! [; ucJ HB»:;!; \ B^ BbB bfi»"^ i AN ESSAY ON THE INELUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION UPON €i)t ^literature OK GERMANY, FRANCE, AND SCANDINAVIA; WHICH OBTAINED THE PRIZE OF THE ABERGAVENNY CYMREIGYDDION SOCIETY, AT THE EISTEDDVOD OF 1840. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF ALBERT SCHULZ, AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF WOLFRAN VON ESCHENBACH, &C. &C. ^^vtuiii löntllute, Iwein V. 12. Hartman v. Aue. LLANDOVERY: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM REES : SOLD ALSO BY LONGMAN AND CO., D. WILLIAMS, AND H. HUGHES, LONDON; PARRY, CHESTER; AND MORGAN, ABERGAVENNY. MDCCCXLI. P/V&15 Q,, TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. In the List of Prizes offered by the Society of the Abergavenny Cymreigyddion, for 1840, the following notice appeared; " For the best Essay on the Influence which the Welsh Traditions have had on the Literature of Germany, France, and Scandinavia; A PRIZE OF EIGHTY GUINEAS."— "The Essay to be written either in Welsh, English, German, or French." Previous to the ensuing Eisteddvod, which was held in the autumn of that year, Essays were received from different parts of the Continent written princi- pally in German and French. These compositions were transmitted to His Excellency the Chevalier Bunsen, Prussian Minister Plenipotentiary at Bern, who had consented to undertake the office of Judge, and whose eminent literary attainments rendered him peculiarly qualified for the task. After entering minutely into the respective merits of the compositions. His Excellency concluded his re- port to the Society by awarding the Prize to the 261 vi PREFACE. Essay by Professor Schulz, at the same time passing upon it a high eulogium, and strongly recommending its publication in the English language. Encouraged by this opinion, and aided by the kind assistance of friends, the translator has ventured to lay the following pages before the public; in the hope that to those interested in the subject, the closeness of the translation may, in some degree, compensate for the abruptness of the style, and the repetitions ■svhich are occasionally apparent. September 30th, 18^1. CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Influence of Welsh Tradition on the Literature OF France. Page. First Period.— Arthur the National Hero, A.D. 600 to 1066 . . 7 Second Period. — Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, A.D. 1066 to 1150 32 Third Period. — Arthur and the Sangraal, A.D. 1150 to 1500 . 47 Fable. — The Mabinogion 65 CHAPTER II. Influence of Welsh Tradition on the Literature OF Germany. — Page 73. CHAPTER III. Influence of Welsh Tradition on the Literature OF Scandinavia. — Page 84. CHAPTER IV. Influence of Welsh Tradition on the Literature of France, with regard to Construction. First. — Rhyme 95 Second.— Metre 103 CHAPTER V. Fall of Chivalrous Poetry. — Page 107. APPENDIX. First. — Leonine Verse Ill Second. — German Verse 112 Third. — Ancient Romances of Arthur in various Languages . 112 ADDENDA. First.— The Holy Graal 115 Second.— The Templars and the Knights of the Graal . . .121 Third.— The Graal and Joseph of Arimathea 126 INTRODUCTION. In the intellectual life of a people, Heroic Tradition forms a separate organization, to which belong its own laws of developement. It has appeared to us, that in the history of early Tradition, there are four points especially to be considered ; and we will commence by demonstrating them, in order to explain the principles by which we have been guided in the researches that form the subject of the following pages. 1. History is the principal basis of Tradition ; and at a later period it is from History that the elements for the further developement of Tradition are drawn ; but it springs and grows at a period Avhen Poetry and History are confounded together, and the truth of Tradition is never doubted. On this account we see historical personages appear in the land of Fiction, and historical facts appro- priated to fabulous Heroes, often occasioning the greatest anachronisms and most heteroo:eneous combinations. 2. The organic life of Tradition is seen in the tendency to unite different tales which were previously entirely in- dependent of each other ; and here we recognise the want of that unity, which belongs to poetic fiction. 6 INTRODUCTION. 3. Tradition grows and increases, both from tlie repe- tition of favorite histories in a modified form, and from muhiplying and ampHfying the deeds of Heroes, so that if we possess only recent compilations, it is often very difficult to distinguish the oriirinal matter from that which is added at a later period. This is the first indication of a depar- ture from the essentially poetical principle of Tradition. Every poet belongs peculiarly to the age in which he lives ; and at all periods a desire exists to comprehend whatever interests and adtates at the time beino;. Hence arise causes that essentially influence the developement and physiognomy of Tradition. 4. From the change in customs, and the principal ten- dencies and political and intellectual interests of the age. This explains the continual variations in the Traditions of the same people at different epochs, and the still greater changes in those Countries where they had been intro- duced, and where, by such modifications, it tends to gain a new Nationality. In following and observing it, from its first origin througli all the periods of its developement down to its latest form, it is indispensable that we should equally direct our attention to the pohtical state and the intellec- tual history of the people, and the epochs at which we see it re-appear. It is in this manner we must follow up our researches upon the influence of the Welsh Traditions on the literature of Germany, France, and Scandinavia — an influence not every where the same, but differing according to the Times and Places where they were found. CHAPTER I. INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. FIRST PERIOD. ARTHUR THE NATIONAL HERO,— A.D. 600 TO 1066. King Arthur is tlie centre of the ancient national Tra- ditions of Wales ; he is the single root of a gigantic tree, whose branches, for nearly ten centuries, spread over the whole of Europe, until in modern times it withered away together with the last remains of Chivalry. The oldest accounts of the Chronicles of King Arthur are short and meagre. The Anglo-Saxon Bede knows nothing of the British Kings, nor of the origin of the Britons, whom he derives from Eneas and Brutus. He names Cassibelaunus, Androgens, St. Albanus, Vortigern; he mentions the wars of the Britons and the Saxons arainst the Romans ; Hengist and Horsa, St. Oswald, and his miracles ; but he is entirely silent upon the subject of Arthur. In concluding his History with the words, "Hsec de Historia ecclesiastica Brittanorum Qi maccime gentis Anglorum prout vel ex literis antiquorum, vel ex traditione majorum^ vel ex mea ipsa cognitione scire potui digessi Beda,'"* he leads us to suppose, that he found nothing re- markable in the Traditions of the eighth century. Besides Bede was an Anglo-Saxon, which, from the hostile separa- tion of the two nations, is a sufficient reason for supposing that tlie Welsh Traditions were unknown to him. Nen- 8 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION nius, who wrote about the year 858, speaks of Arthur, and at the same time gives us an interesting explanation of his name in these words: — "At that time the Saxons greatly increased in strength and numbers in Britain ; and after the death of Hengist,'' (at the end of the fifth century,) "his son Ochta passed over from the northern part of Britain to the kingdom of Kent ; and from him are descended the Kings of that country. Arthur together ^\'ith the Kings of the Britons fought against the Saxons ; but he was the commander in battle, and was victorious in every engage- ment. (Arthur when translated signifies the terrible Bear^ or the Iron Hammer of the teeth of Lions ^ y In the Sixty Third Chapter, Nennius continues, — "Arthur went to Je- rusalem, and there made a cross of the same dimensions with the real cross, which was consecrated there; and for three successive days he fasted and watched and prayed before the holy cross, that the Lord would, by this standard, give him the victory over the Pagans ; which was granted to him. Pieces of this cross are still preserved at Wedale Avith great veneration. Wedale (an English word, signify- ing the Valley of Grief,) is a village in the Province of Lothian.''^ He mentions the twelve expeditions of Ar- i^'In illo tempore Saxones invalescebant, et crescebant non modice in Britannia. jSIortuo autem Hengisto, Ochta filius ejus transivit de sinistrali parte Britanniae ad Regem^ Cantuarionim, et de ipso orti sunt Reges illius patriae. Artur pugnabat contra illos in illis diebus, videlicet Saxones cum regibus Britonum ; sed ipse Dux erat bello-. rum : et in omnibus bellis victor extitit. [Artur, Latine translatum, sonat ursum horribilem, vel malleum ferreum, molae leonum.]"^ - "Nam Artur lerosolimam perrexit, et ibi crucem ad quantitatem Salutifei-ac Crucis fecit, et ibi consecrata est, et per tres continues dies jejunavit, vigilavit, et oravit coram Cruce Dominica, ut ei Dominus victoriam daret per hoc signum de Paganis ; quod et factum est ; cujus fractfE adhuc apud Wedale in magna veneratione servatur. ' RcRTuun. 2 •' Quo frangimter molas leonum."— Ritson. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 9 thur,i and in the last makes him slay 840 enemies with his own hand. Here we preceive the intention of Nennius to surround the Hero of the past with the halo of sanctity, as was also done in the instance of Charlemagne. " The An- nales Asseau," which extend to the year 914, pass over [Wedale Anglice : Vallis doloris, Latine : Wedale est villa in Provincia Lodonesise."]! 1 Servantur.— The passages in parentheses are evidently interpolations, and are found only in particular copies, where they are in a later hand than the text. See Steven- son's Edition. ^ Though the exact rendering of the author is given here, [Feld- zugen,] yet it may he proper to remark that in this, as in many other works of the middle ages, the word helium is understood to signify a single battle, and not an expedition ; and that such is the meaning in the present passage appears evident, from the remainder of the narration, in which the twelve battles are enumerated : — " Primum helium fuit in ostium fluminis quod dicitur Glein ; secundum, et tertium, et quartum, et quintum super aliud flumen quod dicitur Duhglas, et est in regione Linnuis. Sextum helium super flumen quod vocatur Bassas. Septimum fuit helium in silva Celidonis, id est Cat Coit Celidon. Octavum fait bellum in castello Guinnion, in quo Arthur portavit imaginem Sanctse Mariae perpetuae Virginis super humeros suos, et pagani versi sunt in fugam in illo die, et caedes magna fuit super illos per virtutem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et per virtutem Sanctse Mariae virginis genitricis ejus. Nonum . bellum gestum est in Urbe Legionis. Decimum gessit bellum in littore fluminis, quod vocatur Tribruit. Undecimum factum est bellum in monte, qui dicitur Agned. Duodecimum fuit bellum in monte Badonis, in quo corruerunt in uno die nongenti sexaginta viri de uno impetu Arthur ; et nemo prostravit eos nisi ipse solus, et in omnibus bellis victor extitit." — Stevenson's Nennius. In the Vatican copy of Nennius, published by Gunn, these battles are given in precisely the same order, and with but slight variations in the names : — " Tunc belliger Arthur cum militibus brytanniae. atque regibus contra illos pugnabat. Et licet multi ipso, nobiliores essent. 'ipse tamen duodecies dux belli fuit, victorque bellorum. Primum bellum contra illos iniit iuxta hostium fluminis quod dicitur glein." &c. &c. — Translator. 10 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION Arthur in silence, and appear rather to follow the beaten track of Authentic History. Gildas, the first Welsh Chronicler, who was born in the year in which the Battle of Badon Mount was fought, and who died in 570, wrote a Book "De excidio Britannise." We have not seen it, but Henry of Huntingdon quotes it, affirm- ino" that Gildas speaks of the twelve expeditions of Arthur ac^ainst the Saxons, which that king conducted in the most courageous and brilliant manner. In the eighth expedi- tion he carried the image of the Holy Virgin on his shoulders;^ and it was through the means of this image, ^ In the History of Wales lately published in the Welsh Language, by the Rev. T. Price, the author has the following remark upon this passage of Nennius : — *'Y mae }t jTnadrodd ^ super humerous suos* — 'ar ei ysgwyddau/ ya. y dam Lladin uehod, jti fy nhueddu yn favrr i d3-bied fod yr awd^vr yn cyfieithu o'r Gymraeg, ac yn camgymerj^d yr ystyr. Y gair Cymraeg Ysgwyd, Tarian, ac Ysgu-ydd, aelod o'r corff^ ydynt mor gyfFelyb, yn enwedig mewn hen ysgrifiau, ac mai hawdd fyddai en camsynied; ac yn lie cyfieithu 'Ar ei darian,' rhoddi *Ar ei ys- gr^'yddau.' Ac y mae Gruffydd ap Arthur yn rhoddi yr ymadrodd yn fwy eglur, ati y modd canhTiol : — ' Humeris quoque suis, cly- peum Tocabulo, Priwen ; in quo imago Sanctae Marice^^ &c. — Ac ar ei ysgwyddau, darian, a elwid Pridwen, ar ba un yr oedd llun y Sanct- aidd Fair, &c."