IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE ROUND TABLE

Abstract

In 1155 Wace invented the literary motif of the Round Table and introduced it into his Roman de Brut. In the beginning of the 13th century the meaning and symbolism of this motif fundamentally changed during the process of rewriting and creating multiple French prose romances. The paper analyses these transformations which occurred after the transposition of the motif of the Round Table in some French prose romances from the first half of the 13th century.