ins qui vu

molt e gran

'igliese

ment et

r dient de

emandent

bien ainz v

s leus e

re la a

a cels qu

clerzie l

tote et

s romieus

grei por s

els moine

n reigne p

a non de S

crit en ce

obeirt de

omanz fai

ms who come

h and are q

church w

, and es

tell the

y ask, i

well, but

es, and misa

to make i

le to thos

f letters, it

tin, and wh

sque vers

cret, for

a monk he is

kingdom gra

his name, o

written i

e of Rober

man made an

mediaeval English. The language of this "Roman" was the literary language of England. William of Saint- Pair was a subject of Henry II, King of England and Normandy; his verses, like those of Richard Coeur-de-Lion, are monuments of English literature. To this day their ballad measure is better suited to English than to French; even the words and idioms are more English than French. Any one who attacks them boldly will find that the "vers romieus" run along like a ballad, singing their

human beings like rhyme better than prose, though both may say the same thing, as they like a curved line better than a straight one, or a blue better than a grey; but, apart from t

t-Michel and Chartres during these years, but for the moment we must hurry to get back to William the Conqueror and the "Chanson de Roland." William of Saint-Pair comes in here, out of place, only on account of a pretty d

clers e san

hines e

els dist ve

ellart rev

funt tuit

seit si ch

aie u

eor la u

vieles tr

onnez vun

beals la joi

rei e cil

ncin e c

uent par

uent cil

parz heni

ant joie

s bois chan

et grant

es vaches

orez e re

isines e

es e ch

i que les

ent et les

t dont le

rez e de

par a te

fust cer

mont el b

tier unt

ait par le

out de d

tez fruit

bleies v

parz avei

ut qui ad

clear, witho

ns and th

em said ve

ld people

e a loo

no more si

ELP, or

ls there wh

brought t

ngs playing

is fine; the

ys and the

kneys and t

der along

pilgrim

ides nei

reat joy

the wood

birds, bi

nd the cow

forests as

mpets and she

s and pip

that the

hem, and

then with

forests and

there was

it were a

ount, in th

n have ten

e made alon

e was of di

asties, fru

cakes,

there was

who has the

ng grammar or archaeology, and would rather be inaccurate in such matters than not, if, at that price, a freer feeling of the

pril with his

March hath perce

folk to gon

r to seken stra

ly, from eve

, to Canterbu

sful martyr

olpen whan that

ler; the minstrel, or menestrier, became very early a word of abuse, equivalent to blackguard; and from the beginning the profession seems to have been socially decried, like that of a music-hall singer or dancer in later times; but in the eleventh century, or perhaps earlier still, the jongleur seems to have been a poet, and to have composed the songs he sang. The immense mass of poetry known as the "Chansons de Geste" seems to have been composed as well as sung by the unnamed Homers of France, and of all spots in the many provinces where

ish classic of the first rank, was a canon of Bayeux when William of Saint-Pair was writing at Mont-Saint-Michel. His rival Benoist, who wrote another famous chronicle on the same subject, was also a historian, and not a singer. In

ho were going on pilgrimages in the middle of the eleventh century, the two who would probably most interest every one, after eight hundred years have passed, would be William the Norman and Harold the Saxon. Through William of Saint-Pair and Wace and

unds and followers, to take ship at Bosham, near Chichester and Portsmouth. The date alone is doubtful. Common sense seems to suggest that the earliest possible date could not be too early to explain the rash youth of the aspirant to a throne who put himself in the power of a rival in the eleventh century. When that rival chanced to be William the Bastard, not even boyhood could excuse the folly; but Mr. Freeman, the chief authority on this delicate subject, inclined to think that Harold was forty years old when he committed his blunder, and that the year was about 1064. Between 1054 and 1064 the historian

tint Herau

dut a gr

riche to

ller mult

e arme

retaign

eir treiz f

etons se du

pt Harold

due in gr

a rich t

m go ve

nd arms

Brittan

ly whether thr

o make war on

one raid into Brittany, and the charming tapestry of Bayeux, which tradition calls by the name of Queen Matilda, shows William's men- at-arms crossing the sands beneath Mont-Saint-Michel, with th

ns themselves after they had killed him; but this is the affair of historians. Tourists note only that Harold and William came to the Mo