— Hanes Ctmru, p. 261. The expression super humeros suos, — upon his shoulders, in the above Latm sentence, inclines me to think that the author translated from the Welsh, and mistook the meaning of the original. The Welsh word Ysgwyd a Shield, and Tsgwydd a shoulder, are so similar, especially in old writings, as easily to occasion mistakes, and to cause the words to be translated on his shoulder instead of on his shield. And Gruffydd ap Arthur [Geoffrey of Momnouth] gives the words more explicitly, as follows : — " Humeris quoque suis, clypeum vo- cabulo, Priiren, in C[uo imago Sanctae Marine, &c." — Upon his shoulders his shield called Priuen, upon which was the image of the Holy Virgin. And the above author gives a quotation from the Elegy of Llyw- arch Hen upon his son Gwen, in which the two words, shield and ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 11 and the assistance of God, that he was enabled to vanquish the Saxons. It must, however, be confessed, that this account is suspicious, since Geoffrey of Monmouth ex- pressly states in his History, that neither Gildas nor Bede mention anything of Arthur, or of several other celebrated kings. 1 WiUiam of Malmesbury, who wrote about 1143, in quoting a written History of Arthur, relates an heroic action ofthat king. — "We read in the acts of the most illustrious King Arthur, that when, on a certain Christ- mas at Caerlleon, he had conferred military honours^ upon a valiant youth named Ider^ the son of King Nuth; and for the purpose of proving him, led him to the Hill of Frogs, now called Brentenol, where he had learnt there were three giants notorious for their crimes, in order to fight with them; the youth preceding Arthur and his com- panions without their knowledge, boldly attacked the giants, and slew them with a surprising slaughter.''* Hurrying on, Arthur finds Ider dying from exhaustion after the shoulder, are brought into apposition in such a manner as to add con- siderable weight to his opinion : — *' Gwen wrth Lawen ydd wylwys neithwyr A'r ysgwyd ar ei ysgwydd ; A chan bu mab im' bu liywydd." Gwen by the [river] Lawen kept watch last night, With his shield on his shoulder ; And as he was my son, he was valiant. — Tr. VThis suspicion will appear altogether unfounded, when it is recol- lected that the work of Nennius is frequently attributed toGildas. — Tr. 2 The order of knighthood seems to be implied. 3 This is the Edeyrn ap Nudd, some of whose adventures are re- lated in the Mabinogi of Geraint the son of Erbin. See the Mabi- nogion, by Lady Charlotte Guest. * "Legitur in gestis illustrissimi regis Arturi, quod cum in quadam festivitate natalis Domini apud Karlium, strenuissimum adolesc •en- 12 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION combat ; he leaves him to procure help, but it comes too late. On his return he finds Ider is dead. He was buried in the Abbey of Glastonbury, and Arthur established twenty four Monks, and assigned lands and money for their maintainance. Johannes Fordun (Testorum Hist. Thomas Gale, p. 639.) mentions the Tradition, according to which Arthur was to live for ever among his people. — "Note, that in the year 542, Arthur, being mortally wounded in battle, went to be healed of his wounds to the Island of Avallon. We do not know how he died; but as he is said to have been buried in the Abbey Church of Glastonbury with an epitapth in this manner, so we believe him to remain there still, whence the line 'Here lies Arthur, a King that was, and a King to be,"* for some of the race of the Britons believe that he is to come alive again, and restore them from a state of servi- tude to liberty."^ Here we see clearly the political reason which preserved the memory of Arthur among the Welsh as a Hero, who still existed, in order that he might avenge tem, filium scilicet Regis Nutli, dictum Ider, insigiiiis militaribus decorasset, et eundem experiendi causa in montem Ranarum, nunc dictum Brentenol, ubi tres gigantes malefactis famosissimos esse di- dicerat, contra eosdem dimicaturum duxisset ; idem Tiro Artunim et suos comites ignorantes praecedens, dictos gigantes fortiter aggres- sus niii-a caede tnicidavit." * " Nota, quod anno Domini 542 Arthurus, in hello lethaliter vul- neratus, abiit ad sananda vulnera in insulam Avallonis. Evegus ; non legimus, quo fine pausavit, sed quia in ecclesia monasteriali de Glasmbery dicitur esse tumulatus, cum hujusmodi epitaphio, sic eum ad praesens ibidem credimus, unde versus : * Hie jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus.' credunt enim qnidam de genere Britonnm, eum futurum vivere, et de Servitute ad libertatem eosque reducere.'* ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 13 on the Saxons the subjugation of his people. This Tra- dition is also found in Hartman von Aue, (v. 8 to 17,) but the political reason is unknown to him. (Sv I^Ot hi Ümn jitm He has in his time ©Cj^ckt aU0 ^Cftonc, Comported himself so well, S)a3 cr 5cr mn frone That he the crown of honour DotrUOCUntnOCl^ i'm nametrcct Did find, and (it) still bears his S)e^ ^ahmt 5ic mvl^üt Of this know the truth [name; ©ine hntlink : His compatriots : ©i jel^ent, er Uhc nocl^ "^'intc They say, he lives still to this day. (Sv ^at 5cn lop CVtVOvUn; He has earned praise ; 3^( mt 5er Up er^tOrkn, Though his body is dead, 60 Icpt 50C|^ jemcr iin name. Yet his name lives for ever. William of Malmesbury, who cannot avoid speaking of the Arthur of History, ridicules the fabulous stories re- lating to him. — "This is the Arthur, of whom at this day the tales of the Britons rave. One who evidently deserved to be celebrated in the records of History rather than in the dreams of Fables." And after referring to the valour of Arthur, and his repressing the encroachments of the bar- barians, that is, of the Saxons, he says, — " Lastly in the attack of Badon Mount, trusting in the image of the Virgin which he placed upon his arms, he alone put to flight nine hundred of his enemies with incredible slaughter."^ Geoff- rey of Monmouth pardons this jesting, because he could not have known the British works upon the exploits of Arthur. It is in Wales that the memory of this valiant king is prin- 1 " Hie est Arthurus de quo Brittonum nugae hodieque delirant, dignus plane quern non fallaces somniarent fabulae, sed veraces prae- dicarent historiae, intumescentes, [^Saxones videlicet] eximia belli- cosi Arthur! opera pressisset. Postremo in obsidione Badonici montis fretus imagine Dominicae matris, quam armis suis insuerat, nongentos hostium solus adorsus incredibile caede profligavit." c 14 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION cipally cherished, and it was there that the tomb of Gawain (G-walchmai) son of King Lot of Norway, was discovered in 1087. "In a Province of Wales called Rhos, the grave of Walwen was found, who was the worthy nephew of Arthur, the son of his sister. He reigned in that part of Wales which is still called Walwertha; a warrior^ greatly renowned for valour; but being first driven from his kingdom by the brother and nephew of Hengist, of whom I have spoken in the first book, he avenged his exile by much injury to them; adding deservedly to his uncle's fame, inasmuch as he for many years delayed the fall of his tottering country. But the grave of Arthur is no where to be seen, whence ancient fables feign that he is yet to come.''^ But a grate- ful posterity have discovered the tomb of Arthur. The Annals of Margam, which go as far as 1231, state, — "The bones of the renowned Arthur, formerly king of Britain, were discovered in a very ancient sarcophagus; near w^hich stood two pyramids, on which were inscribed some letters ; but which, on account of their barbarous and uncouth form, could not be read. The occasion of their being found was this. Whilst some persons were digging the earth between the aforesaid pyramids, in order to bury a certain monk, who had purchased permission to be buried there, they found a sarcophagus, in which they observed what ^ Probably Knight is meant. For a more detailed account of Gwalchmai, see the Mabinogion, by Lady Charlotte Guest. 2 " In provincia Wallarum quae Ros vocatur, inventum est sepul- chrum Walweniy qui fuit baud degener Arturis ex sorore nepos, regnavitque in ea parte Brittanise quae adhuc Walwertha vocatm* ; miles virtute nominatissimus, sed a fratre et nepote Hengistii, de quibus in primo libro dixi, regno expulsus, prius multo eorum de- trimento exüium compensans suum. Communicans merito laudi avunculi, quod mentis patriae casum in plures annos distulerat. Sed Arthuris sepulchrum nusquam visitur, unde antiquitas naeniarum adhnc enm venfnrumfabulatur." ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 15 appeared to be the bones of a woman, with the hair still undecayed ; which being removed, they found another laid before the first, in which were the bones of a man; and having removed that also, they found a third below the other two, upon which was placed a leaden cross, on which was inscribed, ' Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the Island of Avellan.' For that place, being surround- ed by marshes, is called Tlie Island of Atalloyi^ that is, the Island of Apples ; because an apple is called in British aiial. Then opening this sarcophagus, they found the bones of the aforesaid prince, very large and long, which the monks placed with due honours in a marble tomb within their church [of Glastonbury.] The first grave is said to have been that of Queen Gwenever, the wife of the said Arthur; the second that of Modred his nephew; and the third that of Arthur himself."'^ This search after the 1" Inventa sunt ossa famosissimi Arthuri quondam regis majoris Brittaniae, in quodam vetustissimo sarcophago recondita, circa quod duae pyramides stabant erectae, in quibus literae quaedam exaratae sunt, sed ob nimiam barbariem et deformitatem legi non jDoterant : inventa sunt auteni liac occasione, dum inter praedictas pyramides terram quidam efFoderant, ut quendam monachum sepelirent, qui ut ibi sepeliretur a conventu pretio impetraverat ; reperierunt quoddam sarcophagum, in quo quasi ossa muliebria cum capillitio adhuc in- corrupto cernebantur ; quo amoto reperierunt et aliud priori sub- stratum, in quo ossa virilia continebantur, quod etiam amoventes invenerunt et tertium duobus primis subterpositum ; cui crux plumbea superposita erat, in qua exaratum fuerat ' Hie jacet inclytus Rex Arthurus sepultus in insula Avellana.^ Locus enim ille paludi- bus inclusus insula Avallonis vocatus est, i. e. insula pomorum,, nam aval Britannice pomum dicitur. Deinde idem sarcophagum aperientes invenerunt praedicti principis ossa robusta nimis et longa, quod cum decente honore et magno apparatu in marmoreo mausoleo intra eccslesiam suam [Glaston] monaclii collocaverunt. Primum tumu- lum dicunt fuisse Guenhaverce Reginas uxoris ejusdem Arthuri ; secundum Modredi nepotis ejusdem ; tertium praedicti principis." 16 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION relics of the great King continued even to the later period of the Middle Ages. The Waverlev Annals (1283) acquaint us that — "In the year 1283 also the crown of the celebrated King Arthur, who was long held in the greatest honour by the Welsh, was together with other precious jewels presented to the King [Edward I.] and thus the glory of the Welsh was, though unwillingly, transferred to the Eno^hsh."'^ It is evident that this presentation of the crown of Arthur to him, who had suppressed the inde- pendence of the Welsh Princes, must have been a humili- ation to them ; and this trait proves how deeply the above tradition of Arthur was rooted in their hearts, and how piously they cherished his memory. The Monk Alberic des Trois Fontaines, w^ho wrote in the middle of the thirteenth century, does not fail to re- mark, under the year 1091, — "That mention is made of the grave of Gauxain^ which was fourteen feet long ;" and under the year 1193, "that about this year the body of the great Arthur was discovered in England in the Island of Avallon, where the Abbey of St. Dunstan stands, commonly called St. Peter's of Glastonbury, in the Diocese of Bath. And this was effected by the industry of a certain monk of the same Church of the New Abbey, who caused the whole cemetery of the place to be diligently searched by excavating ; being animated by the w ords which formerly a monk had heard from the mouth of Henry the father of Richard ; and there was found a stone tomb buried deep in the earth, upon which was a leaden plate inscribed with certain lines, — 1 (Th. Gale, Lib. II. p. 238.)