Now let's talk about chivalric romance, a popular storytelling style in the High Medieval and Early Modern Europe, especially among the fancy aristocrats. These stories are all about badass knights going on quests and having grand adventures. They're like superheroes, man, with all impressive heroic qualities. Chivalric romances are all about this idealized code of behavior, you know? Being loyal, honorable, and all that jazz. And let's not forget about courtly love, that's a big theme too.
The most famous chivalric romances are the Arthurian ones, where we follow the crazy adventures of Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, and the rest of the "Knights of the Round Table." There are some dope examples like Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot from the late 12th century, the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from the late 14th century, and Thomas Malory's prose romance from 1485.
Another major source is the Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, written in French. But hey, there are also other cool romances that don't have a connection to the whole Arthurian saga.
We got King Horn, Robert the Devil, Ipomadon, Emaré, Havelok the Dane, Roswall and Lillian, Le Bone Florence of Rome, and Amadas, just to name a few.
King Horn: Alright, let's talk about this Middle-English chivalric romance called King Horn. It's from the thirteenth century, and it's based on the Anglo-Norman Romance of Horn from 1170. The story got retold in later romances and ballads, and it's considered part of the Matter of England.
Now you’d ask what is the Matter of England? terms that 20th century scholars have given to a loose corpus of Medieval literature that in general deals with the locations, characters and themes concerning England, English history, or English cultural mores.
So, we got our hero, Horn, who's the son of King Murry from Suddene (somewhere near Devon, maybe). Unfortunately, Horn's parents get killed by those Saracens. Sh*t's rough. But don't worry, he and his twelve buddies set sail in a boat and end up in Brittany. They become part of the royal court of King Ailmar and spent some years there. That's where he grows up, becomes a man, and falls head over heels for the king's daughter, Rymenhild. But life ain't easy, man. Horn has to defend the kingdom from invading Saracens. And you know what? The king, being a total jerk, banishes Horn to Ireland, accusing him of trying to take over the throne. But our dude Horn is not giving up. He shows his heroism once again in Ireland and even gets offered the king's daughter's hand in marriage. But he's like, "Nah, thanks but no thanks." After some time, Horn goes back to Brittany, rescues Rymenhild, and they live happily ever after, man.
That's true romance right there.
'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight': Check it out, folks! Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an awesome Arthurian story written in Middle English back in the late 14th century. Some peeps think the "Green Knight" is like the legendary "Green Man" from folklore, while others see it as a nod to Jesus. It's written in verses with alliteration, drawing inspiration from Welsh, Irish, English, and French tales of chivalry. This poem is a big deal in the romance genre and is still loved by many today.
The story goes like this: Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, takes on a challenge from a mysterious dude called the "Green Knight." This dude dares any knight to strike him with an axe, as long as he gets a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts, chops off the dude's head, and what do you know? The Green Knight picks up his head and reminds Gawain about their little appointment. As Gawain tries to keep his end of the bargain, he shows chivalry and loyalty until his honor gets tested by the lord and lady of the castle where he's staying. The poem survived in one manuscript along with three other religious narrative poems: Pearl, Cleanness, and Patience. All of 'em are believed to be written by the same person, known as the "Pearl Poet" or "Gawain Poet," since they're all in the same North West Midlands dialect of Middle English. Pretty cool, huh?
'Le Morte D'Arthur' by Sir Thomas Malory: Ok Listen up, peeps! Le Morte d'Arthur, which means the Death of Arthur, is a French collection of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table, all put together by Sir Thomas Malory. Malory took existing French and English stories about these characters and added his own stuff. This bad boy was first published in 1485 by William Caxton, and it's probably the most famous Arthurian literature in English. Even modern writers like T.H. White and Alfred Lord Tennyson took inspiration from Malory for their works.
This book tells the epic legend of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the badass knights on their quest for the Holy Grail. Malory used a French poem from the late 14th century as a base and threw in some extra material from other sources to make his English prose translation. In 21 books, the story covers everything from the founding of Arthur's kingdom and the creation of the Round Table to the crazy adventures of individual knights, the search for the Holy Grail, and the eventual downfall of Arthur and his kingdom. It's all right here, man! Oh, and by the way, this page we're on starts with "In the beginning of Arthur, after he was chosen king by adventure and by grace..." Names and places are written in fancy red letters, called 'rubrication.' Malory goes on to describe Arthur marrying Queen Guinevere, and Arthur spills the beans to Merlin about how much he loves her. She's the daughter of King Leodegrance of the land of Cameliard, by the way, and he's the dude who has the Round Table that Arthur's dad gave him. Juicy stuff, right?
Despite all the craziness going on in Malory's time, people were still super into chivalry and their history. The adventures of Arthur's knights were like a shining example of the noble values that were being threatened during the War of the Roses. Loyalty was becoming rare, man. In his story, Malory even compares the behavior of his characters to the contemporary nobility, and he criticizes the lack of appreciation for loyal service. You know he was feeling that injustice real deep as he sat locked up in jail.
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