Notes de lecture

28 Le texte de base est celui de ldition de Janet Cowen, Penguin Classics (2 vol.). Version 1
BOOK II CHAPTER 1. Of a damosel which came girt with a sword for to nd a man of such virtue to draw it out of the scabbard 1 After the death of Uther Pendragon reigned Arthur his son, the which had great war in his days for to get all England into his hand. For there were many kings within the realm of England, and in Wales, Scotland, and Cornwall. So it befell on a time when King Arthur was at London, there came a knight and told the king tidings how that the King Rience of North Wales had reared a great number of people, and were entered into the land, and burnt and slew the kings true liege people. If this be true, said Arthur, it were great shame unto mine estate but that he were mightily withstood. It is truth, said the knight, for I saw the host myself. Well, said the king, let make a cry, that all the lords, knights, and gentlemen of arms should draw unto a castle (called Camelot in those days) and there the king would let make a council-general and a great jousts. 2 So when the king was come thither with all his baronage, and lodged as they seemed best, there was come a damosel the which was sent on message from the great lady Lile of Avelion. And when she came before King Arthur, she told from whom she came, and how she was sent on message unto him for these causes. Then she let her mantle fall that was richly furred; and then was she girt with a noble sword whereof the king had marvel, and said, Damosel, for what cause are ye girt with that sword? it beseemeth you not. Now shall I tell you , said the damosel. This sword that I am girt withal doth me great sorrow and cumbrance, for I may not be delivered of this sword but by a knight, but he must be a passing good man of his hands and of his deeds, and without villainy or treachery, and without treason. And i f I may nd such a knight that hath all these virtues, he may draw out this sword out of the sheath, for I have been at King Riences it was told me there were passing good knights, and he and all his knights have assayed it and none can speed.

This is a great marvel, said Arthur, if this be sooth; I will myself assay to draw out the sword, not presuming upon myself that I am the best knight, but that I will begin to draw at your sword in giving example to all the barons that they shall assay every each one after other when I have assayed it. Then Arthur took the sword by the sheath and by the girdle and pulled at it eagerly, but the sword would not out. Sir, said the damosel, you need not to pull half so hard, for he that shall pull it out shall do it with little might. Ye say well, said Arthur; now assay ye all my barons. But beware ye be not deled with shame, treachery, nor guile. Then it will not avail , said the damosel, for he must be a clean knight without villainy, and of a gentle strain of father side and mother side. Most of all the barons of the Round Table that were there at that time assayed all by row, but there might none speed; wherefore the damosel made great sorrow out of measure, and said, Alas! I weened in this court had been the best knights without treachery or treason. By my faith, said Arthur, here are good knights, as I deem, as any be in the world, but their grace is not to help you, wherefore I am displeased .

O lon voit se prsenter [ la cour du roi Arthur] une demoiselle ceinte dune pe quun chevalier doit tre apte, par sa vertu, sortir du fourreau 1 Aprs la mort dUther Pendragon rgna son ls Arthur, qui dut beaucoup guerroyer au long de son existence pour asseoir son autorit sur lensemble de lAngleterre, car nombreux taient les rois se partager le royaume dAngleterre, le Pays de Galles, lcosse et la Cornouailles. Un jour, alors que le roi Arthur sjournait Londres, un chevalier vint lui apporter des nouvelles : Rience, roi de Galles du Nord, ayant lev une arme nombreuse, avait pntr sur ses terres, faisant tout brler et tuant les loyaux sujets. Si le fait est avr, dclara Arthur, ce serait une honte pouvantable pour mon rang quon ne lui oppose pas une rsistance farouche. Cest avr, rpondit le chevalier, car jai vu larme de mes propres yeux. Dans ce cas, conclut le roi, quon fasse proclamer que tous les seigneurs, chevaliers et gentilhommes darmes se rendent dans un chteau (qui, en ce temps-l, sappelait Camelot) car le roi y convoquera un conseil gnral et y organisera de grandes joutes. 2 Le roi stant rendu Camelot avec tous ses barons et chacun y tant log selon son rang, arriva une demoiselle, porteuse dun message de la part de la grande dame appele Lle dAvalon. Et lorsquelle se prsenta au roi Arthur, elle indiqua de la part de qui elle venait et de quelle mission elle tait charge auprs de lui : sur quoi, laissant tomber sa cape richement fourre, elle se montra, ceinte dune noble pe, provoquant la surprise chez le roi qui scria : Demoiselle, pour quelle raison tes-vous ceinte de cette pe, qui ne vous sied pas ? Il mincombe maintenant de vous le dire, expliqua la demoiselle. Lpe que je porte me dsole et me gne : je ne puis en tre dbarrasse que par un chevalier qui doit exceller dans le mtier des armes et tre un modle de droiture, exempt de bassesse, de fourberie et de dloyaut. Si je parviens trouver un chevalier possesseur de toutes ces vertus, il sera capable de lextraire du fourreau ; je me suis rendue la cour du roi Rience parce quon mavait dit sy trouver des chevaliers exceptionnels, mais le roi et tous ses chevaliers ont tent lpreuve et nul nen vient bout. Voil qui est on ne peut plus surprenant, estima Arthur, supposer que ce soit vrai. Jessaierai en personne de dgainer cette pe, non dans lide que je sois le meilleur chevalier, mais je serai le premier tenter lpreuve pour donner lexemple tous les autres barons an que, chacun son tour, ils se mettent sur les rangs une fois que jaurai ouvert la voie. Arthur, saisissant alors fourreau et baudrier, tira nergiquement sur lpe, qui refusa de bouger. Messire, remarqua la demoiselle, vous tirez deux fois trop fort, car celui qui la sortira y parviendra sans grand eort. Vous faites bien de le prciser, dit Arthur ; cest maintenant votre tour tous dessayer, mes barons. Mais prenez garde ne pas tre souills par la honte, la fourberie ou la duplicit, car alors, expliqua la demoiselle, il ne servirait rien dessayer puisque [celui qui lemportera], exempt de bassesse, doit tre de