— "Anno 1283 item corona famosi regis Arthur i, qui apud Wallenses a longo tempore in maximo honore habebatur, cum aliis jocalihus pretiosis Domino Regi [Ed- uard I.] est oblata, et sic Wallensimn gloria ad Anglicos Ucet invite est translata. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 17 'Here lies Arthur, the flower of Kings, the glory of sovereignty, 'Whose honourable life enjoys everlasting fame; 'Here lies Arthur the King of the Britons, the avenger, unavenged.**"^ We have not quoted these passages to prove the ex- istence of the Arthur of history, but to show how an- nalists endeavoured, by every means, to exclude from history the Nugse Brittonum, or Fables of the Britons concerning Arthur. Guillaume le Petit, in the fifth Book of his Hist. rer. Anglic, goes so far as to stigmatize Geofirey of Monmouth as a most impudent liar, and extravagant visionary, who would endeavour to introduce the stories of Arthur, Merlin, Uther Pendragon, and others into authen- tic history. We wish at the same time to demonstrate, that, down to the thirteenth century, the memory of Ar- thur, as a National Hero, was most fondly cherished amongst the Welsh ; from which it follows, that in the purest and most ancient Traditions, Arthur would be made the great actor and Hero. This is expressly confirmed by the Chronicle of Geofirey of Monmouth, which was 1 *'Ad annum 1091 [the discovery of the grave of Gawain] Galvaini, quatuordecim pedes longum ; ad ann: 1193, de corpore Arthuri magni dicitur quod circa hunc annum sit inventum in Anglia in insula Avalonis ubi est Abbatia sancti Dunstani Glastonia vulgariter dicta ad sanctum Petrum de Glastemberin, Batoniensis diocesis, et hoc factum est per industriam cujusdam monachi ejusdem ecclesiae novi Abbatis qui totum cimiterium loci diligenter excavando fecit in- vestigari, animatus verbis, quae olim [adhuc:] monachus audiverat ab ore Henrici, Patris Richardi, et inventa est tumba lapidea in pro- fundo terrae defossa, super quam lamina plumbea quibusdam versibus erat insignata * Hie jacet Arturus, flos Regum gloria Regni, ' Quem probitas morum commendat laude perenni ; * Hie jacet Arturus Britonum rex ultor inultus.' " 18 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION written after the year 1140.^ We may presume that this book, De Origine et gestis regum Britanniae, is so generally known, that any detailed extracts would be unnecessary. He likewise wrote Vita Merlini Caledonii; Arturi regis gesta; et Commentaria in Merlini prophetias ; and, although we have not ourselves seen these works, a good idea of them may be formed from the contents of the book first mentioned; throughout which it is apparent, that Geoffrey's principal object was to collect all the ancient traditions of Wales, and that ''A certain very ancient book in the British tongue, which in most beautiful lan- guage, continuously, and in order, relates the acts of all the kings of the Britons from Brutus, their first king, to Cadwalader, the son of Cadwallon, and which book Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, brouoht out of Britain,'"- was not tlie only book he had in view, but also many others, which he frequently quotes, particularly Le Brut d^Angleterre in Bas Breton,^ (nieder bretonische,) written towards the middle of the twelfth century, which he translated into Latin, at the same time that Maister Grasse (Wace, 1155,) translated it into the Langue d'oui.* Also the Laws of ^ This is by no means certain, as Henry of Huntingdon states that he had seen the work on the continent as early as the year 1139. — Tr. 2 " Liber quidam Brittanici sermonis vetustissimus qui a Bruto, prima rege Brittonum, usque ad Cadvalladrum, filium Cadvallonis, actus omnium continue et ex ordine perpulchris orationibus pro- ponebat, (L. 1. c. 1.) et quem Gualterius Oxonefordensis Archi- diaconus ex Brittania advexit." (L, 12. c. 20.) 3 Though under the necessity of following the Author in this ren- dering of the original words, yet the Translator by no means concurs with him in its accuracy, as it is not said that the work alluded to was written in the Bas Breton^ but in the British, [Britannici sermonis.'} And it is even maintained by some that the word Britannia does not refer to Brittany, but to Wales. The same observation will apply to the word Breton, in several other places in this Essay. — Tr. * MSS. de la Bibliotheque du Roi, No. 27. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 19 Dyfnwal Moelmud, (Leges Mulmutinge,) which Gildas is said to have rendered from British into Latin ; King Al- fred's in Anglo-Saxon ; and other works, whose contents he does not give, because they are not to be found in Walter of Oxford. The Prophetia Merlmi, which he introduced in the seventh Book, is a sublime fiction which no doubt existed before his time : It is a perfect Apocalypse, which maintained a high degree of importance even during the Wars of the Roses; and historians refer to it, as to the Prophets of the Holy Scriptures, Ut impleretur prophetia Merlini. As Geoffrey's History approaches the time of Arthur, his language, generally dry and simple, becomes spirited, rich, and florid, until his work appears to assume the character of a complete epic poem. The deeds of Arthur himself form the basis of the history ; and al- though the well known names of Mazadan, Oaradoc, Oador, Lot, Vortigern, Uther Pendragon, (i. e. Uter Caput draco- nis,) Maugantius, and Merlin are mentioned, they belong- to secondary and less important personages. Above all, we must remark, that Geoffrey does not mention the institu- tion of the Round Table, as a society of Knights ; which leads us to presume, that the Liber vetustissimus contained nothing on the subject of the Round Table, although at Chap. 11. of the ninth Book there is an indication of it, where it is said that the renown of Arthur had become so much extended over the world, that all valiant men were armed and dressed in imitation of the Knights (Milites) of King Arthur. Besides the Historians we have quoted, and to whom we might add Leland, (Assertio Arturii,) and some other writers of that period, there remains to us a much more important source, which gives us not only a description of facts, but (if we may be permitted the ex- pression) a direct reflection of the person of Arthur and his companions, in the wars against the Saxons: — We allude to the ancient poems of Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hen. 20 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION Merddin, '&c. &c. Their age and genuineness have been disputed by Pinkerton, in his Preface to Babour, and by others ; as Geoffrey of Monmouth has also had his oppo- nents, from Guillaume le Petit down to A. W. Schlegel, in his critique on the " Memoire sur FOrigine des Epopees Chevaleresques du Moyen Age," and by Fauriel in the Journal des Debats, 1833. Nevertheless, those who have read Sharon Turner's Vindication of the genuineness of the Ancient British Poems, — of Aneurin, &c. (London, 1803,) will be forced to acknowledge that his learned and compre- hensive arguments have established for ever the genuineness of these venerable remains of ancient Celtic hterature ; and yet he has neglected to adduce one proof, which must have confirmed his results, viz. the philological proof, founded upon the character of the language in the different epochs. Aneurin, in his Gododin, conducts us to the unfortunate battle of Cattraeth. From Taliesin we have elegies in honour of tlie brave combatants, — Urien Bheged, Owain, Uther Pendragon, and others, whom in the later Romances we find as estabhshed characters. There we accompany Llywarch Hen to the combat with his host Cynddylan, with Geraint and Cadwallon ; we hear the harp of the vene- rable bard lamenting the fate of his children, slain by the enemy. These bards are at the same time heroes and min- strels ; they sing not of past times, but of present deeds ; their poems are rather lyrics than epics, their language is without art, but rich and vigorous, and their rhAi;hm, ex- cited by the deeds before them, and imitating the tide of battle, is heroic and inspiring. Their memory was as warmly cherished as that of Arthur by the bards of the ninth century, and Nennius expressly mentions them as "the ancient and illustrious bards;" and speaks also of the heroes whom they celebrated as historical characters. Among others, (besides those we have already named,) is Pantha, who is mentioned bv Bede under the name of ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 21 Penda, and who re-appears in the Eomance of Lancelot, in German, by Ulric Von Zazikofer, about 1190, as King Pant ; also K-iderchhen, the Rodarchus of Geoffrey, and others besides. We perceive in them the germ of the Round Table, which was not established for five cen- turies afterwards. At the same time we recoonise the Arthur of History, not yet invested with the poetic ra- diance with which posterity surrounded him. They fre- quently speak of Arthur, calling him as Nennius does Dux Bellorum ; but they do not exalt him, as in later traditions. Llywarch Hen, who was his companion in arms, and one of his council, does not panegyrize him in an ex- aggerated style. In the combat of Llongborth, the bravery of Geraint engrossed the attention of this bard, and the chief, who according to later traditions must have sur- passed every other, is scarcely named throughout his long elegy; and, since his poem is an offering paid to the dead, it is natural to suppose that his praises were more fraught with truth than flattery. He speaks of Arthur with vene- ration, but not admiration; Arthur is simply mentioned as the chief, and leader of the combat, while Geraint is celebrated as worthy of the highest renown. In the same way, in the Afallenau of Merlin, we see Arthur the well known king ; but he is not deified, although he was then dead, and all his great deeds of valour and patriotism were achieved. Indeed there is not a single epithet by which we could recognise that whirlwind of battle, who surpassed the whole of Europe in power and wisdom. He w^as undoubtedly a most brave warrior ; but the comparatively moderate praises of the contemporary bards of his own country prove that he was not the wonderful and absolute Mars of British history, before whom all kings and nations bowed in terror. Nennius had already represented him as the prince of warriors, the conqueror without a reverse, and the pilgrim to Jerusalem. This proves that, in the 22 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION ninth century, he had been raised from the simple ground of history, on which he originally stood, and had entered the region of fable, where henceforth we must follow him and his companions. But first there remains a very diffi- cult question to propose, if not to solve. To whom do Arthur and his Warriors owe their poetical resurrection — To the Welsh, or to the Bretons ? And why should Arthur he selected above all others? — Was it in Wales, or in Brit- tami, that he icas. chosen as the centre of this new creation ? Tradition is not wafted from country to country, Hke a hght seed at the mercy of the winds. It is a part of the in- tellectual life of the people to whom it belongs, and could not take root beyond the limits of the material and intellectual power of that people. But the more intimately we study the history of Wales and of Brittany, from the earliest date to the year 1000, the more vain and fruitless does the discussion on the origin of the second period of tradition, down to the eleventh century, appear to us ; consequently, all that we can attempt is to throw more light on the epoch, without hoping to arrive at satisfactory results on every point. It is generally admitted that the first inhabitants of Britain were Celts, and that Armorica, the country between tlie Loire, the Seine, and the sea, was at the time of Julius Csesar inhabited by Celts, of whom, in Pliny, we find traces as far as the Pvrenees ; and that, accordins: to Caesar and Tacitus, Britain and Armorica were peopled bv a kindred race. In the wars against Csesar, Armorica rejoined the Britons ; and Caesar took the opportunity of passing into Britain, there to forge the first links in the chain of slavery, which that Island was for four hundred years destined to bear. When the Eoman legions left the country, the Picts and Scots penetrated into it ; and, as early as 383, many of the inhabitants quitted the Island with Maximus, and passed over into Armorica. In 448, the Britons reluctantly solicited the help of the Romans : — ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 23 *' There is not," said they, " a place that we can flee to — driven by the barbarians into the sea, and thrown back by the sea among the barbarians, there remains to us but the choice of death from the sword, or from the waves of the sea." But ^tius was too much engaged with Eocharich, King of the Allemanni, and the whole Roman Empire too much occupied by Attila, to give ear to their complaints. Fresh bodies fled to Armorica, and these emigrations were repeated when the Anglo-Saxons entered in 513, and their new country was called by the general name of Llydaw^ (the coast) which has the same signification as Armorica. " Others sought foreign regions — (Aldhelmus Benedictus, Annals of the Kings of the Franks.) — For when the island of Britain was invaded by the Angles and Saxons, a great part of the inhabitants crossed the sea, and settled in the extremity of Gaul, in the country of Vannes and Quimper, in Armorica, formerly a district of Gaul, then called Letama^ by the Britons, by whom it was possessed."