Latin Arthurian Literature by Mildred Leake Day (review)

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REVIEWS85 conversion or MaryMagdalene's departure from the Holy Land. Elsewhere flashbacks serve to fill in details about Sophie's and, perfunctorily, Langdon's childhoods. But, when the pivotal scene in which a younget (uncharacteristically shocked) Sophie witnessed an ominous ritual involving het 'grandfather' is shown in flashback for only a couple ofseconds, there is nothing to indicate that what shocks het is anything more than a standard sex scene with observers. Mark Twain once described Wagner's music as 'better than it sounds.' I wish I could suggest that The Da Vinci Code is better than it seems, if only because it eliminates some ofthe excesses and nonsense ofthe novel. But it is in fact plodding and sometimes incoherent. The novel, deeply flawed as it is, at least kept millions of people turning pages and anticipating the next twist or the next puzzle. Sadly, the film, with a capable cast, an experienced director, appealing scenery, and many millions of dollars, is unable to make us (as well as the characters) care much about the story as either historical conspiracy or contemporary thriller. NORRIS J. LACY Pennsylvania State University mildred leake day, LatinArthurian Literature. Arthurian Archives XI. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2005. Pp. via, 284. isbn: 1-84384-064-2. $85. Latin Arthurian Literature incorporates editions, with translations, of the three ptose tomances, De ortu Waluuanii nepotis Arturi (The Rise ofGawain, Nephew of Arthur), HistoriaMeriadoci Regis Cambriae (The Story ofMeriadoc, KingofCambria) Narratio de Arthure rege Britanniae et rege Gorgalon lycanthropo (The Tale ofKing Arthur andKing Gorgalon the Werewolf), and the verse satire 'Epistola Arturi Regis ad Henricum regem Anglorum' ('The Letter from King Arthur to Henry, King of England'). The introduction gives a full account of the textual situation of each, with subheadings on DateandAuthorship, Sources andAnalogues, Influences (on latet works), Artistic Achievement, andManuscript(s). The Latin texts are edited by Day from the manuscripts and presented with facing-page English translations. The fitst two nareatives in this book, De ortu Waluuani and Historia Meridoci— which derive from the same manuscript (Cotton Faustina B vi) and which were previously edited by J.D. Bruce in 1913—are substantially the editions published separately by Day in 1984 and 1988, respectively, but with newly expanded and updated introductions. With tegatd to both texts Day strengthens the case for rwelfth-century authorship by Robert de Torigni. De Ortu Waluuanii may be the best known of the four texts presented here. (Day's translation is also found in the anthology The Romance ofArthur, ed. James J. Wilhelm, 1994). It tells of Gawain's orphaning, obscure infancy, exile to the continent, and illustrious debut in the Papal court of Rome, and famously contains the phantasmagoric recipe for Greek Fire. Gawain's unhorsing ofArthur at the tale's conclusion—with the lame excuses Arthut makes to Guenivere for the state of his armor—is one ofthe finest comic episodes inArthurian literature. In her introduction, Day demonstrates De Ortu s analogues with Sir Gawain andthe Green Knight, both 86ARTHURIANA textually and as a sharet offolk motifs, also pointing out its influence on Diu Krone and on Book I ofSpenser's Faerie Queene. Set in the days when 'the Goddess Fortuna controlled human affairs' the Historia Meriadoci is the story of the Welsh prince who escapes assassination by a murderous uncle, travels to the Continent as a metcenaty knight, participates in the Merovingian domination ofGaul, and marries the emperor's daughter. Finally, the hero encounters the Goddess Fortuna hetself in her otherworldly stronghold. Two of these plot elements are grounded in history: the fourth-century migration ofsome Bretons to Brittany led by Conan Metiadoc, and the victory ofClovis over the Alemmani and the Burgundians (late fifth or early sixth centuty). This tale is also interesting for the peculiarity ofits engagement with the Dame Fortune motif. In het Introduction, Day charts this tale's influence on the poet of TheAwntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne, as well as its probable influence on Malory's 'Tale ofSir Gareth.' Malory, she suggests, was familiar with and likely drew directly from the Latin text ofHistoria Meriadoci. Narrano deArthure rege Britanniae et rege Gorgalon lycanthropo is an installment in the 'what do...