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From The Wedding of Sir
Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
The long romances by Chrétien
de Troyes, the interlaced romances of the
Vulgate Cycle, Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight, Chaucer's Troilus and
Criseyde and Knight's Tale are
often referred to as "chivalric," indicating
that they concern aristocratic characters
and address aristocratic or upper-middle-class
audiences with claims to literary, social,
and intellectual refinement. Chrétien
differentiates his art from what he regards
as the hackwork of his sources. He begins
his first romance telling his audience, "This
is the tale of Erec, the son of Lac, which
those who wish to make their living by storytelling
in the presence of counts and kings usually
mutilate and spoil." Instead, he "maintains
it is right that all always aspire and endeavor
to speak eloquently and to teach well." Like
Marie de France, Chrétien often speaks
directly to his audience of noblemen and
noblewomen. Ironically, Chrétien's
own romances were sometimes retold in simplified
form by less refined storytellers whose object
was less "to speak eloquently and to
teach well" than to entertain their
audiences with plenty of action. Such romances
are often referred to as "popular" in
distinction from the "chivalric." The
versification is usually somewhat crude,
monotonous, and irregular. The pilgrim Chaucer's Tale
of Sir Thopas is a brilliant parody of
such performances. After some 200 lines,
the Host cuts Chaucer short in the middle
of a verse: "Namore of this, for Goddes
dignitee!"
Yet it is too easy to differentiate
sharply between the audiences of "chivalric" and "popular" romances
and to dismiss the latter as poor stuff made
up for simple, uneducated folk. Although
it displeases the Host, Chaucer's parody
not only reveals an intimate familiarity
but also a deep affection for stories of
that kind. These "popular" tales
must have appealed to a broad social spectrum
primarily because they are entertaining but
also because they deliberately make fun of
the pretentiousness of "chivalric" romances.
They enable humble people to laugh at their "betters" and
knights and ladies to laugh at themselves
and their own literary tastes. If there is
condescension to anyone in Chaucer's Tale
of Sir Thopas, it is to the Host.
The most popular hero in these
popular romances was Sir Gawain, who is the
protagonist in eleven such tales. One of
the best of these is The Wedding of Sir
Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, which survives
in a unique sixteenth-century manuscript.
It is one of several versions of a tale in
which a knight is obliged to marry a hideously
ugly woman (called by folklorists "the
loathly lady") in order to keep a promise
he has given in return for the correct answer
to a life or death question.
The Wedding is one of several
analogues of Chaucer's Wife of Bath's
Tale.
In this version, as in Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain
comes to Arthur's rescue after the
king has got himself into trouble. The
story is told in a stanzaic form known
as tail-rhyme. The stanza rhymes aabccb,
with b having a short line (the
tail), although often the poet or the scribe
follow that scheme erratically. Just a
few stanzas of the text are given here,
linked by summary. However, the entire
poem of 852 lines on Ragnelle are
easily available. All the Gawain romances
and many other Middle English texts can
be accessed on the Web site of TEAMS (Consortium
for the Teaching of the Middle Ages).
The text of Ragnelle is
taken, with some normalization of spelling,
from the TEAMS edition by Thomas Hahn (Kalamazoo,
MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995).
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Lytheº and
listenytheº the
lif of a lord riche,º
>> note 1
The while that he lyvid was none hym liche,º
>> note 2
Nether in bowre neº in halle.
>> note 3
In the time of Arthoure thys adventure betyd,º
>> note 4
And ofº the great adventure that he himself
dyd,
>> note 5
That Kyng curteys and royalle. |
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[King Arthur, who is out hunting by himself
in Ynglewood, kills a deer on the property
of a formidable knight who introduces himself
as Sir Gromer Somer Jour. Sir Gromer, who
is fully armed, threatens to kill the unarmed
king Arthur has wrongfully given away lands
belonging to Gromer to Sir Gawain. To save
his life, Arthur swears on his sword to find
out "What women like best" and
return to the same spot in a year with the
right answer. Arthur finds Gawain who reassures
him.]
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"Ye, Sir, make good chere.
Let makeº your hors redyº
>> note 6
To ryde into straunge contrey;
And evere wheras ye mete owtherº man or
woman, in faye,º
>> note 7
Ask of theym what thay thertoº saye,
>> note 8
And I shall also ryde anoder waye
And enquereº of every man and woman and
getº what I may
>> note 9
Of every man and womans answere;
And in a bokeº I shalle theym wryte."
