Old French Romances | Page 4

of Charlemagne. On the face of it there is

clearly stamped the impress of popular tradition. Heads are not so
easily replaced, except by a freak of the Folk imagination. It is
probably for this reason that M. Gaston Paris attributes an Oriental
origin to the latter part of the tale, and for the same reason the
Benedictine Fathers have had serious doubts about admitting it into the
Acta Sanctorum. On the other hand, the editors of the French text, the
translation of which we have before us, go so far as to conjecture that
there is a historic germ for the whole Legend in certain incidents of the
War of Charlemagne against Didier. But as the whole connection of the
Legend with the Charlemagne Cycle is late, we need not attribute much
importance to, indeed, we may at once dismiss their conjecture.
These disputes of the pundits cannot destroy the charm of the Legend.
Never, even in antiquity, have the claims of friendship been urged with
such a passionate emphasis. The very resemblance of the two heroes is
symbolic of their similarity of character; the very name of one of them
is Friend pure and simple. The world is well lost for friendship's sake
on the one side, on the other nearest and dearest are willingly and
literally sacrificed on the altar of friendship. One of the most charming
of the Fioretti tells how St. Francis overcame in himself the mediaeval
dread at the touch of a leper, and washed and tended one of the poor
unfortunates. He was but following the example of Amil, who was not
deterred by the dreaded sound of the "tartavelle"--the clapper or rattle
which announced the approach of the leper {4}--from tending his
friend.
Here again romance has points of contact with the folk tale. The end of
the Grimms' tale of Faithful John is clearly the same as that of Amis
and Amile. {5} Once more we are led to believe in some dependence of
the Folk-Tale on Romance, or, vice versa, since an incident like that of
resuscitation by the sacrifice of a child is not likely to occur
independently to two different tellers of tales. The tale also contains the
curious incident of the unsheathed sword in bed, which, both in
romances and folk-tales, is regarded as a complete bar to any divorce
court proceedings. It is probable that the sword was considered as a
living person, so that the principle publico was applied, and the sword
was regarded as a kind of chaperon. {6} It is noteworthy that the

incident occurs in Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, which is a late
interpolation into the Arabian Nights, and may be due there to
European influence. But another incident in the romance suggests that
it was derived from a folk-tale rather than the reverse. The two bowls
of wood given to the heroes at baptism are clearly a modification of
that familiar incident in folk-tales, where one of a pair leaves with the
other a "Lifetoken" {7} which will sympathetically indicate his state of
health. As this has been considerably attenuated in our romance, we are
led to the conclusion that it is itself an adaptation of a folk- tale.
IV
The tale of King Florus--the gem of the book--recalls the early part of
Shakespeare's Cymbeline and the bet about a wife's virtue, which forms
the subject of many romances, not a few folk-tales, and at least one
folk-song. The Romance of the Violet, by Gerbert de Montruil, circa
1225, derives its name from the mother's mark of the heroine, which
causes her husband to lose his bet. This was probably the source of
Boccaccio's novel (ii. 9), from which Shakespeare's more immediately
grew. The Gaelic version of this incident, collected by Campbell (The
Chest, No. ii.), is clearly not of folk origin, but derived directly or
indirectly from Boccaccio, in whom alone the Chest is found. Yet it is
curious that, practically, the same story as the Romance of the Violet is
found among folk-songs in modern Greece and in Modern Scotland. In
Passow's collection of Romaic Folk Songs there is one entitled
Maurianos and the King, which is in substance our story; and it is
probably the existence of this folk-song which causes M. Gaston Paris
to place our tale among the romances derived from Byzantium. Yet
Motherwell in his Minstrelsy has a ballad entitled Reedisdale and Wise
William, which has the bet as its motive. Here again, then, we have a
connection between our romance and the story-store of European folk,
and at the same time some slight link with Byzantium.
V
The tale of "Oversea" has immediate connection with the Crusades,
since its heroine is represented to be no other than the great
grandmother of Saladin. But her adventures