![]() ![]() It is true that there are certain parallels between the adventures of Perceval and Gawain which do something to bridge the gap between the two parts, but I imagine that Chrétien had planned something more obvious to tie things up nicely. Presumably Chrétien would have brought the two storylines together at some point, providing a more satisfying artistic unity to the work. ![]() ![]() For several thousand lines the story jumps back and forth between the two knights, but the last third of the (truncated) poem is devoted entirely to Gawain, the titular knight having been apparently forgotten. The story initially follows Perceval but switches, at roughly the half-way mark, to follow the adventures of Gawain. The incomplete poem is structurally awkward. It is a work which, despite moments of endearing humour, sustains a more solemn and mysterious tone than was typical in his earlier works. Even the truncated version we have, which shows no signs of nearing completion, is, at over 9200 lines, about 30% longer than his other poems. ![]() Like Lancelotit was left unfinished at his death, which is a great pity, for it was undoubtedly his most ambitious work. Perceval was the fifth and last of Chrétien’s great Arthurian romances. Translated from the Old French by Burton Raffel ![]()
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