[87] Rhys, who doubts Caradoc’s authorship of the Life of Gildas, is “certain that the story” of Melwas “is ancient, for Chrétien de Troyes in his Erec speaks of Maheloas as the Lord of the Glass Island—‘Li sire de l’isle de voirre.’” Arthurian Legend, p. 52.
[88] Layamon’s Brut, ll. 42, 43.
[89] The question of the mythological origin of the Round Table is one of the many indeterminate problems of Arthurian “criticism.” For a suggestive study of the question see Brown, The Round Table before Wace (Harvard Studies and Notes, Vol. VII., 1900), where he confidently states that “the Round Table was a very early Pan-Celtic institution.”
[90] Brut, ll. 19,254 sqq. (Madden’s edition).
[91] ll. 28,610 sqq.
[92] ll. 22,910 sqq.
[94] Camelot is, apparently, first heard of in Chrétien de Troyes’ Chevalier de la Charrette.
[95] Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien.