Les nains dans la litterature arthurienne francaise du moyen age
Institution:
Paris 4Disciplines:
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Abstract EN:
This research is a compilation and a study of french arthurian dwarves from the end of the twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth. It is a attempt to show that a great part of their origin is drawn from creatures belonging to folklore itself, namely : goblins. They inherited from them their numerous and strange abilities which are a remnants of magic powers. However, the arthurian dwarf may have appeared in literature only because of the controversy held against real court dwarves. Indeed, the feudal society of the twelfth century in europe as a whole, seems to have disapproved of the privileged position they held close to princes. A topical subject, the dwarf attracted public interest, and this picturesque character soon became indispensable to novelists. The fashion for dwarveswhich reached its climax in the second quarter of the thirteenth century-was such, that they vanished from chivalric literature with the genre itself.
Abstract FR:
Cette recherche recense et etudie les nains arthuriens francais de la fin du xiie siecle jusqu'a celle du xive. Elle veut montrer qu'ils tirent une bonne part d'eux-memes d'une famille d'etres du folklore nommes lutins. Ils tiennent d'eux leurs nombreuses aptitudes, restes d'anciens pouvoirs magiques. Mais le nain arthurien n'apparut peut-etre dans la litterature qu'a cause de la polemique dont les reels nains de cour faisaient l'objet : la societe feodale europeenne du xiie siecle dans son ensemble parait avoir reprouve leur presence aupres des grands. Sujet d'actualite, le nain interessa le public. Pittoresque personnage, il devint vite indispensable aux romanciers. Sa vogue, qui culmina dans le deuxieme quart du xiiie siecle, fut telle qu'il ne disparut du roman de chevalerie qu'avec ce genre litteraire lui-meme.