Fair Unknown

The Old French form is actually , rendered in Middle English as the . While "The Fair Unknown" may be the modern English translation of Li Biaus Descouneüs (modern ), == Plotline ==

Guinglain is the eventually-revealed Baptism name of the title character in Le Bel Inconnu, a 6266 line French poem by Renaut de Beaujeu, completed some time after 1191 and before 1212/13, which survive in the unique Chantilly, Bibliothèque du Château/Musée Condé, MS. 472. The name is withheld until midpoint into the poem after he completes the quest of the kiss (cf. ), this delay being a deliberate ploy by the author to enhance the dramatic effect. The king sends out to discover the youth's name, but the youth cannot provide what he does not know, and he is given the nickname "Fair Unknown".). No knight seems willing, when the youth requests that his promised bonn be permission to accept this adventure. Arthur at first tries to dissuade, fearing it may be too dangerous, but relents, after enlisting the youth as a knights of his court. Helie however is unhappy with the choice of an unproven knight, "the worst rather than best". In the Middle English version, the messenger named Elene (Elaine) also complains that a child has been assigned to the task. Side-adventures But the youth will have the chance to prove himself in a number of adversarial encounters and adventures before arriving at the main quest in Wales. In the journey, he will be accompanied by Helie, her dwarf, and the squire named Robert assigned to the Bel Inconnu by the king. Maiden Blanches Mains at Ile d'Or The most significant of the side-quests is his aiding The Maiden of the White Hands (), foiling the plans of her unwanted suitor Malgier le Gris ("Malgier the Grey") by defeating and killing him. The victory earns him the title to this kingdom and claim to wed the Maid himself, and they are enamored of each other. The Bel Inconnu overspends his time here in leisurely amorous idleness (recreantise), but leaves abruptly upon remembering his main quest/adventure, to complete his obligation to the Welsh princess. The Maiden of the White Hands is also called at one point "Lady of the White Hands" (), whom he had succored earlier. After completing his main quest, he will have a chance to revisit the Pucelle to apologise for his abrupt departure after their initial acquaintance, and she will then reveal she had been aiding him all along using her magical powers. Serpent's kiss Arriving in Wales, Bel Inconnu accomplishes the "Fearsome Kiss" () namely, the ordeal of breaking an evil enchanter's spell by exchanging a "kiss" with a serpent and causing it to transform back into a woman's form. This dispelling of the snake-woman's curse is common to the BI and the LD, and also occurs in (the second cantare of) Carduino. In Le Bel Inconnu, the serpent or rather guivre (cog. wyvern) draws near and kisses him. who had been transformed by two magicians into the shape of a serpent with a woman's face. the hero's amour, Lady of the White Hands, or the Fairy of the Ile d'Or (cf. ), later reveals it was actually her own voice that informed him of his name, after he despatched the enchanter Mabon (cf. ). Messenger and enchanters The names of the female messengers and the enchanters imprisoning the ladies are similar in the Old French and Middle English versions. The acceptance of the ordeal of the "Fearsome Kiss" is beseeched at the beginning of the tale by a female messenger arriving at Arthur's court, namely Hélie, the lady-in-waiting serving the princess Blonde Esmerée in the BI. The female messenger is named Elene in the LD, and in both works she is accompanied by a dwarf. There are two men with power to cast and remove the serpent enchantment; in the BI, an elder brother named Mabon (), and the younger, a knight named Evrain the Cruel (). In the LD, the captors are named Mabon and Irain. Wedding of Bel Inconnu When the Bel Inconnu rescues the princess and out of gratitude, she offers herself to him in marriage. However, had already been proposed marriage by the Maiden of the White Hands. The Bel Inconnu is having his reunion with the Pucelle à Blanches Mains when King Arthur holds a tournament with the intent to lure Gingalain back to court—and to steer his decision of marriage more towards the newly crowned Queen of Wales. In joining the tournament, Gingalain would have to forfeit his love for Pucelle and never see her again. He decides to join the tournament regardless of the sacrifices he would have to make. Pucelle altruistically offers to aid him with her powers; she transports him out of her castle with a horse, a squire, and armour to be able to join the tournament. This magical send-off by the Blanches Mains is regarded by Bel Inconnu to be a gesture of final break-up and rejection, and he winds up marrying the Blonde Esmeree, as was arranged for him to do. Dilemma or no Although both women are enamored with the hero, the Fair Unknown's heart lies with the Blanches Mains and he is only tepidly interested in the Blonde Esmerée. But circumstances conspire otherwise. The Fair Unknown, having abruptly left the Blanches Mains's company to tackle his main quest rescuing the Blond Esmerée, is later reunited with the Blanches Mains and is forgiven; but when the Blanches Mains helps him with her magic to attend Arthur's tournament (cf. ), he interprets this as her jilting him, and accepts Arthur's design to keep him at his court, relenting to his matchmaking with Esmerée the Queen of Gales as wife. Yet the readership's expectation to grant Fair Unknown his requited love for the enchantress is addressed by the poet in the very end, in a tantalizing and frustrating manner, for he quips that he would be willing to compose such a sequel, if only his Fair Lady were to grant him with a "favorable glance ()". This "naughty ending" has disappointed modern critics, who even accused him of flippancy on a sober romantic theme. As for the Middle English Libeaus Desconus, Schofield categorically pronounced the hero "marries the disenchanted lady gladly. He has no desire for anyone else. Contrarily, however, modern commentating explains that Chestre's hero also dilly-dallies (recreantise) for a long while at the Ile d'Ore and "experiences the interrelations of knightly prowess and love" with the enchantress, there named the Dame Amoure (''dame d'amour''). (Additional comparative analyses are made under ) == French variants ==

