The plot of Sir Eglamour (c. 1350?)

The hero, a knight in the service of the earl of Artois, loves his lord’s daughter, Cristabelle. Though he is of lesser rank, she is receptive to his marriage suit. The earl assents and proposes a series of tests through which Eglamour can win Cristabelle and all of Artois; however, it soon becomes evident that he intends the knight to die in his attempts. The tasks to win the bride are those customary to mythic heroes: the slaying of a deer, a boar, giants, and, finally, a dragon. In the course of these adventures, Eglamour saves the princess Organata who promises to wait fifteen years for him. The first two tasks accomplished, Eglamour returns to Artois; when he departs to complete his third task, Cristabelle is pregnant.

At this point, the focus shifts to Cristabelle and the legend of the calumniated queen; however, she is not falsely accused. When a son, Degrebelle, is born to her, the earl sets mother and child adrift. A griffin carries Degrebelle to Israel where he is raised by the king as his son and heir; Cristabelle washes ashore in Egypt, whose king, her uncle, takes her in. When Eglamour returns to Artois and discovers the earl’s treachery, he seizes power and undertakes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he remains for fifteen years. Then, as the kings of Egypt and Israel arrange the marriage of their wards, the family is reunited by a series of tournaments in which son and father both win the hand of Cristabelle. Degrebelle’s identity is recognized before the marriage to his mother is consummated. Eglamour is identified as he claims Cristabelle for his wife. Degrebelle marries Organata and both couples return to Artois where the fleeing earl falls to his death, leaving the lovers to rule happily to their lives’ ends.