Magic and Monsters in C.

Isabelle Valade
1st year PhD
Ysgol y Gymraeg

Medieval Arthurian Literature ValadeCI@Caerdydd.ac.uk

Introduction What?
• This poster will study two versions of the same tale: Owain, or The Lady of
Research Questions: the Well which survives in two fourteenth-century Welsh manuscripts, and
a. How was the same story adapted for two different audiences – namely a Yvain ou le chevalier au lion, written by Chrétien de Troyes in the 1170s.
Welsh and a French one? How?
b. What does that tell us about each audience’s expectations for a good story? • I will analyse the differences in the portrayal of the supernatural in these
c. What can be deduced about the transmission of this story between Wales two texts.
and France? • What is the Supernatural? Any event, object, or person with
Why? characteristics which are not in the ordinary course of nature is defined
• This will give useful insight into the transmission of several Arthurian tales as being super-natural, above nature.
between Britain and the Continent, which has been the source of an • There are three types of supernatural: marvels (the origin in unknown),
ongoing chicken-and-egg dilemma. miracles (the work of God), magic (the work any being other than God).

Selecting Altering Rationalising

• There are not many supernatural elements • Cynon (Owain) / Calogrenant (Yvain) meets a • Rationalisation means giving a rational
which appear in only one of these two texts. giant herdsman: explanation to a supernatural event.
• However, studying other early Welsh • In Owain: he has only one eye and one leg • The giant herdsman (mentioned previously)
Arthurian tales provides many examples of and is the size of two men. can control animals in both texts:
supernatural creatures which seem to have • In Yvain: he is merely ‘tall and excessively • Owain: he makes all the wild animals bow
been an integral part of the tradition: ugly’ [my translation]. to him.
• Cafall, Arthur’s gigantic hound: in the ninth- • Both Owain and Yvain become mad and live • Yvain: he only controls a herd of bull by
century Historia Brittonum, it is said to have in the wilderness for a while but have terrorising them: they obey out of fear,
left a footprint on a stone while hunting the different characteristics: not because he has a magical power.
Twrch Trwyth (c.f. image 1 below). • Owain grows hair all over his body and • There is a magical fountain which triggers a
• The hunt of the Twrch Trwyth is the subject lives with wild animals. deadly storm:
of another early Welsh Arthurian tale: • Yvain does not grow hair, interacts with a • Owain: no explanation is given.
Culhwch ac Olwen. hermit, and hunts with a bow and arrow. • Yvain: God stops the storm.
 Had Chrétien not heard of these two  In both these examples, the same event is  Chrétien often gives an explanation for
creatures? Or did he choose not to write given more supernatural attributes in Owain supernatural elements to rationalise them,
about them? than it is in Yvain. thus stripping them of their supernatural
 Either way, the Arthurian characters which  This confirms that Welsh audiences were aura.
Chrétien did include in his romances do not probably more interested in the supernatural  The author of Owain did not seem to think
have supernatural characteristics, which and that this is why the author of Owain gave that such explanations were required,
suggests that the French may have been less some such characteristics to those two probably because his audience was familiar
interested in the supernatural than the Welsh. characters. with unexplained phenomena in tales.
Image 1 ↓
• Now what?
Conclusions • This research showed me how relevant literature
a. When the author of Owain adapted Yvain, he is in understanding society and I am now using a
added many supernatural elements. similar methodology in my PhD research which is
b. This suggests that Welsh audiences were more about the role of literature and medievalism in
keen to hear about the deeds of marvellous the construction of national identity.
creatures than their French counterparts were.
c. Other Welsh texts are more supernatural than the • References:
• Le Goff, J. 1985. L'imaginaire médiéval: essais. Paris:
romances so it is probable that Owain has less Gallimard.
supernatural elements because it was based on • Over, K. L. 2005. Transcultural Change: Romance to
Yvain, which had been written for a French Rhamant. In: Fulton, H. ed. Medieval Celtic literature and
audience which was less keen on the supernatural. society. Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 183-204.
G.H. Thomas, King Arthur and the Giant of St. Michael’s Mount (1862) Caval © Ian Brown 2002 H.J. Ford, Sir Percivale Slays the Serpent (1902)