Beausdous The character's adventures were later retold in Robert de Blois's Beausdous (third quarter of 13th century). Gliglois There is also the French romance Gliglois, reconstructed from a (destroyed) 13th-century manuscript. However, it may not actually belong to the Bel Inconnu cycle. Prose version There is a prose rendering by Claude Platin (1530) entitled Hystoire de Giglan et de Geoffroy de Maience. It admixes the story of Arthurian knight Jaufre known from Provençal romance by the same title. == French hypothetical source ==

During the 19th century into the 20th, there was a plurality of scholars favoring the opinion that there was a lost original French version which was the common source for both Renaut's Bel Inconnu and the English Libeaus. The view was held by Gaston Paris, Albert Mennung, William Henry Schofield, and Emmanuel Philipot, with Max Kaluza who edited the LD named as detractor. However, modern Arthurian reference material sides with Kaluza, describing the English work as an adaptation of Renaut, though Chestre in crafting his Middle English version may have had recourse to multiple sources. Schofield, whose works was most influential, also felt that a version of the Perceval/Peredur tale has been blended in. That the BI had borrowed material from Erec et Enide as suggested by Mennung, and later extensively demonstrated by Schofield, is a point that is affirmed by recent authorities. == Cognate tales in other languages ==

There are cognate versions of the tale in English, Italian, and German. The Middle English version Libeaus Desconus (LD, of 2232 lines) by Thomas Chestre is arguably an adaptation from Renauts the Bel Inconnu (BI), The basic plot is shared between the Bel Inconnu, the Libeas Desconus, Carduino, and Wigalois. in the youth or enfance segment of the work. The youth aims his travel to where Arthur holds his court which the Englishman places at Glastonbury. Arthur's court also differs in other versions, Camelot in Carduino, and Karidôl (Carlisle) in Wigalois. In the French version, the hero learns his identity via a supernatural voice in his head, as described above in . This has been argued to be vaguely paralleled in the German Wigalois version, according to some commentators, where the hero after fighting a dragon (unconnected with the enchanter), wakes from unconsciousness, finding himself stripped naked by robbers and not knowing his whereabouts, but is able to verify his own presence of mind, being able to recall that his mother was Queen Floriê of Syria and his father Gâwein. However, this he already knew, and this was not the moment of revelation. Le Bel Inconnu is accompanied by a squire named Robert. However, in the LD, Carduino, and Wigalois, no obvious figure corresponding to this squire, which is taken as corroborative key evidence by Schofield and others that the Middle English version is based on some simpler original French version (unlike Renaud's which is padded with additional material such as the squire). == Literary archetype ==

The Fair Unknown style motif (variably described as literary tradition, story type, pattern, or theme) was a highly popular general trope within the medieval chivalric romance genre in both verse and prose. As such, the tale of Gingalain is more or less similar to the stories or backstories of several Knights of the Round Table, including Gareth, Lancelot, Perceval, and La Cote Mal Taile. The hidden identity constitutes a mystery or enigma element common to other medieval writings, including Arthurian literature, e.g., the Green Knight == Explanatory notes ==