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Dagonet
Dagonet /ˈdæɡənɛt, dæɡəˈnɛt/ (also known as Daguenet, Daguenes, Daguenez, Danguenes, and other spellings) is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. His depictions and characterisations variously portray a foolish and cowardly knight, a violently deranged madman, and ultimately the now-iconic image of King Arthur's court jester.
His first appearance is in the early 13th-century Vulgate Cycle. Known there as Daguenet the Fool (or the Coward) in the Vulgate Lancelot or Danguenes the Craven of Carlion (Caerleon) in the Vulgate Merlin, he is a hapless, dimwitted knight mocked by others. In one episode, he notably "captures" (in his mind) and actually rescues (inadvertently) the hero Lancelot by finding a horse carrying the unconscious knight, and triumphantly leading it to Queen Guinevere.
His portrayal as a feared and unpredictable madman in a series of short episodes within the Guiron le Courtois section of Palamedes offers a much darker and more serious tone. His tragic backstory is revealed as formerly one of the best knights of Arthur who went insane when his new bride was abducted by Helior of the Thorn, his own (former) friend whom he then tracked down and killed.
During the False Guinevere's reign in another work, Les Prophéties de Merlin, Dagonet takes on the administration of the royal court and then bankrupts the household, even killing the treasurer Fole for reproving him. Nevertheless, he ultimately proves to be competent enough to finance the mercenaries who help Galeholt repel a Saxon invasion, while successfully avoiding the vengeance of Fole's kinsmen.
One of his two appearances in the different versions of the Prose Tristan is the first in which he is depicted as Arthur's official fool. It characterised him as a hateful and mad commoner who was given knightly status as a joke. He challenges the young Cote Mal Taillee (i.e. Brunor) to a joust and quickly loses. In the second version, Tristan humiliates Sir Daguenet the Fool publicly by dunking him into a well, and then uses Dagonet's own sword to protect a group of shepherds who laughed at the scene from Dagonet's angry squires, maiming one of them.
In a markedly more positive (and best known today) characterization by Thomas Malory in his seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, Dagonet is King Arthur's court fool who has been knighted as an award for his loyalty and comedic talents. The Knights of the Round Table use him to play practical jokes on their rivals or their enemies, at the same time protecting him from harm. In a rewrite of a scene from the Prose Tristan, Kay arranges for Brunor to joust with Dagonet at his first tournament in order to deprive him of the honour of defeating a true knight. On another occasion, Arthur's men point out Dagonet, dressed in Mordred's armor, to King Mark and tell him he is Lancelot; the cowardly monarch then flees screaming into the forest, chased by Dagonet.
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Dagonet
Dagonet /ˈdæɡənɛt, dæɡəˈnɛt/ (also known as Daguenet, Daguenes, Daguenez, Danguenes, and other spellings) is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. His depictions and characterisations variously portray a foolish and cowardly knight, a violently deranged madman, and ultimately the now-iconic image of King Arthur's court jester.
His first appearance is in the early 13th-century Vulgate Cycle. Known there as Daguenet the Fool (or the Coward) in the Vulgate Lancelot or Danguenes the Craven of Carlion (Caerleon) in the Vulgate Merlin, he is a hapless, dimwitted knight mocked by others. In one episode, he notably "captures" (in his mind) and actually rescues (inadvertently) the hero Lancelot by finding a horse carrying the unconscious knight, and triumphantly leading it to Queen Guinevere.
His portrayal as a feared and unpredictable madman in a series of short episodes within the Guiron le Courtois section of Palamedes offers a much darker and more serious tone. His tragic backstory is revealed as formerly one of the best knights of Arthur who went insane when his new bride was abducted by Helior of the Thorn, his own (former) friend whom he then tracked down and killed.
During the False Guinevere's reign in another work, Les Prophéties de Merlin, Dagonet takes on the administration of the royal court and then bankrupts the household, even killing the treasurer Fole for reproving him. Nevertheless, he ultimately proves to be competent enough to finance the mercenaries who help Galeholt repel a Saxon invasion, while successfully avoiding the vengeance of Fole's kinsmen.
One of his two appearances in the different versions of the Prose Tristan is the first in which he is depicted as Arthur's official fool. It characterised him as a hateful and mad commoner who was given knightly status as a joke. He challenges the young Cote Mal Taillee (i.e. Brunor) to a joust and quickly loses. In the second version, Tristan humiliates Sir Daguenet the Fool publicly by dunking him into a well, and then uses Dagonet's own sword to protect a group of shepherds who laughed at the scene from Dagonet's angry squires, maiming one of them.
In a markedly more positive (and best known today) characterization by Thomas Malory in his seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, Dagonet is King Arthur's court fool who has been knighted as an award for his loyalty and comedic talents. The Knights of the Round Table use him to play practical jokes on their rivals or their enemies, at the same time protecting him from harm. In a rewrite of a scene from the Prose Tristan, Kay arranges for Brunor to joust with Dagonet at his first tournament in order to deprive him of the honour of defeating a true knight. On another occasion, Arthur's men point out Dagonet, dressed in Mordred's armor, to King Mark and tell him he is Lancelot; the cowardly monarch then flees screaming into the forest, chased by Dagonet.