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Bleoberis
Matter of Britain character
Image
Attributed arms of Blioberis (shared with his brother Blamor) in the cyclical prose tradition
First appearance
Roman de Brut
In-universe information
TitleSir
OccupationKnight of the Round Table
FamilyLancelot's family (often)

Bleoberis is an Arthurian legend character of an ubiquitous knight of the Round Table, featured in numerous medieval romances under many name variants. In the later medieval prose works, he and his brother Blamor often appear as relatives and prominent supporters of Lancelot.

Legend

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Origins

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Bleoberis' name is widely considered to be derived from that of the famed 12th-century Welsh (or Breton[1]) oral storyteller variably known as Bledhericus, Bleheri[s], Bleobleheris, or Blihis (possibly Bledri ap Cydifor[2]).[3][4][5][6][7] This figure is mentioned within several romances, including being credited by both Thomas of Britain and Wauchier de Denain as the original source of their early Arthurian poems. References to the narrative authority of Master Blihis (Maistre Blihis) repeat throughout the Elucidation, where a Bleoberis-type character named Blihos Bliheris also appears as knight within the story.[8][9] A similar situation occurs with the knight Bréri in Thomas' fragmentary Tristan.[6]

Appearances and depictions

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In Thomas Malory's compilation Le Morte d'Arthur, the character is referred to as Sir Bleoberis de Ganys,[10][11][12] said to hail from a land called Ganys (or Ganis, or variants in other French versions of the tales). The name was possibly supposed to mean Vannes in Brittany, but is translated as Gaul in Malory.[13] Some other texts also use Gaul, as with the Italian "Briobris di Gaules".[14]

Bleoberis was first mentioned by Wace in his Roman de Brut, as Bledric.[15] His character was popularised by Chrétien de Troyes in Erec and Enide as Bliobleheris (Wendelin Förster's choice rendering; other manuscript variants Bleob[l]eris, Bleosblieris, Bliobeheri[s], Bliob[l]eris, Blioblieris, Blios [Blieris][9][15]), the name later also used for him by some others, such as the author of Les Marvelles de Rigomer.[16]

He has since appeared by a large number of variations of his name (and often in major ways of character) in many works,[15][17] including as Bleobleheris (Bliobliheri)[7] in Wauchier's First Continuation of Chrétien's Perceval; as two different characters named Bleheris and Blidoblidas in Li Chevaliers as Deus Espees;[18] as a similar split between Bleherris (Blaaris, Bleoris, Blarys[19]) and Bleoberiis (Bleoberriis,[20] Breoberiis[21]) in Of Arthour and of Merlin;[4] as Bleobleris[22] in Les Propheties de Merlin; as Bleos von Bliriers (sometimes translated as "Bleos of Bliriers"[17]) in Diu Crône;[23] as Bleriž in Povest' o Tryshchane [be];[24] as Blioberis in Ysaïe;[15] as Bliobleherin (Bliobleherim) in Hartmann von Aue's German translation of Chrétien's Erec;[25] as Blioblieris in Le Bel Inconnu[26] and Wigalois;[27] as Bliomberis (Bliombleris, Briomberis di Gauves[28]) in Guiron / Meliadus;[15] as Blomberisse in Avarchide;[29] as Briobisse[30] in Li Chantari di Lancellotto[31] as Briobris[15][32] (Briobaris, Brobris)[32] in La Tavola Ritonda; as Briobris di Gaules in Il Tristano Panciatichiano;[14] as Pleherin in both Eilhart von Oberge's Tristrant[5] and Ulrich von Türheim's continuation of Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan;[33] and as Plihopliherî (Plihophiheri, Plihopliheri,[34] Pliopliheri[n],[17] Pliopliherî) in Parzival.[25] One manuscript of the Bliocadran version of the prologue to Perceval also replaces Brandelis with Bleheris.[8]

He features as a major character in the 13th-century French Arthurian literary cycle known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (Vulgate Cycle), and the works based on it, in which he is portrayed as one of the cousins of the hero Lancelot.[15] In these, his character is also spelt in various ways, such as Bla[a]ris,[35] Bleherris,[35] Bliares,[35] Biblioberis,[36] Bleob[l]eris,[36] Bleoris,[37] Blihoble[h]eris,[15] Bliobeheri[s],[15] Bliobelis,[38] Blioberis,[39] Bliobleeris,[38] Bliobleris,[40][41] Blioblieris,[39] Blioleris,[38] Bliombleris,[39] Bloaris,[37] Blyoberis,[42] Blyobleris,[43] and Blyoblerys,[38] sometimes -de Gan[n]es.

