Y Tair Rhamant

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Y Tair Rhamant [ ə tair 'ŗamant ] ("The three romances") is a Cymrian collective name for three legends from the Arthurian legend , which are also present in continental Arthurian poets. These are Iarlles y Ffynnawn (“The Woman from the Well”, also “The Countess of the Well”), Peredur fab Efrawg “Peredur, son of Efrawg” and Gereint fab heiress “Gereint, son of the heiress”.

Text history

The works are recorded in some versions from the 13th and 14th centuries in the Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch ("The White Book of Rhydderch") and in the Llyfr Coch Hergest ("The Red Book of Hergest"). The “Red Book” contains all three stories, the older “White Book” only contains incomplete text fragments.

Due to their proximity to the French, Anglo-Norman and German courtly novels, the three romances are a special case within the Arthurian legends and thus differ from, for example, Pa ŵr yw'r porthor? (“Who is the gatekeeper?”) Or Kulhwch ac Olwen (“Kulhwch's advertisement for Olwen”). A detailed description of the knights, their clothing, weapons and ornamentation of the horses, description of courtly customs, individual fights instead of joint ventures, King Arthur as supreme feudal lord instead of leader of a warband equipped with magical abilities are the differences to the 12th century, reminiscent of the continental ideal of knights older traditions. This complete resignation of King Arthur's personal knightly commitment in favor of his position as sovereign and feudal lord - in contrast to Kulhwch ac Olwen - corresponds to the Arthurian novels of the Matière de Bretagne . The earlier local ties to Wales , Cornwall and Ireland are also giving way to events in a fairytale world.

[The Y Tair Rhamant are] Welsh adaptations of French texts, but against the background of an independent saga tradition from which those had been branched off earlier and changed in the manner typical of the novel.

Stylistic differences between the three romances suggest different authors who, however, must all have known the novels Yvain ou Le Chevalier au lion , Li Contes del Graal ou Le roman de Perceval and Erec et Enide des Chrétien de Troyes . These so-called "later bards" or "court poets" ( gogynfeirdd ) are the successors of the cynfeirdd , the "oldest poets", to whom Taliesin , Aneirin and sometimes Llywarch Hen are counted.

It follows from this that the three romances are secondary compared to Chrétien and presuppose his works. Linguistic and content-related formulations, French loanwords, the position of the Christian clergy, sometimes even text matches - already noted by the professor for Celtic languages ​​and literatures Joseph Loth (* 1847, † 1934) of the Collège de France - are clear signs. The adaptation of the French novels by the Welsh authors is reflected in the precise knowledge of the geography and other specifics, the updating to contemporary local conditions and the (re) insertion of down-to-earth legend motifs. The texts used were changed by oral reception, which suited the taste of the Welsh public.

Because originally these legends were passed down orally, which is indicated by some special features of the text. Almost every sentence starts with ac (“and”), the exclamation nachaf (“see!”) And there are a large number of stereotypical formulaic expressions such as sef a oruc ef… (“that's what he did ... "). The hero's opponents are consistently characterized as gwr du ("black man"). The narrative moment can also be recognized by the fact that the first part of the story is detailed and broad, while the pace becomes faster and faster towards the end and the finale appears as if in fast motion, as if the lecturer no longer wants to strain the audience's patience. This has to be seen from the point of view that in Wales poetry always had a higher rank, formatting and quality than storytelling.

Differences to the French Arthurian poetry are the lack of interest in a love topic (in French sans , called "offer of meaning for interpretation") that did not arise from a disinterest of the listener in courtly love, but probably from an effort to recover from the subject to make historical sagas. This is also done by inserting struggles with (water) demons ( addanc , afanc ), witches ( gwiddnot ) and the mythical-magical abilities of the protagonists, which are unknown to the continental text . The simultaneous existence of pre-Christian and Christian mythology can be found in the three romances more than in other works.

The three romances

The woman from the fountain

Owein fab Urien , a knight of King Arthur's round table , rides out for adventure and kills a mysterious Black Knight in a duel. Later he comes to his castle, falls in love with his opponent's widow, marries her and thus becomes the keeper of the spring himself. When Arthur and his knights meet Owein at the source in their search for the missing knight, Gwalchmei fab Gwyar persuades him to come back to the court. Owein agrees, but promises his wife to return home after a certain time. However, because he missed that, distracted by life at Arthur-Hofe, she separated and only after many adventures and confusions the two reconciled.

Peredur, son of Efrawg

The legend tells about the development of Peredur from an ignorant youth to a respected member of King Arthur's round table . After the death of his father, the mother and the boy withdraw to the forest, where he grows up as a simple fool. He finally escapes his mother when he meets knights for the first time: Since he wants to get to know this new world, he rides to the king's residence. At Arthurhof he decides to become a knight and learns how to use the sword. He frees the mistress of a castle from uninvited suitors and wins her over. He later fends off an attack by the "Witches of Gloucester" ( gwidonot Caer Loyw ). One of the witches gives him a horse and weapons as a thank you for sparing her life and teaches him how to use them. After a while, however, he comes back with other knights of the round table and kills all the witches.

United, son of the heiress

United wants to avenge a disgrace that was inflicted on him and a maiden from the retinue of Gwenhwyfar by a mysterious knight far from Arthur's court. In pursuit of his opponent, he takes quarters with an impoverished nobleman and gets to know his daughter there. He helps the girl's father regain his property, wins the girl as a bride and celebrates her wedding on his return to court. When united, he takes control of his old father's kingdom. This leads to a dispute between the two spouses, who suspect each other of being unfaithful due to a misunderstanding. Gereint forces Enid to go out on an adventure with him as his squire, whereby he treats her very strictly. Only after having successfully passed dangerous adventures, in which he was almost killed and nursed back to health by Enid, Gereint finally recognized Enid's loyalty and the two reconciled.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur is the original British spelling of the name, Arthur is called the king in continental legends
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 57.
  3. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 136 f.
  4. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture , p. 307.
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 225 f.
  6. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the Emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 40 f.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 222 f.
  8. ↑ Article Joseph Loth in the French Wikipedia
  9. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 224 f.
  10. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 198.
  11. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 44 f. [1]
  12. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 65 ff.
  13. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 108 ff.
  14. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 177 ff.