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100 the door of which is broken open by his indignant knights, who insist upon knowing the reason of his accusation, is found in B.N. 12577; 794; 1453; and Mons. This latter version seems to me an unintelligent expansion of that in our text. Arthur’s desire is to incite his knights to the rescue of their comrade, not to heap unnecessary insult upon them. The fact that here Ywain is specially coupled with Gawain should be noted. Ywain is one of the earliest of Arthurian heroes, appearing in the chronicles; whenever we find him in a position of importance there is at least the possibility that we are dealing with the survival of an early and genuine Arthurian tradition.

15.—Now will I tell ye their names. The list of knights taking part in the expedition varies somewhat in the different texts. It is noteworthy that Lancelot is occasionally omitted, and that nowhere does he hold a prominent position. This group of stories was manifestly composed at a period when that hero was still practically unknown to Arthurian tradition.

16.—One day the king came forth from a very great forest. An English version of the adventure which follows will be found in Sir Frederick Madden’s ‘Syr Gawayne,’ under the title of ‘Kay and the Spit.’

25.—The tale is here over long. Throughout the whole section devoted by Wauchier to the Gawain in contradistinction to the Perceval adventures, there are constant references to the length and importance of the ‘grand conte’ of which they formed a part. There are numerous ‘Perilous Cemeteries’ in Arthurian romance, e.g. there is one in the prose Lancelot, which Hector and Gawain attempt, and are worsted: another in Perilleus, and a third forms the subject of a special poem, ‘L’Atre Perilleus.’ Of this last Gawain is the hero. There is s cemetery connected with the adventure of the Chapel of the Black Hand, and one in the Queste. It is impossible to determine the tale to which the compiler here alludes.