authorship is questioned by some. It is aside from the Arthurian
material, and there is no clue to its place in the evolution of
Chretien's art, if indeed it be his work.

A few words must be devoted to Chretien's place in the history of
mediaeval narrative poetry. The heroic epic songs of France,
devoted either to the conflict of Christendom under the
leadership of France against the Saracens, or else to the strife
and rivalry of French vassals among themselves, had been current
for perhaps a century before our poet began to write. These
epic poems, of which some three score have survived, portray a
warlike, virile, unsentimental feudal society, whose chief
occupation was fighting, and whose dominant ideals were faith in
God, loyalty to feudal family ties, and bravery in battle.
Woman's place is comparatively obscure, and of love-making there
is little said. It is a poetry of vigorous manhood, of
uncompromising morality, and of hard knocks given and taken for
God, for Christendom, and the King of France. This poetry is
written in ten- or twelve- sylabble verses grouped, at first in
assonanced, later in rhymed, "tirades" of unequal length. It was
intended for a society which was still homogeneous, and to it at
the outset doubtless all classes of the population listened with
equal interest. As poetry it is monotonous, without sense of
proportion, padded to facilitate memorisation by professional
reciters, and unadorned by figure, fancy, or imagination. Its
pretention to historic accuracy begot prosaicness in its approach
to the style of the chronicles. But its inspiration was noble,
its conception of human duties was lofty. It gives a realistic
portrayal of the age which produced it, the age of the first
crusades, and to this day we would choose as our models of