^ — " A province, formerly called Armorica^ then Littau^ and now the Lesser Brittany T^ The Cornish and Devon names, which the emigrants carried with them to their new country, prove, that they came principally from these parts of Britain. Soon after the Anglo-Saxons were established in the island, the yellow plague (Pestis flava) made considerable ravages, and oc- 1 " Alii transmarinas petebant regiones. — Adelmus Benedictus^ pn the 8th century.] Anales regum Francorum. — Nam cum ab Anglis et Saxonibus Brittania insula fuit invasa, magna pars incolarum ejus mare trajiciens, in ultimis Galliae finibus Venetorum et Corosolitarum regiones occupavit. [Corpus Francicae historiae veteris p. 366 ed. Hanover, 1613.] (Life of Gildas.) — In Armoricam quondam Galliae regionem tunc autem a Brittanis, a quibus possidebatur Letavia dicebatur." (Bouquet III. p. 449.) 2 <<■ Provincia quondam Armorica deinde Littau nunc Brittania Mi- nor vocatur." (Cotton Library, Vesp. A. 14. p. 32.) 24 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION casioned fresh emigrations to Armorica ; "At length the in- habitants, and, especially, certain nobles being compelled by the wide spreading pestilence, as well as the violence of invading enemies, sought other lands. Francanus, the cousin of Cato the British King, with his two sons, Gwer- thenor and lago, and his wife Alba, went into Armorica, where, at that time, perfect tranquihty was understood to exist."' It was therefore most natural, that the remembrance of the last battles of the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons, under Arthur and his warriors, should be preserved in Armo- rica by the refugees ; and it is not surprising, that they should paint the past in glowing and exaggerated colours, since, in the present, they found themselves in all the misery inci- dent to strangers, in an unknown and uninhabited country, deprived of all they had held most dear. Until the ninth century, with the exception of a few notices in the Lives of the Saints, of little value, we have only the account of the Bollandists upon the subsequent intercourse between Armori- ca and Britain, and particularly Wales ; — from which we learn but little, except the existence of a reciprocity of intel- lectual influence between the two countries, in consequence of the introduction of Christianity. The Armoricans were compelled to fight against the Franks, as the Cymry fought against the Saxons. The war continued without cessation, but, most frequently, the Armoricans were defeated. The possession of Vannes was disputed by the two nations for two hundred years ; in 635 they w^ere defeated by Dagobert ; in * " Tandem ob pestis late grassantis luem atque etiam irrumpentium hostium vim coacti incolae ac prcecipue quidem nohiles alienas petivere terras. (Vita Winwaloci actis sanctorum, IMartii 256.) Francanus Catonis regis Brittanici consobrinus cum geminis suis natis Guerthenoro et Jacobe cum uxore sua Alba contendit in Armo- ricam — ubi tunc temporis alta quies vigere putabatur." ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 25 753 by Pepin; Charlemagne sent Count Guy to guard the frontier of Brittany ; Louis le Debonaire twice conquer- ed them, and gave them Nominoe as regent, who in 848, made himself king of Brittany and D61, and repulsed Charles the Bold in three expeditions ; (851) but his son Erispoe yielded, and his brother Solomon entered into alli- ance with the Franks against the Normans in 857, and re- ceived a crown richly ornamented with precious stones as his reward; he was however vanquished in 877 by Pasquitan Count of Vannes, and Gurant Count of Eennes. Alain, the^ brother of Pasquitan, succeeded at Vannes, and Judichael, the son of Erispoe's daughter, governed Eennes. War broke out between them; but an incursion of the Normans ^ taking place, they made peace : Judichael was killed in 878 :> by the Normans ; Alain afterwards put them to flight, and became the king of all the Bretons. Out of fifteen thou-,^ sand Normans, only four hundred men were saved after the combat with Alain. — He reigned with glory till 907, and "" received the surname of Great. But of the sons of Alain, the Chronicle of Nantes says, that " not following the steps of their father, they w^ere altogether lost."^ ^ Mathuidoc, Count of Poher, had married the daughter "^ of Alain. At the beginning of the tenth century. Hollo de- vastated Brittany : — all resistance was vain. Mathuidoc fled with his family to England ; the nobles of Brittany, and all who preferred poverty to the loss of liberty, emi- grated with him. King Athelstan received them cordially, and they now took refuge among the Britons, as the latter had at an earlier period passed over to Armorica, when driven out by the Anglo-Saxons. On this occasion Athel- stan treated them as friends ; he educated young Alan, the son of Mathuidoc, and the daughter of Alain the Great, at his court ; Alan repaid his hospitahty by a life 1 '* Miniiiie vestigia patris sequentes omniiio defect! fuerunt." 26 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION. dedicated to valour and honour, and he had scarcely attained the necessary age when he assembled the fugitive Bretons and their descendants, and conducted them into Brittany ; they occupied D61 and St. Brieux, and his presence, and the happy consequences resulting from it, re-animated the patriotism of the Bretons, and gave them a hope of happier times ; he drove the Normans from those regions, as well as from the Loire, and received the sceptre of Brittany, as the well merited recompense of his bravery. The Chronicon Nannetense says of him, " He was a powerful man, and an exceeding brave warrior against his enemies ; and hav- ino" chased away the Normans, he possessed the whole of Brittany, including Rennes and Nantes, and also all the country beyond the Loire, the Manges, the Tiffauges, and the Herbauges. ^" If we allow that the Welsh nation loved to cherish with the utmost fidelity the remembrance of Arthur and his warriors, and their exploits, we cannot deny that these recollections must also have been cherished in Brit- tany — The desire to renew the existence of their primitive country on another soil, is proved by the great number of names, which they carried from Wales and other parts of Britain into Brittany — If the Welsh, in their own country, exalted Arthur to the height at which Nennius already found him, decked with the glory of a Saint, and making an expedi- tion to Jerusalem, why should not their kinsmen in Brittany have done the same thing? The Celtic establishment of ' " Fuit vir potens ac valde ad versus inimicos suos belligerator fortis habens et possidens omnem Brittaniam fugatis inde Normaiiis, sibi subditam, et Redonicam, et Namneticum, et etiam trans Ligerim, Medalgicum, Tlieofalgicum et Herbadilillicum." (Bouquet, VIII. p. 276,) The apparent digression upon Alain and Alan, which we have here allowed ourselves, will be justified by our future remarks upon the historical character of these personages, who re-appear in the 12th century, in the fable of the Graal. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 27 bards was always common to the two nations ; Turner proves their existence from the seventh to the tenth century, why should they not also have existed in Brittany ? And if the bards from inclination cherished and maintained the ancient and patriotic remembrances, and if, with a vivid imagina- tion, they entwined authentic history with these traditions ; — if, in the seventh century, the Welsh Tales were transport- ed into Brittany, and these stories, altered and remodelled, were carried back to England and Wales, under Math- uidoc in the tenth century, and lastly, if a mixture of the traditions of both Breton and Welsh were ao-ain intro- duced into Brittany, with Alan ; — who would decide from the obscure sources, a part of which are at present either inaccessible or not yet critically examined, which portion of the traditions of this period belong to Brittany, and which to Wales? Wales possesses a valuable literature, to a portion of which that nation has accorded a high antiquity. On the other hand, the Comte de la Villemarque has pro- mised us the publication of an important, and of its kind unique series of ancient Breton traditions, which have been preserved upwards of ten centuries, and which still exist in the mouth of the people. Shall we find there also the original source of Geoffrey's history of his Merlin, or of the most ancient French Romancesrelative to Arthur? In any case there is but one method whereby to resolve these doubts, and to throw light on this obscurity ; it is by a most impartial, indefatigable, and searching criticism of all sources, whether Welsh or Breton. It would require a second Jacob Grimm, to construct the historical grammar of the different Celtic dialects particularly of the Oymry and the Bretons, from the earliest period to the nineteenth or at least to the fifteenth century, to enable us to place each document in its true position, and to judge by the language, descriptions of manners, historical facts, arts, and other points indicative of its contents, of the date of each docu- 28 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION ment, and place it in its proper situation ; to purify it from the extraneous matter of later interpolations, to reinstate all the noble sentiments, in a word to restore, by the most minute and, at the same time, elevated criticism, sustained by a profound knowledge of every thing relating to those periods, to clear, we say, this literature from the dust of an honourable partiality, from the pedantry of antiquaries, from old errors, and spurious authorities. One other doubt would remain to be resolved, namely, whether, as is com- monly believed, the bards exclusively transformed and propagated the traditions of Arthur, or whether, and at what period, and for how long, the princes, clergy, and monks exercised an influence over them, and what class of persons stamped the character of the Mabinogion on these traditions ? We see from a passage in Giraldus, in his work De jure et statu Menev. Eccles. that the princes at- tached a high value to ancient traditions. One day when Llewelyn prince of Gwynedd held a full court, "there came forward before all, at the conclusion of the dinner, a certain man of fluent speech, such as those who in the British language are called bards, of whom Lucan says, ' The bards poured forth many songs.' "'' And further Giraldus savs, "As lonof as Wales shall exist, this noble deed shall be related throuo^hout all ao^es with due celebrity, both in written history and by oral recitation.^" 1 *' Processit in fine prandii coram omnibus vir quidam linguae dica- cis cujusmodi lingua brittanica sicut et Bardi dicuntur unde Lucanus : *Plurima concreti [:securi:] fuderunt [:fudistis:] carmina Bardi.' quod quamdiu Wallia stabit nobile factum hujus et per historias scriptas, et per ora canentium dignis per tempera cuncta laudibus atque efFeretur." ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 29 We must infer the same thing from the situation and pri- vate authority of the domestic bard, (Bardd Teulu,) of the bard Cadeiriog, and Pencerdd, which were certainly not want- ing in the castles of the great. Their political influence may be appreciated, even in later times, by the cruel persecution they suffered under Edward I. Giraldus also proves that the bards of the twelfth century were not merely min- strels, but likewise writers. " This also appears to me worthy of notice, that the Welsh bards and singers or re- citers have the genealogy of the above-mentioned princes in their most ancient and authentic books, and that, too, written in Welsh.'"* And in Leland's Assertio Arthuri, p. 52. we find, — " As Henry IL King of England, had heard from an ancient British historical singer." William of Malmes- bury likewise says, in speaking of Henry II. — " The King also had frequently heard this from their historical singers."