Enide :: Medieval Literature Essays

EnideJust as with Erec, the origin of Enide is wide debated. There are two basic theories of how she came into existence in medieval books. One theory is that it was Chretien De Troyes who created the characters Erec and Enide, and it was the Welsh that drew off of Chretiens go bad in order to fabricate their own tales of the two (Owen xvi). This theory whitethorn have evolved due to the fact that Wales contributed very little, or even energy of importance to the Arthurian legend as it developed in France, and Germany and thusly in England (J mavens and Jones xxv). Chretien was therefore given the credit because of his extensive writings on the Arthurian legends, and the fact that he was French. However, a more widely judge theory is that the story of Erec and Enide was derived from the Welsh (Jones xxv). Evidence supporting this theory is that of the proportional folktale, of proper names and linguistics, and what may be reasonably if tentatively deduced from the methods of li terary composition in the Middle Ages (Jones xxvi). Due to the fact that no one is sure who wrote about Enide first, the task of finding where she first appears in literature is daunting undertaking. Nevertheless, we are able to fill in some of the gaps as to where Enide is mentioned in some texts. Circa 1170, Chretien De Troyes wrote Erec and Enide that can be found in Chretiens accruement entitled Arthurian Romances. Erec also appears in The Mabinogion, another collection of Arthurian tales. In this book, Erec, also called Geraint, appears in the tale Geraint son of Erbin. captain Alfred Tennyson embroils Enide in two out of the four Idylls of the King. Both The Marriage of Geraint and Geraint and Enide were write between 1809 and 1892. Enide also appears in some lesser-known, more modern works. These include two plays Ernest Rhys Enid A Lyric Play (1918) and Donald R. Rawes Geraint uttermost of the Arthurians (1972), and Marion Lee Reynolds poem Geraint of Devon (Lupack). Eni de, daughter of a poor Earl, although dressed shabbily, is expound to be the most beautiful woman ever created. Chretien describes her I dissever you truly that the hair of the blonde Iseut did not shine so bazaar that she could stand with her. Her brow and face were more pure and white than the lily. Her features were tinted with a fresh rosy hue wondrously painted by reputation upon the whiteness.