'He spekeþ no more with me': Elegy and Lament in Sir Tristrem

Abstract:Concentrating on the first narrative section of the poem, which encompasses Tristrem's birth and the death of his parents, this article observes the elegiac notes struck by the Tristrem-poet early in the tale, and the epic voicing of lament punctuating the poem's first section and initiating Sir Tristrem's central narrative. A careful reading shows that the Middle English poet not only skillfully adapted his source-text (Thomas of Britain's Tristran) to the demands of oral performance, but also retained, even sharpened, the tragic capability of the 'courtly' Matter of Tristan.