[28] Merlin, G. Paris and Ulrich's ed., vol. ii. pp. 136-137.
[29] In the prose Lancelot the hero is always addressed as 'king's son.' Cf. in this connection Professor Ker's review of my Legend of Sir Gawain, Folk-lore, vol. ix. p. 266. I incline to think that the question of a hero's possessing from the first a name and a well-marked story depends upon whether he has or has not an existence in myth. If of mythical origin he probably would have both, if an actor in folk-tale very likely neither; thus while I should reject Professor Ker's correction as regards Gawain, I would certainly hold it true of Lancelot. In the case of this latter hero, I think his name may well have been determined by his title du Lac. The tendency of early verse is towards alliteration, probably mere chance determined the Lancelot, the one essential was that it should begin with an L. It should, I think, also be noted that while in the Lanzelet the hero's ignorance of his name and birth are genuine, in the prose Lancelot he knows who he is, and the wrong done to his father and uncle by Claudas. The pseudonyms 'Filz du Roi,' 'Beau Varlet' are here unnecessary; a meaningless survival from the original tale.
[30] This feature is, I think, peculiar to Wolfram; Chrétien does not mention it.
[31] Professor Hertz, in his edition of the Parzival, p. 440, records these points of contact, but does not discuss the question of the relation of the two poems. Professor Foerster in his introduction simply notes that the instruction by Johfrit de Liez recalls the Perceval story.
[32] Layamon 'Brut' knows Maurin of Winchester as a kinsman of Arthur's, ll. 20238 and 24336. I have not found the name elsewhere.
[33] It appears to me that, in view of Herr P. Hagen's excellent demonstration of the correctness of the many curious Oriental references with which the Parzival abounds, and his remarkable identification of Wolfram's Grail with a sacred Bætylus stone, it is impossible any longer to deny the possession, by Wolfram, of a source other than Chrétien's poem. But whether the Lanzelet offers another proof or not I should hesitate to say. If it does, the evidence, extending as it does over so much of the Parzival, is of the greatest value as an indication of the extent of Kiot's work.
[34] Lancelot, ed. Jonckbloet, vol. ii. ll. 22271-23126. The summaries in this chapter, and all subsequent references to the Dutch Lancelot, are taken direct from the text. A summary of the romance here discussed is given by M. Gaston Paris, Histoire Littéraire de la France, vol. xxx. p. 113.
[35] Throughout the Dutch Lancelot we have constant references to Gawain's skill in healing. Cf. Parzival, x. 104. Chrétien does not appear to know this trait in Gawain's character.
[36] The lai of Tyolet was published by M. Gaston Paris in vol. viii. of Romania, 'Lais Inédits.' I have given a prose translation in vol. iii. of Arthurian Romances unrepresented in Malory.
[37] Cf. Merlin, Sommer's ed. chap. xxiv. p. 302.