[143] Cf. Liebermann, Arch. CI, p. 15 ff.; Brandl, Grundriss, II p. 106.
[144] χρήματα μεγάλα τῷ τῆς μνηστείας αὐτῇ δεδωκὼς λόγῳ.
[145] οὗτος ἀνὴρ ξὺν Οὐάρνων τοῖς λογιμωτάτοις ἐν χωρίω τῳ ἱππευόμενος ὄρνιν τινὰ ἐπὶ δένδρου τε καθημένην εἶδε καὶ πολλὰ κρώζουσαν. εἴτε δὲ τῆς ὄρνιθος τῆς φωνῆς ξυνεὶς εἴτε ἄλλο μέν τι ἐξεπιστάμενος, ξυνεῖναι δὲ τῆς ὄρνιθος μαντευομένης τερατευσάμενος, τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐθὺς ἔφασκεν ὡς τεθνήξεται τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραις ὕστερον. τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ τὴν τῆς ὄρνιθος δηλοῦν πρόρρησιν.
[146] It is not clear whether the marvellous account of Britain which follows this story comes from the same source or not.
[147] They certainly resemble poems of Stage II both in form and spirit much more closely than their German counterparts do. But this may be due partly to the fact that Stage III was of much shorter duration in their case.
[148] A reminiscence of such minstrels may perhaps be preserved in the story of the unfortunate Heimir, who fled to Norway with the child Áslaug concealed in a harp and was murdered there by a peasant from whom he had sought hospitality (Völs. Saga, cap. 43).
[NOTE IV. ON THE HEROIC POETRY OF THE SLAVONIC PEOPLES.]
The nearest modern analogy, at least in Europe, to the types of poetry which we have been discussing is probably to be found among the various peoples of Serbo-Croatian nationality. As an example we may take the poetry current among the Mohammedan population of Bosnia[149]. Since the occupation of that province a large number of narrative poems have been collected and published, though only a few are as yet accessible in translations. These poems afford an interesting illustration of our subject, not only because they deal with similar themes—heroism in battle, single combats, love and revenge—and often in quite as full detail, but also since the events with which they are concerned and the conditions they reflect belong to a well-marked historical period, which we may regard as a kind of Heroic Age. The period in question embraces the greater part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, more especially the latter, a time when the Turkish Empire was at the height of its power, and when its armies were frequently engaged in hostilities with the Austrians in Hungary and Croatia. Many of the characters mentioned in the poems are well known historical persons.