Erec and Enide (French: Érec et Énide) is the first of Chrétien de Troyes' five romance poems, completed around 1170. It is one of three completed works by the author. Consisting of 7000 lines written in Old French, the poem is the earliest known Arthurian romance in any language besides the Welsh Culhwch and Olwen, which likely predates its surviving manuscripts. The work recounts the tale of Erec, one of King Arthur's knights, and the conflict between love and knighthood he experiences in his marriage to Enide.

The poem begins with an unarmored Erec keeping Guinevere company while other knights participate in a stag hunt. A strange knight and his dwarf approach the queen and treat her servant roughly. The Queen orders Erec to follow the knight, Yder, to avenge the insult done to her servant. Erec ends up travelling to a far off town where he meets and falls in love with Enide. Erec defeats Yder and marries his love.

Some time later, however, rumors spread that Erec has come to neglect his knightly duties. He overhears Enide crying over these rumors, and apparently doubts her love and devotion. He orders her to prepare for a journey, and they set off to parts unknown. He commands her to be silent through the whole ordeal, but she disobeys her obstinate husband several times to warn him of danger. The couple face and overcome a number of adventures, and Enide's undying love allows Erec to prove himself capable of handling both his marital and public duties.

Erec and Enide displays the problems of love and chivalry that Chrétien takes up in all his later work. As a main character, Erec is similar to heroes in Chrétien de Troyes’ other romances in that he faces an interior conflict that opposes him to his own image. Popular in its own day, the poem was translated into several other languages, notably German in Hartmann von Aue's Erec and Welsh in Geraint and Enid, one of the Three Welsh Romances included in the Mabinogion.

Chrétien de Troyes played a primary role in the formation of Arthurian romance and is influential up until the latest romances. Erec et Enide features many of the common elements of Arthurian romance, such as Arthurian characters, the knightly quest, and women or love as a catalyst to action. While it is not the first story to use conventions of the Arthurian characters and setting, Chrétien de Troyes is credited with the invention of the Arthurian romance genre by establishing expectation with his contemporary audience based on its prior knowledge of the subjects. Many authors explicitly acknowledge their debt to Chrétien, while others, such as the author of Hunbaut, betray their influence by suspiciously emphatic assurance that they are not plagiarizing.

Erec and Enide has come down to us in seven manuscripts and various fragments. The poem comprises 6,878 octosyllables in rhymed couplets. A prose version was made in the 15th century. The first modern edition dates from 1856 by Immanuel Bekker, followed by an edition in 1890 by Wendelin Foerster.

Some authors have made interesting comparisions between aspects of this story and the Aeneid. Of course, the comparisons are not exactly parallel, specifically since Enide does not commit suicide or lose her “Aeneas”. However, with this exception, many connections can be shown, especially concerning Erec’s gradual maturing process throughout the story and Aeneas’s similar progression.[Wittig]

Tests play an important part in character development, as Erec faces challenges on the journey and in turn tests Enide. While this spousal testing, especially the command to silence, seems harsh and controlling to some readers, it does not seem unusual or condemning in the fictive context of the story, especially when Erec’s behaviour is contrasted with some of the more despicable characters, such as Oringle of Limors. [Mandel]

[edit] References

• Adler, Alfred (1945). "Sovereignty as the Principle of Unity in Chrétien's "Erec'". PMLA Volume 60 (4), pp. 917–936.
• Busby, Keith (1987). "The Characters and the Setting". In Norris J. Lacy, Douglas Kelly, Keith Busby, The Legacy of Chrétien De Troyes vol. I, pp. 57–89. Amsterdam: Faux Titre.
• Chrétien de Troyes; Owen, D. D. R. (translator) (1988). Arthurian Romances. New York: Everyman's Library. ISBN 0-460-87389-X.
• 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.
• Lacy, Norris (1987). "Preface". In Norris J. Lacy, Douglas Kelly, Keith Busby, The Legacy of Chrétien De Troyes vol. I, pp. 1–3. Amsterdam: Faux Titre.
• Lacy, Norris (1987). "The Typology of Arthurian Romance". In Norris J. Lacy, Douglas Kelly, Keith Busby, The Legacy of Chrétien De Troyes vol. I, pp. 33–56. Amsterdam: Faux Titre.
• Mandel, Jerome (1977). "The Ethical Context of Erec's Character". The French Review Volume 50 (3), pp. 421–428.
• Wittig, Joseph (1970). "The Aeneas-Dido Allusion in Chrétien's Erec et Enide." Comparative Literature Volume 22 (3), pp. 237-253.

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Erec and Enide

• Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes at Project Gutenberg (includes Erec et Enide)