousin. The knight was Margarij (1533, Maugart le Roux); she is concerned to hear of L.'s disappearance.