Page:Sir Gawain and the Lady of Lys (1907).djvu/122

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Notes

II

Page 63.—Castle Orguellous. This adventure, under the title of 'Gawain and Golagros,' will be found in Madden's 'Syr Gawayne,' but the version is much condensed. In the English poem Espinogres plays the rôle here assigned to Bran de Lis, and explains the customs of the castle.

Page 70.—'Tis ill done to summon evil. The original gives On ne doit pas mal senechier. This latter word appears to be unknown. I submitted the passage to M. Paul Meyer, who thinks it may be a fault of the copyist; at the same time, Godefroi gives the noun senechiance as equivalent to segnefiance, and a verb may have been constructed from this. The corresponding passage in B. N. 12577 runs 'Nul ne doit le mal prononcier.' In an article in Folk Lore for March 1907, Miss Goodrich Freer quotes a Gaelic proverb, 'Ill will come if mentioned.' This seems to be the equivalent of our text.

Page 87.—A horn was sounded. In the English version a small bell is rung. Much less stress is laid upon the arming of the knight, which here is a most picturesque and effective passage.

Page 93.—Whenth at gentle knight Sir Gawain. Gawain's extreme courtesy, and the consequent dismay of the king, are related in much the same terms, but more condensed, in the English poem. It seems possible that it was this adventure of the Rich Soudoier which suggested the figure of Gehault, 'le haut prince' in the prose Lancelot. Both are distinguished for their height, their beauty, and their opposition to Arthur. Both, alike, became the King's friends through the courtesy and feigned submission of the knights Gawain and Lancelot. The parallel is worth working out.

Page 98.—As Bleherls doth witness to us. Other forms of the name are Bleobleheris (B.N. 1453) and Bliobliheri