So I can’t help but to
notice that this is written similarly to the Bible. Now, I tried to do some research on when and
what style Bibles were written in 10th century France, but I found
so many different answers (as one often does with a quick Google search) that I
did not have much success. Rather, I was
left more confused than anything else.
But I do know that some of the passages in “Enec and Enide” remind me of
some excerpts in the book of Genesis in an NIV version of a Bible. Mainly the lists and the “this is what I’m
going to tell you” attitude. Chrétien
says things like “The others I shall name in no particular order because the
ranking embarrasses me” (22). One long paragraph is dedicated to naming all the
knights at the Round Table. I know it’s
important somehow, but I couldn’t come up with a definitive reason why we need
to know the ranks of these barons. I
guessed it was to establish the importance of rankings, but I’m still not
sure. All this did for me was slow down
the story and bore me to death.
The next time he does
this he says, “Now listen to me. I am going to tell you who the kings and the
counts were” (24). Then he goes on to
ramble FOR AN ENTIRE PAGE about all these kings and counts who have no actual
importance to the story, except for emphasizing the importance of Erec’s
wedding. This especially reminds me of
the book of Genesis, where it proceeds to go on for pages about the genealogy
past Adam and Eve. Among hundreds of
names, you really only hear a handful of them in the rest of the 65 books. The situation is not so drastic here, but it’s
the same idea. And one reason why I have
to admit that I skimmed over a lot of those parts.
Now, the question that
lingers is why establish all this importance if we’re not really meant to care
about these people, no matter their rank in Court? Maybe the goal is to elevate
Erec? Many times he is held in high regard, such as this:
Such was Erec’s renown
that everyone talked of none but him.
There was no man of such noble excellence. In beauty he resembled Absalom, and in
eloquence, Solomon. He had the pride of
a lion. And in generosity he was the
equal of Alexander (29).
Hmm…more biblical references. I think this would be an interesting thing to
examine.
I definitely thought that the story slowed everything down. I was somewhat bored throughout, but there was something else I noticed that I thought was interesting. The idea of the Knights actually caring about their honor as men was surprising because not that many people would think they would care, because they are Knights, but that was also an interesting aspect.
ReplyDeleteI see what you guys mean, it was a slow...I don't necessarily think it was that boring...but yes slow. I do think the mentions of ranks were to elevate Erec like you suggested though. BecUse other than that, I don't see why it was relevant to talk about.
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