The Low Countries. Jaargang 10

The Middle Dutch Arthur in his Rightful Place at the Round Table

Old kings never die, and some do not even fade away. That is certainly true of King Arthur who continues to be in the limelight, not only as an easily recognisable icon for film and cartoon makers but also for scholars and students everywhere. And there is still quite a lot of room for expansion. A recent, and excellent, series of publications which aims to set King Arthur in the context of some national cultures, such as for instance, The Arthur of the English (Cardiff, 1999), The Arthur of the Welsh (Cardiff, 1991) was recently enriched with a further sturdy volume: The Arthur of the Germans. The Arthurian Legend in Medieval German and Dutch Literature, Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages iii, (eds. W.H. Jackson and S.A. Ranawake, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000). One of its nineteen chapters is dedicated to Medieval Dutch Arthurian material and written by Bart Besamusca, an Arthurian scholar who has amply earned his spurs in this field. The editors make a very convincing case for the inclusion of the Middle Dutch material in this volume, which incidentally also encompasses Bohemian and Czech material. Besamusca's contribution is an excellent survey of the surviving material and of the various traditions in Middle Dutch Arthurian literature, with special attention paid to the indigenous romances: Walewein, Moriaen, Riddere metter mouwen, Walewein ende Keye. This is however not a new departure: it is worth pointing out that Dutch scholars, Besamusca himself included, have been exerting themselves for quite a long time to put their Arthur on the European map; and a glance at the bibliography in the survey and the selected bibliography in the new King Arthur in the Medieval Low Countries confirms that Dutch Arthurians have publicised their treasures, in various languages, in international journals and volumes of essays. Non-Dutch scholars too have taken the medieval Dutch legacy on board and done much to make others aware of the richness of the Arthurian tradition in the Low Countries.

So, what's new; what makes the present volume such a welcome addition to the existing scholarly research, written in other languages than Dutch, with regard to the medieval Dutch Arthurian tradition?

First of all, it fills a scholarly gap in the map of European Arthurian literature by presenting a more detailed survey of the rich textual tradition in the Low Countries and a plethora of articles presenting the state of research in Arthurian studies in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium, in that it pays ample attention to the textual tradition in its European context and discusses translations, adaptations and the indigenous romances which are so prominent in the Middle Dutch tradition. Regrettably but not unexpectedly, the promise in the title King Arthur in the Medieval Low Countries does not mean that the presence or absence of texts originating from the French- or German-speaking areas of Belgium is discussed. And, as so often, it would have been very helpful to have a map of the medieval Low Countries, even though, or because, they were such a fluid entity. But those are practically the only quibbles I have, for the volume is immensely helpful both as a whole and in its individual parts.

Moreover, the editors of this volume have thoughtfully provided non-Dutch readers with summaries of the texts themselves. This is particularly timely since we are now also able to read those texts in English translations, a gigantic undertaking. In the series ‘Arthurian Archives’ (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer) a sub-series now exists of which the first two volumes have already appeared: Dutch Romances, Volume i, Roman van Walewein, Arthurian Archives Volume 6, (2000) and Dutch Romances, Volume ii, Roman van Ferguut, Arthurian Archives Volume 7, (2000). The Walewein is a revised edition of an earlier translation by David F. Johnson (Garland, 1992) and has fortunately retained its bilingual format: the Middle Dutch text, now fully punctuated in line with modern editorial practices, is printed opposite the English translation. In the case of Ferguut we are presented with the first-ever English translation, also with the Middle Dutch text. More translations will follow, and if they are as good as these access to the riches of the Middle Dutch tradition will have been amply ensured.

Thus, the translations and the present volume of articles are a substantial addition to what seems a veritable campaign to accord the Middle Dutch Arthur his rightful place at the Round Table of European Arthurian heroes.

[p. 282]

In the Introduction Claassens and Johnson lead us safely through the complexities of the manuscript and compilation traditions and thereby clarify the position of the medieval Dutch material in the European tradition.

