Swordplay and wordplay. Tournaments in the Burgundian prose Erec

The fifteenth-century prose adaptation of Chretien de Troyes’s Erec et Enide adds a tournament after the couple’s coronation. It forms a pendant to the wedding tournament, which the adaptor rewrites. Both events are presented as melees, rather than individual jousts. Why the prose author made these choices is a question that this essay attempts to answer. The prose emphasizes Erec’s chivalric prowess, proving that he is prepared to rule his kingdom.