^ It would be impossible to deny that the monks and ec- clesiastics possessed an influence over the traditions, and often gave them a monastic character ; it is also true, that in the most ancient bards we find strong contempt expressed for monks, and Merlin says, " I will not receive the sacra- ment from those long-frocked, detestable monks, let me receive it from God himself." On the other hand we find Gildas the monk bitterly complaining of the princes, who paid more attention to the songs of the bards, than to sacred hymns in honour of Christ ; but he also treats the 1 " Hoc etiam mihi notandum videtur, quod Bardi Cambrenses et cantores, seu recitatores, genealogiam liabent praedictorum principum in libris eorum antiquissimis et autlienticis, sed etiam Cambrice scriptam." " Rex angliae Henricus II. sicut ab historico cantore Britone audi- verat antiquo." — Leland Assertio Arthuri. " Rex autem hoc ex gestis Britomim et eorum cantoribus historicis frequenter audiverat." E 30 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION monks as simpletons, and ignorant in all matters of Christ- ian instruction, and only attentive and zealous in listening to stories.^ The ancient, but false, derivation of the Britons from Brutus, cannot be of Celtic origin ; the ancient bards knew nothing of this species of tradition ; in the passages already- quoted from Nennius, \yilliam of !Malmesbury, and Geo- ffrey of Monmouth, we cannot mistake the pen of the ecclesiastic, and the disposition to surround the head of the national hero with the halo of sanctity; this continued down to modern times, for the greater part of these memo- rials of Arthur were found in convents. We must now touch on the second question, less on ac- count of its importance, than in order to avoid any omission. Why was Arthur chosen as the centre of tradition ? It appears that King Arthur owes this preference to Merlin.- Posterity regarded their character as most important. The remembrance of Merlin was preserved by his Afallenau, in which he pronounced the prophecy, "Arthur will re-appear." The bards of the sixth century do not overwhelm Arthur with glory and praise, but they name him as the principal chief, and commander general, who headed the expeditions. Do we not see at the present time, that the deeds of inferior warriors are attributed to the commander in chief, and the acts of ministers to the King? Posterity. required a centre, around which she could group her recollections of subor- dinate heroes; the natural centre was the King; and what stronger consolation could be afforded to an oppressed people deprived of their chiefs and heroes, and what more enliven- ing hope could accompany a fugitive nation in its new country, than that of the prophetic bard? He, the King, will return to reconduct the emiorants to their ancient ^ King Edward prohibited monks from being rhymers and ra- conteurs, a sufficient proof that they frequently appeared as such. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 31 country, to restore them from their present misery, to their former glory ! We find this tradition very generally known in the twelfth century, and considered even then very an- cient; William of Malmesbury says, "Arthuris sepulchrum nusquam visitur, undo antiquitas nseniarum adhuc eum venturum fabulatur." GreofFrey of Monmouth gravely mentions this tradition. Alanus ah Insulis relates, towards the end of the twelfth century, that the Breton people would have stoned any one, who dared to deny the fact that Ar- thur still lived. Johannes Fordun says, " For some of the race of the Britons believe that he shall again live, and re- store them from a state of servitude to liberty."^ And at the period of the Eomances of the Graal, his mys- terious immortality was accounted for in this sense, that he was gone to the east, in search of the Graal. Mer- lin, next to Arthur, was evidently considered of the high- est importance in the minds of the people, and it was owing to his gift of prophecy, that so many predictions, poems, and promises were attributed to him. Nennius testifies how highly he was appreciated even in the ninth century, that his birth was shrouded in mystery, and that he appeared as a magician at the building of the tower of Guorthigirnus (Vortigern.) We shall trace the develope- ment of this new character in tradition in the following section. 1 "Credunt enim quidam de genere Britonum, eum futurum vivere, et de Servitute ad liberatem eosque reducere." \ 32 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION SECOND PERIOD. ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. A.D. 1066 TO 1150. In the first period, we saw Arthur and his companious in their primitive and historical character, and we have followed them in their transit from history to fable. We must, however, acknowledge, that we have no positive proofs by which we can refute the opinion, that till about the year 1066, these traditions faithfully followed their first direction and national tendency. — This is indeed rather confirmed by Nennius, the Life of Merlin, and the Chronicle of Geofirey, and it wiU doubtless be confirmed from Welsh sources ; but these appear to be rare, since even the learn- ed Turner complains, more than once, of the scarcity of materials for history from the ninth to the eleventh century. Very different on the other hand are the contents of the French Romances of Erek, Ivain, Percival, Tristan, Ar- thur, Merlin, &c. none of which in their present form are so old as the eleventh century. They are compositions which belong to the twelfth century; but according to their own testimony, the greater part are compiled from more an- cient tales, especially Breton: and it is well to observe, that in all their romances, Arthur no longer appears as the fighting hero of the Welsh, but is commonly merely a spectator, the ruler of a wealthy court, the monarch who rewards the exploits of his knights ; and also that the deeds of the heroes are no longer directed to patriotic expeditions, but rather to those which concern their own personal glory, and the glory of knighthood in general. Consequently the ancient Welsh national character of these romances is thus obscured, and they indicate a time when another great and general interest had dimmed the pristine lustre of the ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 33 first remembrance of Arthur. Tradition does not develope itself by capricious starts, it leaves no intervals ; for like the mind of man it does not advance suddenly, but proceeds from one step to another, according to its own laws; we must suppose that there was a period of transformation, during which Arthur began to lose his patriotic importance and his knights to gain a new character ; and we are of opi- nion that this change from the ancient traditions to the nu- merous romances which we find in France subsequent to the year 1150, was essentially prepared and effected in Brittany. We are far from imagining, that in Wales traditions had emr slept, or had ever been forgotten; but with respect to the complete transformation it underwent in Brittany, and its influence from thence upon French literature, we can bring forward, besides the testimony of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, whose Chronicle rests expressly on a book in the Breton^ language, the evidence of the most ancient ro- mances of the North of France; we refer to the numerous names of persons and places in these romances, which must be sought for in Brittany, and not in Wales; and lastly we shall appeal to the primary ancient sources of Wales, and of Brittany, as far as we have hitherto been enabled to examine them. — Nor shall we omit the testimony afforded by the conclusive reasoning to be found in poetic history. In the Red Book of Hergest, (Llyfr Coch o Her- gest,) Peredur comes from the North. Aneurin names Pere- dur of steel arms^ as one of the heroes at the battle of Cattraeth,2 and Geofirey of Monmouth says, in his Vita Mer- lini, which doubtless was composed from the most ancient traditions, (p. 42.) "Dux Venedotorum Perederus bellage- rebat!" Vide Turner's Vindication, p. 120. I know of no 1 British. See note p. 18. — Tr. 2 See Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion, p. 297. 34 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION Venedoti in Wales, i but there were Veneti wlio inhabited Vannes, near the bay of Morbihan. The Bretons have ap- propriated Peredur to themselves. We now turn to Merlin ; he is still the warrior and the historical bard, who abandoning himseK to despair, after the lost battle of Ardervth, flies to the forest of Celjddon, where he wanders desolate and alone. This is quite a na- tional metaphor. Geofirey gives the same description. "He became a wild man, frequenting the wood, where he long continued lost and forgotten of his friends, dehght- ing in the woods and leading a savage life."^ 1 The Venedoti are the people of North Wales. They are mention- ed by Geoffrey of Monmouth as acting m conjunction with the Demeti, or people of South Wales, and the other British tribes. *'Ad edictum itaque ipsius venerunt Demeti, Venedoti, Deiri, et Albani, et quicunque ex genere Britonum fuerant.'* The name of Venedotia is repeatedly used by Giraldus Cambrensis, and distinctly explained to signify North Wales. '' Divisa est antiquitus Wallia in tres partes Venedotiam scilicet, quae nunc Nord wallia, id est, Borealis Wallia dicitur, &c." — " Totius autem Walliae sicut aus- tralis pars circa Cereticam, &c. — sic borealis Venedotia, et situ ter- rarum munitior, &c." And tliis is again confirmed by the site of the district of Tegengl, which is stated to be in Venedotia, and to have been under the government of the Prince David ap Owen. " Te- gengl est nomen provinciae apud Venedotiam, cui dominabatur David Oeni filius." Indeed, the name is similarly explained by Alanus de Insulis, in his exposition of the prophecy of Merlin; for having referred to the original words "■ Venedotia rubebit matemo sanguine," he says that the name applies to a province of Wales, and that the prophecy was fulfilled in the war of the Welsh against King Henry. *' Venedocia quaedam Cambriae, id est Waliae, provincia est, Synechdochicos ergo significat bellum quod Venedoci, hoc est Wallenses Henrico regi intulerunt." — Tk. 2 " Fuit Sylvester homo, quasi silvis deditus esset Inde per sestatem totam, nullique repertus Oblitusque sui cognatorumque suorum Delituit silvis, obductus more ferino." ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 35 The Bretons went still further; with them his mysterious disappearance in the forest became the result of the en- chantments of Viviane, who had learned the art from Mer- lin himself, and of which Nennius also appeared to be aware. The whole of his history is connected with the cele- brated forest of Breceliande, and its still more celebrated fountain of Baranton in Brittany. The Mabinogi of larlles y Ffynawn, in the Llyfr Coch o Hergest, does not even name this fountain. In later poems, Owain, the warrior of history, and the companion of Arthur, becomes a complete Breton, so much so that the author of the Roman de Rou, (v. 11514 to 11539,) cannot forgive himself, for having been so much deluded by the fable of the fountain as to make a pilgrimage to it. " La alai jo merveilles querre, Vis la forest e vis la terre ; Merveilles quis, mais nes"* trovai ; Fol m'en revins, fol i alai, Fol i alai, fol m^en revins, Folie quis, por fol me tins.^' A more modern poet, Huon de Mery, was, it is true, more fortunate, and the Oomte de la Villemarque, has recently dis- covered certain ancient traditions in that neiirhbourhood.i Let us now return to history. — Whilst Wales, from the time of Athelstan, became tributary to the Anglo-Saxon kings, — frequently revolting against them, obtaining slight victories, and receiving serious defeats; whilst Griffith, king of South Wales, devastated great part of Herefordshire in 1052, and in the time of* Edward the Confessor massacred the people, and ravaged the country, until, in 1063, he lost all his advantages, through the vengeance of * See Mabinogion, by Lady Charlotte Guest. 