Yvain rescues the lion

Yvain, the Knight of the Lion (French: Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion) is a romance by Chrétien de Troyes. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and Trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. It was probably written in the 1170s simultaneously with Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and includes several references to the action in that poem. Lancelot the Knight of the Cart (Lancelot le Chevalier de la Charrette is an Old French poem by Chrétien de Troyes. The main character, Yvain, is derived from the historical Owain mab Urien. Sir Ywain (also called Owain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain) is a Knight of the Round Table and the son of King Urien Owain mab Urien (or Owein) (died c 595 was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c

In the poem, Yvain seeks to avenge his cousin Calogrenant who had been defeated by an otherworldly knight beside a magical storm-making fountain in the forest of Broceliande. Sir Calogrenant, sometimes known in English as Colgrevance, is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. Paimpont forest, also known as Brocéliande, is in the French commune of Paimpont, near the city of Rennes in Brittany. Yvain defeats this knight, Esclados, and falls in love with his widow Laudine. In Arthurian Legend, Esclados was a Knight who defended a magical fountain in the Forest of Broceliande. Laudine, also known as the Lady of the Fountain, is a character from Arthurian legend who appears in Chrétien de Troyes ' poem Yvain the Knight With the aid of Laudine's servant Lunete, Yvain wins his lady and marries her, but Gawain convinces him to embark on chivalric adventure. Lunete, ( Welsh, English: Luned French: Lunete Lunet in Arthurian legend was the Handmaiden and advisor to the Lady of the Fountain Gawain (ˈgɔːwɪn or /gəˈweɪn/ also called Gwalchmei Gawan Gauvain Walewein etc His wife assents but demands he return after a set period of time of one year, but he becomes so enthralled in his knightly exploits that he forgets his lady, and she bars him from returning. Yvain goes mad with grief, but eventually decides to win back his love. A lion he rescues from a serpent proves to be a loyal companion and a symbol of knightly virtue, and helps him complete his altruistic ventures. In the end, Laudine allows him and his lion to return to her fortress.

Chrétien's source for the poem is unknown, but the story bears a number of similarities to the hagiographical Life of Saint Mungo (also known as Saint Kentigern), which claims Owain mab Urien as the father of the saint by Denw, daughter of Lot of Lothian. Hagiography ( is the study of Saints. A hagiography, from Greek (hağios (ἅγιος "holy" or "saint" and graphē (γραφή Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern (also known as Cantigernus ( Latin) or Cyndeyrn Garthwys ( Welsh) Theneva, a sixth century Scottish saint is the daughter of King Lleuddun of Gododdin, an ancient kingdom located probably in Lothian, Scotland Lot or Loth is king of Lothian, Orkney, and sometimes Norway in the Arthurian legend. The similarities suggest the works had a common Latin or Celtic source. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts ^[1]

Yvain had a huge impact on the literary world; German poet Hartmann von Aue used it as the basis for his masterpiece Iwein, and the author of Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain, one of the Welsh Romances included in the Mabinogion, recast the work back into its Welsh setting. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Hartmann von Aue (c 1170 - c 1210 was a leading Poet of the Middle High German period Sir Ywain (also called Owain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain) is a Knight of the Round Table and the son of King Urien Owain or the Lady of the Fountain ( Welsh: Owain neu Iarlles y Ffynnon) is one of the Three Welsh Romances ( Y Tair Rhamant The Three Welsh Romances ( Y Tair Rhamant in Welsh) are three tales associated with the Mabinogion. The poem exists in a several versions in different languages, including the Middle English Ywain and Gawain. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of

Notes

References

• Chrétien de Troyes; Owen, D. D. R. (translator) (1988). Arthurian Romances. New York: Everyman's Library. Everyman's Library is a series of reprinted classic literature currently published by Alfred A ISBN 0-460-87389-X.
• Chrétien de Troyes; Raffel, Burton (translator) (1987). Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. Yale University Press. Yale University Press is a book Publisher founded in 1908. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remained ISBN 0-300-03837-2.
• Lacy, Norris J. (1991). "Chrétien de Troyes". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 88–91. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.

External links

• Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes, available at Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works (includes Yvain)