Medieval Arthurian Legend
Chrétien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Malory:
Female Weird
12th century—15th century, Old French | Medieval English.
It is as though some higher force in these tales is stage-directing things, a higher force that is always female.
‘There are a number of instances in Medieval Arthurian literature where one is suddenly struck by a feeling that there is a female power at work,’ said Alan Scott. ‘Take Chretién de Troyes’ Erec and Enide for example.’
‘The first romance he wrote?’ asked Quintin.
‘Yes, in the 1160s, and the first one I read, probably, in English translation.’ replied his father. ‘I could see a meaning in it when Erec makes Enide ride in front of him and he forbids her from speaking and then when she warns him of danger ahead he rebukes her and rides off to tackle the danger and then returns and forbids her from speaking again. But she always does, and he always listens. And she is always right.
‘And in Chretién’s Knight of the Cart, Sir Lancelot is suddenly descended upon by a damsel whose attention can only have been attracted through some form of clairvoyance on her part. She insists on his giving her the head of a knight he has just defeated. She just emerges out of the blue knowing all that has just taken place, and this seems to set the scene for all sorts of entrances into King Arthur’s court by damsels who seem to know more than they ought to, or encounters with itinerant maidens whom a knight might suddenly bump into in a forest and then be advised by her on his most intimate concerns. It is almost as though the entire land is being looked down upon by a supernatural film director, who is almost always female. In Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur they often come from the Lady of the Lake. It is as though some higher force in these tales is stage-directing things, a higher force that is always female.’
‘Why does Erec forbid Enide to speak then?’ asked Quintin.
‘There is a female inside all of us men,’ replied his father. ‘Carl Jung? The anima? Oh, how I have neglected your education! When the phone was ringing I would ask her if it was your mother or not and she would always tell me – by a smile and a warmth if it was. Never failed. Never wrong. I always knew. But the Christian Church forbids her from speaking. Did in the eleven-hundreds. Did when Chrétien de Troyes wanted Erec to listen to her. But Erec had to seem to be a good Christian, so the whole thing was couched in metaphor.'
Erec and Enide in: Kibler, William W, and Carroll, Carleton W, 1991. Chrétien de Troyes: Arthurian Romances. Translated from Old French with an introduction. Penguin Books Limited. Erec and Enide, pp 37–122. Erec's instruction to Enide to be silent as she rides in front of him, p 71.
For instances of itinerant female advisors sent from the Lady of the Lake, see: Vinaver, Eugene, 1971, reprinted in paperback, 1977. Malory: Works. Oxford University Press. The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones.