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Loathly Lady
The loathly lady (, Motif D732 in Aarne–Thompson classification system, Stith Thompson's motif index), is a tale type commonly used in medieval literature, most famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Wife of Bath's Tale''. The motif is that of a woman who appears unattractive (ugly, ''loathly'') but undergoes a transformation upon being approached by a man in spite of her unattractiveness, becoming extremely desirable. It is then revealed that her ugliness was the result of a curse which was broken by the hero's action. Irish legend The loathly lady can be found in ''The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon'', in which Niall of the Nine Hostages proves himself the rightful High King of Ireland by embracing her, because she turns out to personify the sovereignty of the territory (and is therefore sometimes referred in scholarship as a 'sovereignty goddess'). The motif can also be found in stories of the earlier high kings Lugaid Loígde and Conn of the Hundred Battles. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chrétien De Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'', ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Lancelot'', ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Perceval'' and ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Yvain'', represent some of the best-regarded works of medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in ''Yvain'', has been seen as a step towards the modern novel. Life Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes or at least intimately connected with it. Between 1160 and 1172 he served (perhaps as herald-at-arms, as Gaston Paris speculated) at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne, daughter of Louis VII of France, King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry I, Count of Champagne, Count Henry I of Champagne in 1164. Later, he served t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hrólfr Kraki's Saga
Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. An alternative but less common variation of ''Rolf'' in Norway is ''Rolv''. The oldest evidence of the use of the name Rolf in Sweden is an inscription from the 11th century on a runestone in Forsheda, Småland. The name also appears twice in the Orkneyinga sagas, where a scion of the jarls of Orkney, Gånge-Rolf, is said to be identical to the Viking Rollo who captured Normandy in 911. This Saga of the Norse begins with the abduction of Gói daughter by a certain Hrolf of Berg, (the Mountain). She is the daughter of Thorri, a Jotun of Gandvik, and sister of Gór and Nór. The latter is regarded as a first king and eponymous anchestor of Nórway. After a fierce duell (Holmgang) where none is able to overcome the other, Hrolf and Nór becom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their Viking expansion, overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia, and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid- to late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not precise, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse (Old West Nordic, often referred to as ''Old Norse''), Old East Norse (Old East Nordic), and Old Gutnish. Old West Norse and O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
King Henry (song)
"King Henry" (Child ballad, Child 32, Roud Folk Song Index, Roud 3967) is an English-language folk song. It is a version of the tale of the loathly lady. This form of the tale appears in Hrólfr Kraki's saga and also in the Scottish tale "The Daughter Of King Under-Waves". A similar bride is found in "The Marriage of Sir Gawain". The Vaughan Williams catalogue has an entry with Mrs Anna Brown of Fifeshire as the source singer, collected 1792 - 94. Recordings Steeleye Span included a version on the 1972 album ''Below the Salt (Steeleye Span album), Below the Salt''. Martin Carthy also recorded a version, on both Shearwater (album), ''Shearwater'' and ''The Carthy Chronicles: A Journey Through the Folk Revival'' disk 4 'Child:Carthy'. Alexander James Adams, at the time recording as Heather Alexander, included "King Henry-Black Nag" on the 2003 album ''Festival Wind''. Faun (band), Faun translated the song into German language, German as "Herr Heinerich" for their album ''Buch de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads''. The tunes of most of the ballads were collected and published by Bertrand Harris Bronson in and around the 1960s. History Age and source of the ballads The ballads vary in age; for instance, the manuscript of " Judas" dates to the thirteenth century and a version of " A Gest of Robyn Hode" was printed in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The majority of the ballads, however, date to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although some are claimed to have very ancient influences, only a handful can be definitively traced to before 1600. Moreover, few of the tunes collected are as old as the words. Nevertheless, Child's collection was far more comprehensive than any previous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Marriage Of Sir Gawain
"The Marriage of Sir Gawain" is an English Arthurian ballad, collected as Child Ballad 31.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads''"The Marriage of Sir Gawain" Found in the Percy Folio, it is a fragmented account of the story of Sir Gawain and the loathly lady, which has been preserved in fuller form in the medieval poem '' The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle''.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v. 1, Dover Publications, New York, 1965 The loathly lady episode itself dates at least back to Geoffrey Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale" from ''The Canterbury Tales''. Unlike most of the Child Ballads, but like the Arthurian " King Arthur and King Cornwall" and " The Boy and the Mantle", "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" is not a folk ballad but a song for professional minstrels. Synopsis One Christmas, at Tarn Wadling near Carlisle, King Arthur is challenged by a menacing 'baron.' To avoid a fight, Arthur agrees to return the foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Wedding Of Sir Gawain And Dame Ragnelle
''The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle'' (''The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell'') is a 15th-century English poem, one of several versions of the "loathly lady" story popular during the Middle Ages. An earlier version of the story appears as "The Wyfe of Bayths Tale" ("The Wife of Bath's Tale") in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales'', and the later ballad "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" is essentially a retelling, though its relationship to the medieval poem is uncertain. The author's name is not known, but similarities to ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' have led to the suggestion that the poem may have been written by Sir Thomas Malory. Text Stories about the Arthurian court were popular in medieval England, and the worn condition of some of the manuscripts suggests that they were well read. The Ragnelle narrative may have been intended for a festive or less than serious audience. Thomas Garbáty sees the poem as a humorous parody of the Arthurian legend, where Arthur is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sir Gawain
Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem '' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include ''De Ortu Waluuanii'', '' Diu Crône'', '' Ywain and Gawain'', '' Golagros and Gawane'', '' Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle'', '' L'âtre périlleux'', '' La Mule sans frein'', '' La Vengeance Raguidel'', '' Le Chevalier à l'épée'', '' Le Livre d'Artus'', '' The Awntyrs off Arthure'', '' The Greene Knight'', and '' The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell''. In Arthurian chivalric romance literature, Gawain is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mabinogion
The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. Often included in the broader mythologies described as the Matter of Britain, the Mabinogion consists of eleven stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour. Strictly speaking, the Four Branches of the Mabinogi are the main sequence of related tales, but seven others include a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend, complete with glimpses of a far off age, in "Lludd and Llefelys"; and other tales portraying a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The stories were created and amended by various narrators over a very long period of time, and scholars beginning from the 18th century predominantly viewed the tales as fragmentary pre-Christi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Peredur Son Of Efrawg
''Peredur son of Efrawg'' is one of the Three Welsh Romances associated with the '' Mabinogion''. It tells a story roughly analogous to Chrétien de Troyes' unfinished romance '' Perceval, the Story of the Grail'', but it contains many striking differences from that work, most notably the absence of the French poem's central object, the grail. Synopsis The central character of the tale is Peredur, son of Efrawg ('' York''). As in Chrétien's '' Percival'', the hero's father dies when he is young, and his mother takes him into the woods and raises him in isolation. Eventually, he meets a group of knights and determines to become like them, so he travels to the court of King Arthur. There he is ridiculed by Cei and sets out on further adventures, promising to avenge Cei's insults to himself and those who defended him. While travelling, he meets two of his uncles. The first (playing the role of ''Percivals Gornemant) educates him in arms and warns him not to ask the sig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Welsh Romance
The Three Welsh Romances (Welsh language, Welsh: ') are three Middle Welsh tales associated with the ''Mabinogion''. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. The Romances survive in the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest, both from the 14th century, though the material is at least as old as Chrétien. The Three Welsh Romances are: * ''Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain''; which corresponds to Chrétien's ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' * ''Geraint and Enid'', which corresponds to Chrétien's ''Erec and Enide''. * ''Peredur, son of Efrawg'', which corresponds to Chrétien's ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail'' ''Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'' ''Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'' is analogous to Chrétien de Troyes' Old French poem ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion''. It survives in the Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