>> note 10 |
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[Both set out on the survey. They obtain
many different answers, and Arthur is getting
desperate.]
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Kyng Arthoure rode forthe on the otherº day
>> note 11
Into Yngleswod as hys gateº laye,
>> note 12
And ther he mett with a Lady.
She was as ungodlyº a creature
>> note 13
As evere man sawe, withoute mesureº
>> note 14
Kyng Arthure mervayled securlyº
>> note 15
Her face was red, her nose snotyd withalle,º
>> note 16
Her mowtheº wyde, her tethe yaloweº overe
alle,
>> note 17
With bleryd eyenº gretter than a balle.
>> note 18
Her mowthe was not to lak:º
>> note 19
Her tethe hyngº overe her lyppes,
>> note 20
Her chekys sydeº as wemens hippes.º
>> note 21
A luteº she bar upon her bak;
>> note 22
Her nek long and therto great;º
>> note 23
Her here cloterydº on an hepe;º
>> note 24
In the sholders she was a yard brode.
Hangyng pappysº to be an hors lode,º
>> note 25
And lyke a barelle she was made.
And to reherseº the fowlnesse of that Lady,
>> note 26
Ther is no tung may telle, securly;º
>> note 27
Of lothynesse inowgheº she had.
>> note 28 |
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[The loathly lady already knows what the
king needs and promises to help him on one
condition. Whatever it is, Arthur tells her,
her wish will be granted.]
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"Forsothe," sayd the Lady,
I am no qued.º
>> note 29
Thou must graunt me a knight to wed:
His name is Sir Gawen." |
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[Arthur protests he can't possibly ask
Gawain to do that.]
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"Alas! He sayd; "Nowe woo is
me
That I shold cause Gawen to wed the,
For he wol be lothe to saye naye.
So foulle a Lady as ye are now one
Sawe I nevere in my lyfe on ground gone;º
>> note 30
I nott whate I do may.º
>> note 31
"No force,º Sir Kyng, thoughe I be foulle;
>> note 32
Choyce for a make hathe an owlle.º
>> note 33
Thou getest of me no more.
When thou comyst agayn to thyneº answere
>> note 34
Ryghte in this place I shalle mete the here,
Or elles I wotº thou art lore."º
>> note 35 |
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[Arthur meets Gawain and tells him about
the lady and her wish.]
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"Ys this alle?" then sayd
Gawen;
"I shalle wed her and wed her agayn
Thowghe she were a fend;º
>> note 36
Thowghe she were as foulle as Belsabub,
Her shalle I wed, by the Rood,º
>> note 37
Or elles were not I your frende." |
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[Arthur returns to the forest to meet the
lady.]
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"Syr," quod Dame Ragnelle, "nowe
shalt thou knowe
Whate wemen desyren moste of highe and lowe;º
>> note 38
From this I wolle not varaye:º
>> note 39
"Summe men sayn we desire to be fayre;
Also we desire to have repayreº
>> note 40
Of diverse straunge men;º
>> note 41
Also we love to have lustº in bed;
>> note 42
And often we desire to wed.
Thus ye men not ken.º
>> note 43
Yet we desire anoder maner thing;
To be holdenº not old, but fresshe and yong,
>> note 44
With flatryng and glosyng and quaint gyn—º
>> note 45
So ye men may us wemen evere wyn
Of whate ye wolle crave.º
>> note 46
"Ye go fulle nyse,º I wolle not lye;
>> note 47
But there is one thyng is alle our fantasye,
And that nowe shalle ye knowe.
We desyren of men above alle maner thing
To have the sovereynté,º without
lesyngº
>> note 48
Of alle, bothe hyghe and lowe." |
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[Arthur presents this answer to Sir Gromer,
who angrily tells him that Arthur got it
from Sir Gromer's sister Dame Ragnelle.
May the old nag be burned. Arthur escorts
Ragnelle to his castle at Carlisle. The Queen
proposes a private wedding, but Ragnelle
won't hear of it.]
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"I wol be weddyd alle openly,
For with the Kyng suche covenaunt made I.
