This chapter considers the Middle English Arthurian verse romances, and the ways in which these texts interact with the genre of Middle English romance at large. First, the chapter explores the relationship between expected audiences and the choice to write in verse when considering Arthurian subject matter. The chapter then turns to romances usually designated as non-Arthurian, and asks: to what extent do Arthur and his knights creep into narratives set outside, beyond or without the Arthurian court, and what might this tell us about the cultural impact of Arthurian material in medieval England? Finally, a number of romance tropes – the fair unknown, the loathly lady, and intruders of all kinds – are used to show Middle English verse romance’s potential to both reinforce and disrupt Arthurian courtly values.

This chapter discusses ways in which the Arthurian legend was transformed between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries by French and English romance writers, focusing on the introduction of new characters, changes to the roles of traditionally central characters, and conflicting loyalties and values. Arthur is often displaced from the central role in the plot and can seem passive and ineffective. Gawain is the Top Knight in the English tradition, but Lancelot (a French addition) becomes increasingly important, not least because of his long affair with the queen, which is a contributing factor to the final collapse of Camelot. Family matters increasingly lead to conflicts of loyalties: Morgan le Fay is hostile to her brother, Arthur, and his Orkney nephews grow in number, some loyal but some treacherous. Mordred is not only Arthur’s nephew but sometimes also his son by incest, destined to kill his father. The Grail quest features first Perceval and then Galahad (Lancelot’s illegitimate son); its spiritual values challenge the ethos of secular chivalry and ennobling love. Does this quest bring glory to Arthur’s Round Table, or is it a critique of a fatally flawed society? Important variations in medieval approaches to the legend appear through this period.