Notes de lecture

48

Le texte de base est celui de ldition de Janet Cowen, Penguin Classics (2 vol.).

BOOK III

CHAPTER 2. How the Knights of the Round Table were ordained and their sieges blessed by the Bishop of Canterbury

1 When King Arthur heard of the coming of Guenever and the hundred knights with the Table Round, then King Arthur made great joy for her coming, and that rich present, and said openly, This fair lady is passing welcome unto me, for I have loved her long, and therefore there is nothing so lief to me. And these knights with the Round Table please me more than right great riches.

And in all haste the king let ordain for the marriage and the coronation in the most honoura-ble wise that could be devised. Now, Merlin, said King Arthur, go thou and espy me in all this land fif-ty knights which be of most prowess and worship.

Within short time Merlin had found such knights that should fulfil twenty and eight knights, but no more he could find. Then the Bishop of Canterbury was fetched, and he blessed the sieges with great royalty and devotion, and there set the eight and twenty knights in their sieges.

And when this was done Merlin said, Fair sirs, ye must all arise and come to King Arthur for to do him homage; he will have the better will to maintain you.

And so they arose and did their homage, and when they were gone Merlin found in every siege1 letters of gold that told the knights names that had sitten therein. But two sieges were void.

And so anon came young Gawain and asked the king a gift. Ask, said the king, and I shall grant it you. Sir, I ask that ye will make me knight that same day ye shall wed fair Guenever. I will do it with a good will, said King Arthur, and do unto you all the worship that I may, for I must

by reason ye are my nephew, my sisters son.

1 De nombreuses ditions donnent ici la leon fautive sieges ; mais voir ci-aprs le clich du manuscrit (source : Malory Pro-ject), ainsi que la retranscription du passage.

Ve

rs

ion

1

Installation des chevaliers de la Table Ronde ; leurs siges sont bnis par larchevque de Cantorbry

1 Lorsque le roi Arthur apprit que Guenivre tait en chemin, ainsi que les cent chevaliers avec la Table Ronde, il manifesta une grande joie lide de sa venue et de larrive du riche prsent et dcla-ra en public : Je suis extrmement heureux daccueillir cette belle dame, car je laime depuis longtemps et, par consquent, il ny a rien que je fasse daussi bon gr ; et ces chevaliers avec la Table Ronde me font plus plaisir que de grandes richesses. Et, en toute hte, le roi fit organiser les crmonies du mariage et du couronnement de faon aus-si grandiose que possible. Maintenant, Merlin, lui dit le roi Arthur, va parcourir tout le pays et trouve-moi cinquante chevaliers qui soient des plus preux et valeureux. En peu de temps, Merlin eut trouv assez de chevaliers pour parvenir au nombre de vingt-huit, mais il lui fut impossible den trouver davantage. Lvque de Cantorbry fut alors mand, il bnit les siges avec solennit et pit, et les vingt-huit chevaliers y prirent place. Quand linstallation fut ter-mine, Merlin sadressa eux : Mes bons amis, il faut tous vous lever, aller vous prsenter au roi Arthur et lui rendre hommage ; il nen sera que mieux dispos subvenir vos besoins. Ils se levrent donc et allrent rendre hommage au roi, et aprs leur dpart, Merlin dcouvrit sur chaque sige le nom de loccupant crit en lettres dor. Mais deux siges ne portaient aucune mention. Et sans plus tarder, le jeune Gauvain vint demander au roi un don. Demandez, dit le roi, et je vous laccorderai. Messire, je vous demande de me faire chevalier le mme jour o vous pouserez la belle Guenivre. Je le ferai bien volontiers, rpondit le roi Arthur, et vous rendrai tous les honneurs qui sont en mon pou-voir, car tel est mon devoir vis--vis de vous, mon neveu, le fils de ma sur.

Le dbut du chapitre de Caxton correspond la 9e ligne du folio 35v de Winchester

Whan kynge Arthure herde of the com ynge of quene Gwenyuer and the C knyghtes with the table rounde Than kynge Arthure made grete Joy for hir com yng and that ryche preente and eyde opynly thys fayre Lady ys payngly well com to me for I have loved hir longe And er fore there ys no thynge o leeff to me and thes knyghtes with the table rownde pleaith me more than ryght grete rychee And in all hate the kynge lete ordayne for the maryage and the coronacion In the mote honorablyt wye that cowude be devied // Now Merlion eyde kyng Arthure go ou and apye me in all thys londe L knyghtes which bene of mote provee & worhip So with In horte tyme Merlion had founde uch knyghtes that holde fulfylle xxti and viij knyghtes but no mo wolde he fynde Than the byhop of Caunturbiry was fette and he blyed the egis with grete royalte and devocion and there ette the viij & xxti knyghtes in her egis And whan thys was done M ayde fayre irres ye mute all arye and com to kynge Arthure for to do hym omage he woll the better be in wylle to maynteyne you and o they a roe and dud er omage And whan they were gone M founde in euery ege lettirs of golde that tolde e knyghtes namys that had itten there but ij egis were voyde // And o anone com In yonge Gawayne and aked the kynge a gyffte // Ake eyde the kynge and I hall graunte you // Sir I ake that ye hall meke me knyght that ame day that ye hall wedde dame Gwenyuer I woll do hit with a goode wylle eyde kynge Arthure and do vnto you all the worhip that I I may for I mute be reon ye ar my nevew my itirs on

1 the Bishop of Canterbury larchevque de Cantorbry na pas t rtrograd : il sagit, sans plus, dune forme tronque (plus frquente que la forme entire)

2 go thou and espy me in all this land fifty knights datif thique (datiuus ethicus)1

espy To find out (sth.), ascertain, learn; discover (sth.); recognize (sb. or sth.), notice, see; also, find (sb.)2

3 twenty and eight knights Note de J. Cowen : This should be forty-eight, leaving the two vacant seats which Arthur remarks on (Book III, ch. 4).

