Roman de Méliadus
France, c. 1230–1240
Corpus Christi College, MS Ferrell 5, f. 125r
Northern Italy (Bologna–Padua), first half of the fourteenth century
Vellum, 360 x 235 mm (261 x 160 mm), III + 288 + III ff.
The Roman de Méliadus is one of the three core narratives of the Guiron le Courtois cycle, and tells of the adventures of Tristan’s father, King Méliadus. The manuscript is open at the centre of the romance. Méliadus has fallen in love with the Queen of Scotland and has composed for her a beautiful lai (‘song’), in which he declares that his love for her is so powerful that ‘tenuz sui comme le cerf […] a cui sont trenchié li nerf’ (‘I am captured like a stag whose nerves have been severed’), f. 125ra, ll. 10–12. Incorporation of songs or verse epistles into both prose and verse romances was frequent in medieval Old French narratives, and provides evidence of the genre’s constant innovation.
The James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell Collection.
Roman de Méliadus
France, c. 1230–1240
Corpus Christi College, MS Ferrell 5, f. 125r
Northern Italy (Bologna–Padua), first half of the fourteenth century
Vellum, 360 x 235 mm (261 x 160 mm), III + 288 + III ff.
The Roman de Méliadus is one of the three core narratives of the Guiron le Courtois cycle, and tells of the adventures of Tristan’s father, King Méliadus, and the early years of Arthur’s reign up to his first victory against the Saxons. The manuscript is open at the centre of the romance. Méliadus has fallen in love with the Queen of Scotland and has composed for her a beautiful lai (‘song’), in which he declares that his love for her is so powerful that ‘tenuz sui comme le cerf […] a cui sont trenchié li nerf’ (‘I am captured like a stag whose nerves have been severed’), f. 125ra, ll. 10–12.
Incorporation of songs or verse epistles into both prose and verse romances was frequent in medieval Old French narratives, and provides evidence of the genre’s constant innovation and forward thinking. Often such inclusions were marked on the page by paratextual means, using, for example, rubrics and/or decoration to visually highlight the difference in the textual typology. In Ferrell 5, each four-lined stanza begins with a decorated initial in blue and red. These initials are clearly differentiated from the initials that mark the different chapters of the prose, thus reflecting in its visual presentation the way in which prose and verse work together yet are delineated as different genres performing different functions.
The text of the romance is followed by a long continuation, most of which is transmitted by this manuscript alone. It has been on deposit in the Parker Library since 2005.
The James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell Collection.