36 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION Harold and Tosty, who drove him out, destroyed his vessels and his castles, and carried away hostages, having exacted a heavy tribute ; Brittany in the meantime remained at rest, enjoying peace from the time of Alan, the descendant of Alan the G-reat, and began to develope its internal power. The troubles from the death of Alan to Conan, the first Count of Rennes, soon ended, when the latter had set aside the pretensions of Alands natural sons, Hoel and Guerich. Godfrey I. succeeded him, until 1008 : Alan II. reigned till 1040: Conan II. till 1067: and Brittany was an undivided, independent, and respected state. The period of continual strugo-les for existence, of family dissensions, and civil war, had passed, their constitution was modified according to the feudal system of the Franks, and they began to take part in the more advanced civilization of their neigh- bours ; — v,']ii\e the two nations were not divided by the furious and implacable hatred, which many of the Welsh bards breathe against the Normans and Saxons. Great political movements always occasion a reaction in the developement of the minds of the people, and give them a fresh impulse. Such was the expedition of the Normans against England. When William the Conqueror assembled his warriors to cross over to England, the Bretons did not object to accompany him. " He also collected an immense army from amongst the Normans, Flemings, French, and Bretons." " For the French and Bretons, the Poite^-ins and Burgundians, and other Cisalpine people flocked to the transmarine war.^i The imagination of the chiefs must doubtless have been excited bv the idea of undertakino^ an avenging expedition against the descendants of those who ^"Ingeiitem qiioque exercitum et Normanis, Flandrensibus, ac Francis et Britonibus aggregavit. [W. Gemetensis, 286.] Galli nam- que et BritoneSy Pictavini et Burgundiones, aliique populi Cisalpini ad bellum transmarinum convolarunt." [Ordericus VitalLs, 494.] ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 37 had opposed Arthur ; but their ambition was more influ- enced by the desire of rivalling foreign princes in valour and heroism, of shining in victories, and equalling their allies in civilization and virtue. The conquest of England took place in the reign of Oonant II. and the prophecy of Merlin, accor- ding to Geoffrey, is as follows : — " The Bretons shall, through weakness, for many years lose their kingdom, until Conan shall come in his car from Armorica, and Oadwalader the honoured leader of the Welsh."^ It would, in fact, be astonishing, if this prophecy in the life of Merlin were writ- ten before 1066: Conan cannot be the Conan Meriadoc of Geoffrey's Chronicle, which this writer places before the in- cursion of Hengist and Horsa in England, nor can he be the Aurelius Conanus, who slew Constantine, and who is a per- son of small importance. The passage in the Afallenau of Merlin, which Geoffrey here imitates, says nothing of Con- an's (Cynan) being expected from Armorica with succours. It would be extraordinary if tradition had not appropriated to itself a historical name that still existed in the memory of the people at a time which seemed (mutatis mutandis) to accomplish the ancient prophecy. The Bretons triumphed with the Normans, and no time could have appeared more fit for representing Arthur as the great conqueror of the world. Some learned men, and among them A. W. Schlegel, assert, that it was a spirit of revenge against their oppressors that prompted the Welsh to represent Arthur as the conqueror of the world, and a king among kings. But it would have been a ridiculous revenge, which must have still more humiliated the existing generation, who, conquered and oppressed, but too well 1 " Britones ut nobile regnum Temporibus multis amittant debilitate Donee ab Armorico, veniet temone Conanus Et Cadwaladrus Cambrorum dux venevandus, &c.' 38 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION knew, that they could not in reality celebrate these fictiti- ous triumphs. The period had now arrived, when the Bre- tons for the first time were able to look beyond the narrow limits of their territory, when they rushed upon victory, with a mio-hty host, to whom they had hitherto been strano-ers, and felt the first impulse of a dawning chivalry. It was the time when a vast and novel sentiment, penetra- tino- the genius of past ages, transplanted Arthur the cele- brated hero into a new and hitherto unknown world, which opened to his warriors a new field for their exploits, and gave to those exploits a difi*erent character to that which they had previously possessed : in fact we find in the Chronicle of Geoffrey, where he speaks of Arthur, Genhu- mara and Modred, almost all the elements, though but slightly touched upon, which soon after appear in tlie ro- mances ; we already feel the spirit of rising chivalry burst- ing forth, although it still partakes of the rudeness of past ages. It is natural that the conquest of England should rouse anew the national spirit of Wales, — that the triumph of the Bretons should not be without its influence on their countrymen, and that they should listen with greater at- tention to the Cantoribus historicis Brittanicis, which now began to celebrate Arthur in another style ; but it is also certain that Wales did not abandon herself to her new masters, but on the contrary continued opposed to them. The language of the Welsh was strange and disagreeable to the Normans, they always called it barbarous ; the Welsh were never very communicative to strangers, and we now deeply lament the patriotic pride of the writers of that day, who obstinately persisted in only -making use of the difficult language of their country, and thus were themselves the authors of the obscurity which still veils a large portion of their literature ; while Gildas, Bede, Nennius, and others, who wrote in Latin, became the study and dehght of all. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 89 We have no authentic documents to prove that Welsh li- terature had been diffused throughout England earlier than the twelfth centurj. In returning to the French romances, we must again first distinguish between the romances of the twelfth century, in which we can still recognise the primitive Welsh and Breton elements, and those trivial and more recent works, which, mingling the traditions of Arthur with the Fable of the Sangraal, formed with these materials a sort of liter- ary tower of Babel. We reckon the following among the most ancient of the principal Romances : — 1. The first part of the English Romance of Merlin. 2. The Tales of Arthur, related in the Chronicle of Geo- ffrey, and which describe his own particular exploits; they were much amplified in the second and more modern part of Merlin, and in the Morte d' Arthur. 3. The E7iglish Tristan of Thomas Brittanicus,^ from which Godfrey of Strasbourg, (about 1217) composed his German poem of Tristan und Isolde ; and the French Tristan, which was the model of the work composed by Eilhart von Stolbergen about 1180 or 1190. 4. Twain, the Che'calier au Lion, Avhich was composed in French about 1180, by Chrestien de Troyes, and about 1200 in German by Hartmann von Aue, from Welsh allegories, (nach Wälschen Vorbildern ditch- teten.) 5. The English Lancelot du Lac, communicated by Hugo de Morville, who was imprisoned with Richard Coeur de Lion, at Vienna, to Ulric von Zatzikofen, a German. 1 This Thomas cannot be the same with Thomas of Ercildoune, if Sir Walter Scott is correct in asserting that the latter was born in 1220, and died between 1286 and 1289. 40 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION 6. The Welsh Geraint, (Erek,) see the Mabinogion, bj Lady Charlotte Guest, which was probably put into French by Chrestien de Troyes, and (about 1200) into German, by Hartmann von Aue. 7. Peredur, the Percival of the French, w^ho became the hero of several Romances, and whom we again see in his purely \yelsh character, in the Mabinogion, lately published, by Lady Charlotte Guest. In all these romances, we find the heroes represented as warrior-adventurers assembled round Arthur, either in his suite, or as his vassals. In^dncible courao^e in battle, an unwearying desire to fight, an insatiable passion for the most extraordinary adventures, an inordinate ambition, love in its most engaging aspect, an unequalled splendour, the most refined courtesy and gallantry, the Service des Dames, in the most whimsical and refined form, mingled with the deepest devotedness. — Such are the characteristic traits of these romances, as they are those also of the most perfect and brilliant chivalry in general. None of these compositions are older than 1150, but all, as we have already said, refer to more ancient traditions; therefore feudal and chivalric institutions must have been mentioned in such traditions. Now, it is true, that a sort of rude and scarcely defined feudahsm existed in England during the latter part of the heptarchy, and until 1066, as it did in France and Germany, under Charlemagne and his successors ; but it nevertheless appears, that the introduc- tion of a regulated and legal feudal system into England, must be attributed to William the Conquerer, who likewise introduced the true spirit of chivalry with his numerous followers. It is for this reason that we are inclined to deny a higher antiquity than 1066 to all those poetical compositions of the Welsh, which breathe this spirit, not- withstanding certain names and passages which might belong to an earlier period. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 41 In Provence, during a peace of nearly two centuries, which was never interrupted by the wars in the rest of Europe, where a wise administration, the intellectual habit of life of the people, and great affluence were not disturbed by hostile incursions, but strengthened and encouraged by commerce, a bright sky, and a fertile soil, — there, we maintain, that laws, manners, language, and every branch of civilization, must have expanded and prospered. Poetry attained its highest perfection at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century. It sung of war, adventures, religion, and love. Chivalry arose and ob- tained its proper character in the Proven9al poetry. Chi- valry was the ideal of poetry, and in real life, feudalism corresponded with it, and was dignified by it. This Provencal spirit soon communicated itself to the North of France, and the first Crusade, which emanated principally from Provence, drew with it the inhabitants of the North of France. The Normans had not lost, in their new country, that ancient love of adventure which had con- ducted their ancestors to the shores of England, France, Spain, Italy, and Sicily, even to the heart of Russia and Constantinople ; they had not abandoned their love of heroic tales ; but they forgot their ancient pagan fables, and their Scandinavian and Germanic traditions, and turned, with avidity, under the serene sky of France, to the Frankish tales of Roland, Formun, and others. The Romance of Rollo does not yield in antiquity to the oldest romances of the North of France. These most ancient traditions of Wales and Brittany, which, after 1066, the Cantores His- torici carried to them, (bringing them, no doubt, in greater number, in consequence of finding an attentive and admiring public,) here found a fertile and well prepared soil, in which they would easily take root. The chief character of Pro- ven9al poetry was lyric, and although the epic was not unknown to them, (as Mr. Paris asserts in the preface to f.. 42 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION the first volume of his Garin de Loherain, contrary to M. Fauriel, Sur Torigine des epopees chevaleresques du moven age,) it is however certain, that the epic did not prevail in Provence ; but, like the people of the North of France, the Provengals seized with avidity on the Welsh and Breton tra- ditions^ they possessed themsehes of them as xaluahle and full of interest^ imparting to them^ however^ a neic character ac- cording to their own peculiar nationality^ — a character which had hitherto been foreign to tliem^ xiz, the spirit of French chivalry. In this manner Arthur, the champion of Wales against the Saxons, was transformed into the brilliant re- presentative of every cliivalrous virtue ; his court became the seat of the most luxurious, distinguished, and chival- rous life, and the heroes of his round table, the faultless models of courtesy and gallantry. It may here be asked. Why, when the Provencal lyric poetry was abandoned for the epic, a foreigner, as Arthur was, should have become the nucleus of this poetry instead of their own national hero, Charlemagne? For in facta royal centre of this kind was necessary for the epopee of chivalry, because the knights, thirsting after deeds of va- lour, as much required a king and master who would accord them the crown of glory, and feudal privileges, as adven- tures to enable them to merit that glory. Kings and prin- ces were the supports of chivalry, and representing it in the most brilliant and perfect form. It is true that Charlemagne was as much the object of national poems, among the Franks in the tenth century, as Arthur was in Wales, and in the eleventh century the traditions concernino; him were continuallv extendino^ : we will only mention the Tales of Eoland, of the sons of Haincos, of Bertha au Gros Pied, of Guillaume au court Nez, fcc. where the poets overwhelm him and his paladins with all the glory and splendour of chivalry ; but, according to an