Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/72

44 Iwain (Owain), on hearing this tale, departs by stealth to essay the same adventure. More successful than his predecessor, he deals the knight a mortal wound, and, though his horse is cut in half by a falling portcullis, and himself entrapped at the entrance, makes his way into the knight's palace. He is enabled to do so by the maid Lunete (Luned), who gives him a ring rendering him invisible and afterwards pleads his cause with her mistress Laudine (the Countess of the Fountain). Twain (Owain) now weds the widow of the knight and undertakes to defend the fountain in his stead.

Arthur and his knights next come to the fountain. Kay (Kai) is deputed to attempt the combat, but is overthrown by Iwain (Owain). The latter reveals himself, and invites Arthur and the knights to a feast in the castle of Laudine (the Countess of the Fountain).

When Arthur leaves, she allows Iwain (Owain) to leave with him, but only on condition that he shall return within a year (three months). Forgetful of this condition, he overstays his time. A damsel rides up, abuses him, and carries off his ring. He roams in the wilderness, living the life of a beast. A lady with her damsels finds him exhausted on the ground and heals him by means of a magic ointment. In return he frees her from a powerful foe.

He sees a serpent and a lion fighting in a forest, slays the serpent, and thereby secures the services of the lion. He finds Lunete (Luned) imprisoned for taking his part and condemned to be burned next day (in two days' time). He seeks lodging for the night in a neighbouring castle, beset by a giant of the mountain, who threatens to carry off the lord's sons or his daughter. Iwain (Owain) and the lion slay this giant. They then hasten on and rescue Lunete (Luned) by fighting and destroying her adversaries. Iwain (Owain) finally returns with Lunete (Luned) to Laudine (the Countess of the Fountain).

Prof. A. C. L. Brown has gone far towards proving that the whole of this romance is based on a Celtic folk-tale of the Fairy Mistress type. He holds that the first half of the romance, down to the point at which Iwain (Owain) is cured by the magic ointment, reproduces a Celtic original comparable with The Sick-bed of Cuchulain (Serglige Conculaind), and that the second half of the romance similarly rests on a Celtic tale resembling The Wooing of Emer (Torchmarc Emere), in which a lion guides and carries Cuchulain on his way