saint Graal. A noncyclic and highly elaborated version of the Perceval story is found in
the early 13th-century Perlesvaus, a tale that mixes familiar exploits of Gawain,
Lancelot, and Perceval with political intrigue and savage bloodshed.
The Vulgate Merlin, characterized by a historical “suite” that details Arthur’s military
successes under Merlin’s guidance, is rewritten with a more fanciful “suite” in the Post-
Vulgate Roman du Graal (ca. 1230–40). Formerly known as the Pseudo-Robert de Boron
Cycle, this corpus contains a remodeled Vulgate Estoire, Queste, and Mort Artu, portions
of the Vulgate Lancelot, and the revised Merlin (known as the Huth Merlin).
Dating from the second and third quarters of the 13th century, the Prose Tristan
expands the earlier Grail narratives by adding to the world of Arthur’s knights King
Marc, his wife, Iseut, and nephew, Tristan. Another character introduced here is
Palamedes, who also appears in a prose romance called either Palamedes, Meliadus, or
Guiron le Courtois. This romance, which predates the cyclic version of the Prose Tristan,
chronicles the deeds of an older Arthurian generation, following the fathers of Palamedes,
Arthur, Tristan, and Erec. In the 14th century, the Middle French Perceforest details the
pre-Arthurian history of Britain from the time of Alexander the Great, including the
arrival of Joseph of Arimathea in Britain and incidents involving the Holy Grail.
E.Jane Burns
[See also: ARTHURIAN COMPILATIONS; GRAIL AND GRAIL ROMANCES;
PERCEFOREST; PERLESVAUS; POST-VULGATE ROMANCE; PROSE TRISTAN;
ROBERT DE BORON; VULGATE CYCLE]
Bogdanow, Fanni, ed. La Queste del Saint Graal et la Mort Artu Post-Vulgate, Troisième partie du
Roman du Graal. Paris: Didot, 1991.
Curtis, Renée L., ed. Le roman de Tristan en prose. 3 vols. Munich: Hueber, 1963 (Vol. 1); Leiden:
Brill, 1976 (Vol. 2); Cambridge: Brewer, 1985 (Vol. 3).
Frappier, Jean, ed. La mort le roi Artu: roman du XIIIe siècle. Geneva: Droz, 1954.
Guiron le Courtoys. Paris: Vérard, 1501; repr. with intro by Cedric E.Pickford. London: Scolar,
1980.
Hucher, Eugène, ed. Le Saint-Graal. 3 vols. Le Mans: Monnoyer, 1875–78.
Ménard, Philippe, et al., eds. Le roman de Tristan en prose. Geneva, Droz, 1987-. (5 vols. to date).
Micha, Alexandre, ed. Lancelot: roman en prose du XIIIe siècle. 9 vols. Geneva: Droz, 1978–83.
Nitze, William A. and T.Atkinson Jenkins, eds. Le haut livre du Graal: Perlesvaus. 2 vols.
Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1932–37.
Pauphilet, Albert, ed. La Queste del Saint Graal Paris: Champion, 1923.
Roussineau, Gilles, ed. Troisième partie du roman de Perceforest. 3 vols. Geneva: Droz, 1988–93.
——, ed. Perceforest, quatrième partie. 2 vols. Geneva: Droz, 1987.
Taylor, Jane H.M., ed. Le Roman de Perceforest, première partie. Geneva: Droz, 1979.
PROSE TRISTAN
. Composed ca. 1230, the Prose Tristan, with all its successive versions in numerous
manuscripts and 15th-century printed editions, is nothing less than a summa of the Matter
of Britain. A highly developed technique of compilation in effect led to the progressive
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