4 was fetched Winchester : was fette

Une des dix occurrences de fette dans le manuscrit, les autres tant :

folio 17r (volet 19) Than a yoman fette the kynge anoer hore; folio 36v (volet 49) Anone the Wyff was fette forth; folio 107r (volet 112) Anone ere was mete fette for hym; folio 133v (volet 141) And than he lette fette be fore hym hir ytir Lynet; folio 135r (volet 142) he had fette all the gobbettis of e hede; folio 180r (volet 189) wente ere as was la beale Iode and fette her away; folio 231v (volet 240) Than he waloppyd furer and fette his coure; folio 355v (volet 363) Than he fette hys hore; folio 479r (volet 494) and wyne was fette and dranke to gydir.

En vieil-anglais, ct du verbe faible (e)fetian aller chercher (prtrit (e)fetode, fett) [cf. fa-tian] est apparue une variante fe(e)an due au passage de -ti- /tj/ // (//), prpalatalisation puis affrication. MED : In ME the newly formed fecched is still uncommon, fette being the usual past tense form both of fecchen and of fetten. Influence probable du vieux-norrois feta (dabord fort, prt. fat, puis faible, fetai). Chronique de Peterborough (1121): Se eorl of Aneow..his dohter let

1 Bouleversez-vous comme a et vous me ferez demain 39 de fivre dit le Dr Cottard Madame Verdurin.| Regardez-moi a ! 2 Middle English Dictionary s.u. spen.

feean Le comte dAnjou fit venir sa fille . Fetten et fetchen coexistent chez Chaucer ; quelques emplois de fet chez Shakespeare :

Me seemeth good that, with some little train, Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet Hither to London, to be crownd our King. Richard III.

Je ne peux que redire ici quel point la plupart des ditions en viennent dnaturer le texte quelles sont censes transmettre, faisant, dans le cas prsent, disparatre les for-mes de fetten de la princeps de Caxton (ce qui cre des incohrences artificielles : com-ment comprendre la survivance de fet chez Shakespeare ?).

bledde for orowe / and hayled hym ayeng in this wye he that alle the world weldeth gyue the horte lyf & hameful dethe / And the deuyl haue thy oule / why hat thow murthred the// e yonge Innocent children / and murthred this duchee / Ther fore arye and dree the thow gloton / For this day hall thou dye of my hand / Thenne the gloton anone tarte vp and tooke a grete clubbe in his hand / and mote at the kynge that his coronal fylle to the erthe / and the kynge hytte hym ageyn that he carf his bely and cutte of his genytours / that his guttes & his entraylles fylle doune to the ground / thenne the gyaunt threwe awey his clubbe / and caught the kynge in his armes that he cruhyd his rybbes / Thenne the thre maydens knelyd doune and callyd to Cryt for helpe and comforte of Arthur And thenne Arthur weltred and wrong / that he was other whyle vnder and another tyme aboue / And o weltryng and walowynge they rolled doune the hylle / tyl they came to the ee marke / and euer as they oo weltred / Arthur mote hym with his daggar / and it fortuned they came to the place / whe// re as the two knyghtes were and kepte Arthurs hors / then ne when they awe the kynge fat in the gyaunts armes / they came and loed hym / And thenne the kynge commaunded yr kaye to myte of the gyaunts hede / and to ette it vpon a trun// cheon of a pere / and bere it to yre howel / and telle hym that his enemy was layne / and after late this hede be bounden to a barbycan that alle the peple may ee and behold hit / and go ye two vp to the montayn / and fetche me my held / my uerd and the clubbe of yron / And as for the treour take ye it / for ye halle fynde there good oute of nombre / So I haue the ker tyl and the clubbe I deyre no more / This was the fyert gy// aunt that euer I mette with / auf one in the mount of Arabe / whiche I ouercame / but this was gretter and fyerer / Thenne the knyghtes fette the clubbe and the kyrtyl / and ome of the treour they took to them elf / and retorned ageyne to the hot And anone this was knowen thurgh alle the countrey / wher for the peple came and thanked the kynge / And he ayd a// geyne yeue the thanke to god / and departe the goodes among yow / And after that kynge Arthur ayd and commaunded his Coyn howel that he hold ordeyne for a chirche to be bylded

Clich : Malory Project, Facsimile i3v, Title: Sig. i3v

Edition: Caxton, Section: Book V, Folios: h7v - k3r.

V, 5 (volet 94) Winchester 78v porte fecched.

5 sitten forme refaite, celle du vieil-anglais tant seten

6 young Gawain Gauvain a dj t mentionn sept fois avant de faire son apparition; il a d tre plac par ses parents la cour dArthur pour son apprentissage

7 Ask and I shall grant it you. cho de , , . Si manseritis in me, et uerba mea in uobis man-serint, quodcumque uolueritis, petite, et fiet uobis. [Si vous demeurez en moi et que mes paroles demeurent en vous,] demandez ce que vous voulez, et vous serez exaucs.