Four Arthurian Romances
he consents to stay. So they both stay: the King kept them with him, and
held them dear and honoured them.
(Vv. 6510-6712.) Erec stayed at court, together with Guivret and Enide,
until the death of his father, the king, who was an old man and full of
years. The messengers then started out: the nobles who went to seek him,
and who were the greatest men of the land, sought and searched for him
until they found him at Tintagel three weeks before Christmas; they told
him the truth what had happened to his old, white-haired father, and
how he now was dead and gone. This grieved Erec much more than he showed
before the people. But sorrow is not seemly in a king, nor does it
become a king to mourn. There at Tintagel where he was, he caused vigils
for the dead and Masses to be sung; he promised and kept his promises,
as he had vowed to the religious houses and churches; he did well all
that he ought to do: he chose out more than one hundred and sixty-nine
of the wretched poor, and clothed them all in new garments. To the poor
clerks and priors he gave, as was right, black copes and warm linings to
wear beneath. For God's sake he did great good to all: to those who were
in need he distributed more than a barrel of small coins. When he had
shared his wealth, he then did a very wise thing in receiving his land
from the King's hand; and then he begged the King to crown him at his
court. The King bade him quickly be prepared; for they shall both be
crowned, he together with his wife, at the approaching Christmastide;
and he added: "You must go hence to Nantes in Brittany; there you shall
carry a royal ensign with crown on head and sceptre in hand; this gift
and privilege I bestow upon you." Erec thanked the King, and said that
that was a noble gift. At Christmas the King assembles all his nobles,
summoning them individually and commanding them to come to Nantes. He
summoned them all, and none stayed behind. Erec, too, sent word to many
of his followers, and summoned them to come thither; but more came than
he had bidden, to serve him and do him honour. I cannot tell you or
relate who each one was, and what his name; but whoever came or did not
come, the father and mother of my lady Enide were not forgotten. Her
father was sent for first of all, and he came to court in handsome
style, like a great lord and a chatelain. There was no great crowd of
chaplains or of silly, gaping yokels, but of excellent knights and of
people well equipped. Each day they made a long day's journey, and rode
on each day with great joy and great display, until on Christmas eve
they came to the city of Nantes. They made no halt until they entered
the great hall where the King and his courtiers were. Erec and Enide
see them, and you may know how glad they were. To meet them they quickly
make their way, and salute and embrace them, speaking to them tenderly
and showing their delight as they should. When they had rejoiced
together, taking each other by the hand, they all four came before the
King, saluting him and likewise the Queen, who was sitting by his side.
Taking his host by the hand, Erec said: "Sire, behold my good host, my
kind friend, who did me such honour that he made me master in his
own house. Before he knew anything about me, he lodged me well and
handsomely. All that he had he made over to me, and even his daughter he
bestowed upon me, without the advice or counsel of any one." "And this
lady with him," the King inquires, "who is she?" Erec does not conceal
the truth: "Sire," says he, "of this lady I may say that she is the
mother of my wife." "Is she her mother?" "Yes, truly, sire." "Certainly,
I may then well say that fair and comely should be the flower born of so
fair a stem, and better the fruit one picks; for sweet is the smell
of what springs from good. Fair is Enide and fair she should be in all
reason and by right; for her mother is a very handsome lady, and her
father is a goodly knight. Nor does she in aught belie them; for she
descends and inherits directly from them both in many respects." Then
the King ceases and sits down, bidding them be seated too. They do not
disobey his command, but straightway take seats. Now is Enide filled
with joy when she sees her father and mother, for a very long time had
passed since she had seen them. Her happiness now is greatly increased,
for she was delighted and happy, and she showed it all she could, but
she could not make such demonstration but that her joy was yet greater.
But I wish to say no more of that, for my heart draws me toward the
court which was now assembled in force. From many a different country
there were counts and dukes and kings, Normans, Bretons. Scotch, and
Irish: from England and Cornwall there was a very rich gathering of
nobles; for from Wales to Anjou, in Maine and in Poitou, there was no
knight of importance, nor lady of quality, but the best and the most
elegant were at the court at Nantes, as the King had bidden them. Now
hear, if you will, the great joy and grandeur, the display and the
wealth, that was exhibited at the court. Before the hour of nones had
sounded, King Arthur dubbed four hundred knights or more all sons of
counts and of kings. To each one he gave three horses and two pairs of
suits, in order that his court may make a better showing. Puissant and
lavish was the King; for the mantles he bestowed were not of serge, nor
of rabbit-skins, nor of cheap brown fur, but of heavy silk and ermine,
of spotted fur and flowered silks, bordered with heavy and stiff gold
braid. Alexander, who conquered so much that he subdued the whole world,
and who was so lavish and rich, compared with him was poor and mean.
