Erranze e tecniche dell’estasi nel Lancelot en prose

The paper explores the attitudinal complexity of Lancelot within the Vulgate cycle, exploring the dense stratigraphy the character is condensed into, but above all emphasising the dual nature of the knight, already masterfully outlined in Chrétien de Troyes’ verse fiction: on the one hand, the exceptional fighter; on the other, the phrenetic warrior, the ecstatic, the possessed lover, subject to the overwhelms and raptures of a ravishing erotic desire. The analysis of textual samples highlights how the hero’s wandering is deeply marked by moments of trance, in which time turns into the metachrony of mystical time and ordinary reality dissolves, hanging in an experience of total transcendence. The analysis also focus- es on the telepathic and extrasensory nature of the bond between Lancelot and Guinevere, showing how the hero is constantly suspended between mystical impulses and martial fury, in a dynamic that involves affectivity and violence, sensory perceptions and intuitive knowledge.