One name, many mouths
A Welsh storyteller, a French poet, a German knight and an English prisoner are describing the same man, and calling him four different things. Following a figure across the tradition means following his name as it is carried into other languages and worn down.
Read across a row and you are watching a transmission route. Peredur becomes Perceval in French and Parzival in German. Gwalchmai — hawk of May — becomes Gauvain, then Gawain. Caledfwlch becomes Caliburn in Geoffrey’s Latin, and Excalibur by the time it reaches Malory.
| Figure | Chronicle | Welsh | French romance | German | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur | Arthur, dux bellorumNennius: a war-leader, not a king | Arthurin Culhwch, the head of a war-band | Artus | Artûs | Arthur |
| Gawain | Gwalchmai'hawk of May'; the same figure in the Welsh tales | Gauvain | GawanWolfram gives him a long parallel quest | GawaineMalory's spelling | |
| Guinevere | Gwenhwyfar | Guenievre | Ginover | GueneverMalory's spelling | |
| Iseult | Essyllt | Iseult | Isolde | IsoudMalory's spelling | |
| Merlin | Merlinus | Myrddinthe Welsh prophet Geoffrey drew on | Merlingiven a whole branch of the Vulgate Cycle | Merlin | |
| Mordred | Modredus | Medrautnamed with Arthur at Camlann in the Annales Cambriae, with no indication that either killed the other | Mordret | Mordred | |
| Morgan le Fay | MorgenGeoffrey's Vita Merlini: the chief of nine sisters who heal Arthur in Avalon | Morgain la Fee | Morgnenamed in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as the author of the whole test | Morgan le Fay | |
| Percival | Peredurthe Welsh tale; possibly older than Chretien, possibly derived from him | PercevalChretien's hero | ParzivalWolfram's, and the most fully realised | Percivale | |
| Tristram | Drystan | Tristan | TristanGottfried's, the greatest version | TristramMalory's, who makes him a knight of the Round Table | |
| Igraine | Igerna | Ygerne | Igraine | ||
| Lancelot | Lancelot du LacChretien's coinage; raised by the Lady of the Lake | Lanzelet | LauncelotMalory's spelling | ||
| Sir Bedivere | Bedwyrone of Arthur's earliest companions, alongside Cai | Bedoier | Bedivere | ||
| Sir Kay | Caiin Culhwch, a hero with supernatural gifts | Keu | Kay | ||
| Morgause | AnnaGeoffrey names Arthur's sister Anna; the incest is a later French addition | Morgause | |||
| Nimue | Viviane | Nyneveone of Malory's several spellings | |||
| Sir Uwaine | Owain | YvainChretien's Knight of the Lion | |||
| Uther Pendragon | Uther Pendragon | Uterpendragon | |||
| Balin | Balin le Savage | ||||
| Bors | Bohort | ||||
| Galahad | Galaad | ||||
| King Pelles | the Fisher Kingthe roles of Pelles, Pellam and the Fisher King blur across the tradition | ||||
| Sir Gareth | Beaumains'fair hands', the name Kay gives him in mockery | ||||
| The Green Knight | Bertilak de Hautdeserthis name in the host's shape |
Caledfwlch, Caliburn, Excalibur
The sword goes through the same process. Welsh tradition has Caledfwlch. Geoffrey latinises it to Caliburnus and says it was forged within the Isle of Avalon. The French turn that into Escalibor, and by Malory it is Excalibur — and by then it has also acquired a scabbard worth more than the blade, an arm in a lake, and an obligation to be given back.
This is what transmission looks like from underneath: not a story being copied, but a word being pronounced by people who did not speak the language it came from, gathering attachments at every stop.
Same name is not always same figure
The rows above assert that these names refer to one another, and for most of them that is uncontroversial. But a name surviving is not the same as a character surviving. Cai inCulhwch can hold his breath for nine days under water and generate enough heat to light a fire; Chrétien’s Keu is a bad-tempered steward who exists to be unhorsed. Whether that is one character changing or two characters sharing a name is a real question, and the table cannot settle it.
Where the traditions differ about a figure, the difference is on theirdossier page.