, his jongleur-jugleor-was not far, and Wace knew, as every one in Normandy seemed to know, who this favourite was,-his name, his character, and his song. To him

qui mult b

eval qui

duc alou

aigne e d

er e des

rent en

rent cheva

is vindrent

st Taillef

longueme

servise

plaist le

uerredon

veil form

ei que io

colp de l

pondi: "Io

ho was fame

n a charg

ore the Duk

and of C

nd the v

n fight at

ad ridden t

h battle c

d Taillefer

ved you lo

d you owe

ay me if y

guerdon

you in fo

me as min

ow struck in

answered:

ne is not morally required to be pedantic to the point of knowing more than Wace knew, but the feeling of scepticism, before so serious a monument as Mont-Saint-Michel, is annoying. The "Chanson de Roland" ought not to be trifled with, at least by tourists in search of art. One is shocked at the possibility of being

, inclamatoque dei auxilio, praelium consertum." Starting the "Chanson de Roland" to inflame the fighting temper of the men, battle was joined. This seems enough proof to satisfy any sceptic, yet critics still suggest that the "cantilena Rollandi" must have been a Norman "Chanson de Rou,"

rted by the Duke's jongleur, and the name of this jongleur happens to be known on still better authority than that of William of Malmesbury. Guy of Amiens went to England in 1068 as almoner of Queen Mat

i mimus cogn

known by that name."

was also

dax nimium que

nobled." The jongleur was not noble by

os verbis et

iens ludit

his song to the French, and terrified the English. The rhymed chronicle of Geoffrey Gaimer who wrote

ter all, not the singing of the "Chanson,"

mei que i

colp de l

rench "bataille" meant battalion,-the column of attack. The Duke's grant: "Io l'otrei!" seems still more fanciful. Yet Guy of Amiens distinctly confirmed the story: "Histrio

their military character, peculiar to the eleventh century. The round arch is masculine. The "Chanson" is so masculine that, in all its four thousand lines, the only Christian woman so much as mentioned was Alda, the sister of Oliver and the be

nt, is host; Duke William sits with him on a dais; Harold is by his side "a grant enor"; the Duke's brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, with the other chief vassals, are present; and the Duke's jongl

is nostre em

leins ad este

re tresque en

l ki devant

z ni est rem

ing, our empe

omplete has b

land as far as

astle that hol

city left

, and of the means to attain it; and Harold was even more absorbed than he by the anxiety of the position. Harold had been obliged to take oath that he would support William's claim to the English throne, but he was still undecided, and William

oors were still in Spain. Archbishop Turpin of Rheims had fought with sword and mace in Spain, while Bishop Odo of Bayeux was to marshal his men at Hastings, like a modern general, with a staff, but both were equally at home on the field of battle. Verse by verse, the song was a literal mirror of the Mount. The battle of Hastings was to be fought on the Archangel's Day. What happened to Roland at Roncesvalles was to happen to Harold at Hastings, and Harold, as he was dying like Roland, was to see his brother

ry they wrung the heart of every man-at-arms in Europe, whose school was the field of battle and the hand-to-hand fight. No modern singer ever enjoys such power over an audien

riet e halt

let sun ami

nz a mei kar

ermes hoi de

he cries, lo

lls, his fri

ride now to

ay, great

e "Ballad of Chevy Chase," but one must imagine the voice and acting. Doubtless Taillefer acted each motive; when Oliver called loud and clear, Taillefer's voice rose; when Roland spoke "doulcement et suef," the singer must have sung gently and soft; and when the two friends, with the singular courtesy of kni

nt sur sun c

ki est a m

iet li oil l

pres ne poet

sset nisun

un cum il l'

unt sur l'el

nchet d'ici

este ne l'ad

l'ad Rolla

ndet dulce

nz, faites l

lanz ki tant

ise ne m'av

rs: "Or vus

ei. Veied v

i. Kar le m

nt: "Jo n'ai

duins ici e

'uns al altr

r as les vu

its unconsciou

who wounded

ed, his eyes g

near can s

gnize any

hen he has en

n the helmet o

the crown to

d he has not r

w Roland lo

gently an

, do you it

Roland who ha

e you sent to

"Indeed I h

ou. May God se

did. I pray y

s: "I have no

u here and

ne to the other

ection, there

e in the "leash" ends in the same sound,-aimer, parler, cler, mortel, damnede, mel, deu, suef, nasel,-however the terminal syllables may be spelled, can follow the feeling o

