Lancelot of the Laik and Sir Tristrem

Alan Lupack’s edition of Lancelot of the Laik and Sir Tristrem brings to light two lesser-known Middle English poems. The fifteenth-century, older Scots Lancelot of the Laik, an incomplete adaptation of the French Vulgate Lancelot, follows Lancelot as his chivalry in the war between Arthur and Galiot wins him Guinevere’s favor. The second book’s lengthy treatise on kingship was once considered political advice aimed at King James III of Scotland, though Lupack reassesses this interpretation. The thirteenth-century Sir Tristrem survives only in a single copy in the Auchinleck manuscript. A parodic retelling of Thomas d’Angleterre’s Anglo-Norman Tristan, it mocks courtly romance conventions. For example, Tristan’s dog Hodain laps up remnants of the infamous love potion, insults are exchanged, and traditional chivalric violence becomes grotesque physical comedy. This edition unites two overlooked Arthuranian romances in the insular tradition.