General conclusion

Abstract For the non-cyclic Prose Lancelot two forms of coherence are equally important: internal coherence, within the individual text, and intertextual coherence, through which the individual text is shown to be part of a wider Arthurian ‘reality’. These two forms are interrelated in that it is the placing of the tale of Lancelot within the literary tradition that helps to give it a meaningful shape, conjointure and sens. The three principal means used to achieve this are as follows: (a) Through allusions outwards to existing literary tradition belonging to the past in relation to the tale of Lancelot, whether to incidents to be found in other texts or to events to be found in no known text but fitting into the general framework provided by the literary tradition.