Artus:
The French Arthurian Legend
Mike Howells
Historical Context of the Arthurian
Legend
Did King Arthur exist?
“The only honest answer is, ‘We do not
know, but he may well have existed.’”
-Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson
Historical Context of the Arthurian
Legend
On the basis of several
historical documents we can
conclude that an Arthur
probably did exist:
 Welsh elegy Gododdin
 Nennius’ Historia
Brittonum
 Annales Cambriae
Right: Page from the Annales Cambriae,
including entries for the battles of Badon and
Camlann.
Left: Arthur and Mordred clash at the battle
of Camlann
(Snyder 72-73)
Historical Context of the Arthurian
Legend
The “Arthur Story” has existed in
the form of local legends since at
least as early as the 9th century.
Appears in late 11th and early 12th
century Latin Lives of Welsh
Saints as a king or chief, “usually
troublesome to the saint at first
but afterwards overcome by a
miracle.” (Jackson)
The Legend of Arthur
We see Arthur as a central figure in British and
Irish mythology by the 11th century
By the 12th century, Arthur has become a popular
literary and legendary figure in Western Europe.
“Why this exaltation of an alien king and court by the
most sophisticated men of letters of Western Europe,
men who, so far as one can tell, had not the slightest
incentive to popularize a figure of so remote a time and
people?” (Loomis)
Why? (But first, why not?)
Could not have been due to visits to the British mainland
by European writers.
Lack of intimacy with British settings
Could not have been due to export of Celtic manuscripts.
They would have been unreadable outside of Brittany.
Could not have been due to foreign-language books by
Welsh natives.
Even the most influential works (Geoffrey of Monmouth) made
little impression on verse romances.
Diffusion of The Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is the name given to the body of
literature associated with Britain and Brittany. It includes,
but is not limited to, the Arthurian legends.
The twelfth century French poet Jean Bodel created the
name in a poem entitled Chanson de Saisnes:
Ne sont que iij matières à nul homme atandant,
De France et de Bretaigne, et de Rome la grant.
Crossing the Channel
Wales was not the only Celtic territory
which possessed an Arthurian tradition.
Cornwall also retained strong ties to the Arthur
legend.
As the Anglo-Saxon presence in Britain
grew more extreme, some Celtic peoples
migrated from Cornwall across the English
Channel to Brittany.
Source: Atlas of Medieval Europe, Angus Konstam
Bretonese References to Arthur
Early Bretonese Arthur references:
The Life of Goeznovious
• Mentions the victories of Arthur.
The Life of St. Efflam
• Represented by a sculpture in Perros which depicts a figure
with a crozier (Efflam) and a figure with a shield (Arthur) lying
exhausted next to a dying dragon.
Map of Brittany (Synder 99)
Other Early References:
1085 - William of Malmesbury refers to Arthur in his Historia Regum
Anglorum; “He is that Arthur about whom the trifles of the Bretons (nugae
Britonum).”
1115 - Reference to the Round Table in Wace’s Brut; “…Of which Britons tell
many stories.”
1216 – Welshman Giraldus Cambrensis “attributes to the ‘fabulosi Britones’
the story of Arthur’s transportation by a certain imaginary goddess, named
Morganis, to the island of of Avalon for the healing of his wounds.” (Loomis)
Crucial in these passages is the recurring reference to Arthur as
Britones. By this point in history Arthur has become a Breton, distinct
from Cambrenses (Welsh) and Cornubienses (Cornish).
Arthur Legends in France
Wace
Marie de France
The Romance of Tristan
Thomas version
Beroul version
Chretien de Troyes
Illustration from a 15th century manuscript of Lancelot. (Synder 6-7).
Wace
Roman de Brut
Translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum
Britanniae.
• More than just a straight translation
 Omitted some elements and abridged others.
 Wove fictional elements into his narrative, including oral tales.
 First to mention the Round Table.
 “For the noble barons he had, of whom each felt that he was
superior--each one believed himself to be the best, and no-one
could tell the worst--King Arthur, of whom the Britons tell many
stories, established the Round Table. There sat the vassals, all of
them at the table-head, and all equal. They were placed at the table
as equals. None of them could boast that he was seated higher than
his peer.”
 First to refer to Arthur’s sword as Excalibur.
 Adapted from Geoffrey’s name for it, “Caliburn.”
A 14th century manuscript of the Roman de Brut. (Snyder 88)
Chretien de Troyes
Responsible for creating several
Arthurian mythic elements
The Holy Grail
• In Perceval (Le Conte du Graal)
Camelot
Lancelot
• First appears in his poem Erec,
• Appears more fully in
Le Chevalier de la Charrette
‘Lancelot slays a dragon’, by Arthur Rackham. The Romance of King Arthur. (Snyder, 105)
Marie de France
A French poetess of the twelfth century.
Probably lived in England in the court of
Henry II.
1160 - Lais
Twelve verse narratives in French, including
two directly referencing Arthurian legend.
• Lanval
• Chevrefoil
The Romance of Tristan
Two versions written
Thomas version written in 1165
• Considered the “courtly” version due
to refined language and tamer action
Beroul version, written between
1160 and 1190
• Bloodier and more visceral than the
Thomas version, but sole existing
manuscript is much more
fragmented.
Tristan and Isolde, from a 14th century manuscript. (Snyder 99)
In conclusion…
Monty Python LEGO 2001 Ifilm, LEGO studios and Python (Monty) Pictures