Four of the articles discuss texts in which Walewein, ‘the father of adventure’, features, and no wonder: he and his French, English and German alter egos Gauvain, Gawain and Gawein, are lastingly important characters in the various traditions. In the Low Countries, Walewein not only appeared in adaptations or translations, he was made the subject of a very long indigenous romance which became known as the Roman van Walewein. Equally he is the subject of a shorter indigenous text in which the Perfect Knight is, somewhat unfairly it would seem, the opponent of the hapless seneschal Keye who, here as in other Arthurian traditions, gets hopelessly lost in the impenetrable thickets of a Perilous Forest of his own making, as M. Hogenbirk shows in her contribution. B. Veldhoen compares Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with the Roman van Walewein, shedding light on the social context in which these texts were produced and, almost as an afterthought, pointing to another fascinating set of religious doctrinal aspects; more work on that would clearly be a valuable addition to existing interpretations of these texts. L. Jongen shows that Walewein in the Dutch tradition becomes the epitome of all that is most excellent, a very different fate from that meted out to his French counterpart; Jongen focuses on one aspect in particular, that of Walewein in the role of confessor, in a scene reminiscent of the Queste del Saint Graal, where Gauvain refuses to confess and do penance. K. van Dalen-Oskam considers one of the most intriguing aspects of the Roman van Walewein, the episode of the Flying Chessboard, and interprets that marvellous and costly object as a sophisticated worldly counterpart of the Holy Grail

Naturally, Sir Lancelot and the immense Middle Dutch Lancelot Compilation are extensively represented in articles by Brandsma, who goes in pursuit of the corrector of the Lancelot Compilation and concludes, somewhat wistfully, that that interfering personage becomes more elusive the longer one chases after him. Never mind: as in any true Quest, the voyaging is the fascinating part, whatever the point of arrival. Besamusca follows the vicissitudes of the Damsel of Montesclare in the Compilation; this lady does not invite pursuit, on the contrary, her unfortunate ‘manners and appearance did not calculate to please’ but Besamusca shows convincingly that this secondary character brings consistency and cohesion to an otherwise very diverse narrative cycle. The presence of another not so very prominent character also sheds light on the constitution of the Lancelot Compilation, as Oppenhuis de Jong shows in a veritable archeological investigation tracing Acglovael's varying adventures. Claassens discusses the narrator in one of the indigenous romances which have been interpolated into the Lancelot Compilation, the Lanceloet en het hert met de witte voet, a text very similar to the Lai de Tyolet and misleading



in its title: here too it is Walewein who takes the starring role, whilst Lanceloet is depicted in a rather sorry state.

One of the intriguing indigenous romances also inserted into the Lancelot Compilation, the story of the black knight Moriaen, is discussed by Norris Lacy whose frustration with the existing text, and longing for the lost Flemish original, results in a very lively and interesting contribution with the kind of conclusion which scholars come to only as a last resort: this is ‘a deeply flawed adaptation’, ‘a hermeneutic conundrum that the present state of our understanding will not permit us to solve’. Claassens' article about the Queste van den Grale shows that the Götterdämmerung mood which is so pervasive in the Queste del Saint Graal is largely absent in its Middle Dutch counterpart, which seems to aim at delaying as long as possible the inevitable decline and fall of the Arthurian empire. Pallemans takes up the sword and prepares to do battle, armed with his conviction that ‘the Middle Dutch “Wrake van Ragisel” can directly contribute to a better understanding of its French model “La Vengeance Raguidel”’. He wins that combat and in doing so not only shows the fascinating nature of the French and Middle Dutch texts but also demonstrates the complex interventions of translators, adapters and compilers who have their own hidden agendas.

Schlusemann's contribution brings the Middle Dutch and the Middle German Arthurian material together. As with other medieval Dutch texts, Arthurian tales too were often translated into German dialects. The Dutch material, Arthurian or otherwise, thus forged a link between Romance and Germanic cultures. Schlusemann shows that the linking was not merely a question of translating but also of transforming, and that some of the preoccupations of the three cultures can be identified by their presence or absence in the various texts.

[p. 283]

Indeed, that is true of this volume too: King Arthur in the Medieval Low Countries presents us with much that is unique, distinctive and characteristic in Dutch medieval Arthurian literature, but it also allows us different perspectives of the Arthurian culture of the surrounding countries; like the eponymous hero of the Roman van Walewein, we tumble from one exciting adventure into the next. Walewein is presented with precious white silk clothes by King Wonder. ‘I do believe’, says the narrator, ‘that never before had such costly clothes been seen. So many marvels had been embroidered on them that one could not have bought their like for 1000 pounds. There is not a clerk in all Paris, so learned and so wise, who could have read or interpreted what was embroidered on those garments.’ Well, our assembly of clerks have had a very succesful go at it.

elsa strietman

Geert H.M. Claassens and David F. Johnson (eds.). King Arthur in the Medieval Low Countries. Medievalia Lovaniensia, Series i, Studia xxviii. Leuven University Press, 2000: 274 pp. isbn 90-5867-042-2.