noble extraction du ct paternel et du ct maternel. Les barons de la Table Ronde prsents ce moment-l essayrent presque tous tour de rle, mais nul nen vint bout, ce qui dsola la demoiselle jusqu lexcs : Hlas, scria-t-elle, et moi qui croyais cette cour compose des meilleurs chevaliers, innocents de perdie et de dloyaut ! Ma foi, rpondit Arthur, les chevaliers de ma cour sont, me semble-t-il, parmi les meilleurs au monde, mais ils nont pas reu la grce de vous venir en aide, ce dont je suis fch.

propos de lpisode de Balin et Balan, voir larticle de Rosalba Lendo Fuentes, Le rcit de Balaain dans la Suite du Merlin et dans ses adaptations, espagnole, le Baladro del sabio Merln, et anglaise, The Tale of king Arthur, de Malory , contribution au 22e Congrs de la Socit Internationale Arthurienne (Rennes, 2008). 1 girt participe pass dun verbe apparent girdle (allemand Grtel, nerlandais gordel) et yard enclos ainsi qu orchard ; au-del, famille du latin hortus. Dans la Suite du roman de Merlin, le verbe utilis est desaindre, deschaindre ; cf. Nicolas Coeteau, Hitoire romaine (1636) : ils rent vu de ne dceindre iamais leurs baudriers quils neuent mont au Capitole Geste symbolique chez Philippe Renusson, Trait de la communaut de biens, o la veuve est dans lobligation de se dceindre et laisser sa ceinture sur la fosse de son mari pour signier quelle renonce sa succession (quand elle surtout constitue de dettes) :

2 had reared a great number of people il faut le redire : nulle part il ny avait darme rgulire, permanente 3 Camelot cf. II, 19 (volet 46) the city of Camelot, that is in English Winchester , armation qui doit tre accueillie avec circonspection 4 as they [pour *them *hem] seemed best et, plus bas, it beseemeth you not a) moyenanglais smen bet, be becoming, suit; b) Le Morte est une bonne illustration du passage progressif de la construction impersonnelle la personnelle, voir I, 19 note 6. 5 the great lady Lile of Avelion le narrateur prend ici, si lon ose dire, le Pire pour un homme, ce qui surprend quand on lit en VII, 26 When Dame Lyonesse was come to the Isle of Avilion, men should come to the Castle Perilous beside the Isle of Avilion, en XXI, 5 for I will

into the vale of Avilion Pour Avalon, le des pommiers, voir p. ex. Franoise Bader, De la prhistoire lidologie tripartie : les travaux dHrakls, in DHrakls Posidon Mythologie et protohistoire par Raymond Bloch (1985), p. 85 note 174 (extrait ; B. Lincoln = Bruce Lincoln) :

Lle dAvalon peut donner lieu diverses interprtations mythologiques quil faut nanmoins prendre avec prcaution , peut-on lire dans Wikipdia (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon) : est-ce pure balourdise (les rdacteurs voulaient dire par consquent ) ou bien indication dun choix interprtatif ? Dans un tout autre ordre dides, Trina K. Dienger, Mordred, Son of Arthur 1 (2011) sappuie sur une prononciation lily de Lile of Avelion, ce qui lui suggre de donner son personnage un teint blme, une blancheur de lys :
She [Nimue] lifted her head and stared at the woman before her. Dressed in a Samite gown, her brown hair cascading down her shoulders, her skin as pale as a lily she knew why they called this woman what they did. Lile of Avelion was called such because she was pale as a lily and because she use [sic2] to be the chief priestess of Avalon. Avelion was said more in mockery when one talked about her.

