Frank Brandsma
The Function of the Narrative Technique of Interlace in the "mise
en cycle" of Romances in the Lancelot Compilation 1
The Lancelot-Queste-Mort Artu demonstrates that through the use of the
narrative technique of interlace it is possible to give a convincing report of the
individual adventures of a great number of knights within the framework of one
story.2 The alternation of segments of different narrative threads creates the illusion of a panorama of narrative action. Each of the major Arthurian characters
has its own narrative thread in the interlace. There are threads like those of
Galahad and Perceval, th at begin in the last section of the Lancelot (the
"Préparation à la Queste") and are brought to a conclusion in the Queste, but
many threads - e.g. Lancelot, Bohort, Arthur, Kay, Gawain - run from the
Lance/ot into the Queste and the Mort Artu. These on-going narrative threads
give the cyc1e astrong horizontal continuity. They also provide an opportunity
for the addition of texts to the cyc1e. The Estoire de MerIin, for example,
presents large new segments of the narrative threads of Arthur, Gawain,
Guinevere etcetera, that chronologically find their place before the segments of
the corresponding threads in the Lance/ot.
When the additions are placed at the beginning (or end) of extant narrative
threads, there seem to be no special problems for the growth of a cyc1e. But is
it also possible to insert new segments within existing threads? At first sight the
panoramic structure of the Lancelot cyc1e seems to invite the addition of
episodes and even new narrative threads to the established interlace. 3 However,
1 This article has benefited from the discussions at the colloquium and from the critical remarks
of Bart Besamusca and Orlanda Lie. The phrase " mise en cycle" in the title is taken from
Emmanuèle Baumgartner, ' Le roman de Tristan en prose et Ie cercle des bretthes estoires', p. 7-20
of this volume .
2 Cf. for interlace/entrelacement: F . Lot, Etude sur /e Lance/ot en prose , Bibliothèque de I'Ecole
des Hautes Etudes 226 (Paris: Champion, 1954; repr. of Paris, 1918); Cl. Chase, ' Sur la théorie
de l'entrelacement: Ordre et désordre dans Ie Lance/ol en prose', in Modern Philology 80 (1983),
p. 227-41; Cl . Chase, ' Multiple Quests and the Art of Interlacing in the 13th-Century Lancelot ',
in ( Kentucky) Romance Quarterly 33 (1986), p. 407-20; E. Kennedy, Lancelot and the Grail: A
study of the Prose Lancelol (Oxford: Cia ren don Press, 1986) and Lanceloet. De Middelnederlandse
vertaling van de Lancelol en prose overgeleverd in de Lancelotcompilatie. Pars 3 (vs. 10741-16263) ,
ed. Frank Brandsma, Middelnederlandse Lancelotromans 6 (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum,
1992), p. 3-204.
3 Cf. Cl. Chase, ' Remaniement et Ie personnage de Gauvain dans Ie Lancelot en prose ' in W. van
Hoecke, G. Tournoy, W. Verbeke, eds., Arturus rex l/: Acta conventus Lo vaniensis , Mediaevalia
Lovaniensia Series I/Studia XVII (Leuven : Leuven University Press, 1991), pp. 278-93.
118
The Function of the Narrative Technique of Interlace in the " mise en cycle "
the difficulties encountered by the compiler of the Middle Dutch Lancelot Compilation when he performed a similar feat, indicate that it is not that simpie.
The 14th-century Lancelot Compilation contains a verse translation of the
final section of the Lancelot proper (the "Préparation à la Queste"), of the
Queste del Saint Graal, and of the Mort Artu. Between the components of the
Lancelot cycle seven romances have been added, as the diagram shows:
Diagram 1
Vulgate Cycle: 4
I " Préparation " I
Queste
I
Mort Artu
Lancelot Compilation (The Hague, KB 129 A 10):5
Lanceloet
I
1
I
2
I Queeste I
3
I
4
I
5
I
6
7
I Arturs
doet
1: Perchevael (adaptation of existing translation of the Conte du Graal)
2: Moriaen (adaptation of existing Middle Dutch romance)
3: Wrake van Ragisel (adaptation of existing translation of the Vengeance
Raguidel)
4: Riddere metter mouwen (adaptation of existing Middle Dutch romance)
5: Walewein ende Key e (original, especially composed for the compilation?)
