The Romance of Morien | Page 3

that talisman, as related by Robert de Borron,
once generally accepted, the relationship of brother was as impossible
as that of son.
It seems clear that if a genuine tradition of a Moor as near kinsman to
Perceval really existed--and I see no reason to doubt that it did--it must
have belonged to the Perceval story prior to the development of the
Grail tradition, _e.g._, to such a stage as that hinted at by the

chess-board adventure of the "Didot" Perceval and Gautier's poem,
when the hero was as ready to take advantage of his bonnes fortunes as
other heroes of popular folk tales.
Further, judging from these stories it would seem probable that the
requisite modification began with the earlier generation, _i.e._,
Perceval himself still retaining traces of his secular and folk-tale origin,
while his father and mother have already been brought under the
influence of the ecclesiasticised Grail tradition. That this would be the
case appears only probable when we recall the vague and conflicting
traditions as to the hero's parentage; it was Perceval himself, and not
his father or his mother, who was the important factor in the tale; hence
the change in his character was a matter of gradual evolution. Thus I
am of opinion that the Moor as Perceval's brother is likely to be an
earlier conception than the Moor as Perceval's son. It is, I think,
noticeable that the romance containing this feature, the _Parzival_, also,
contrary to the Early History versions, connects him with the Grail
through his mother, instead of through his father.
The Morien is for me a welcome piece of evidence in support of the
theory that sees in the poem of Wolfram von Eschenbach the survival
of a genuine variant of the Perceval story, differing in important
particulars from that preserved by Chrétien de Troyes, and based upon
a French original, now, unfortunately, lost.
For this, if for no other reason, the poem would, it seems to me, be
worth introducing to a wider circle of readers than that to which in its
present form it can appeal. The students of old Dutch are few in
number, and the bewildering extent of the Lancelot compilation,
amounting as it does, even in its incomplete state, to upwards of 90,000
lines, is sufficient in itself to deter many from its examination. Morien
in its original form is, and can be, known to but few. But not only does
it represent a tradition curious and interesting in itself, it has other
claims to attention; even in a translation it is by no means ill written; it
is simple, direct, and the adventures are not drawn out to wearisome
length by the introduction of unnecessary details. The characterisation
too, is good; the hero is well realised, and Gawain, in particular,
appears in a most favourable light, one far more in accordance with the
earlier than with the later stage of Arthurian tradition; the contrast
between his courteous self-restraint and the impetuous ardour of the

young savage is well conceived, and the manner in which he and
Gareth contrive to check and manage the turbulent youth without
giving him cause for offence is very cleverly indicated. Lancelot is a
much more shadowy personage; if, as suggested above, the original
story took shape at a period before he had attained to his full popularity,
and references to his valour were added later we can understand this. It
is noticeable that the adventure assigned to him is much less original in
character, and told with far less detail than that ascribed to Gawain.
The romance as we have it presents, as remarked before, a curious
mixture of earlier and later elements. None of the adventures it relates
are preserved in any English text. Alike as a representative of a lost
tradition, and for its own intrinsic merit it has seemed to me, though
perhaps inferior in literary charm to the romances previously published
in this series, to be yet not unworthy of inclusion among them.
BOURNEMOUTH, July 1901 Morien _Herein doth the adventure tell
of a knight who was named Morien. Some of the books give us to wit
that he was Perceval's son, and some say that he was son to Agloval,
who was Perceval's brother, so that he was nephew unto that good
knight. Now we find it written for a truth that Perceval and Galahad
alike died virgin knights in the quest of the Holy Grail; and for that
cause I say of Perceval that in sooth he was not Morien's father, but that
rather was Morien his brother's son. And of a Moorish princess was he
begotten at that time when Agloval sought far and wide for Lancelot,
who was lost, as ye have read here afore._
_I ween that he who made the