ABSTRACT
It is a well known fact that the Gauvain of the Prose Tristan is quite a different figure from the one of the earlier romances, but since so little of this important text is available outside the manuscript rooms of major libraries, it has been until now difficult to support this assertion by quotation. It is the aim of this article to sketch the character of Gauvain in the Prose Tristan by reference to two manuscripts of the romance, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MSS.fr.757 and 772, and if, on occasions, this article seems to consist of a brief statement followed by a lengthy quotation, this is precisely because so little of the text is yet in print. It is hoped that students of Malory will find something of interest here, as well as students of French literature, since the Prose Tristan is one of the sources of Malory’s Book of Sir Tristrem.1 Gauvain’s status in this work is often referred to in critical studies without the possibility of giving a quickly verifiable source, and it is therefore hoped that this article will go some small way to remedy that situation.