Caesar, the Emperor of Rome, and all the kings whose names you hear in
stories and in epic songs, did not distribute at any feast so much
as Arthur gave on the day that he crowned Erec; nor would Caesar and
Alexander dare to spend so much as he spent at the court. The raiment
was taken from the chests and spread about freely through the halls; one
could take what he would, without restraint. In the midst of the court,
upon a rug, stood thirty bushels of bright sterlings; [143] for since
the time of Merlin until that day sterlings had currency throughout
Britain. There all helped themselves, each one carrying away that night
all that he wanted to his lodging-place. At nine o'clock on Christmas
day, all came together again at court. The great joy that is drawing
near for him had completely filched Erec's heart away. The tongue and
the mouth of no man, however skilful, could describe the third, or the
fourth, or the fifth part of the display which marked his coronation. So
it is a mad enterprise I undertake in wishing to attempt to describe
it. But since I must make the effort, come what may, I shall not fail to
relate a part of it, as best I may.
(Vv. 6713-6809.) The King had two thrones of white ivory, well
constructed and new, of one pattern and style. He who made them beyond a
doubt was a very skilled and cunning craftsman. For so precisely did he
make the two alike in height, in breadth, and in ornamentation, that you
could nor look at them from every side to distinguish one from the other
and find in one aught that was not in the other. There was no part of
wood, but all of gold and fine ivory. Well were they carved with great
skill, for the two corresponding sides of each bore the representation
of a leopard, and the other two a dragon's shape. A knight named Bruiant
of the Isles had made a gift and present of them to King Arthur and the
Queen. King Arthur sat upon the one, and upon the other he made Erec
sit, who was robed in watered silk. As we read in the story, we find the
description of the robe, and in order that no one may say that I lie,
I quote as my authority Macrobius, [144] who devoted himself to the
description of it. Macrobius instructs me how to describe, according
as I have found it in the book, the workmanship and the figures of the
cloth. Four fairies had made it with great skill and mastery. [145] One
represented there geometry, how it estimates and measures the extent of
the heavens and the earth, so that nothing is lacking there; and
then the depth and the height, and the width, and the length; then it
estimates, besides, how broad and deep the sea is, and thus measures
the whole world. Such was the work of the first fairy. And the second
devoted her effort to the portrayal of arithmetic, and she strove hard
to represent clearly how it wisely enumerates the days and the hours of
time, and the water of the sea drop by drop, and then all the sand, and
the stars one by one, knowing well how to tell the truth, and how many
leaves there are in the woods: such is the skill of arithmetic that
numbers have never deceived her, nor will she ever be in error when she
wishes to apply her sense to them. The third design was that of music,
with which all merriment finds itself in accord, songs and harmonies,
and sounds of string: of harp, of Breton violin, and of viol. This
piece of work was good and fine; for upon it were portrayed all the
instruments and all the pastimes. The fourth, who next performed her
task, executed a most excellent work; for the best of the arts she there
portrayed. She undertook astronomy, which accomplishes so many marvels
and draws inspiration from the stars, the moon, and the sun. Nowhere
else does it seek counsel concerning aught which it has to do. They give
it good and sure advice. Concerning whatever inquiry it make of them,
whether in the past or in the future, they give it information without
falsehood and without deception. This work was portrayed on the stuff
of which Erec's robe was made, all worked and woven with thread of gold.
The fur lining that was sewed within, belonged to some strange beasts
whose heads are all white, and whose necks are as black as mulberries,
and which have red backs and green bellies, and dark blue tail. These
beasts live in India and they are called "barbiolets". They eat nothing
but spices, cinnamon, and fresh cloves. What shall I tell you of the
mantle? It was very rich and fine and handsome; it had four stones
in the tassels--two chrysolites on one side, and two amethysts on the
other, which were mounted in gold.
(Vv. 6810-6946.) As yet Enide had not come to the palace. When the King
sees that she delays, he bids Gawain go quickly to bring her and the
Queen. Gawain hastens and was not slow, and with him King Cadoalant
and the generous King of Galloway. Guivret the Little accompanies them,
followed by Yder the son of Nut. So many of the other nobles ran thither
to escort the two ladies that they would have sufficed to overcome a
host; for there were more than a thousand of them. The Queen had made
her best effort to adorn Enide. Into the palace they brought her
the courteous Gawain escorting her on one side, and on the other the
generous King of Galloway, who loved her dearly on account of Erec who
was his nephew. When they came to the palace, King Arthur came quickly
toward them, and courteously seated Enide beside Erec; for he wished to
do her great honour. Now he orders to be brought forth from his treasure
two massive crowns of fine gold. As soon as he had spoken and given the
command, without delay the crowns were brought before him, all sparkling
with carbuncles, of which there were four in each. The light of the moon
is nothing compared with the light which the least of the carbuncles
could shed. Because of the radiance which they shed, all those who were
in the palace were so dazzled that for a moment they could see nothing;
and even the King was amazed, and yet filled with satisfaction, when
he saw them to be so clear and bright. He had one of them held by two
damsels, and the other by two gentlemen. Then he bade the bishops and