'Maer hine es niet, donket mi,
Na sire ordinen gebode,
Noch na onsen herre Gode;
Want hi niet heden den dach
In sulken abite sterven ne mach,
Hine hebbe bi enegen onmaten
Sine ordine nu gelaten.'—ll. 4780-87.
This is evidently the source of M.'s 'this man that is dede oughte not to be in suche clothynge as ye see hym in / for in that he brake the othe of his ordre /.' W. gives the same reason at greater length.
Later on M. seems to have had before him a reading nearer to Q.: in the morning, 'il trouuerent sans faille le preudhomme de vie,' which M. understood as alive, since he says, 'he laye all that nygt tyl hit was daye in that fyre and was not dede /,' though immediately afterwards he says that the Hermit came and found him dead. D. L. and 1533 say, 'Ende alse dat vier utginc si vonden Den goeden man doet tien stonden,' ll. 4915-16; 'ilz trouverent sans nulle faulte le preudhomme mort.' The miracle consisting in the fact that his garments (e.g. the linen shirt) were untouched by fire, so that he evidently had died from the previous ill-usage, not from the burning—a result which he had predicted. W., on the contrary, says that 'when the fire was extinguished the man was as lively as he was before. And then he prayed Jesus Christ to take his soul to Him, and He received him, without injury to the shirt or himself.' The whole adventure should be carefully compared, and the superiority of these three versions will be clearly seen. The two first are, I think, the correct version of the incident, but W., though rendering freely, gives a fuller account than is often the case.
The list of Celidoine's descendants agrees in D. L. and 1533, while M., though varying from the other three, leans rather to these two than to Q.:
| D. L. | 1533. | M. | Q. |
| Marpus. | Narpus. | Nappus. | Warpus. |
| Nasciens. | Nasciens. | Nacyen. | Chrestiens. |
| Cham. | Ch'm le gros. | Hellyas le groſe. | Alain li gros. |
| Helyas. | Helyas. | Lyſays. | Elias. |
| Jonas. | Jonas. | Jonas. | Jonaaus. |
| Lancelot. | Lancelot. | Lancelot. | Lancelot. |
| Bans. | Ban. | Ban. | Ban. |
I think here the second name is certainly Nasciens, and that the mysterious Cham of D. L. and 1533 (a personage whom we do not know) ought probably to be Alain. Such a mistake might easily be made by a copyist, if the MS. before him were not clear and he was unfamiliar with Grail traditions. I think it very likely that M.'s source was much the same as that of D. L. and 1533, and that he dropped out Cham, but the comparison of the four versions is interesting. The list is omitted in W.
The black and white knights are treated by D. L. as purely visionary and symbolic, and no names are given.
The incident of the black knight, who issues from the lake and kills Lancelot's horse, differs in 1533 from the other four versions. Instead of striking the horse at once he rides past Lancelot without touching him, then returns, striking the horse en route and disappearing in the lake. I suspect that this is the right version; the knight is evidently a water-demon, and having his dwelling in the lake should return there.
At the commencement of Book XVI., when Gawain and Hector meet, they ask if any tidings have been heard of the principal questers. Here there are some interesting variants: Q. mentions Lancelot, Galahad, and Bohort, but says these four are the best of the questers; D. L. only mentions these, but says rightly these three; 1533 first mentions Lancelot alone, then Galahad, Perceval, and Bohort, and reckoning all together, says these four, and with this M. and W. agree.