BOOK XIII

TRADITIONAL EVENTS

Feast at the Château Merveil; Chrêtien, whose poem ends abruptly Gawain persuades his sister to in the middle of a line. confide her love-story to him.

Arrival of Gawain's messenger at the Court of King Arthur.

(From this point onwards there is no resemblance between Wolfram's poem and any other known Romance of the Grail-cycle.)

Page 74, line 39--'_One lived of yore named Sarant_.' Cf. note to Book I. '_Silk of Orient_.' Bartsch identifies the name of the skilful weaver with that of an Asiatic people, probably the Chinese. Thasmé is named later on as part of Feirefis' kingdom. His battle-cry is 'Tabronit and Thasmé!' '_Akraton_,' cf. Book VIII. p. 230.

Page 75, line 66--'_Itonjé_.' This is the French name 'Idonie.' In Chrêtien the maiden is named Clarissant, and Gawain wins her confidence in the same manner. Chrêtien's share of the _Conte_ ends so abruptly that we cannot tell how he intended to treat her love-story; here, it plays a considerable part in the development of the poem.

Page 77, line 147--'_Now the hour it was come_.' The account of the feast here given is very interesting from the light it throws on mediæval manners and customs. In those days it was very usual for two to eat from one plate, in fact, this was one of the rules of the Knights Templars; the reason assigned being that one brother might care for the other, and all share alike (cf. Feast at Monsalväsch,