Sir Kay in Medieval English Romances: An Alternative Tradition

Abstract

S I R K A Y IN M E D I E V A L E N G L I S H R O M A N C E S : A N A L T E R N A T I V E T R A D I T I O N CHRISTOPHER DEAN University of Saskatchewan I n 1316, Lodewijk van Velthem completed his continuation of Maerlant’s version of the Speculum Historíale.1 Taking some liberties with the historical facts, van Velthem describes the Round Table that Edward 1 held at his wedding feast and tells us that the participants assumed the names and characters of the knights of King Arthur’s court and acted out their tra­ ditional roles. Speaking of Kay, van Velthem says: At sunrise the Round Table began, and the knights aforementioned had the better of their opponents, except “ Keye,” who was set upon by twenty young men; his saddle-girths were cut and himself hurled to the ground. He was not hurt seriously, and the spectators laughed lustily to see him filling his traditional role.2 This role of a military incompetent, coupled with that of a bad-tempered, ill-mannered buffoon, is the one that most readers of medieval English romances associate with Sir Kay. William Mead, for example, in his discus­ sion of The Turk and Gawain says, “as usual, Kay is discourteous” ;3 Donald Sands, commenting on Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle, says that there Kay is “his usual irritable self” ;4 Roger Loomis, discussing Kay in general terms, dismisses him as “ the often discomfited seneschal of the later ro­ mances.” 5 There is, however, more to Kay than this in Middle English romance. The derogatory portrayal of Kay represents only one of the tra­ ditions about him. I intend to complete the picture by identifying another more favourable tradition that goes into the portrayal of his character in Middle English Arthurian literature. The familiar depiction of Kay as a quarrelsome, cantankerous misfit at Arthur’s court has a long history. Going back to Chretien de Troyes in the late twelfth century,6 it comes down to Middle English via the Vulgate Lancelot.1 In Middle English, the role is depicted most straightforwardly in Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle. This romance begins with Arthur and his companions hunting, but when the hunt is unsuccessful Kay’s comE n g l is h S t u d ies in C anada, ix , 2, June 1983 plaints begin. Unlike Gawain, who is content to spend the night in the forest, Kay insists on a roof over his head, and when he hears that shelter is avail­ able nearby he says that he will take it by force rather than ask for it. He is even unwilling to knock at the Carl’s gate and would have pulled the hammer from the wall if he could. Epitomizing the swaggering, bullying knight who would ride roughshod over all he meets, he fully deserves the buffeting he subsequently gets from the Carl. But Kay is not really in this poem in his own right to play a part as a Knight of the Round Table. He is here instead to play another role that is frequently his. His bad manners are used as a pointed contrast to Gawain’s courteous behaviour. Gawain is the poem’s hero; Kay is little more than a foil to set his virtues off more dramatically.8 Though never an important character in Malory,9 when he does appear Kay tends to be an unpleasantly drawn figure, depicted in essentially the same manner as in Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle. “ In mokkynge” (p. 459) he gives to Brewnor le Noyre the nickname of “La Cote Male Tayle” and then he dresses up Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, as a knight in order that he might ride after Brewnor and challenge him (p. 462). Simi­ larly, he “scorned and mocked” Gareth by calling him “Beawmaynes” (p. 295). In Gareth’s case, however, Kay goes himself to challenge the young knight in an attempt to discomfort him further. He pays a price for his folly...