The Knight with the Lion (pg. 324-353)

1. Gawain’s speech convinces Yvain to leave home and participate in several tourneys across the lands.  Gawain feels it is imperative for Yvain to keep up his knight status alive and well. Yvain, feeling pressured to go, strikes up an agreement with Laudine. The agreement states that after a year (eight days after the feast of Saint John) Yvain must return or all of her love for him will dissipate into hatred. I find this agreement a nice compromise on Laudine’s part. Firstly, the only reason Laudine married Yvain was for the protection if the enchanted tree and spring. With Yvain being gone for a year, it allows time for people to attack. Secondly, they are freshly married and have not had a honeymoon time. The love is young and new, and they are in the stage where they want to be together all the time. The fact that Laudine proposed this agreement actually surprises me, and gives me insight into her character. If I were Yvain, I would accept this agreement in a heartbeat.

2.  Yvain’s shame is the fact that it is nearly twice the amount allotted for him to be away, and he has not returned to the woman who holds his heart. The build up employed by Chrétien is the fact that Yvain was in courts with others who had their partners but he was alone. Up until this point it is an accepted fact that the entire two years that he was gone Yvain was winning his tournaments and has not thought of Laudine despite his tearful goodbye.

3. Yvain reacts to Laudine’s messenger with great distress. He just had a revelation about the amount of time he had spent away, and the dismaying news of Laudine’s hatred of him. I think Yvain is still in love Laudine and she still possesses his heart. The news of Laudine new emotions causes a mental breakdown and forces Yvain to run into the wild like a crazy person. He is tearing at himself and does not remember the things he does. I believe the cause of this is the ring missing from Yvain’s ring which was supposed to keep him in good health, hence keep him from heartache. Now that the ring is gone he is acting much like Laudine when her lover was killed, and Yvain was mysteriously wearing the ring. The changes in Yvain show the ways love can drive a person mad. The cure was an ointment provide by a “mysterious” lady. I believe the damsel who helped him was Lunette, the one who aided Yvain earlier in the novel.

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