Where Are the Emotions in Scandinavian Arthuriana?: Or: How Cool Is King Arthur of the North?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION In the North, King Arthur is so cool, that he is hot. That was the answer Keith Busby provided during the discussion of this topic at die Oslo conference on Arthur of the North held in May 2013. And he was right, the study of Scandinavian Arthurian literature was given a great boost by the conference, and also by the Etat present article in the first issue of the Journal of the International Arthurian Society (Sif Rikhardsdottir and Eriksen 2013), and emotions are a hot topic in many different fields of historical research after the affective turn. Medieval Arthurian literature is one of those fields, as evidenced by papers in the Bristol and Bucharest conferences of the International Arthurian Society (IAS) and a forthcoming book on Arthurian Emotions. (1) From a transnational, comparative viewpoint, it is interesting to look at the way emotional passages are translated in the various adaptations of French texts like Chretien's romances. Do, for instance, Scandinavian and Dutch poets deal differently with emotional passages? As a brief exploration of these issues, the presentation of emotions by minor characters and a protagonist in two episodes from Chretien's romances and their Old Norse adaptations will be discussed here. The minor characters appear in Chretien's Erec et Enide, the protagonist in his Conte du Graal. All of them show emotions by means of tears, called forth by joy or despair. (2) Hartmann von Aue's Erec, the Norse Erex saga, the Middle Dutch Perchevael, and the Norse Parcevals saga will also be used in the comparison. ATTRACTIVE EMOTIONS The manuscript of the Middle Dutch Lancelot Compilation, now in the Royal Library in The Hague, was probably the second volume in a set of two. It is therefore somewhat remarkable that it has a brief prologue. After the usual prayer for guidance from God and the Virgin Mary, the narrator refers to the first volume and promises that the second book will also be worthwhile to read and hear. The Middle Dutch text (Besamusca and Postma 1997, 11. 8--16) states: Hier voren hebbic u verplecht Van vele scoenre avonturen, Mar wildi vort int lesen duren, Ghi suit nu horen scone die jeesten, van rouwen ende van feesten, Van ridderscape groete daet, Van selsieneheden menich baraet, Die dese partie hevet in. Nu hort hier int begin. (Before this I have told you many beautiful adventures, but if you will continue reading, you will hear beautiful stories, sad and joyful, of many chivalrous deeds, [you will hear] many entertaining stories of astonishing things, which this section contains. Now hear its beginning.) (3) The key phrase is right in the middle: both sad and It translates the Middle Dutch words Bede van rouwen ende van feesten. There is an interesting concoction of events and ensuing emotions in this translation. The word feesten could be translated as festivities, indicating that the stories describe courtly feasts. But in this context, combined with the word rouwen, which cannot in a parallel way be translated as a noun, it seems better to use an alternative translation for feesten, that is: the adjective joyful. The effect--the experience of sorrow and joy--that the stories will have on the audience is what the narrator advertises here. His narrative will contain astonishing and entertaining adventures, but first and foremost, it will move its audience. Announcing the expected emotional impact of a narrative is a standard element in medieval prologues. Rhetorical handbooks state that the exordium (prologue) should have the three functions of delectare, docere, and movere (to entertain, to teach, and to touch the audience). (4) And in many Arthurian prologues, from Chretien to Caxton, we find references to these functions of prologue and narrative. The finest example is Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, where the poet speaks at length to the noble hearts of his intended audience. …