ABSTRACT
the first fitt, after engrossing the reader in the fictional world of Camelot, ended with a movement of withdrawal, the author stepping in between reader and fiction to address .his hero; and two stanzas of the second fitt pass before we are restored to the court at Camelot. 1 There is, first of all, a passage of summary and comment (ll. 491-9) in which the author turns from hero to audience, directing their attention back to what has gone before, then forward to what will follow. The passage, though short, has several noteworthy features. The first lines This hanselle hatƷ Arthur of auenturus on fyrst In Ʒonge Ʒer, for he Ʒerned Ʒelpyng to here (491–2)
