III: The Joie De La Cort Episode in Erec and the Horn of Bran

Abstract

Although the Joie de la Cort episode in Crestien's Erec has been the center of many a stormy controversy, no adequate explanation has been provided for two puzzling features—the significance of the title and the purpose of the mysterious horn on the stake. Critical discussions, however, have shown that the episode contains Celtic elements. Even so conservative a scholar as J. D. Bruce concedes that “Celtic parallels seem to establish the Celtic origin of the episode.” And Gaston Paris, F. Lot, Philipot, Bruce, and Gruffydd are among the notable critics who accept the Celtic derivation of Mabonagrain and other names. Professor Archer Taylor, too, has demonstrated that the motif of the vacant stake is characteristically Celtic. All this evidence indicates that we may find an explanation in Celtic tradition for the title and the horn.