APPENDIX III

TIME OCCUPIED IN THE IDYLLS OF THE KING

IN a poem like Tennyson's it is not very important to determine the time occupied by the action, but it may be worth while to note what data there are.

The two

There it

capital passages occur in Lancelot and Elaine.
is stated that the heathen had sacked Astolat ten years
before,1 the old lord adding,

"Dull days were those, till our good Arthur broke
The Pagan yet once more on Badon hill." 2

Again, eight of the nine yearly tournaments for the diamond
prize are already past at the beginning of this Idyll, and
the ninth is about to take place, which will complete the
nine years' proof contemplated by the King. It is not
expressly stated that those nine years begin shortly after
the commencement of his reign; we are only told that he
found the diamond crown before he was king, and that
afterwards "when king" he devoted the jewels to this
purpose; but taking the two passages in conjunction this
seems the natural inference. Ten years before, the heathen
hosts were still engaged in their ravages, nine years before
the King could announce the institution of the yearly jousts.
It is not very rash to put his enthronement and his wars
1 Lancelot and Elaine, 278.
2 Ibid. 285.
3 Ibid. 56.

with Rome and the Heathen, referred to in The Coming of Arthur, some ten years previous to the events of this Idyll.

Gareth and Lynette must not be considered to follow the date of the introductory poem too closely. There are doubtless several indications that it falls fairly soon in the mythic reign. Such are Gareth's references to Arthur's wars as in the immediate past, the whole tone of the passage points to the occurrences as recent,1—the violence that prevails quite near the King's own seat, above all the bright hopefulness of the story. On the other hand there are hints that make the earliness of the date only relative. Thus Tristram is mentioned as a knight of the Round Table,2 and we learn from The Last Tournament that he came late, and sware but by the shell."3 Thus Gawain who, in The Coming of Arthur, is a wild lad who flies at all he sees, is now a "a proven knight"5; his junior Modred, described in the Coming as "young Modred," is also a knight, and the story is of a younger brother than either. All this implies a lapse of some years since the coronation. The Idyll itself occupies more than a month.

66

Each

The continued violence in the land (though now it is more distant from the court) and the happy close, suggest also a comparatively early date for the next poems in the series, The Marriage of Geraint and Geraint and Enid. Otherwise they contain little that may place them. Idyll occupies only a few days, but there is about a year's interval between their main incidents, Enid uttering her self-accusing words on a summer morn,' "6 and their marriage having taken place "last Whitsuntide."7

considerable advance of time; not necessarily since the preceding idylls, but since the opening of the reign. It is said of Arthur, that

"One fair dawn,

The light-wing'd spirit of his youth return'd," 1

as though his younger days were past. Moreover Balin, like Tristram, was a late comer, for he moans: "Well had I foughten-well-in those fierce wars," etc., and from the time when he was first knighted till the opening of the poem three years and three months have elapsed-the "three brief moons of his stay at court, and the "three kingless years "4 of exile. The tragic end, and the bewrayal of their love by Lancelot and the Queen, should also be noted. Still this Idyll should not be separated too far from the previous ones, for in a certain sense it is of the same type and completes the group. In its sequel, Merlin and Vivien, we are told that Vivien arrived at court at a time of ease,

"While all the heathen lay at Arthur's feet

And no quest came, but all was joust and play."

There are these common traits in the stories of Gareth, of Geraint, and of Balin and Balan, that all, are subsequent to the heathen wars and that some quest or other is an integral part of each. There is another reason, however, for placing Balin and Balan pretty late. It stands in close connection with the next Idyll, of which it was originally described as the induction: in the first, Vivien is introduced journeying from Cornwall, and in the second we hear of the motive of her journey and her arrival in Arthur's court. But Merlin and Vivien must be placed decidedly late; see Merlin's speech,

1 Balin and Balan, 18.

2 Ibid. 172.
3 Ibid. 151.
5 Merlin and Vivien, 142.

4 Ibid. 61.

The whole tone of the reference is to an event long past, and in Tennyson's system the Table was founded by Arthur when he became King.

We now return to Lancelot and Elaine, the action of which requires at least "many weeks," when Lancelot lies wounded.

At the close Percivale and Galahad are introduced as bearing the shroud of the lily maid. This brings it into immediate connection with the subsequent Idyll of The Holy Grail. For in the latter Galahad is still a "boy-knight "2 when Percivale's sister breathes into him her belief, and the apparition of the Grail immediately follows. quest lasts for a twelvemonth and a day.

The

Pelleas and Ettarre must be dated soon after the return of the questers, for Pelleas learns the scandal of the Table from Percivale, now a monk, and in The Holy Grail it is stated that he died not long after taking the cowl.3 The story of this Idyll lasts over a few weeks.

The Last Tournament follows after a very brief interval, for in the concluding lines of Pelleas and Ettarre, Modred sees that "the time is hard at hand,"4 and by the close of the three days, that the story proper of The Last Tournament occupies, the discovery is made.

In Guinevere the Queen has been in hiding for "many a week," while Arthur wars with Lancelot over sea.

The Passing of Arthur succeeds immediately with only so much delay as is required for the march and the battle. Thus, if we consider that the end of Lancelot and Elaine is to be dated about ten years after the commencement 1 Merlin and Vivien, 403. 2 Holy Grail, 156. 3 Ibid. 7. 4 Pelleas and Ettarre, 597.

of the reign, and add the year of The Holy Grail, the few weeks soon following of Pelleas' career, the few days immediately thereafter devoted to the events centering in The Last Tournament, the many weeks that elapse before Arthur visits Almesbury, and the interval required for the last march, we bring up the time to about twelve years. It seems to me very likely that Tennyson with his love of neat numbers had this period in his mind for the total duration of the reign.

Further, if the suggested placing of the Idylls is correct, the sin of Lancelot and Guinevere comes much later than at first sight we are apt to suppose; this removes some repulsiveness from their guilt and averts from Arthur the charge of obtuse credulity. It is interesting too to observe the dramatic hurry and crowding as the series advances, if the proposed arrangement is justified, so that at first there are four years to one Idyll, while in the end there are four Idylls to one year. The results are shown below in tabular

IST YEAR. Coronation of Arthur: Founding of Table. Rebellion crushed. Wedding. Wars with Rome and Heathen begun.

Coming of Arthur.

3RD YEAR.

4TH YEAR.