In the first place Layamon does not refer to Bede and
St Austin as source, but as models, a very different thing. Then the
statement is discredited by the fact that we possess the writings of
these men, and know them to be of another character than Metrical
Chronicles. In the case of Wauchier his reference does not stand
alone; it is one of a group, and that group marked by an extraordinary
unanimity of statement; whoever Bleheris may have been he was
certainly possessed of two definite qualifications--he knew a vast
number of tales, and he possessed a remarkable gift of narration,
i.e., he was a story-teller, par excellence. Thus he was, a priori,
a probable source for that section of Wauchier's work which is
attributed to him, a section consisting of short, picturesque,
and mutually independent tales, which formed part of a popular
collection. It is misleading to speak as if Wauchier refers to him
as general source for his Perceval continuation; the references are
clearly marked and refer to Gawain tales. Apart from the fact that
Wauchier's reference does not stand alone we have independent evidence
of the actual existence of such a group of tales, in our surviving
Gawain poems, certain of which, such as Kay and the Spit, and Golagros
and Gawayne are versions of the stories given by Wauchier, while the
author of the Elucidation was also familiar with the same collection.
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