201. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL LITERATURES
LATIN HYMNS
Medieval literature, though inferior in quality to that of Greece and Rome, nevertheless includes many notable productions. In the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries Latin hymns reached their perfection. The sublime Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final judgment of the wicked. The pathetic Stabat Mater, which describes the sorrows of Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been often translated and set to music. These two works were written by a companion and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Bernard's Jesu Dulcis Memoria ("Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hundred lines in length. Part of another hymn, composed by a monk of Cluny, has been rendered into English as "Jerusalem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of rhyme, then something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this poetic device.
LATIN STUDENTS' SONGS
Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs composed by students who went from one university to another in search of knowledge and adventure. Far from home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of purse and light of heart the wandering scholars of the Middle Ages frequented taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and knew the wine-bowl even better than books. Their songs of love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming, reflect the jovial side of medieval life.
SONGS OF THE TROUBADOURS
Still another glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs of the troubadours. These professional poets flourished in the south of France, but many of them traveled from court to court in other countries. Their verses, composed in the Provençal language, were always sung to the accompaniment of some musical instrument, generally the lute. Romantic love and deeds of chivalry were the two themes which most inspired the troubadours. They, too, took up the use of rhyme, using it so skillfully as to become the teachers of Europe in lyric poetry.
THE FRENCH EPIC
If southern France was the native home of the lyric, northern France gave birth to epic or narrative verse. Here arose many poems, describing the exploits of mythical heroes or historic kings. For a long time the poems remained unwritten and were recited by minstrels, who did not hesitate to modify and enlarge them at will. It was not until late in the eleventh century that any epics were written down. They enjoyed high esteem in aristocratic circles and penetrated all countries where feudalism prevailed.
THE CHARLEMAGNE LEGEND
Many of the French epics centered about the commanding personality of Charlemagne. After his death he became a figure of legend. He was said to have reigned one hundred and twenty-five years, to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and to have risen from the dead to lead the First Crusade. Angels inspired his actions. His sword contained the point of the lance which pierced the Savior's side. His standard was the banner of St. Peter. Though history shows that Charlemagne had little contact with the Moslems, in the popular mind he stood forth as the great champion of Christianity against Islam.
SONG OF ROLAND
The oldest, and at the same time the finest, epic connected with Charlemagne is the Song of Roland. [7] The poem centers around Roland, one of the twelve peers of France. When leading the rearguard of Charlemagne's army out of Spain, Roland is suddenly attacked by the treacherous Moors. He slays the enemy in heaps with his good sword, Durendal, and only after nearly all the Franks have perished sounds his magic horn to summon aid. Charlemagne, fifteen leagues distant, hears its notes and returns quickly. But before help arrives, Roland has fallen. He dies on the field of battle, with his face to the foe, and a prayer on his lips that "sweet France" may never be dishonored. This stirring poem appealed strongly to the martial Normans. A medieval chronicler relates that just before the battle of Hastings a Norman minstrel rode out between the lines, tossing his sword in air and catching it again, as he chanted the song "of Roland and of Charlemagne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his life at Roncesvalles."
[Illustration: ROLAND AT RONCESVALLES
From a thirteenth-century window of stained glass in Chartres Cathedral.
At the right, Roland sounding his horn; at the left Roland endeavoring to
break his sword Durendal.]
THE ARTHURIAN ROMANCES
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have reigned in Britain early in the sixth century and to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether he ever lived or not we do not know. In the Arthurian romances this Celtic king stands forth as the model knight, the ideal of noble chivalry. The Norman conquerors of England carried the romances to France, and here, where feudalism was so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d' Arthur, one of the first books to be printed in England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, in his Idylls of the King, and other modern poets have drawn their inspiration.
THE NIBELINGENLIED
The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle Ages is the Nibelungenlied. The poem begins in Burgundy, where three kings hold court at Worms, on the Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and seized their treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer invisible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, except in one place where a linden leaf touched his body. Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, and with her lives most happily. But a curse attached to the Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's enemy, the "grim Hagen," treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where he could be hurt. Many years afterwards Kriemhild marries Attila, king of the Huns, on condition that he help her to vengeance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to Hunland, where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name of the poet who compiled and probably wrote much of the Nibelungenlied remains unknown, but his work has a place among the classics of German literature.
REYNARD THE FOX
No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference to Reynard the Fox. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, and then turned into the chief languages of Europe. The characters are animals: Reynard, cunning and audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the cock; Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But they are animals in name only. We see them worship like Christians, go to Mass, ride on horseback, debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. The special interest of this work lies in the fact that it expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under the oppression of feudal lords.
THE ROBIN HOOD BALLADS
The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English ballads of the outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts he flourished in the second half of the twelfth century, when Henry II and Richard the Lion-hearted reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry men, leads an adventurous life in Sherwood Forest, engaging in feats of strength and hunting the king's tall deer. Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies. For the common people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some of the characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him were sung by country folk for hundreds of years.