King Arthur Conquers Europe

Session Organizer: Tom Shippey
Saint Louis University

"The Greatest Prophecy of All Time": The Grail in Robert de Boron’s Arthurian Cycle

In many versions of Arthurian legend, the Grail story presents some of the most dramatic moments with meanings as numerous as the versions of the story itself. Even the details of the Grail’s origin vary. In some of the versions written in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Joseph of Arimathea, of New Testament fame, appears as a central figure in the Grail story as the Grail goes from being a vessel used at the Last Supper to a container of Christ’s blood and finally to the object of the quest of Arthur’s knights. The Arthurian cycle written by Robert de Boron includes Joseph of Arimathea and tells how it is through Joseph and his extended family that the Grail comes to rest in Britain. Boron continues the story of the Grail in Merlin and finishes it in Perceval. As the story of the Grail progresses through these three parts of the cycle, Boron clearly identifies and expands the power of the Grail whenever it appears, creating a less mysterious, but more Christ-centered Grail legend.

Sara Schwamb
Saint Louis University
schwambs@slu.edu

Kingship in Old Norse Arthurian Literature

Old Norse Arthurian literature has not received much attention outside of the work of Scandinavists, and yet several significant Arthurian texts were translated into Old Norse/Icelandic. Indeed, the very first romance translated into Old Norse is thought to be a version of Béroul’s Tristan (Tristrams saga ok Isöndar) done in 1226. Three romances of Chrétien de Troyes were also translated, possibly during the same time period: Erex saga (Erec et Enide), Ívens saga (Yvain) and Parcevals saga with Valvens ßáttr (Perceval). Arthurian material is also represented in a translation of Le mantel mautaillié (Möttuls saga) and the translation of the lais of Marie de France (referred to as the Strengleikar), although only two of these lais deal directly with the Arthurian world, Geitarlauf (Chevrefueil) and Janual (Lanval).

This paper will examine the representation of kingship within the Old Norse Arthurian texts with particular reference to Möttuls saga, Janual and Tristrams saga ok Isöndar. These three texts, in particular, depict the corruption of the Arthurian court and kingship in general. I will argue that contrary to the idea that Arthurian romances present an idealized construction of chivalric love, these texts need to be read as political condemnations of monarchy.

Johanna Bradley
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
rbradley@coin.org

The Role of Sir Kay in Later Arthurian Tradition

Sir Kay is by now well-established as the grouch of Arthurian story, a role often explained (following T.H. White) as the result of sibling jealousy. Signs of hostility between Kay and Arthur indeed go back very far into the tradition, but so does a belief in Kay’s serious and essential role as the stickler for precedent, the upholder of court custom. This paper considers how far the latter role remains significant in the Arthurian romances of Chretien de Troyes, and especially the Parzifal of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and makes the case for Wolfram’s view of Kay’s acidic tongue as a vital regulatory force for Arthur, for his court, and perhaps for courts in general.

Laura Reinert
Saint Louis University
reinertl@slu.edu