[63]I am indebted to Mr. W. B. Blaikie for kindly verifying the quotation for me.
[64]Cf. Charrette, p. lxxvii.
[65]Legend of Sir Lancelot, p. 46 et seq.
[66]The theory which I advanced in chap. vii. of the Legend of Sir Lancelot with regard to the temporary disappearance of the tradition of Guinevere’s infidelity is, I think, strengthened by the evidence of the various ‘chastity-test’ Lais, Horn, Mantle, Glove. We might reasonably expect Guinevere to come but poorly out of such an ordeal; as a rule, however, she escapes very easily, far more easily, indeed, than the majority of the ladies of the court. In one case we are clearly given to understand that her sole error, a trivial one, has been one of thought. Now the lais represent, as is generally admitted, an early stage of romantic evolution, and taken into consideration with the evidence of the earlier poems, they certainly appear to strengthen the argument tentatively put forward in my Lancelot, e.g. that the tradition of the queen’s faithlessness to her husband belonged to the historic legend and was, as such, preserved in the pseudo-chronicles; it had no existence in the romantic legend till introduced under the influence of a special social condition, and in this its later form, it is not to be regarded as a survival of the historic Modred story, but as a later and independent development.
[67]Cf. Popular Studies, No. 10 (Nutt), The Romance Cycle of Charlemagne and his Peers, where I have pointed out the fundamental differences between the cycles.
[68]On this point, cf. Mr. Greg’s review of my Lancelot studies, Folk-Lore, December 1901.
Edinburgh: Printed by T. and A. Constable
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