Erec and Enide: Onomastic

The Name is an essential element that makes the hero or not. From theIliad, we know the importance of the name, and of the genealogy, that the heroes proudly proclaim before the enemy before the fight, and for which they are ready to die: the “beautiful death” will confer on the name, that is -say to themselves, glory and immortality.

In Erec and Enidus, we will distinguish three groups of characters:

• Those who have a name;
• Those who do not have a name at the start, but who acquire one throughout the novel;
• Those who remain anonymous, a category specific to Chrétien de Troyes.

Named characters

The Knights of the Round Table

Among the characters named, we first find the “first circle”:

• King Arthur, in majesty, first personage of the Court; he has no age (a little later, chivalric novels will say he is a hundred years old; here nothing indicates it); it is he who decides in the last resort: we see him in the episode of the white deer hunt. To Gawain who is worried about the possible consequences for the cohesion of the court (v. 39-58), Arthur replies:
        […]I know this well.
        But I won't leave anything about it,
        Because must not be contradicted
        Word then that kings said it.
  The King has a high conception of his mission, as evidenced by the long tirade he devotes to his role, v. 1789-1810:
  • respect courteous values himself (do not lie, refrain from felony and excess);
  • “To keep the law, the truth, the faith and the righteousness” in his kingdom;
  • maintain “the custom and usage” of one’s lineage.
  It is an aristocratic and courtly conception of the monarchy, and the affirmation of the spiritual power of profane society.
• Queen Guinevere is the female counterpart of King Arthur. She ideally embodies courteous values; she advised the King on several occasions, by delaying the ceremony of the “kiss of the white deer” by three days, by deciding on the punishment of Ydier; it is she who welcomes Enide to the Court, and adorns her with her own dresses, it is she who finally prepares the heroes' wedding night. If, for Érec, she is the “Lady” par excellence, for whom he sets off on an adventure in order to avenge the affront she suffered, to whom he sends his prisoners, there is still no question of the the love that she will inspire in Lancelot.
• Gawain, King Arthur's favorite nephew, is the "perfect knight". Almost always called “my lord” (v. 39) or “my sire” (v. 299); note that this is the first time in the French language that this title is attributed to a great lord. Gauvain embodies reason, moderation, and also the art of speech. He is named the first among the knights: cf. v. 1688: "Must be Gauvains li first".
• Keu, finally, Sénéchal [“Officer of the royal palace, fulfilling the role of the former mayors of the palace under the Merovingians and the Capetians, then exercising military, financial and judicial functions under the Capetians until the 13th century. » according to Treasure of the French Language] and half-brother of King Arthur, is the antithesis of Gawain: as brutal and clumsy as Gawain is a skillful and courteous negotiator, he makes multiple blunders; proud, viper-tongued, impulsive, he spoils his best intentions with his discourteous attitude. See p. 311 and following: wanting to invite Erec, whom he did not recognize, to the Court, he goes about it in such a brutal way that he provokes a fight, and is beaten in the most humiliating way... By his Incurable clumsiness, Keu is a rather comical character.

The “Second Circle” of Knights

The Knights named from the start are supposed to be known to everyone: their reputation guarantees their quality. This is the case of the “catalogue of the Knights” (c. 1687-1746); among them some will have a wonderful literary legacy, like Lancelot, Yvain or Perceval.

But the most important for us here is obviously Erech, son of King Lake. Protagonist of the novel, he is named from the prologue, in verse 19: “D'Erec, the thread of Lake, is li tales”. It is then found again, at the time of the "White Deer Hunt", c. 81:

      A few knights, Erec ot no.
      De la Tauble Reonde estoit,
      Moult grans los en la cort avoit.
      Of so much con it i ot esté,
      No more loving knight;
      And it was as far away as in nowhere
      It's no longer nice to quarre with him.
      Mout estoit beax and prouz and genz,
      Didn't have .xxv. anz.
      Onques nuns hom de son aage
      Ne fu de greignor vasselage.

This very young knight (“he was not 25 years old”) has no Queen or exploits to his credit yet – which is why he does not participate in the hunt; but his “bravery” (vassalage) is self-evident in the eyes of all; it is constitutive of him, and guaranteed by his name and his lineage (“Son of King Lake”).

