The King With The Lion (Yvain) pg. 295-324

2. What do you make of Calogrenant’s story? The reasons for its genesis? What particular elements in the story strike you as interesting or bizarre? How do you interpret these elements?


The best I can make of Calogrenant's story and adventure at this point is that they set a mirror opposite for Yvain's quest. Calogrenant, setting off to prove his courage and strengths, acts cowardly at almost every turn in his tale. First, as he leaves the vavasor's brattice, he describes his fear of the wild bulls he sees. Following that he comes upon the grotesque peasant which he dares not speak to until the peasant's intentions are made clear. At least he follows the path down to the magical tree and pool, gets bested by the knight (and describes in detail his fear / incompetence throughout the battle), and finally doesn't seek to regain his honor and simply returns the way he came. Therefore I cannot think of other reasons for its genesis besides a confessionary nature or seeking retribution from the aid of another knight. There were a number of elements in the story that struck me as almost absurdist. Firstly entering into this town / brattice (not really entirely sure what that is at this point) he is greeted with great respect, a gong is struck three times, he's entirely taken care of, and then left with a beautiful maiden until dinner. Perhaps I'm missing something because I don't know the customs of hosts in medieval times, but that section seemed a bit odd, for sure, and it's all breezed over so quickly as if it's natural and seemingly unimportant. Anyway, Calogrenant sets off the next morning and meets some sort of brutish peasant that is overseeing the wild beasts in a forest. The peasant speaks with a sort of mystic shortness that I surmise contains some foreshadowing  or thematic overlay or something. Finally, the last bit that I found bizarre was how absolutely incensed the knight that fought Calogrenant was, without a word spoken between them. Apparently Calogrenant was supposed to challenge him? Or he destroyed his home? The knight is quite unclear. All I can make of it all is fleshing out Calogrenant's role as a coward in the story. I look forward to hearing what other people say in Friday's class though, definitely. I'm left a bit dumbstruck. Maybe I'll update this if more comes to me.