6: Lanceloet en het hert met de witte voet (original, influenced by the Old
French Lai de Tyolet , composed especially for the compilation?)
7: Torec (adaptation of existing translation of lost Old French romance)
The genesis of the Lancelot Compilation is very complex. There have been at
least three phases. 6 The present state of the manuscript shows that there are
Cf. for the " Préparation à la Queste ": H .O . Sommer, ed., The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian
Romances , edited from manuscripts in the British Museum, 7 vols. (New York: AMS Press, 1979;
repr. of Washington, 1908-1916), vol. IV, p. 301 - vol. V, p . 409 and A. Micha, ed. , Lancelot.
Roman en prose du xlIle siècle, Textes Iittéraires français, 9 vols. (Genève/Paris: Droz, 1978-1983),
vol. 11 , par. LIII - vol. VI , par. C VIII . Sommer's vol. VI contains both La Queste del Saint Graal and
La Mort Ie roi Artu. Critical editions of these texts are A . Pauphilet, ed ., La Queste del Saint
Graal. Roman du xlIle siècle (Paris: Champion, 1980; repr. of Paris, 1923) and J . Frappier, ed., La
Mort Ie roi Artu. Roman du xlIle siècle, Textes littéraires français (Genève/Lille: Droz, 1954; repr o
of Paris, 1936).
5 A new edition of Lanceloet-Queeste-Arturs doet is in progress: Lanceloet. De Middelnederlandse
vertaling van de Lancelot en prose overgeleverd in de Lancelotcompilatie, Part I (11. 1-5530), eds. B.
Besamusca and A. Postma (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum, forthcoming); Part 2 (11 . 5531-10740),
ed. B. Besamusca (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum, 1991); Part 3 (11 . 10741-16263), ed. F .
Brandsma (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum , 1992). The Lancelot Compilation was edited in full
only once: WJ .A. Jonckbloet, ed ., Roman van Lancelot ( xllIe eeuw), 2 vols. Cs-Gravenhage: Van
Stockum, 1846-49). Most of the inserted romances have been edited separately. For Walewein
ende Keye and Perchevael, however, Jonckbloet's is still the only edition .
6 Cf. Bra ndsma, Lanceloet , p. 172-204.
4
Frank Brandsma
119
some leaves missing between the Lanceloet and the Perchevael. The final episode
of Lancelot's madness in the " Préparation " is incomplete in the Middle Dutch
text, which breaks off before Lancelot is cured by the Grail. 7 Codicological
evidence indicates that in the first phase of the compilation the compiler has
" opened up " the text close to this point in order to incorporate a home-made
version of the Middle Dutch translation of Chrétien's Conte du Graal, the
Perchevael, into the last part of the Lanceloet . 8 He implanted his Perchevael
inside the episode of Lancelot's madness, but later revised his plans, probably
because he discovered that he had overlooked the fact that Lancelot, who was
insane according to the Lanceloet , made his appearance fully sane in an episode
of the Perchevael and thereafter turned out to be completely insane again in the
remainder of the Lanceloet.
In the second phase of his work the compiler opened up the text of the
translation at a point where one section closes and the next begins, inserting
the Perchevael between the Lanceloet and the Queeste. He moved the
Perchevael from a position inside the Lanceloet to a place behind it in the
sequence of texts. He may have restored the gap left in the Lanceloet completely, but in the manuscript the leaves concerned are missing, leaving only an
enigmatic lacuna where a smooth transition from the Lanceloet to the
Perchevael is expected.
In the third and final ph ase the compiler used the same procedure: he inserted
the Moriaen between the Perchevael and the Queeste and also put five more
romances (see the diagram) between the Queeste and Arturs doet. The key to
this procedure is the fact that at the beginning and the end of a romance its
narrative threads come together when the knights (re)assemble at Arthur's
court. This enabled the compiler to connect the separate texts by means of
transitional formulae of the kind found in the Lanceloet , just like adding
wagons to a train. Each inserted text thus becomes an independent new " chapter " of the cycle, sometimes containing its own interlace structure. However, the
inserted texts do not become elaborations of the existing interlace, like the first
phase Perchevael.