ancient and unchanging tradition, Charlemagne lived ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 43 for ever in their memories as the patron of Christianity, — the invincible barrier against the assault of Paganism. It is on this account, that the romances which represented him fighting against the pagans, could not assign him any other place than that which tradition had already accorded him. Tradition in that case would have been its own de- stroyer. This would have been an easier task for those romancers who described his expeditions against his vas- sals ; i^ut there also, tradition rested upon historical and unvarying foundation, and following its general purport did not yield to the tendency, which had become general, of making the description of chivalry in itself the object of the epic, and creating for it an ideal world of its own. It was on this account that poets abandoned themselves so easily to another circle of traditions entirely new to them, and which, because it was new, was the fitter for that transfor- mation, which could not originate in Wales, for the same reason that prevented the French from altering the tradi- tions of Charlemagne. Still less could the Norman-Franks receive the Saxon poetry which they met with in England. The ancient poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, took its origin in the Scandinavian and German Mythology. This is proved by Beowulf, the Battle of Finnsburg, Csedmon, the Travel- ler's Song, and other fragments of ancient poetry which are still extant. The different bodies of emigrants from the North, from Norway, Denmark, and Friesland, did not carry to England a complete and national history, but merely separate traditions of different colonies and families. The more modern poetry of the Anglo-Saxons partly re- vived their ancient poems, mingling with them the elements of Christianity, and partly selected the deeds of their kings, as the object of historical poems ; we cite the Battle of Bru- nabourg, (p. 937.) the poems on king Athelstan, of which William of Malmesbury gives many fragments, and the ex- ploits of Beorthnoth, who fell in battle against the Danes 44 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION 990. But under Williaui the Conqueror, the people were animated with a new spirit, which became dominant under their new rulers. The heroic songs of a people who were now subjugated could not satisfy, especially as they recalled the memory of Paganism. We have already mentioned why these times and cir- cumstances were favourable to Breton Minstrels and Ra- conteurs, enabling them to throw a new splendour over Arthur, and to present him in this guise to the allied Normans. The Celtic imagination, which could only be compared to that of the East, awed the Normans and French, who listened with admiration, as Giraldus, and Geoffrey, have proved by translations from British books. Henry II. one of England's most powerful kings, (1154— 1189,) was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and Matilda, daughter of Henry I. His eminent talents early displayed themselves under the excellent guidance of the wise and learned Eobert of Gloucester, whom Geoffrey in his Chronicle terms his protector. He became Duke of Normandy, and at the death of his father, Count of Anjou, Tourraine, and Maine. He married the celebrated Eleanor of France, who after having been repudi- ated by Louis le Jeune, (1151,) brought him the sovereignty of Guienne, Poitou, and Saintonge. She was grand-daugh- ter of William IX. of Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine, who was equally celebrated as a poet and a warrior, (1071 — 1127.) This acquisition of a great part of France, and especially of the countries where the Langue d'oc (or Provencal) was spoken, would necessarily have the greatest influence not only over the manners, tastes, and opinions of the nobility and knio'hthood of the united countries, minolino; the tribes and uniting their poets and minstrels at the English court, but it would naturally attach the separate interests of the kings of England and France to the cause of literature. If Henry and his court delighted in hearing the tales of Arthur, ON THE LITERATURE OF FRA^'CE. 45 would not the French and Proven9al poets make themselves masters of these tales l Henry liberally rewarded such ef- forts, and he gave Robert Wace a prebendal stall in the Ca- thedral of Bayeux, for the dedication of his Roman du Rou. Geoffrey of Monmouth also eulogizes the young prince in his Chronicle. Other poets addressed him in a still more flattering strain. It can be proved, that, in order to please Irmengart, who w^as so celebrated in Proven9al poetry, and whose court was frequented by the most celebrated Trouba- dours of the twelfth century, the heroes in Guillaume au court Nez were placed in very palpable relation with Ay- meric I. Vicomte de Narbonne, who in 1103 or 1104 visit- ed the holy land, and died soon after, as well as Aymeric IL the father of Irmengart, who was killed in 1134, in Ca- talonia, in the bloody battle of Fraga, (Fauriel, &c.) The traditions of Wales were treated in a similar manner. In the German Romance of Percival, by Wolfran von Es- chenbach, which rests on a poem by Kiot the Proven9al, written before that of Chrestien de Troyes, the hero is always called a Waleisin, (native of Wales,) proving that the origin of this personage must be sought for in that country; but he makes him at the same time prince of Anjou, and the bat- tles of his father Gamaret against the pagans, so fully de- scribed, and the care which he takes to unite the Anjou family to the royal family of Sangraal, have no other end than to exalt the house of Anjou. But when these inter- ests of the time had disappeared, these allusions disappeared also, and we discover no trace of them in the later romances by Chrestien de Troyes and his four continuators. Fauriel mentions nearly twenty five Troubadours who allude to Tristan, of whom about ten belong to the latter half of the twelfth century ; he has found several others, of the same period, who mention some very remarkable scenes which belong to the German Percival. In short, if we remember what bands of Minstrels, Troubadours, Jongleurs, 46 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION &;c. &c. carried the favorite Tales, which they borrowed from the equally numerous Bards of Brittany and Wales, from chateau to chateau, and from house to house, and that the nobles equally cultivated poetry, that almost every nobleman maintained a learned clerk to write down inter- esting tales, ^ — that these clerks or scholars zealously collected and arranoed these tales, and affected, to the great grief of the Troubadours, to be the sole possessors of the true history in their compilations, — and that they composed such works for their ovm profit,2 — we shall, thus, iLeland, quoting Giraldus, (Assert. Arturi, p. 52,) says, "As Henry II. King of England had heard from an ancient British historical singer.'* William of Malmesbury, v. Gale III. p. 295. '' The King Henry II. had also frequently heard this out of the Acts of the Britons, and from their historical singers." Usher's Ghaldus. Epis. Hiberniarum Sylloge, p. 116. '^ His prophecies are orally preserved among very many of the British bards, but in writing among few." 2 Wace, in the Roman du Rou, complains that Henry III. had not given him the reward promised him by Henry II. at the con- clusion of the poem. 33iel (^nii 5cr Ä'öntg mir crftjies^, @a6 eiel, o6ft)o|)t er mc&r f)cvl^kiß, ^cnn ^ai ft>al cr öcrsprac^ ^escbcj^en (go burft cr ixikv urn mid) 5te|)cn; fRxö^U l^ah idb, miU ilE)m nidbt gepel; £o Ukht 5cnn audb hü mir nicßt M. Much favor the King did shew, Gave much, but promised more ; If what he promised had happened, I should have thought better of him ; Kothing have I, because it did not please him. So that Httle remains to me. At the commencement of the work he greatly praises the Clerks, .who write dovm. illustiious achievements, as it is through them alone that the remembrance of them can be handed down to posterity. — Such was the case in the year 1150. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 47 comprehend why in the middle of the twelfth century we see a deluge of romantic poetry spread itself at once over England, and Northern and Southern France, in the dif- ferent languages of each country, forming the second class of Traditions of Arthur, and flourishing in every civilized country of Europe, until the downfal of chivalry. THIRD PERIOD. ARTHUR AND THE SANGRAAL, A. D. 1150 TO 1500. The Fable of the Sangraal was not less fertile in produ- cing romances in the twelfth century than the traditions of Arthur and his Round Table.^ The purport is frequently 1 The Round Table is neither mentioned by the ancient bards, nor by Nennius, nor in Geoffrey's Chronicle. This is worthy of notice. As far as my knoAvledge carries me, its institution is first noticed in the Brut d'Angleterre, which Robert Wace (1150) rendered into 18000 octosyllabic verses, after a Latin translation by Geoffrey of Monmouth from a Breton book. The first book contains the origin of the Round Table, its feasts, tournaments, and knights. It was publicly read at the English Court. We do not here quite rely on the veracity of Geoffrey. Wales and Brittany certainly must have known of the royal and princely table, with its places of honor, concerning which the Laws of Howel Dda contain much, (Turner's Vindication, p. 95, 96.) and that is the historical origin of the Round Table ; but the account of the Brut cannot be older than knight- hood, or chivalry itself ; nay, it even presupposes it already in a flourishing state, which it was in those countries about 1100, or, at the earliest, at the end of the eleventh century; — certainly not before 1066. 48 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION the same in many respects, but tlie character of the Ro- mances of the Graal is nevertheless very different, and the question now is, Whether the Fahle of the Graal is also of Welsh origin^ or not ? AVe do not know how this question has been considered in England ; the Germans, and the French, generally, have not taken much trouble to resolve it, and have lightly supposed that this fable belonged to that of Arthur. The confusion which has resulted from this supposition is the less excusable in Germany, as they had long been in possession of the pre- cise sources it would be necessary to examine. It is only of late that Gerovius (History of the National Literature of the Germans) and Rosencranz (History of German Poetry) have pointed out the truth, though rather as a conjecture than a certainty. The sources are, the German Poem of Perckal, written by Wolfran von Eschenbach, 1205, and the Titurel of Albrecht, finished in 1350. Both, accor- ding to their o^vn testimony, refer to a common origin, viz. a poem in the northern French dialect, written by the Proven9al Kiot,^ which is otherv\'ise unknoT^ii. ^iot, 5cr meister ^\% Kyot, the wise niaster ^ijmäreCtJon (g.®röl)k9un5e Of this story (S. Graal) set luoc^cn about to search 3n latinilc^cn 6twdbm, In Latin books, ^a gcfVCScn fuaere Where could have been (fin ()Olf ba 3UO gcböcrc A people of such qualifications X^Oj C3 5c5 ©rales jcflagC Who might ever have the cus- tody of the Graal, Qiiind; Unt 5cr fiusdbc ^\i) bcWacge; And who inclined to purity of ©r (as 5cr lanbe dbronica, He read the Chronicles of the countries, 1 Guiot de Provence belonged to a later period, and must not be confounded with our Kiot. ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 49 Sc ^ritane ixnt anhcv^tva. In Brittany and elsewhere, 3e ^vantviä^C (3lOr5 ftantvdd)) In France, (Northern France,) Unt ^vhni; and in Ireland 3c ^n^C^OUftJC Cr Un mocrc Oant In Anjou he found the story ; (Sv U^ OOn ^a]a5arte He read of Mazadan, Mit ivavUit ^unber warn ; With truth without deceit ; UmO allc^ ÜC gc^IacfetC About all his family (Biaont 5a gc^c6rikn f c{)tC ; Stand these rightly written. Unt an^CV^alp,U)k%Xtmd And on the other hand, how Titurel Un( 5c^ inn Jriamtcl And his son Friamtel Dm @ral kal^t Uf ^ilmfortal Brought the Graal to Amfortas, S)C^ imUiX 5)CrjclOt5c Wa^, Whose sister was Herzeloide, S3i 5cr ©amurct ein Stint (5cr By whom Gamuret a child PcrdOal) ©CftJan, 5c^ 5i^iu maac ^int. Had, after whom this story is named. This testimony, which the German poets could only have found in the French poem, is important, as proving that the Fable of the Graal did not exist in the Chronicles of those countries which preserved the traditions of Arthur, (Britain, France, and Ireland.) The common observation that traditions are most diflfused by Latin translations, such as the British tales by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Oarlo- vingian tales by Turpin, the romances of the Cid (1207,) and again the Carlovingian traditions through the Chro- nicles of St. Denis, compiled by order of the Abbe Suger, minister to Louis le Jeune, (1137 — 1180,) leads us to presume, that the Fable of the Graal was made known through such Latin compilations, and we cannot be very far from the truth if we suppose such a translation in the middle of the twelfth century, when the Provencal dis- appeared as a written language, and the Latin was em- 50 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION ployed as the medium of communication with England, France, and Provence, and became at the same time the common language of the learned. Now, Robert, and after him HeHs de Boron, say expressly in their romance of the San Graal, (Vatic. MSS. 1687, fol. 66,) Mess. Eobt. de Boron chi eheste estore translata de Latin en Romance par le commendement de St. Eglise. This is repeated in the French romance of the Sangraal in prose, (Paris, 1523,) and the passage (fol. 40, Vol. 2. of the MSS. de TEglise de Paris, No. 7,) which is quoted by Rochefort (Glossaire de la langue Romaine. — V. Sangraal) is almost word for word the same with the printed prose Ro- mance fol. 50. These prose romances do in general follow the ancient poems very faithfully The reasons why the poem of Boron, as well as his Lancelot, diiFer so essentially in some points from the German Percival and Titurel, will be explained as we proceed; for he dedicates Lancelot to King Henry III. of England, and Roquefort and Fauriel are consequently right in placing it between 1227 and 1271, although the au- thors of the Histoire Litteraire de France, (Tom. 15, p. 495,) without any reason place them as far back as Henry II.; it was therefore written at a time when Chrestien had already changed the tradition. Still we cannot suppose that the in- centive to latin books could be entirely fictitious. But, ac- cording to Wolfran, Kiot had, besides the Chronicle of Anjou before named, another work before him which had been discovered at Toledo, in pagan writing, by a half Jew and astrologer, Flegetanis, and which related to the Histoiy of the Graal in a short and very unsatisfactory man- ner. We are thus led into Spain, to an Arabian MS. and it does not appear more impossible that we should find the Fable of the Graal in Arabic, than to find the Bible trans- lated into that lan2:ua£:e for the benefit of those who under- stood Arabic better than Spanish. We pass over all the derivations, frequently so childish, of the word Graal, and ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 51 the interpretations of that miraculous Vase, which by some has been connected with the Hehotrapezon of the Ethiopians, which is again found in the Indian Vajapu- rana, and by others with the black stone of Mecca, or with the Cratera of the Egyptian Hermes, the Oratera of Djemjid, or with the cavern of the wise men in the moun- tain of Raken, &c. &c. without gaining any certain results. If we were to allow that the MS. of Kiot at Toledo is an entire fiction, yet we can still point out with certainty a connexion between this Fable and Spain, and also between the Arab poetry, which flourished there, and Provence. We find this connexion in the Arabic names of the planets, the Arab word .Sennabor, (Sember a wise Man,) the Per- sian names Sabbilor, Azubar of the Catholico de Ranculat, (Catholicus len Nestorien,) the Indian figures of Cundric the sorceress, and Malcreature, born through the influence of venemous roots and malignant stars ; then the Provencal words Monsalvage, Floramic, Albaflori Flordicale, Gras- waldanek, (Valley of Graisevandan near Grenoble,) Titurel, Frineutel, Tschoinatulander, &c. &c. and, above all, the localities, which always and in every country indicate the original scene of a Fable. The forest of the Graal (terre de salvage) is in the north of Spain ; Catalonia, Arragon, Toledo, Seville, and the shores of Africa are, for a long time, the scenes of tlie tales, countries which are entirely unknown to the traditions anterior to Arthur. Titurel says, — " Whoever has travelled in Gallica, knows St. Sal- vador and Salvaterre." The family of Percival, and of his relations Herzeleide, Orilus, Gurnemanz, and Sigune live in Auvergne, the Landes, Gascony, and Anjou. Parille received, as a reward, the kingdom of France, and his brother had Anjou. But here, as elsewhere, political his- tory mingles itself with fable. The house of Burgundy, which reigned over Provence, became extinct with Gilli- bert, who divided his kingdom between his two daughters ; 52 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION Faidide married Alplionso, Count of Toulouse ; the other, Douce, married Raimoud Berenger, Count of Barcelona. The conquest of Toledo in 1085 was of the greatest importance in unitincr the South of France with Spain, and in making kno\\Ti the manners of the Saracens. Spaniards, French, the men of Provence and of Grasconv, fought together under the Cid. Toledo was the principal seat of art and Arabic literature, and the knights from beyond the Pyrenees found themselves under the necessity of hving at the Court of Alphonso VI. with men whose imagination, mind, and taste had been developed among the Saracens. We find in history the same separate expeditions against the iNIoors as those of Gamuret against the pagans, in Percival, and the same tolerance towards paganism in Spain as in the poem ; — the same small Spanish kingdoms, in history, about the year 1100, as those described by the poet. Sa- ragossa remained a pagan state until 1112, although surrounded by Christian princes. In Titurel, Titurisone of France marries EHzabeth of Arragon ; as in history, Faidide marries Alphonso, and Douce marries Raimond Berenger. Titurel applies to the Provencals, the Carlo- yingians, the people of Aries, and Duke Charles of Lorraine, for aid against the pagans in Averre and Navarre ; in the poem we see an imitation of it, in the Crusade against Toledo. The connexion between history and poetry would be still more apparent, if time and space would permit us to make some extracts from the German poets, and no doubt would remain that these tales were much repeated and sung in Provence about the year 1100 ; Provence was devoted to poetry, and powerfully influenced by Spain and the East. We must place at the same period the deve- lopement of the Fable of the Graal, which we denominate the primitive Fahle of Provence^ in opposition to the change ichich it afterwards undericent in the North of France ; and this chano-e evinces so much connexion with the Order of ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. 53 Templars, that it must have taken place after the institu- tion of that body. It is therefore not so important to elucidate its first obscure origin. The French Knights, Hugo de Payens, Godfrey de St. Omer, Roral, Godfrey Bisol, Payens de M*. Didier, Archibald de St. Amand, Andreas de M*. Barry, Gundamar, and Hugo Count of Provence, were the founders of this order in 1118. If at that time the rank of a Temporal Knight was regarded as the height of all honor and glory, if each Knight appeared to be the natural defender of religion, the protector of all the suffering and oppressed who solicited his aid, how much more to be venerated would the Knight- MonJc^ the Chevalier of Christ, the Miles Tempil appear in the eyes of men, who looked upon both the Knight and the Monk as following the most holy and the most enviable vocation. The Knights Templars increased prodigiously in number over the whole of Europe, but more especially in the South of France, where their possessions greatly augmented. The Templars first gave to the world the example of a noble and purely christian employment of chivalry, united to a complete self-devotion for the benefit of Christianity. Raised on the wings of enthusiastic faith, and animated by the breath of the crusades, poetry found in the conception of this order a rich and wide field ; and all that had ever been dreamed of or imagined of the Graal, the Craterse, the Vases, and precious stones, or, in short, every species of treasure which the Angels of heaven had confided to the care of men, all that had the power of satis- fying every wish in this world, and of creating a paradise on earth, acquired thenceforth a fixed and condensed form in the chivalry of the Graal, as we find it preserved in the poems of Percival and Titurel ; and it is only from this time we can date the authentic history of our fiction. We regret that we cannot here enter into details to prove the intimate connexion which existed between the Knights 54 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION of the Graal and the Templars, who soon found numerous imitators in Spain, even in exterior forms; for example, in the architecture of their circular temple, in their ceremony of Baptism and the Holy Supper, in their manner of life and vocation, and in all the rules of their order, even in their name (Tempeleisin, Templiers.) We will only mention that the general purport of these two poems may be di- vided into two principal parts ; first, the exploits of the Knights of the Round Table, who take a secondary station, and form, as it were, the back ground of the picture ; and secondly, the Kingdom and Knighthood of the Graal. The independent manner in which these two groups proceed proves that they have been united at a later period, and did not originate in a common source. The second group, whose centre is the Graal, constitutes the Provencal and Spanish element ; the^r^^ is the Welsh; — and the point of union is the chief hero Percital^ the Perediir of the Welsh. The genealogy we have affixed (Table I.) will give a clear idea of its manner. We must here observe first, that until the middle of the twelfth century, not the slightest trace of the Graal, or any- thing resembling it, can be found in the Breton or Welsh poems ; secondly, that towards the same period w^e discover, in the French poems only, the first indications of any know- ledge of the traditions of Arthur ; and thirdly, that this branch of poetry received a particular impulse from the sovereignty of England over a great part of France ; and we must be deceived upon every point, if Arthur and the Sangraal did not first meet half way in France about 1150, coming from the North and from the South. The date of the compilation of the Peredur of the Welsh, given in the Second Number of Ladv 0. Guest's IMabinooion, does not, it is true, appear to us much more ancient than that of the MS, (14th century,) but we have no ground for denying that the character of Peredur is as ancient as Owain, ON THE LITERATURE OF FRANCE. t)t> o I— I o P^ Ph ^ ^ H O > >^ 2 -^ 'w ;3 C 'S G < — ' — is CS c3 ^ ?a 1^ ^ ^ CD m < ;-( < « 8 ^^ 2 .2^ -S ^ g -g-^ c3 >.r3 'S C/^ w-^ ;^ _ o , 1=1 _o.2 «s - o '.^ ?3 T -'TS < fl — Co ^O 1^ S S3 s SM o . - Co :a; CQU r^ — c3 ^'-^ H ;-! cß vw^ tu _CU Cß o 1" ^ *o »-"^ S S 05 Ph i^ '-Ö o CO t^ ^ OJ !=* S o3 ■-^S rj:2 , pj o ^ ?:^ ^ . 9 ^ (J> TJ '3 <1 ^ o I. <1 GO Is 500 Anni. M Ö a> P^ bo ;i F^ .id ^ p^ X 1— r) pi ^ HO a I— I h- ( p- « l0 1-3 P^ _03 .T5 P-i O Jh ^ t; — - § ■ dj o Jo P It- '^ 1, '^ Jn Co /-N 03 it:? P ^ op wO oj Ö '^ ~ o? 5 03 OJ g P *23-S P o 4S fcop ^ p^ ■^ P c» =3:3 P M Co -t^ ;> > 62 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITION other castles, and, if the poet requires it, the Graal often appears in resplendent glory, or in the midst of lightning; he feasts the Knights with the most exquisite delicacies, he performs other miracles but always "sans rime et sans rai- son,'' and like Deus ex machina. Since they could no longer make honourable mention of the templars, it was necessary to invent other means of pre- serving the Graal up to the period of the Round Table ; and it is found in Joseph of Arimathea, who was considered the first British apostle. Gregory of Tours (595) names him frequently, and Baronius in 1300 says of him, that he sailed from Gaul into Britain, and having preached the Gospel, he there closed his life;^ but William of Malmesbury speaks at leno-th of Philip as the apostle of the Britons, and in the passages quoted, he is stated to be in constant communica- tion with the places where the remembrance of Arthur and Avalen was preserved. Gildas, Bede, Nennius, Asser, Geof- frey of Monmouth, in a w^ord all, even the ecclesiastical historians, are silent respecting Joseph of Arimathea till the twelfth century, and this leads us to believe that his jour- ney to England is an invention of the French and English monks of the thirteenth century. Even Chrestien knows nothing of him, but he is mentioned by his continuators. It is true, that in the ruins of the Abbey of Glastonbury, the fu- neral chapel of Joseph is shewn to this day; but that is ex- plained, if we recollect that Robert Wingfield. ambassador of Henry the Eighth of England, sent to the Emperor Max- imilian the First, a book of Joseph and other Saints, under the title Discept. super dignitate,