In the Vulgate Merlin, and consequently the Livre d'Artus and Arthour and Merlin, Bleoberis is son of Nestor de Gaunes and godson of Lancelot's father King Bors, as well as brother of his fellow Round Table companion, Blamour (Blamor[e], Blanor[e]).[15][35] The brothers are prominent supporters of Arthur (until a point) and Lancelot in these and later medieval prose works. They fight for Arthur in the wars against the rebel kings at Bedegraine, against the Saxons at Cameliard, and against King Claudas in the Wasteland; the latter earns Blioberis his nickname "of the Wasteland" (-de la Deserte).[17] In both the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate versions of the Queste, as well as in the Prose Tristan, he participates in the Grail Quest. In Malory's Le Morte, he is known as Bleoberis de Ganis (Blebeorys, Blebeoris; Bleoberis, Bleoborys, Bleobrys, Bleoheris; -de Gaynes, Ga[y]nys).[11]

In the Vulgate Cycle and the works based on it, Lancelot eventually makes him the Duke of Poitiers for his part in saving Guinevere from her would-be execution,[44] after which Bleoberis becomes an important leader in Lancelot's war against Arthur and Gawain. In the Post-Vulgate Mort Artu, he returns to Britain and arrives at Salisbury after the final battle to destroy the corpse of Mordred and build the Tower of the Dead. While searching for Lancelot, he meets Arthur's vengeful son Arthur the Less (himself a member of the Round Table as the Unknown Knight), whom he kills in self-defence. Finding Lancelot at a hermitage with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, he joins them together with his brother. After Lancelot's death, Bleoberis buries his body at Joyous Gard and then, along with the other knights turned monks, he undertakes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In Malory's ending, following the presumed death of Arthur, Bleoberis and his brother Blamor (Blamore, Blamour[e]) live as monks together with Lancelot and the rest of their kinsmen at Glastonbury Tor, before eventually (after Lancelot's death) leaving on a crusade where the brothers both die on Good Friday in a battle against the Turks.[17] In a variant of Parzival, he is slain by Duke Orguelleuse.[17]

He also appears in some tales as an opponent whom the story's hero must overcome during the course of a quest or an adventure. In the Prose Tristan, Bliob[l]eris (Blioblieris, Bliombleris[39]) 'abducts' the wife of Segwarides (Segurades, etc.) from King Mark's court, and fights for her against first her husband (defeating him) and later fights the protagonist Tristan to a standstill, until the situation is revealed as really just a love affair.[45] In Wigalois, one of the challenges faced by the protagonist Wigalois (Gawain's son, i.e. Gingalain) is to defeat him serving as a fierce guardian of the Perilous Ford.[46] He is similarly the first adversary (along with his three men) conquered by Gawain's son Guinglain in Le Bel Inconnu.[26][47] In Parzival, Orgeluse's suitor Orguelleus[e] boasts of having him either slain or defeated but spared (depending on the version and an interpretation of the text). In Tristrant, he is one of King Mark's vassals and an enemy of Tristan, who brutally kills him using a large piece of wood during his escape from Mark's court, terrifying the others.[48]

As mentioned, some works seemingly split him into at least two characters. There are also other separate, minor knights of the Round Table in the Vulgate Cycle, named Blaharis (Blaaris)[49] and Bliaires, the latter appearing only in the Vulgate version Livre d'Artus.[50] Another such character is Arthur's ally Blias (Bilos, Blyas), the lord of Bleodas (Cloadas, Candaf) appearing in the Vulgate Merlin and its alternative versions, probably derived from and possibly identical with Bleoberis.[17] A knight similarly named Blioblidas appears in Meriadeuc.[17]

