Old and Young Knights of the Meadow


The old knight, rich lord of all the people we see sporting in the meadow, appears to be an elegant, prudent, and in some ways easy going personality. He swears by the faith he owes Saint Peter, which suggests some special allegiance to that apostle and might contain particular relevance if this romance is indeed a secularization of medieval afterlife stories. (Meliagrant also swears by Saint Peter.)

As Chrétien's translator D.D.R. Owen point out, the old knight's argumet with his son regarding the inadvisability of fighting Lancelot foreshadows King Bademagu's similar arguments with Meliagrant in the same romance; the "Old Knight of the Meadow", unlike Bademagu, prevails upon his offspring.


See also
Portia | The Legend of King Arthur