elf different from the other
scullions?

Would you have respected him any more if he had resented the taunts of
Kay and the insults of Lynette? Why?

What impression of Lynette do you form from her interview with the king?

In her language is she coarse and rude, or only petulant and
thoughtless?

After she is won by Gareth does she show any fineness of nature?

Describe the characters of Lot, Bellicent, Gawain, and Modred.

INTERPRETATION.--What period of a man's life may Gareth be intended to
typify?

What is the allegorical meaning of the gateway to the city of Camelot
and of Merlin's description of the building of the city?

In Gareth's contests with the four knights for the possession of
Lyonors' castle, what does each in turn typify? What does the poet mean
by making the first three contests increasingly difficult? by the terror
which the fourth knight inspires? by the easy victory over him? What
does Lynette represent in her impulsive and persistent opposition to
Gareth?

What does Gareth represent in his constant devotion to high ideals?
What truth is illustrated by Gareth's overcoming the petulant opposition
of Lynette?

Connect the teaching of this poem with the thought of the whole series.

FORM.--What is the meter of the poem? What are the principal variations
from the normal line in the number of syllables and the position of
accents or stresses? Explain and illustrate _caesura_, _end-stopt line_,
_run-on line_. What variations do you find in the position of the
pauses? What is the effect of the variations on the music of the verse?

Base your study of meter on several passages (for example, ll. 100-150,
520-550, 1350-1394).

Compare the language used by Bellicent and Gareth in their dialogue (ll.
34-168), with descriptive passages (like 184-193, 209-226, 376-427,
650-685, and 883-900).

What differences do you note in the poet's choice of words?

Find passages that present a vivid picture, a vigorous action, simple
narrative, true sentiment.

_Lancelot and Elaine_

SETTING.--Where did the King keep court at the time of this story?

Where did Elaine live?

Where was the tournament held? What do we know of the relative positions
of these places?

At what season of the year do the events of the story take place? How
does the season fit the story? Do the places seem real?

PLOT.--How is the story introduced? Compare with the introduction of the
previous Idyll.

What was the occa