‘Le Roman de Gliglois’: récit arthurien du XIIIe siècle ed. by Jacques Charles Lemaire

Abstract

844 Reviews understanding of the broader landscape of medieval French Arthuriana and are seek ing to situate theMort within awider thematic and textual framework. Those seeking a close reading of theMort might find themselves disoriented by the detours into the work's context; however, the close analyses of the romance's structure in Chapter 5, 'The Art of the Prose Romancer', are more rigidly anchored in the narrative it self. Pratt's arguments are clearly presented and thoroughly cross-referenced to a comprehensive bibliography; her readings offer a critical engagement with previous scholarship, illustrating her fundamental contention that theMort refuses unambigu ous interpretation, and remains a fertile and rewarding object for study. ST CATHARINE'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE BEN RAMM 'LeRoman de Gliglois': recit arthurien du Xiiie siecle. Ed. by JACQUESCHARLES LEMAIRE. Liege: Editions de l'Universite de Liege. 2005. 23I Pp. ?23. ISBN 2 930322-96-9. Jacques Lemaire offers here an edition and modern French translation of a little known text that might be considered either a short romance or a long lai (it com prises 2942 lines). The action is simple: Gliglois, son of aGerman chastellain, goes toArthur's court and enters the service of Gauvain. When a ravishingly beautiful damsel, Beaute, arrives at court, both Gliglois and Gauvain fall in love with her; she rejects both men. In the course of a tournament, however, it becomes clear that she does actually love Gliglois. The lovers marry; Gauvain recovers quickly from his disappointment and is consoled by his pleasure at the prowess and good fortunes of his squire. The narrative is a celebration of fine amour, which persists unwavering in the face of suffering, and also of service in general: that of a squire to his knight or of a knight to his lord or lady, and that of aman to his lady love. Faithful service and courtly values are presented as the solution to any potential crisis. Gliglois experi ences considerable anxiety at the thought that he has become the amorous rival of his lord, but in the end the conflict is easily resolved, apparently because of the inherent nobility of all the participants. The text does also, of course, exploit Gauvain's tradi tional identity as awomanizer who does not commit himself to passionate, long-term love service, and he is even criticized by Guenevere for falling in love too quickly and displaying a lack of moderation. The reader is evidently meant to conclude that only Gliglois's love is really serious, and thus worthy of reward. Despite its simple plotline, the text is not without interest. It offers descriptions of everyday events, such as themeans by which an aristocratic damsel employs a cleric to compose a letter inLatin, aswell as details of bathing, clothing, and lodging. Lemaire's bilingual edition would be suitable for use in a course aimed at introducing under graduates to such basic motifs as love service, feudal relations, and tournaments, and the text could provide a useful foil for other Arthurian narratives that are complicated by magic, more serious ethical dilemmas, or more intricate structures. The editorial history of the text is somewhat unusual, in that its sole manuscript witness was de stroyed in the disastrous fire inTurin in I904. Fortunately it had been transcribed more than once during the nineteenth century, with greater and lesser degrees of in terventionism by the scholars involved. These transcriptions have provided the basis for two other editions as well: that of Charles H. Livingston in I932 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), and that of Marie-Luce Chenerie in 2003 (Paris: Champion). Lemaire gives a useful account of the differences between his edition and theirs, pointing out where emendations have been accepted or rejected. Because of the manageable length of the text and the clarity of Lemaire's descriptions-whether MLR, 10 1 .3, 2oo6 845 one agrees with his decisions or not-his edition could be a useful part of a graduate course on textual criticism and editing technique. PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE SYLVIA HUOT Les Exposicions sur Verite mal prise. Le Dit de Verite. By GEORGES CHASTELLAIN. Ed. by JEAN-CLAUDEDELCLOS. (Textes de laRenaissance, go) Paris: Champion. 2005. 271 pp. E54. ISBN 2-7453...