An excellent article Vortigern, many thanks. For another Arthurian story in Chaucer read The Wife of Bath's Tale. There is also mention of Gawain in The Squires Tale. It must be fairly surmised that Chaucer would have gained at least some influence from Celtic sources. The Anglo-Saxons traded many teqniques with the celts, and Chaucer also uses some techniques from these. What Chaucer does best however, is to take a common theme and turn it on it's head. For instance, The Book of the Dutchess was written for John of Gaunt (Chaucer's patron) as a lament for the death of Blanche, Dutchess of Lancaster. Lament poems were not often written in this time, but John of Gaunt wanted something traditional. He certainly got traditional, but the wrong tradition one assumes. Chaucer was supposed to lament with Gaunt, what he gives instead reads pretty much as SHE'S DEAD FOR GOODNESS SAKE, GET OVER IT! My opinion of Chaucer (if it's of interest to anyone) is that he was an absolute anarchistic genius and he certainly knew how to use traditional source material from a very wide range.