Chapter XXII: Part 22

The special interest of Map lies in the perplexing question of his relation to the Arthurian legend and literature. He is invariably cited as the author of the _Lancelot_ proper (consisting of two parts), the _Queste_ and the _Mort Artus_, all three of which are now generally found in one manuscript under the title of _Lancelot_. The _Mort Artus_, however, we know to be the prose working over of an earlier and independent poem. Sundry manuscripts of the yet more extensive compilation which begins with the _Grand Saint Graal_ also refer to Map as having composed the cycle in conjunction with Robert de Borron, to whom, as a rule, the _Grand Saint Graal_ and _Merlin_ are exclusively assigned. The curious _Merlin_ text, Bibl. Nat. 337 (fonds Français), refers throughout to Map as authority; and the enormous _Lancelot_ codex, B. N. 112, a combination of the _Lancelot_ and the _Tristan_, also couples his name with that of Robert de Borron. In fact it may safely be said that, with the exception of the prose _Tristan_, always attributed either to Luces de Gast, or Hélie de Borron, the authority of Map has been invoked for the entire vast mass of Arthurian prose romantic literature. Now it is practically impossible that one man, and that one an occupier of court and public offices, constantly employed in royal and public business, very frequently travelling abroad (e.g. we know he was at Limoges in 1173; at Rome in 1179; in Anjou in 1183; and at Angers in 1199), could have found the necessary leisure. On this point we have the testimony of his one undoubted work, _De nugis curialium_, which he tells us he composed "by snatches" during his residence at court. _De nugis_ is a comparatively small book; if it were difficult to find leisure for that, much more would it have been difficult to find the time requisite for the composition of one only of the many long-winded romances which have been fathered on Map. Giraldus Cambrensis, with whom he was on most friendly terms, and who frequently refers to and quotes him, records a speech in which Map contrasted Giraldus' labours with his own, apparently to the disadvantage of the latter, "vos scripta dedistis, et nos verba"--a phrase which has been interpreted as meaning that Map himself had produced no literary work. But inasmuch as the _De nugis_ is undoubtedly, and certain satirical poems directed against the loose life of the clergy of the day most probably, his work, the speech must not be taken too literally. It seems difficult also to believe that Map's name should be so constantly connected with our Arthurian tradition without any ground whatever; though it must be admitted that he himself never makes any such claim--the references in the romances are all couched in the third person, and bear no sign of being other than the record by the copyist of a traditional attribution.

A different and very interesting piece of evidence is afforded by the _Ipomedon_ of Hue de Rotelande; in relating how his hero appeared at a tournament three days running, in three different suits of armour, red, black and white, the author remarks,

_Sul ne sai pas de mentir l'art_
_Walter Map reset ben sa part._

This apparently indicated that Map, also, had made himself responsible for a similar story. Now this incident of the "Three Days' Tournament" is found alike in the prose _Lancelot_ and in the German _Lanzelet_, this latter translated from a French poem which, in 1194, was in the possession of Hugo de Morville. The _Ipomedon_ was written somewhere in the decade 1180-1190, and there is no evidence of the prose romance having then been in existence. We have no manuscript of any prose Arthurian romance earlier than the 13th century, to which period Gaston Paris assigned them; they are certainly posterior to the verse romances. Chrétien de Troyes, in his _Cligés_ (the date of which falls somewhere in the decade 1160-1170), knew and utilized the story of the "Three Days' Tournament," and moreover makes Lancelot take part in it. Map was, as we have seen, frequently in France; Chrétien had for patroness Marie, countess of Champagne, step-daughter to Henry II., Map's patron; Map's position was distinctly superior to that of Chrétien. Taking all the evidence into consideration it seems more probable that Map had, at a comparatively early date, before he became so important an official, composed a poem on the subject of Lancelot, which was the direct source of the German version, and which Chrétien also knew and followed.

The form in which certain of the references to him are couched favours
the above view; the compiler of _Guiron le Cortois_ says in his
prologue that "_maistre Gautier Map qui fu clers au roi Henry--devisa
cil l'estoire de monseigneur Lancelot du Lac, que d'autre chose ne
parla il mie gramment en son livre_"; and in another place he refers
to Map, "_qui fit lou propre livre de monsoingnour Lancelot dou Lac_."
Now only during the early part of his career could Map fairly be
referred to as simple "_clers au roi Henry_," and both extracts
emphasize the fact that his work dealt, almost exclusively, with
Lancelot. Neither of these passages would fit the prose romance, as we
know it, but both might well suit the lost French source of the
_Lanzelet_; where we are in a position to compare the German versions
of French romances with their originals we find, as a rule, that the
translators have followed their source faithfully.

One of the references to Map's works in the _Merlin_ manuscript above
referred to (B.N. 337) has an interesting touch not found elsewhere.
After saying how Map translated the romance from the Latin at the
bidding of King Henry, the usual statement, the scribe adds "_qui
riche loier l'en dona_." It is of course possible that Map's rise at
court may have been due to his having hit the literary taste of the
monarch, who, we know, was interested in the Arthurian tradition, but
it must be admitted that direct evidence on the subject is practically
nil, and that in the present condition of our knowledge we can only
advance possible hypotheses.

See art. "Map" in _Dict. Nat. Biog. De nugis curialium_ and the
_Latin Poems attributed to Map_ have been edited for the Camden
Society by T. Wright (1841). For discussion of his authorship of the
_Lancelot_ cf. _The Three Days' Tournament_, Grimm Library XV. See
also under LANCELOT. The passages relating to Map cited above have
been frequently quoted by scholars, e.g. Hucher, _Le Grand Saint
Graal_; Paulin Paris, _Romans de la Table Ronde_; Alfred Nutt,
_Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail_. (J. L. W.)