Chrétien and the Seven Dwarfs: The Portrayal of Dwarf Characters in the Earliest Arthurian Romances

This article examines Chrétien de Troyes' depiction of dwarfs in Erec and Enide, Yvain, and Lancelot, arguing that Chrétien associates dwarfism with villainous characteristics in accordance with contemporary cultural preconceptions, with his sources' heroic dwarf characters either changed into non-dwarfs or presented as inversions of ordinary standards of nobility. (MBD)