The Arthurian Companion by Phylus Ann Karr (review)

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158ARTHURIANA memory metaphors, figures on the last pages of'Codex or Computer' to reinforce Jager's conclusion on the subject ofthe human head ss s circuit board' (as pictured recently in 7»»»?magazine), and whereby, he opines, older textual images have been eclipsed by visual snd electronic media which are, ss he ststcs, worlds apart from 'the late medievsl portraits of people holding heart-shaped books' (170). Hidden memories in Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomss De Quincey, Sigmund Freud, Edith Wharton, Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, as well as Thomss Hobbes snd Stephen Jay Gould trope the preceding sections on 'the mind-as-computer.' Enthusiastic snd energetic in style, Jsger nevertheless bogs down occasionally, particularly after the second halfofthe book. One has the impression he is rushing chronologically through the centuries in order to reach the period he relishes most— the English late Middle Ages. The whole 'post-textual conception ofthe self (xxi) remains an interesting but not yet proven hypothesis—until the conflicting arguments over the 'discovery ofthe individual' can be resolved. Jager has, perhaps intentionally, missed some significant aspects of the topic, not directly related to the book ofthe heart metaphor, but yet references no doubt ofinterest to our readers—see further St. Paul's 'eyes ofthe heart' (Ephesians I: 18, reference missed by the author), especially importsnt for sn understsnding of Chrétien; see the definitive srticle on the 'itinerant hesrt' by G. Brault, 'Chrétien deTroyes's 'Lancelot: The Eyes snd the Hesrt,' bbsia/bbias 24 (1972): 142-153: 'It is essentisl, first of all, to understand that Chrétien, like other medieval writers, considers the heart to be the seat of all consciousness and all dispositions of the spirit__' (143). Brault observes over ninety occurrences ofthe word 'hesrt' in the five romances; see also Le Roman du Châtelain de Coucy et de h Dame de Fayel (trans. A. Petit and F. Suard; Corps, 1986); Glyn S. Burgess, "The Role ofthe Heart in the Lai de l'Ombre and the Chastelaine de Vergi} pp. 31-47 in Conjunctures: Medieval Studies in Honor ofDoughs Kelly (Rodopi, 1994); Madelainc Jeay, 'Consuming Psssions: Vsristions on the Eaten HeartTheme,' pp. 75-96 in Violence Against Women in Medieval Texts (UP of Florida, 1998); M. Doueihi, A Perverse History ofthe Human Heart (Harvsrd UP, 1998); Gsil Godwin, Heart: A Personal Journey Through Its Myths and Meanings (Morrow, 2001); and R.J. Cormier, 'Metaphor and Sign in Beowulf. The H(e)art in Heorot.' Language andStyle 22,4 (1989 [Summer 1994]):387~94. RAYMOND J. CORMIER Longwood College, Virginia phylus ANN karr, The Arthurian Companion, 2nd rev. edn. Pendragon Fiction. Oakland, CA: Green Knight Publishing, 2001. Pp. 592. isbn: 1-928999-13-1. $17.95. The purpose of The Arthurian Companion is to identify characters, places, snd artifacts appearing in the 'romantic storifications' ofChrétien deTroyes, SirThomss Malory, and Mslory's French sources. Phyllis Ann Karr's source texts are the English glosses of The Vulgate Version oftheArthurian Romances, ed. Oskar Sommer (1909- RUNNING HEAD159 1916); A.W Pollard's modernization ofSirThomas Malory, LeMorte d'Arthur: The Book ofKingArthur andHis Knights ofthe Round Table (1961 [1917]); Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. D.D.R. Owen (1987); and Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval, trans. R.H. Cline (1983).The book originated as research for GuyStafford's role-playing game, 'King Arthur's Knights.' The Vulgate Prose Cycle and Malory are the major sources ofplot summaries relating to characters, though more recent occurrences ranging from the works ofTennyson sndT. H. White to Prince Valiant snd Monty Python and the HolyGrail are siso cited. Familytreesandshields bearing costs ofarms accompany some entries. The organization is alphabetical, dictated by the first distinctive word; thus the Queen ofthe Out Isles appears under ?' snd the Lady ofthe Lake under 'Lake.' This entry gives an example of Karr's style: There are two distinct Ladies ofthe Lake in Malory. There seem to be three in all, taking the Vulgate into account: one who raised Lancelot in France, one who gave Arthur his sword, and Nimue. Likely all started as one character but, in the present state ofthe Legends, I see nothing for it but to split them. Karr then...