Calogrenant
Encyclopedia
Sir Calogrenant, sometimes known in English as Colgrevance, or, in ancient Welsh, Cynan ap Clydno, is a Knight of the Round Table
in Arthurian legend. He is a cousin to Sir Ywain, and his courtesy and eloquence were known throughout the kingdom.
Calogrenant first appears in Chrétien de Troyes
' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
. After a good meal, Calogrenant tells a story to a group of knights and Queen Guinevere about an adventure he had in the forest of Brocéliande
. He had heard of a magic spring in those woods which could create a huge storm whenever someone poured its water into a nearby basin. With directions from a local family and a gruesomely depicted giant, Calogrenant reached the spring and summoned the storm. Immediately after the storm, a knight named Esclados
attacked him for causing such havoc. The knight soundly defeated Calogrenant, but didn't kill him. Calogrenant's cousin Ywain is upset that Calogrenant never told him of this defeat, and sets out to avenge him, embarking on the adventure that sets up the remainder of events in the romance.
Calogrenant appears later in the Lancelot-Grail
Cycle as an excellent knight, though his kinship to Ywain is not as clear as in Chrétien. He dies during the Grail Quest while trying to keep Sir Lionel
from killing his own brother, Bors
. Bors had faced a dilemma over whom to rescue between Lionel, who was getting beaten with thorns by two rogue knights, and a maiden who had just been abducted, and chose the maiden over his brother. Lionel was not pleased by this, and attacked Bors the next time he saw him. A religious hermit
tried to intervene, but was killed accidentally in the process, and Calogrenant stepped in. Bors would not fight his brother, and Lionel slays Calogrenant and goes after Bors until God steps in and renders him immobile.
Thomas Malory
recounts Colgrevance's death scene in his Le Morte d'Arthur
, but also includes another one later in the narrative. Despite dying on the Grail quest, he turns up as one of the twelve knights who help Agravaine and Mordred
trap Lancelot
and Guinevere together. Lancelot has no armor or weapons, but he pulls Colgrevance into the room and kills him, and uses his sword to slay the rest of the company (though Mordred escapes).
Roger Sherman Loomis
and others speculated that Calogrenant was used specifically as a foil for Sir Kay
in some lost early version of the Yvain story. In Chrétien's romance he is presented as everything Kay is not: polite, respectful, and well-mannered. By this theory, his name can be deconstructed to "Cai lo grenant", or "Cai the grumbler", which would represent another opposite characteristic of Kay, who was famous for his acid tongue.
Calogrenant appears in the Welsh Romance Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain as Cynan, known elsewhere in Welsh tradition as the lover of Owain's sister Morvydd
. Cynan is stated to be the son of Clydno, possibly connected to Clyddno Eiddin.
Round Table
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
in Arthurian legend. He is a cousin to Sir Ywain, and his courtesy and eloquence were known throughout the kingdom.
Calogrenant first appears in Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
Yvain, the Knight with the Lion is a romance by Chrétien de Troyes. 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...
. After a good meal, Calogrenant tells a story to a group of knights and Queen Guinevere about an adventure he had in the forest of Brocéliande
Brocéliande
Brocéliande is the name of a legendary forest that first appears in literature in 1160, in the Roman de Rou, a verse chronicle written by Wace....
. He had heard of a magic spring in those woods which could create a huge storm whenever someone poured its water into a nearby basin. With directions from a local family and a gruesomely depicted giant, Calogrenant reached the spring and summoned the storm. Immediately after the storm, a knight named Esclados
Esclados
In Arthurian Legend, Esclados was a knight who defended a magical fountain in the forest of Brocéliande. Esclados was subsequently slain by Ywain who then married his widow, Laudine. In Chretien's The Knight with the Lion, Esclados is referred to as "Esclados the Red"....
attacked him for causing such havoc. The knight soundly defeated Calogrenant, but didn't kill him. Calogrenant's cousin Ywain is upset that Calogrenant never told him of this defeat, and sets out to avenge him, embarking on the adventure that sets up the remainder of events in the romance.
Calogrenant appears later in the Lancelot-Grail
Lancelot-Grail
The Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is a major source of Arthurian legend written in French. It is a series of five prose volumes that tell the story of the quest for the Holy Grail and the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere...
Cycle as an excellent knight, though his kinship to Ywain is not as clear as in Chrétien. He dies during the Grail Quest while trying to keep Sir Lionel
Sir Lionel
Sir Lionel is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger in Arthurian legend. He is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Ector de Maris...
from killing his own brother, Bors
Bors
Bors circa 540s-580s, is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend, one the father and one the son. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes or Gaul during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. Gaunnes is the Fredemundian dynastic kingdom of Neustria...
. Bors had faced a dilemma over whom to rescue between Lionel, who was getting beaten with thorns by two rogue knights, and a maiden who had just been abducted, and chose the maiden over his brother. Lionel was not pleased by this, and attacked Bors the next time he saw him. A religious hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
tried to intervene, but was killed accidentally in the process, and Calogrenant stepped in. Bors would not fight his brother, and Lionel slays Calogrenant and goes after Bors until God steps in and renders him immobile.
Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
recounts Colgrevance's death scene in his Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
, but also includes another one later in the narrative. Despite dying on the Grail quest, he turns up as one of the twelve knights who help Agravaine and Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
trap Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
and Guinevere together. Lancelot has no armor or weapons, but he pulls Colgrevance into the room and kills him, and uses his sword to slay the rest of the company (though Mordred escapes).
Roger Sherman Loomis
Roger Sherman Loomis
Roger Sherman Loomis was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature.-Biography:...
and others speculated that Calogrenant was used specifically as a foil for Sir Kay
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behavior, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier...
in some lost early version of the Yvain story. In Chrétien's romance he is presented as everything Kay is not: polite, respectful, and well-mannered. By this theory, his name can be deconstructed to "Cai lo grenant", or "Cai the grumbler", which would represent another opposite characteristic of Kay, who was famous for his acid tongue.
Calogrenant appears in the Welsh Romance Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain as Cynan, known elsewhere in Welsh tradition as the lover of Owain's sister Morvydd
Morvydd
Morfydd ferch Urien is a figure of Welsh Arthurian legend. She is the daughter of Urien Rheged by Modron, and twin sister to Owain. Morfydd appears in the Welsh Triads and is also referred to in Culhwch and Olwen...
. Cynan is stated to be the son of Clydno, possibly connected to Clyddno Eiddin.