Melwas

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Melwas , also Meleagant, Maleagant, Malagant, Melyagaunce, Melyagraunce ("The Evil Knight"), is a legendary figure in the legendary circle of King Arthur / Arthur. He is the knight who kidnaps Gwenhwyfar / Guinevere and is slain by Lancelot in a version of the legend. Melwas is the son of Bagdemagus and king of the "summer country" ( Latin in aestiva regione , possibly Somerset ).

The earliest reading of the name Melwas is given as either "the Prince of Death " or " Princely Youth " .

stories

Vita of St. Gildas

In the story Life of Saint Gildas (in 1130) of Caradoc of Llancarfan is reported that King pulls Arthur against Melwas as this Gwenhwyfar by Urbs vitrae ( welsh Ynyswytin , "Glass City" Glastonbury had) abducted and raped ( violatam et raptam ) . The impending war is settled through the intervention of Saint Gildas, who through his mediation can free Gwenhwyfar and give it back to Arthur.

Melwas and Gwenhwyfar

Two enigmatic fragments of poetry depicting a dispute between Melwas, Kei and Gwenhwyfar have come down to us from the 12th century. It is likely to be a prehistory of the robbery of Gwenhwyfar by Melwas. The re-occurring in the Celtic legend "porter scene" (see Pa WR yw'r porthor? , Kulhwch ac Olwen , Lugh and others) is so far varies here that Kei will reject the youth Melwas, but possibly also Gwenhwyfar even this does . Since the people involved are not named by name, it was assumed in the 19th century that the second poem known earlier was a dispute between Gwenhwyfar and Arthur. This was refuted only by the later discovery of the first poem (after 1930) and a comparison of style and content. The exact assignment of the text passages to the protagonists is still controversial today.

Fragment I (excerpt):

“Stop a little! [snevin?] I don't give my wine to a man who doesn't master himself; whoever does not stand in battle does not rise up against Kei for his wine. "
"In heavy armor I crossed the ford, at low tide a thread deep, I am the man who rises against Kei."
“Shut up, fellow, shut up with your chatter! If you are not better than you seem, you will not rise up against Kei with seven others either. "

Fragment II (excerpt, following the text above):

“Gwenhwyfar with the look of shine, don't throw me away when I'm little. Alone I would rise up against a hundred [men]. "
“Quiet, fellow, of black and yellow! While I look at you for a long time, it seems to me that I saw you before! "
"Gwenhwyfar with the sharp eyes, tell me when you know where you saw me before!"
"I saw a man of moderate height at a long table ... Devon pouring wine for his relatives."
“Gwenhwyfar with the amusing speeches, from a woman's mouth empty words tend to [go]. So you saw me there. "

The poems are designed in the form of the seven-syllable with three- or four-line stanzas.

The cart knight

In the story Le Chevalier de la charrette (“The Cart Knight ”) by Chrétien de Troyes , Meleagant first imprisoned several knights of the court and then claims to want to fight with each one if Queen Guinevere was given as a pledge beforehand. When King Arthur is persuaded by Keie to do so, Meleagant defeats Keie , who competes himself, so that Gawaine and a stranger who later reveals himself to be Lancelot du Lac have to pursue the wrongdoer. In addition to Chrétien's version, this story appears in the Vulgate Lancelot of French medieval literature, which is considered the source for Malory's "Knights of the Cart" chapter in Le Morte Darthur .

Modern versions

In the modern story Melvas by Thomas Love Peacock about the kidnapping of Guineveres it is said in The misfortune of Elphin (1829) that the rescue took place with the help of Taliessin .

The killing of Mellyagraunce by Lancelot is portrayed in Morris " The Defense of Guenevere" . Other versions of the story can be found in the novels Galahad by John Erskine , " Der König auf Camelot " ( The Once and Future King ) by Terence Hanbury White or Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger . In the adventure film The 1st Knight (USA 1995) Meleagant was played under the name Malagant by Ben Cross .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Melwas as King of the Summer Lands in The Life of Gildas on fordham.edu
  2. ↑ a b c Meleagant in the Camelot Project at the University of Rochester
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 124 f.
  4. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 191 f.
  5. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 110.
  6. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 112.
  7. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 191 f. (for the entire paragraph "Melwas and Gwenhwyfar")
  8. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 122 f. (for the entire paragraph "Melwas and Gwenhwyfar")
  9. ^ Ulrich von Zatzikhoven: Lanzelet . Ed .: Florian Kragl. tape 2 . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018936-4 , pp. 1292 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed January 9, 2017]).