Part 3 (1/2)

The language of these poems, as the extracts given will partly show, is neither poor in vocabulary, nor lacking in harmony of sound. It is indeed, more sonorous and stately than cla.s.sical French language was from the seventeenth century to the days of Victor Hugo, and abounds in picturesque terms which have since dropped out of use. The ma.s.sive castles of the baronage, with their ranges of marble steps leading up to the hall, where feasting is held by day and where the knights sleep at night, are often described. Dress is mentioned with peculiar lavishness.

Pelisses of ermine, ornaments of gold and silver, silken underclothing, seem to give the poets special pleasure in recording them. In no language are what have been called 'perpetual' epithets more usual, though the abundance of the recurring phrases prevents monotony. The 'clear countenances' of the ladies, the 'steely brands' of the knights, their 'marble palaces,' the 'flowing beard' of Charlemagne, the 'guileful tongue' of the traitors, are constant features of the verbal landscape. From so great a ma.s.s of poetry it would be vain in any s.p.a.ce here available to attempt to arrange specimen 'jewels five words long.'

But those who actually read the Chansons will be surprised at the abundance of fresh striking and poetic phrase.

[Sidenote: Later History.]

Before quitting the subject of the Chansons de Gestes, it may be well to give briefly their subsequent literary history. They were at first frequently re-edited, the tendency always being to increase their length, so that in some cases the latest versions extant run to thirty or forty thousand lines. As soon as this limit was reached, they began to be turned into prose, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries being the special period of this change. The art of printing came in time to a.s.sist the spread of these prose versions, and for some centuries they were almost the only form in which the Chansons de Gestes, under the general t.i.tle of romances of chivalry, were known. The verse originals remained for the most part in ma.n.u.script, but the prose romances gained an enduring circulation among the peasantry in France. From the seventeenth century their vogue was mainly restricted to this cla.s.s. But in the middle of the eighteenth the Comte de Tressan was induced to attempt their revival for the _Bibliotheque des Romans_. His versions were executed entirely in the spirit of the day, and did not render any of the characteristic features of the old Epics. But they drew attention to them, and by the end of the century, University Professors began to lecture on old French poetry. The exertions of M. Paulin Paris, of M.

Francisque Michel, and of some German scholars first brought about the re-editing of the Chansons in their original form about half a century ago; and since that time they have received steady attention, and a large number have been published--a number to which additions are yearly being made. Rather more than half the known total are now in print.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] _Gesta_ or _Geste_ has three senses: (_a_) the _deeds_ of a hero; (_b_) the _chronicle_ of those deeds; and (_c_) the _family_ which that chronicle ill.u.s.trates. The three chief gestes are those of the King, of Doon de Mayence, and of Garin de Montglane. Each of these is composed of many poems. Contrasted with these are the 'pet.i.tes gestes,' which include only a few Chansons.

[18] _La Chanson de Roland_, ed. Fr. Michel, Paris, 1837. The MS. is in the Bodleian Library (Digby 23). Another, of much later date in point of writing but representing the same text, exists at Venice. Of later versions there are six ma.n.u.scripts extant. The Chanson de Roland has since its _editio princeps_ been repeatedly re-edited, translated, and commented. The most exact edition is that of Prof. Stengel, Heilbronn, 1878, who has given the Bodleian Ma.n.u.script both in print and in photographic facsimile. The best for general use is that of Leon Gautier (seventh edition), 1877.

[19] Wace (Roman de Rou, iii. 8038 Andresen) speaks of the Norman Taillefer as singing at Hastings 'De Karlemaigne et de Rollant.' It has been sought, but perhaps fancifully, to identify this song with the existing _chanson_.

[20] 'Ci falt la geste que Turoldus declinet.' The sense of the word _declinet_ is quite uncertain, and the attempts made to identify Turoldus are futile.

[21] _Amis et Amiles_, ed. Hoffmann. Erlangen, 1852.

[22] This series is given, sometimes in whole, sometimes in extracts, by Dr. Jonckbloet, _Guillaume d'Orange_. The Hague, 1854.

[23] Ed. P. Paris. Paris, 1848.

[24] Ed. Boca. Valenciennes, 1841.

[25] Ed. Scheler. Brussels, 1877.

[26] Ed. Barrois. Paris, 1842.

[27] There exists a Provencal version of it, evidently translated from the French. The most convenient edition is that of Kroeber and Servois, Paris, 1860. There is an English fourteenth-century version published by Mr. Herrtage for the Early English Text Society, 1879.

[28] Published partially by MM. P. Paris and E. du Meril and by Herr Stengel.

[29] Ed. Le Glay. Paris, 1840.

[30] Ed. Michel. Paris, 1856.

[31] Ed. La Grange. Paris, 1864.

[32] Ed. Guessard. Paris, 1866.

[33] Ed. Guessard et Grandmaison. Paris, 1860.

[34] Ed. Michelant. Stuttgart, 1862.

[35] Ed. Michel. Paris, 1839.