Enide
Encyclopedia
Enide or Enid is a character from Arthurian legend. She is Erec
's wife in Chrétien de Troyes
' Erec and Enide
, and Geraint
's in the Welsh Romance Geraint and Enid, analogous to Chrétien's version. Some scholars believe the French
and Welsh
tales derive from a lost common source, but it seems more likely Geraint derives directly or indirectly from Erec, though Chrétien may have had a Welsh or Breton
source.
Enide and Geraint/Erec meet while the hero is on a mission to defeat a cruel knight, and her family provides him with armor and food. They fall in love and marry, but the hero begins to forsake his social and chivalric duties for domestic bliss. Rumors spread, and Enide blames herself. One night, her husband overhears her crying about damaging his reputation.
In Chrétien's version, Erec begins to question Enide's love, but in Geraint the protagonist misunderstands her sobs and thinks she has been unfaithful to him. In both romances, the hero makes her accompany him on a long and dangerous trip, and forbids her to talk to him. Enide ignores this command several times to warn her husband of impending danger. Over the course of the trip, Erec/Geraint proves his abilities as a knight have not faded and accepts that Enide's love and loyalty are genuine, and the couple is reconciled.
This tale was not retold in many variants, but was included in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King
; the hero is named Geraint, and Tennyson conforms to that version of the tale.
Erec
Sir Erec, the son of King Lac, is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He features in numerous Arthurian tales , but he is most famous as the protagonist in Chrétien de Troyes' first romance, Erec and Enide...
's wife 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...
' Erec and Enide
Erec and Enide
Erec and Enide is the first of Chrétien de Troyes' five romance poems, completed around 1170. It is one of three completed works by the author...
, and Geraint
Geraint
Geraint is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed...
's in the Welsh Romance Geraint and Enid, analogous to Chrétien's version. Some scholars believe the French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
tales derive from a lost common source, but it seems more likely Geraint derives directly or indirectly from Erec, though Chrétien may have had a Welsh or Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
source.
Enide and Geraint/Erec meet while the hero is on a mission to defeat a cruel knight, and her family provides him with armor and food. They fall in love and marry, but the hero begins to forsake his social and chivalric duties for domestic bliss. Rumors spread, and Enide blames herself. One night, her husband overhears her crying about damaging his reputation.
In Chrétien's version, Erec begins to question Enide's love, but in Geraint the protagonist misunderstands her sobs and thinks she has been unfaithful to him. In both romances, the hero makes her accompany him on a long and dangerous trip, and forbids her to talk to him. Enide ignores this command several times to warn her husband of impending danger. Over the course of the trip, Erec/Geraint proves his abilities as a knight have not faded and accepts that Enide's love and loyalty are genuine, and the couple is reconciled.
This tale was not retold in many variants, but was included in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King, published between 1856 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom...
; the hero is named Geraint, and Tennyson conforms to that version of the tale.