Modern culture

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In modern works, Sir Bleoberis features in Max Adeler's Professor Baffin's Adventures (1881)[51] and Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889).[51] In T. H. White's The Book of Merlyn (1977), Bleoberis is one of the only four last surviving Knights of the Round Table, alongside "Bors the misogynist, Ector and Demaris", before they too all died on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[52] In Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher, Bleobheris is the name of an ancient giant oak.[53]

References

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  1. ↑ Markale, Jean (1999). The Grail: The Celtic Origins of the Sacred Icon. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. ISBN 978-0-89281-714-6.
  2. ↑ Chinca, Mark (1997). Tristan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521408523.
  3. ↑ Brugger, E. (1925). "Der Dichter Bledri-Bleheri-Breri". Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur. 47 (3/4): 162–185. ISSN 0044-2747.
  4. 1 2 Rand, Edward Kennard (1926). "Speculum".
  5. 1 2 Loomis, Roger Sherman (1938). "Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Modena Archivolt: A Question of Precedence". Speculum. 13 (2): 221–231. doi:10.2307/2848406. ISSN 0038-7134.
  6. 1 2 Lot, Ferdinand (1925). "Encore "Bleheri-Breri"". Romania. 51 (203): 397–408. ISSN 0035-8029.
  7. 1 2 Loomis, Roger Sherman (1924). "Bleheris and the Tristram Story". Modern Language Notes. 39 (6): 319–329. doi:10.2307/2914649. ISSN 0149-6611.
  8. 1 2 Weston, Jessie L. (1904). "Wauchier De Denain as a Continuator of "Perceval" and the Prologue of the Mons Ms". Romania. 33 (131): 333–343. ISSN 0035-8029.
  9. 1 2 Wolfgang, Lenora D. (8 October 2014). Bliocadran: A Prologue to the Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes ; Edition and Critical Study. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-132825-6.
  10. ↑ "The Complete Le Morte D'Arthur". Devoted Publishing. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2026 – via Google.
  11. 1 2 Vinaver, Eugène (1967). The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Clarendon Press.
  12. ↑ Howard Pyle (17 May 2022). "The Truth and Legend of King Arthur". Retrieved 20 September 2026 – via Google.
  13. ↑ Conybeare, John William Edward (1868). Morte D'Arthur: The History of King Arthur, Abridged & Revised. Moxon.
  14. 1 2 Allaire, Gloria (2002). Italian Literature: Il tristano panciatichiano. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85991-645-5.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Flutre, Louis-Fernand (1962). Table des noms propres avec toutes leurs variantes figurant dans les romans du Moyen Âge - écrits en français ou en provençal - et actuellement publiés ou analysés (in French). FeniXX. p. 31.
  16. ↑ Vesce, Thomas E. (1970). "Celtic Material in "Les Mervelles De Rigomer"". Romance Notes. 11 (3): 640–646. ISSN 0035-7995.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-0-8153-2865-0.
  18. ↑ Rockwell, Paul Vincent (2006). French Arthurian Romance: Le chevalier as deus espees. D.S. Brewer. p. 643. ISBN 978-1-84384-080-0.
  19. ↑ Sommer, Heinrich Oskar (1891). Le Morte Darthur: Studies on the sources, with an introductory essay by Andrew Lang. D. Nutt.
  20. ↑ Turnbull, William Barclay (1838). Arthour and Merlin: A Metrical Romance. Abbotsford club.
  21. ↑ Macrae-Gibson, O. D. (1979). Of Arthour and of Merlin. Early English Text Society. ISBN 978-0-19-722281-2.
  22. ↑ Richart (d'Irlande) (1926). Les prophecies de Merlin (in French). D. C. Heath.
  23. ↑ Türlin, Heinrich von dem (1 April 2000). Die Krone (Verse 1-12281): Nach der Handschrift 2779 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (in German). Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-092974-4.
  24. ↑ Hill, Joyce (1977). The Tristan Legend: Texts from Northern and Eastern Europe in Modern English Translation. University of Leeds, Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies.