I put you oute of dowte,
I wolle not to churche till Highe Masse tyme
And in the open halle I wolle dyne,
In myddysº of alle the rowte."º
>> note 49 |
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[After a large church wedding at which Ragnelle
is more sumptuously dressed than the Queen — "Her
arayment was worthe thre thowsand mark /
Of good red nobles styff and stark" — the
wedding feast takes place.]
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For to make a short conclusion,
When she was weddyd, they hyedº hem home;
>> note 50
To meteº alle they went.
>> note 51
This fowlle Lady bygan the highe dese;º
>> note 52
She was fulle foulle and not curteys,
So sayd they alle verament.º
>> note 53
When the service cam her before,
She ete as moche as six that ther wore;º
>> note 54
Thatº mervaylyd many a man.
>> note 55 |
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[The wedding night begins on a leaf missing
from the manuscript, but apparently Gawain
has displayed some reluctance.]
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"A, Sir Gawen, synº I
have you wed,
>> note 56
Shewe me your cortesy in bed;
With ryghte it may not be denyed.
"Iwyse,º Sir Gawen," that Lady sayd,
>> note 57
"Andº I were fayre ye wold do anoder brayd,º
>> note 58
But of wedlock ye take no hed.º
>> note 59
Yet for Arthours sake kysse me at the leste;
I pray you do this at my request.
Let se howe ye can spede."º
>> note 60
Sir Gawen sayd, "I wolle do more
Then for to kysse, and God before!"
He turnyd hym her untille.º
>> note 61
He sawe her the fairest creature
That every he sawe, withoute mesure.º
>> note 62 |
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[Surprised and overjoyed, Gawain embraces
and kisses her.]
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"Syr," she sayd, "thus
shalle ye me have:
Cheseº of the one, so God me save,
>> note 63
My beawty wolle not hold —
Whederº ye wolle have me fayre on nyghtes
>> note 64
And as foulle on days to alle men sightes,
Or els to have me fayre on days
And on nyghtes on the fowlyst wife — º
>> note 65
The one ye must nedesº have."
>> note 66
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"Alas!" sayd Gawen; "The
choyse is hard.
To chese the best, it is forward,º
>> note 67
Whederº choyse that I chese:
>> note 68
To have you fayre on nyghtes and no more,
That wold greve my hart ryghte sore,
And my worship shold I lese.
And yf I desire on days to have you fayre,
Then on nyghtes I shold have a simple repayre.º
>> note 69
Now faynº wold I chose the best:
>> note 70
I ne wottº in this world what I shalle saye,
>> note 71
But do as ye lystº nowe, my Lady gaye.
>> note 72
The choyse I put in your fyst."º . . . .
>> note 73
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"Gramercy, corteys Knyght," sayd
the Lady;
"Of alle erthly knyghtes blyssyd mote thou be,
For now am I worshyppyd.
Thou shalle have me fayre bothe day and nyghte
And evere whyle I lyve as fayre and bryghte;
Therfore be not grevyd.º
>> note 74
"For I was shapenº by nygramancy,º
>> note 75
Withº my stepdame, God have on her mercy,
>> note 76
And by enchauntement. . . .
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"Kysse me, Sir Knyght, evyn now
here;
I pray the, be glad and make good chere,
For well is me begon."º
>> note 77
Ther they made joye oute of mynde,º
>> note 78
So was it reason and course of kynde,º
>> note 79
They two theymself alone.
She thankyd God and Mary mylde
She was recovered of that that she was defylde;º
>> note 80
So dyd Sir Gawen.
He made myrthe alle in her boure
And thankyd of alleº Oure Savyoure,
>> note 81
I telle you, in certeyn. . . .
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This adventure befelle in Ingleswod
As good Kyn Arthoure on huntyng yod;º
>> note 82
Thus have I herd men telle.
Nowe God, as thou were in Bethleme born,
Suffer nevere herº soules be forlorneº
>> note 83
In the brynnyngº fyre of helle!
>> note 84
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And, Jhesu, as thou were borne of a virgyn,
Help hym oute of sorrowe that this tale dyd devyne,º
>> note 85
And thatº nowe in alle haste,
>> note 86
For he is beset with gayloursº many
>> note 87
That kepen hym fulle sewerly,º
>> note 88
With wylesº wrong and wraste.º
>> note 89
Nowe God, as thou art verayº Kyng Royale
>> note 90
Help hym oute of daunger thatº made this
tale.
>> note 91 |
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