Finally, a new list presents the "guests of King Arthur", c. 1919-2007: a list, sometimes comical, of twenty names (to which are added, obviously, the retinue of each guest, notably the 300 companions of old Quarron, king of Ariel! Fantasy and humor also make their appearance in this list: friend of the Morgan Fairy, dwarves and giants, aged old men...

The characters named late.

Chrétien de Troyes delays before naming certain characters: this is a novelty in the literature of the time, which usually gives a name to a character as soon as he appears. Here, several characters must wait before being named.

Characters whose fate is settled

Often the characters are named only at the end of a fight or an adventure, when, once removed from anonymity, they are preparing to leave the story:

• Ydier, son of Nut, knight who, accompanied by his maid and his dwarf, initiated the adventures of Érec (cf. text 2); anonymous throughout its history, it is named around 1046, thus acknowledging its defeat.
• Guivret the Little, appeared c. 3675, will first be defeated by Erec and forced to give his name to line 3864. Subsequently, he will reappear in the story in line 4935; wanting to come to Erec's aid, he attacked him without recognizing him, then once the misunderstanding was resolved, took the injured man and his Lady into his home.
• The knight Cadoc of Tabriol, kidnapped by a Giant and rescued by Erech (c. 4305-4573), gives his name in the form of recognition; on the other hand, Erec refuses to name himself.
• The evil Count of Limors is named posthumously (Count of Limors is only a title, not a name) by Guivret, in line 5066
• Mabonagrain, a knight of imposing stature, held prisoner in the orchard of the “Joie de la Cour”, appears anonymously c. 5890, and is named, once defeated (but after Erech himself was recognized), in v. 6124. His name is not really one: he is “son of Evrain”.

Énide and his family

More original is the case of Enide.

The virgin, daughter of Vavasseur, has no name; she is first designated only by her qualities (beautiful and wise) and her situation: poor, poorly dressed, waiting.

His name will only be revealed at the time of his marriage (v. 2021-2027): neither his arrival at Court nor the “kiss of the white stag” was therefore enough to give him a real existence; she only acquires her status as “Lady” when she is married – and named.

Named Enid, her family can also receive a name, be recognized: her father Liconal and her mother Tarsenefide, who appeared c. 375 and v. 397, are named v. 6886 and 6888, at the very end of the story, at the time of Erec's coronation. Enide's uncle (v. 521) will also be designated, during the same ceremony, v. 6240, as “Count of Laluth”, which is a partial way of removing anonymity, since it is only a title.

Enid thus acquires the status of “Lady” by marrying Erec; her family recovers hers when, crowned Erech, she becomes queen.

Anonymous extras

The characters definitively condemned to anonymity are of two kinds: undifferentiated groups, and secondary characters, living in the shadow of another character.

The groups

• The three knights-brigands
• The five pillaging knights
• The two giants

Dating individuals

• The following of Queen Guinevere, wounded by the dwarf;
• The Dwarf and the Maid accompanying Ydier;
• Enide's uncle and cousin;
• The squire who leads the heroes to Count Galoain's castle;
• The chaplain and the constable of Limors;
• The boy who leads his horse to the watering hole at Limors Castle;
• Cadoc de Tabriol's friend

All these characters play a secondary role; but their anonymity is a novelty in the art of the novel. Subsequently, this would become a specific feature of Chrétien de Troyes' writing.

A special case, Count Galoain.

In our edition, this vain and deceitful count, who transgresses the laws of hospitality by trying to steal Enide from Erec by force, is only named in verses 3125-3126; but these two verses are absent from Guiot's copy. This means that this character, protagonist of a very important episode of the adventures of Erec, was perhaps anonymous. Defeated, wounded, he is not forced by Erec to reveal his name (and the latter, therefore, will continue to ignore it); he will not be further named when he returns to better feelings (v. 3628-3652). If this is a correction by a copyist, uncomfortable with what seemed to him to be a gap, then we would have here one of the very first cases of an important character reduced to anonymity in Chrétien de Troyes , and in Western literature.

Conclusion

Present or absent, the Name is therefore of great importance: it signals the hero's belonging to a group, gives him status and contributes to his heroization.

It is all the better highlighted because it is not always present: to say one's name is also to recognize one's defeat, and in a certain way to "fall into line": after having named oneself, the defeated knight goes to court to recount the exploit of his conqueror.

Finally, a large number of characters remain anonymous, pure functions (thus groups), or simple undifferentiated entities.