  25. 1 2 Wand-Wittkowski, Christine (1989). Wolfram von Eschenbach und Hartmann von Aue: literarische Reaktionen auf Hartmann im Parzival (in German). Verlag für Wissenschaft und Kunst. ISBN 978-3-924670-10-8.
  26. 1 2 Fresco, Karen L. (9 September 2021). Renaut de Bâgé, 'Le Bel Inconnu': ('Li Biaus Descouneüs'; 'The Fair Unknown'). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-16402-2.
  27. ↑ Fasbender, Christoph (2010). Der "Wigalois" Wirnts von Grafenberg: eine Einführung (in German). Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-019659-7.
  28. ↑ Tassi, Francesco (1855). Girone il Cortese: romanzo cavalleresco di Rustico o Rusticiano da Pisa, volgarizzamento inedito del buon secolo (in Italian). Società tipografica.
  29. ↑ Miscellanea (in Italian). 1896.
  30. ↑ Gardner, Edmund G. (1930). The Arthurian Legend in Italian Literature. J.M. Dent & Sons Limited. p. 338.
  31. ↑ Birch, Walter de Gray (1874). Li chantari di Lancellotto: a troubadour's poem (in Italian). John Murray.
  32. 1 2 Polidori, Filippo Luigi (1864). La Tavola ritonda, o L'istoria di Tristano (in Italian). G. Romagnoli.
  33. ↑ Strassburg, Gottfried von (16 September 2020). Tristan and Isolde: with Ulrich von Türheim's Continuation. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62466-908-8.
  34. ↑ Friedlaender, Ernst Anton Gottlieb Theodor (1902). Das verzeichnis der ritter der Artustafelrunde im Erec des Hartmann von Aue verglichen mit dem bei Crestien de Troyes und bei Heinrich v. d. Türlin... (in German). Druck von M. Dumont-Schauberg.
  35. 1 2 3 4 Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8153-2865-0.
  36. 1 2 Sommer, Heinrich Oskar (1916). The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances. Carnegie Institution of Washington. p. 15.
  37. 1 2 Original Series. Early English Text Society. 1899.
  38. 1 2 3 4 La version post-Vulgate de la Queste del Saint Graal et de la Mort Artu: troisième partie du Roman du Graal (in French). Société des anciens textes français. 2000.
  39. 1 2 3 4 Le Roman en Prose de Tristan (in French). Slatkine. p. 499.
  40. ↑ Paton, Lucy Allen (1929). Sir Lancelot of the Lake. G. Routledge & sons, Limited.
  41. ↑ Allaire, Gloria (2002). Italian Literature. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85991-645-5.
  42. ↑ Busby, Keith; Thompson, Raymond H. (8 November 2005). Gawain: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-78351-7.
  43. ↑ Chênerie, Marie-Luce; Ménard, Philippe (1990). Le Roman de Tristan en prose: Des aventures de Lancelot à la fin de la "Folie Tristan" (in French). Libr. H. Champion. ISBN 978-2-85203-113-5.
  44. ↑ Wilhelm, James J. (1994). The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-8153-1511-7.
  45. ↑ The Arthur of the Italians: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Italian Literature and Culture. University of Wales Press. 15 April 2014. ISBN 978-1-78316-051-8.
  46. ↑ Thomas, Neil (1987). A German View of Camelot: Wirnt Von Gravenberg's Wigalois and Arthurian Tradition. P. Lang. p. 44. ISBN 978-3-261-03652-0.
  47. ↑ Thomas, Neil (1987). A German View of Camelot: Wirnt Von Gravenberg's Wigalois and Arthurian Tradition. P. Lang. p. 44. ISBN 978-3-261-03652-0.
  48. ↑ McDonald, William C. (1991). Arthur and Tristan: On the Intersection of Legends in German Medieval Literature. E. Mellen Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-7734-9448-0.
  49. ↑ Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-8153-2865-0.
  50. ↑ Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8153-2865-0.
  51. 1 2 Ketterer, David (1986). ""Professor Baffin's Adventures" by Max Adeler: The Inspiration for "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?"". Mark Twain Journal. 24 (1): 24–34. ISSN 0025-3499.
  52. ↑ White, T. H. (19 September 2018). The Book of Merlyn: The Conclusion to The Once and Future King. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-4773-1721-1.
  53. ↑ Sapkowski, Andrzej (15 October 2020). The Complete Witcher: The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake and Seasons of Storms. Orion. ISBN 978-1-4732-3248-8.
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