A French narrative poet of the twelfth century had three
categories of subject-matter from which to choose: legends
connected with the history of France ("matiere de France"),
legends connected with Arthur and other Celtic heroes ("matiere
de Bretagne"), and stories culled from the history or mythology
of Greece and Rome, current in Latin and French translations
("matiere de Rome la grant"). Chretien tells us in "Cliges" that
his first essays as a poet were the translations into French of
certain parts of Ovid's most popular works: the "Metamorphoses",
the "Ars Amatoria", and perhaps the "Remedia Amoris". But he
appears early to have chosen as his special field the stories of
Celtic origin dealing with Arthur, the Round Table, and other
features of Celtic folk-lore. Not only was he alive to the
literary interest of this material when rationalised to suit the
taste of French readers; his is further the credit of having
given to somewhat crude folk-lore that polish and elegance which
is peculiarly French, and which is inseparably associated with
the Arthurtan legends in all modern literature. Though Beroul,
and perhaps other poets, had previously based romantic poems upon
individual Celtic heroes like Tristan, nevertheless to Chretien,
so far as we can see, is due the considerable honour of having
constituted Arthur's court as a literary centre and rallying-
point for an innumerable company of knights and ladies engaged in
a never-ending series of amorous adventures and dangerous quests.
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