6 if this be sooth vieil-anglais s (rel ; conforme la ralit ) vrai , cf. soothsayer et to soothe. 7 I may not be delivered of this sword but by a knight motif narratif Recognition by unique ability to dislodge sword Lpreuve qualiante rappelle celle de lpe che dans lenclume, laquelle Arthur doit dtre roi. 8 he must be a passing good man of his hands and of his deeds, and without villainy or treachery, and without treason [version originale : he mute be a paynge good man of hys hondys and of hys dedis and with oute velony oer trechory and with oute treon] note dE. Vinaver :
Trechory is the equivalent of the French tricherie (deceit). The French has sans tricherie et sans trason.
Take it with a grain of salt, dit la quatrime de couverture. Inuence de T. H. White, The Once and Future King. cest lusage prpondrant chez lauteur : He had long gotten use to the words; Im not use to be addressed as Your Highness ; He looked like a man barely in his teens, not the man in his sixties she had been use to ; Bandits dont have qualms with killing, theyre use to it; The way was tough at rst, getting use to the cold water and the hard strokes she had to take ; If something isnt broken, dont x it my papa use to say; Hes not use to having a son, etc. mais this she was comfortable with because she was used to taking control when circumstances were dicult; But was she so biased that talk of a dierent kind than what she was used to upset her?
1 2

 9 by the girdle il sagit dun baudrier (, , balteus ; mais le rapport avec lepee as etranges ranges [XVII, 7, volet 415 : the Sword with the Strange Girdles] est question dinterprtation), non dun simple ceinturon; la demoiselle, me semble-t-il, porte lpe en charpe, en bandoulire. Marc Rolland, professeur lUniversit du LittoralCte-dOpale (ULCO), Le roi Arthur (2007), p. 108 : lorigine survient la cour une Dame qui porte une pe quelle ne peut ni tirer ni ter du baudrier autour de sa taille. [cest moi qui souligne] Middle English Dictionary s. u. girdel [cf. allemand Grtel, nerlandais gordel] :
1. (a) A belt worn around the waist, used for fastening clothes or for carrying a sword, purse, etc.; (b) eken out ~, to stretch the belt, stu ones belly; from ~ to hose, the excretory portion of the body; knitten ~, tie a knot in (ones) girdle; rechen up the ~, submit to fate, die; stif under ~, stout, valiant; underpicchen ~, pad out (ones) girdle, ll ones belly; yeven up the ~, submit (to sb.); (c) g. chastity; also, the Virgin Mary; ~ of lecherie, lechery, Venus girdle; (d) ~ maker, a maker of belts; ~ thred, thread for weaving or sewing belts. 2a. (a) A necklace; a baldric; a belt about the neck or shoulders from which a shield is suspended; (b) a band wrapped about a plant; (c) anything which divides one part from another; the equinoctial; a body of land.

(Cest, bien entendu, moi qui souligne.) 1 (a) correspond donc ceinture : ceinturon , 2a (a) baudrier port en charpe, en bandoulire . 10 Most of all the barons assayed all by row : all est redondant ; almost remonte au vieil-anglais eall(e) mst nearly all, ce qui conviendrait bien ici pour le sens.

Of a damoyell whiche came gyrde with a werde for to fynde a man of uche vertue to drawe it out of the cauberde . Clich The University of Manchester Library, U.K., Rylands Collection; Image Number: JRL022092tr.

Sur le site, lillustration (o la dame doit porter lpe attache la taille, mais ce nest pas probant) , qui provient de la deuxime dition de Le Morte, par Wynkyn de Worde (1498), est lgende : King Arthur leading Guinevere to Camelot, bvue sans consquence. Lpe se porte du ct gauche du corps chez les droitiers ; or la demoiselle porte le fourreau droite, comme si elle tait gauchre, et le personnage reprsentant Balin se sert de sa main gauche pour d-

gainer larme : cela fait beaucoup de gauchers, qui (re)deviennent droitiers si lon met limage en miroir.