Within the romances the compiler added transitional formulae especially
when the narrative showed a significant change of perspective, by transforming
the episodes of the original text into " paragraphs " and thus giving his new version the outward appearance of an interlaced story. 9 Furthermore he sometimes
added episodes to the romances, again by using formulae to open and close
7 See for Lancelot's madness and restoration to sanity: Sommer, Vulgate Version , vol. v, pp. 37881 and p. 393-409 and Micha, Lancelot, vol. VI , par. CV, 30-38 and par. C VII-C VIII . For the incomplete Middle Dutch text, cf. Jonckbloet , Roman van Lancelot. vol. I, book 2, vv o 35475-736 and
36705-947.
8 Cf. M . Draak, ' Enkele raadsels opgelost va n ' fo . 99 ' in de Lancelotcompilatie ' in A.M .J. van
Buuren et a l. , eds., Tussentijds. Bundel studies aangeboden aan WP. Gerri/sen ter gelegenheid van
zijn vijftigste veljaardag (Utrecht: HES , 1985), p. 71-81 and p. 335, and J.W. Klein, ' Codicologie
en de Lancelotcompilatie: de invoeging va n de Perchevael en de Maria en ', in De nieuwe taalgids
83 (1990), p . 526-39.
9 For the fo rmulae, see Kennedy, Lancelot and (h e Grail, p. 161-78.
120
The Function of the Narrative Technique of Interlace in the " mise en cycle "
these extra" paragraphs". 10 On the surface the inserted romances th us show a
great sirnilarity to each other and to the Lanceloet-Queeste-Arturs doet. A closer
look reveals some minor inconsistencies, especially within the separate romances, but these do not come close to impairing the illusion of a whoie. 11 The compiler's use of the formulae seems to have been an important factor in the creation of this illusion: the formulae are - in Po vi Skärup's terms - "signaux
cycliques " .12 Directing and introducing the narrative throughout the compilation, the formulae keep reminding the listeners - who enjoyed the story in
relatively small units of presentation - that they are listening to segments of a
larger story, which in the formulae themselves is indicated as the "aventure"
(the adventure, i.e. the story; "li contes" in the French text).
As far as the "mise-en-cycle" of the Lancelot Compilation is concerned, it is
interesting to note the difference between the first phase and the next two. The
compiler's unsuccessful attempt to implant a romance inside another is far more
ambitious than placing romances after each other, even though this takes place
within the frame of the trilogy. After this somewhat eccentric try-out the Middle
Dutch compiler has taken the more secure method of placing one text after the
other. Applying characteristic formulae as "signaux cycliques", both inside and
between the texts, he has succeeded in giving his compilation astrong coherence
and a rare "sense of a whoie" .
Utrecht University
10 Several episodes we re added to the Wrake van Ragisel (cf. W.P. Gerritsen and F.P. van
Oostrom, 'Les adaptateurs néerlandais du "Lancelot-(Graal)" aux prises avec Ie procédé narratif
des romans arthuriens en prose', in Mélanges de Langue et de Liltéralure Françaises du Moyen
Age et de la Renaissance offerts à Charles Fou/on (Rennes: Institut de Français, Univ. de HauteBretagne, 1980), vol. 2, p. 105-14) and possibly to the Moriaen (cf. B. Besamusca, 'The Influence
of the Lancelot en prose on the Middle Dutch Moriaen ' in W. van Hoecke, G. Tournoy, W. Verbeke, eds., Arturus rex l/: A cta conventus Lovaniensis, Mediaevalia Lovaniensia Series I1Studia XVII
~Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1991), pp. 352-60.
I For ex am pies of these inconsistencies especially of the "resurrection" of deceased knightssee B. Besamusca, 'Cyclification in Middle Dutch Iiterature: The Case of the Lancelo! Compilation ', pp. 82-91 of this volume .
12 Cf. P. Skärup, ' Un cycle de traductions: Karlamagnus saga ', pp. 74-81 of this volume, esp. p.
78.
Frank Brandsma
121