Les Manuscrits épiques : codicologie, paléographie, typologie de la page, variantes

We here survey problems in dating chanson de geste manuscripts, taking into account earlier critics, editions that accept dating of earliest scholars uncritically and those who collate earlier information about manuscripts without reanalysis. After a brief look at some specific examples of these practices, we first examine difficulties in the case of manuscripts that are unclassifiable through paleographical, linguistic, or artistic means. This is frequently the case where scribes were not the most adept and manuscripts were copied on inferior parchment. Second, we examine variability in manuscripts and its sources. A brief set of examples suggests reformulation (substitutions of formulas) as a source, but also a scribal temptation to vary content, especially in the case of chanson de geste manuscripts. Finally, we exhort caution in overgeneralization of observed phenomena; limited studies cannot produce rules, and manuscript terms deriving from classical traditions do not always apply to the chanson de geste tradition.