Post-Vulgate Cycle

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Post-Vulgate Cycle
Morgan gives Arthur the fake Excalibur (MS 38117).png
Morgan le Fay gives King Arthur the fake Excalibur in a 14th-century copy of the Post-Vulgate Suite de Merlin
AuthorUnknown (self-attributed to Robert de Boron), probably an anonymous single scribe (speculated to be a member of the Cistercian Order)
Language Old French (originally)
Subject Matter of Britain
Genre Chivalric romance
Publication date
Estimated 1230–1240 (original version)
Publication place Kingdom of France

The Post-Vulgate Cycle, also known as the Post-Vulgate Arthuriad, the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal (Romance of the Grail) or the Pseudo-Robert de Boron Cycle, [1] is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature from the early 13th century. It is considered essentially a rewriting of the earlier and more popular Vulgate Cycle (also known as the Lancelot-Grail cycle), with much left out but also much added, including characters and scenes from the Prose Tristan. The cycle did not survive in its entire original form, but has been reconstructed from fragments in several medieval languages.

Contents

History

The Post-Vulgate Cycle, written anonymously probably between 1230 and 1235 (different estimates of the beginning date) to 1240 (1250 according to J.D. Bruce [2] ) in its original form. It did not survive complete, but has been reconstructed from various Old French (considered original yet only survived in two fragments known as the Huth Merlin and La Folie Lancelot [3] ), Castilian, Old Spanish, and Galician-Portuguese fragments. [4]

Earlier theories postulated that, known then as the so-called "pseudo-Boron" cycle, named so due to one manuscript's attribution of its authorship to Robert de Boron, it was either older than the Vulgate or derived from the same common and now lost original source. [5] As such, Gaston Paris had the P-V Suite du Merlin dated as early as 1125—1230. [2]

The Post-Vulgate Cycle borrowed material from the first version of the Prose Tristan, and in turn was soon partially incorporated in its second version. [4] The Post-Vulgate itself (or at least its Suite du Merlin section [6] ) was also one of the most important sources for Thomas Malory's much later Le Morte d'Arthur . [7]

Structure and contents

The work is divided into four parts, named similar to their corresponding Vulgate Cycle versions. It is an attempt to create greater unity in the material, and to de-emphasise the secular love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere in favor of the religious and spiritual Quest for the Holy Grail. As such, it omits great most of the Vulgate Cycle's Lancelot Proper section, making it shorter and much less Lancelot-centered than its source.

Instead, it borrows from the first version of the legend of Tristan and Iseult, including Tristan himself as a prominent character. It further distinguishes from the Vulgate by its more pessimistic tone, its darker portrayal of several major characters such as Merlin, Morgan, and Gawain, and its bleak ending. [8] [9] [10]

Modern editions

The first full English translation of the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate cycles were overseen by N.J. Lacy.

References

  1. Kibler, William W.; Zinn, Grover A. (1995). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. ISBN   9780824044442.
  2. 1 2 Bogdanow, Fanni (1966). The Romance of the Grail: A Study of the Structure and Genesis of a Thirteenth-century Arthurian Prose Romance. Manchester University Press.
  3. Victoria Guerin, M. (1995). The Fall of Kings and Princes: Structure and Destruction in Arthurian Tragedy. Stanford University Press. ISBN   978-0-8047-2290-2.
  4. 1 2 Busby, Keith; Dalrymple, Roger (October 2006). Arthurian Literature XXIII. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN   978-1-84384-097-8.
  5. Bogdanow, Fanni (1966). The Romance of the Grail: A Study of the Structure and Genesis of a Thirteenth-century Arthurian Prose Romance . Manchester University Press. p.  40.
  6. Romance Rewritten. Boydell & Brewer. 2018. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1ntgs3. ISBN   9781843845096. JSTOR   j.ctv1ntgs3. S2CID   240036368.
  7. Norris, Ralph C. (2008). Malory's Library: The Sources of the Morte Darthur. DS Brewer. ISBN   978-1-84384-154-8.
  8. Kennedy, Edward Donald (18 October 2013). King Arthur: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-135-36720-6.
  9. Busby, Keith; Thompson, Raymond H. (8 November 2005). Gawain: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-136-78352-4.
  10. Goodrich, Peter H. (June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN   1-135-58339-0.
  11. Busby, Keith; Dalrymple, Roger (2005). Arthurian Literature XXII. DS Brewer. ISBN   978-1-84384-062-6.
  12. Kibler, William W. (22 July 2010). The Lancelot-Grail Cycle: Text and Transformations. University of Texas Press. ISBN   978-0-292-78640-0.

Sources