Epic and Romance. W. P. Ker

The Northern Prose Romances

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Romantic interpolations in the Sagas—the ornamental version of Fóstbræðra Saga	275
The secondary romantic Sagas—Frithiof	277
French romance imported (Strengleikar, Tristram's Saga, etc.)	278
Romantic Sagas made out of heroic poems (Volsunga Saga, etc.) and out of authentic Sagas by repetition of common forms and motives	279 280
Romantic conventions in the original Sagas	280
Laxdæla and Gunnlaug's Saga—Thorstein the White	281
Thorstein Staffsmitten	282
Sagas turned into rhyming romances (Rímur) and into ballads in the Faroes	283 284

CHAPTER IV

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THE OLD FRENCH EPIC

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(Chansons de Geste)

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Lateness of the extant versions	287
Competition of Epic and Romance in the twelfth century	288
Widespread influence of the Chansons de geste—a contrast to the Sagas	289
Narrative style	290
No obscurities of diction	291
The "heroic age" imperfectly represented but not ignored	292 293
Roland—heroic idealism—France and Christendom	293
William of Orange—Aliscans	296
Rainouart—exaggeration of heroism	296
Another class of stories in the Chansons de geste, more like the Sagas	297
Raoul de Cambrai	298
Barbarism of style	299
Garin le Loherain—style clarified	300
Problems of character—Fromont	301
The story of the death of Begon unlike contemporary work of the Romantic School	302 304
The lament for Begon	307
Raoul and Garin contrasted with Roland	308
Comedy in French Epic—"humours" in Garin in the Coronemenz Looïs, etc.	310 311
Romantic additions to heroic cycles—la Prise d'Orange	313
Huon de Bordeaux—the original story grave and tragic converted to Romance	314 314

CHAPTER V

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ROMANCE AND THE OLD FRENCH ROMANTIC SCHOOLS

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Romance an element in Epic and Tragedy apart from all "romantic schools"	321
The literary movements of the twelfth century	322
A new beginning	323
The Romantic School unromantic in its methods	324
Professional Romance	325
Characteristics of the school—courteous sentiment	328
Decorative passages—descriptions—pedantry	329
Instances from Roman de Troie and from Ider, etc.	330 331
Romantic adventures—the "matter of Rome" and the "matter of Britain"	334
Blending of classical and Celtic influences—e.g. in Benoit's Medea	334
Methods of narrative—simple, as in the