Absent Fathers and Searching Sons in Sir Degaré

Abstract

Critical readings of the Middle English romance Sir Degare (c. 1330) have emphasized Degare's coming-of-age as well as troubled incestuous hints in the king toward his daughter, at the cost of overlooking the enormity of the fairy knight's sexual assault and abandonment of her. Recognizing the violation of the fairy knight into the human world, and more importantly his prominent absence, may help contextualize Degare's quest to resolve his dismembered family and lost father. Such an interpretation resituates Degare's actions as those of an intermediary meaningfully redressing his father's unchivalrous behaviors rather than simply framing a heroic narrative of attainment.