ions, while the two first were admirably rendered into German by
Hartmann von Aue. There is an English translation of the Yvain, _Ywain
and Gawain_, and there are Welsh versions of all three stories, though
their exact relation to the French has not been determined. Chretien's
style is easy and graceful, such as might be expected from a court poet;
he is analytical, but not dramatic; in depth of thought and power of
characterization he is decidedly inferior to Wolfram von Eschenbach, and
as a poet he is probably to be ranked below Thomas, the author of the
_Tristan_, and the translator of Thomas, Gottfried von Strassburg. Much
that has been claimed as characteristic of his work has been shown by M.
Willmotte to be merely reproductions of literary conceits employed by
his predecessors; in the words of a recent writer, M. Bedier, "Chretien
semble moins avoir ete un createur epique qu'un habile arrangeur." The
special interest of his pcems lies in the problems surrounding their
origin. So far as the MSS. are concerned they are the earliest Arthurian
romances we possess. Did Chretien invent the _genre_, or did he simply
turn to account the work of earlier, and less favoured, poets? Round
this point the battle still rages hotly, and though the extensive claims
made by the enthusiastic editor of his works are gradually yielding to
the force of critical investigation, it cannot be said that the question
is in any way settled (see ARTHURIAN LEGEND).

Chretien's poems, except the _Perceval_, have been critically edited
by Professor Foerster (4 vols.). There is no easily available edition
of the _Perceval_, which was printed from the Mons MS. by M. Potvin (6
vols., 1866-1871), but is difficult to procure. For _Ywain and Gawain_
see the edition by Schleich (1887). The German versions are in
_Deutsche Classiker des Mittelalters_, 1888 (_Iwein_), 1893 (_Erec_);
the Welsh, in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the _Mabinogion_
(Nutt, 1902); Scandinavian translations, ed. E. Koelbing (1872). For
general criticism see Willmotte, _L'Evolution du roman francais aux
environs de 1150_ (1903); also _Legend of Sir Lancelot_ and _Legend of
Sir Percival_ (Grimm Library); and M. Borodine, _La Femme et l'amour
au XIIe siecle, d'apres les poemes de Chretien de Troyes_ (1909).

CHRISM (through Lat. _chrisma_, from Gr. [Greek: chrisma], an anointing
substance, [Greek: chrieiu], to anoint; through a Romanic form _cres