i! Kar le m

, and always the stron

ent is monosyll

lanz ki tant

ad seen it every year, more or less, since they could swing a sword. Taillefer chanted the death of Oliver and of Archbishop Turpin and all the other barons of the rear guard, except Roland, who was left for dead by the Saracens when they fled on hearing the horns of Charlemagne's returning host. Roland came back to consciousness on feeling a Saracen marauder tugging at his sword Durendal. With a blow of his ivory horn-oliphant-he killed the

rit en une

que jo ne v

t ne fruisset

iel amunt e

quens que ne l

t la plainst

cum ies bel

unt asez i

ierre e del san

mun seignur

nt i ad se

eiz que paien

ns devez es

hum ki fa

rres de vus av

ent ki la bar

e en est e b

ikes on a

ts off than I

s, but shatters

nst the sky

sees that he ca

he mourns it

how fair you

en guard are

nt Peter and blo

my seigneur

ent too of

t that pagans

ns you shou

have you who

ds by you I h

olds, who has

f them is nob

he Kohinoor on the scabbard. Even to us it is interesting if it is understood. Roland had gone on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He had stopped at Rome and won the friendship of Saint Peter, as the tooth proved; he had passed through Constantinople and secured the help of Saint Basil; he had reached Jerusalem and gained the affecti

quis e Anjo

quis e Peit

uis Normendi

uis Provence

t Peter, Saint Basil, and Saint Mary the Blessed Virgin, whose relics, in the hilt of his sword, were worth more than any king's ransom. To this day a tunic of the Virgin is the most precious property of the

gel and Odo of Bayeux. The relics serve the sword; the sword is not in service of

nz que la mor

te sur le que

in i est a

erte si est

et s'espee

ste vers la

ait que il vo

diet et tre

ns quil fut mo

els that death

head upon the

ine he hast

rass he throws

uts his sword

ce toward th

es it, that he

should say an

ount has die

the field of war. With a childlike intensity

ns quil fut mo

lowed the Church to ass

anz de sun t

igne gist e

n si ad sun

ulpe vers le

iez des gran

it des l'ure

t jur que ci

uant en ad v

l i descenden

ls that his las

Spain he lies

hand he beats u

! through force

, the great as

one from the

ay that I have

ve toward God

eaven descend

lanz se jut

gne en ad tu

hoses a reme

rres cume li

nce des hume

e sun seignu

r men plurt

sme ne voelt

ulpe si prie

rne ki unke

run de mor

des liuns

ei l'anme d

hiez que en

guant a deu

n seinz Gab

az teneit le

mains est al

mist sun an

hiel de la

els Seinz Ga

cunte porten

hrows himself

in has turned

s he called t

at he, the brave

nce, the men

his lord, who

but weep and

lf will not f

lpe, he prays t

ather who ha

Saint Lazaru

from the

ul from al

that in my

d glove to Go

l from his h

he held his h

ands he passe

him his an

chael of the

h them came

e Count they b

the meaning. The naivete of the poetry is that of the society. God the Father was the feudal seigneur, who raised Lazarus-his baron or vassal-from the grave, and freed Daniel, as an evidence of his power and loyalty; a seigneur who never lied, or was false to his word. God the Father, as feudal seigneur, absorbs the Trinity, and, what is more significant, absorbs or excludes al

oland's headstrong folly and temper. In dying, Roland had not once thought of these faults, or repented of his worldly ambitions, or mentioned the name of Alda, his betrothed. He had clung to the memory of his wars and conquests, his lineage

r, so much as in the art. The naivete of the thought is repeated by the simplicity of the verse. Word and

nz de sun ten

modern French, and s

it des l'ure

. Five hundred years later, even the English critics had so far lost their sense

y raged, and,

o the midriff

eat ou

ated, echoed, the piers and arches of the Abbey Church just rising above. The verse is built up. The qualities of the architecture reproduce themselves i

tuz perils Pur les pec

nd if the Romanesque arches in the church, which are within hearing, could spe

chief enclin Juintes se

lders have thei

nds, and sunken

man and child, lay or clerical,-translated into every tongue,-more intensely felt, if possible, in Italy and Spain than in Normandy and England,-perhaps most effective, as a work of art, when sung by the Templars in their great castles in the Holy Land,-it is now best felt at Mont-Saint- Michel, and from the first must have been there at home. The proof is the line, evidently inserted for the sake of its local effect, which in