Book Six of The Faerie Queene deals with the complexities of courtesy in a socially changing world. Calidore, the protagonist of Book Six, sets out to defeat the Blatant Beast, the chief enemy of courtesy, but abandons his quest midway through the book in order to live the shepherds’ life. Despite the ethical ambiguity associated with Calidore’s abandoning his quest, this pastoral setting should enable him to deepen his understanding of the nature and practice of courtesy. However, Calidore is unable to grow, and the poet essentially gives up on his own poetic quest.

Book Six of The Faerie Queene deals with the complexities of courtesy in a socially changing world. Calidore, the protagonist of Book Six, sets out to defeat the Blatant Beast, the chief enemy of courtesy, but abandons his quest midway through the book in order to live the shepherds’ life. Despite the ethical ambiguity associated with Calidore’s abandoning his quest, this pastoral setting should enable him to deepen his understanding of the nature and practice of courtesy. However, Calidore is unable to grow, and the poet essentially gives up on his own poetic quest.

This dissertation investigates the links between Chrétien de Troyes’ romance Le Chevalier au lion from the late twelfth century and the Old Swedish text Herr Ivan, written at the behest of Queen Eufemia of Norway at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The study has two parts. The first sets out to determine the sources of the Swedish text: Was Le Chevalier au lion really the source text of Herr Ivan? The second part raises the question of what happened to the courtly ideals that characterize the French romance when they were transferred into Swedish. The analysis of the question concerning the sources of Herr Ivan confirms that Le Chevalier au lion was the translator’s main source, while the Old Norse version Ívens saga, from the middle of the thirteenth century, was used as a secondary source. The relationship between Le Chevalier au lion, Ívens saga and Herr Ivan is examined through a comparison of the three texts: the choice of verse or prose, the role of prologues and epilogues, and the use of the voice of a narrator and of direct and indirect discourse. Four specific passages are compared at a micro-level. By comparing Herr Ivan to its sources, it becomes clear that the Swedish translator wanted to stress certain courtly ideals by presenting a distinct and coherent interpretation of what Chrétien de Troyes refers to as courtoisie. This indicates that the function of the text was to present a set of ideological and aesthetic values. The analysis of the transmission of courtly ideals takes its point of departure in the uses of the French word courtois and the Swedish equivalent hövisker. As a next step, three elements intimately linked to courtliness are examined: aventure, gaieté and honneur. Also the different roles played by the lion are highlighted. Finally, it is shown how the courtly ideals of Herr Ivan can be read in the light of the other Old Swedish texts written at the behest of Queen Eufemia: Hertig Fredrik av Normandie and Flores och Blanzeflor.

La société médiévale accorde une importance particulière à la vérité. La foi en un Dieu omniscient dont le Verbe est vérité garantit cette attitude : pensées et paroles se doivent d’être cohérentes et dénuées de fausseté. Les situations mensongères, nombreuses dans les récits courtois, vont à l’encontre de cette exigence morale. Elles remettent en cause le monde idéal et volontiers manichéen de la littérature courtoise, brouillant les oppositions nettes entre dissimulation et révélation, hypocrisie et sincérité. La dimension généralement discursive du mensonge interroge le travail de l’auteur à une époque où la littérature romane prend conscience de ses enjeux. La question du langage et de son adéquation à la vérité est notamment au cœur des préoccupations. Le statut de la fiction, plus problématique encore, entraîne par ailleurs une tension entre la revendication constante de l’authenticité du récit et la fictionnalisation de la figure de l’auteur, moins poète que conteur. / In Medieval society the truth was held in the highest esteem. The belief in an omniscient God whose Word is truth guarantees this conviction: thoughts and speeches must be coherent and free of falsehood. The deceptive situations, abundant in courtly narratives are a direct contradiction of this moral call. They challenge the ideal and gladly Manichean world of courtly literature, blurring the clear oppositions between dissimulation and revelation, hypocrisy and sincerity. The usually discursive aspect of lie questions the author’s work in a period where the Romanic literature becomes aware of its stakes. The matter of language and its adequacy with truth is a fundamental concern. Furthermore, the status of fiction, even more troublesome, gives way to a constant tension between the authenticity of the narrative and the fictionalisation of the author figure, appearing less a poet and more a storyteller.