And here goes a random tangent…
In the context of the narrative, Calogrenant’s story is one of disgrace – he must tell the court his shame, how he failed a challenge pitifully. Of course, this is Chrétien so the story is not simply one of a knight admitting defeat. On one hand, he is setting up a challenge. He’s saying ‘I wasn’t worthy to fight this knight; are you?’ Yvain takes the bait and so does his sharp-tongued, slander-spewing rival Kay. So does the entire court in fact. When one man fails, another swoops down to avenge him; that ‘avenging,’ however, is more an opportunity to up his own renown than anything else). It’s a chance for Yvain to contest against Kay, to beat him honorably. On the other hand, look back at the informal prologue. Chrétien laments that love has lost its power, that it’s been reduced to nothingness. And what does Yvain ultimately do in this first third of the story? He breaks Laudine’s heart by killing her husband, falls in love with her himself, and then manages to stop her grieving by loving and marrying her. Not only is strength or valor triumphing in the tale but love – love wasn’t dead then and it doesn’t have to be now. Therefore, Calogrenant’s story also sets the stage for that: it sets the stage for the fight to preserve the strength of love.
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