The name of the hero in the French ballad is mostly Renaud, or some modification of Renaud: Jean Renaud, G, H, U; Renom, AA; Arnaud, C, E, L, Y, BB; L'Arnaud l'Infant, P; Louis Renaud, brother of Jean, F. It is Louis in A, I, J, V. He is king, or of the royal family, F, M, N, O, Q, W, BB, CC, GG; count, Y; Renaud le grand, H, Z. In A, while he is walking in his meadows, he meets Death, who asks him, peremptorily, Would you rather die this very night, or languish seven years? and he answers that he prefers to die at once. Here there is a very plain trace of the older fairy. He is mortally hurt, while hunting, by a wolf, B; by a boar, DD. But in more than twenty versions he returns from war, often with a horrible wound, "apportant son cœur dans sa main," C; "tenant ses tripes dans ses mains," N; "oque ses tripes on sa main, sen estoumac on sen chapea, sen cûr covert de sen mentea," G; etc. In F, I, J he comes home in a dying state from prison (to which he was consigned, according to I, for robbing a church!). In these versions the story is confused with that of another ballad, existing in Breton, and very likely in French, 'Komt ar Chapel,' 'Le Comte des Chapelles,' Luzel, I, 456/457, or 'Le Page de Louis XIII,' Villemarqué, Barzaz-Breiz, p. 301. A fragment of a corresponding Italian ballad is given by Nigra, Romania, XI, 397, No 9.
Renaud, as it will be convenient to call the hero, coming home triste et chagrin, F, P, U b, c, triste et bien malau Y, receives on his arriving felicitations from his mother on account of the birth of a son. He has no heart to respond to these: "Ni de ma femme, ni de mon fils, je ne saurais me réjoui." He asks that his bed may be made, with precautions against his wife's hearing. At midnight he is dead.
The wife, hearing the men-servants weeping, asks her mother-in-law the cause. The best horse [horses] has been found dead in the stable, has strayed away, etc., B, D-S, GG. "No matter for that," says the wife; "when Renaud comes he will bring better," B, D-G, L-Q, GG. The maids are heard weeping; why is that? They have lost, or injured, sheets in the washing, B, D, E, G, J. When Renaud comes we shall have better, B, D, E, G. Or a piece of plate has been lost or broken, A, F, H, I, K, O. [It is children with the toothache, F, U a, b, c, d]. "What is this chanting which I hear?" It is a procession, making the tour of the house: B, D-F, L, P-X, GG. "What gown shall I wear when I go to church?" Black is the color for women at their churching, B, F, I, L, M, O, P, V, Y; black is more becoming, plus joli, plus convenant, plus conséquent, A, D, H, K, N, R, X, BB, DD, GG; "quittez le ros', quittez le gris, prenez le noir, pour mieux choisir," etc., Q, W, U, E, S, T.
Besides these four questions, all of which occur in Breton ballads, there are two which are met with in many versions, always coming before the last. "What is this pounding (frapper, cogner, taper) which I hear?" It is carpenters, or masons, repairing some part of the house, D, E, K, L, N, P-U, W; A, V, X, AA; GG. "Why are the bells ringing?" For a procession, or because a distinguished personage has come, has died, etc., A, B, F-L, Q, R, W, Y, AA, DD, GG. On the way to church [or cemetery] herdboys or others say to one another, as the lady goes by, That is the wife of the king, the seigneur, that was buried last night, or the like; and the mother-in-law has again to put aside the lady's question as to what they were saying, D, E, G, H, L-P, S, T, X, Y, FF, GG.
Flambeaux or candles are burning at the church, E, V; a taper is presented to the widow, M, or holy water, N, T, Z, GG; the church is hung with black, D, O, FF; the funeral is going on, AA, CC. "Whose is this new monument?" "What a fine tomb!" M, N, R, T, Z, GG. The scene in other cases is transferred to the cemetery. "Why has the earth been disturbed?" "What new monument is this?" A, DD; C, F, I, J, P. In B the tomb is in the garden; in L, S, X, BB the place is not defined.
The young wife utters a piercing shriek, C, D, K, L, N. Open earth, split tomb, split tiles! A, B, Q, R, V, W, X, Y; I will stay with my husband, will die with my husband, will not go back, A, C, D, M, N, Q, R, S, X, Y, Z, BB, CC, GG. She bids her mother take her keys, B, C, G, L, M, P, Y, BB, CC, GG, and commits her son [children] to her kinsfolk, to bring up piously, B, G, I, J, L, M, O, Z, BB, CC. In H, P, Q, W, X, Y the earth opens, and in the last four it encloses her. In K heaven is rent by her shriek, and she sees her husband in light (who says, strangely, that his mouth smacks of rot); he bids her bring up the children as Christians. Heaven opens to her prayer in AA, and a voice cries, Wife, come up hither! In GG the voice from heaven says, Go to your child: I will keep your husband safe. There are other variations.[361]
G, T, I say expressly that Renaud's wife died the next day, or after hearing three masses, or soon after. M, O, by a feeble modern perversion, make her go into a convent.
Italian ballads cover very much the same ground as the French. The versions hitherto published are:
A. 'La Lavandaia,' Cento, Ferraro, Canti popolari di Ferrara, Cento e Pontelagoscuro, p. 52, 16 verses, Romania, XI, 397, amended. B. 'Il Cavaliere della bella Spada,' Pontelagoscuro, Ferraro, p. 107, previously in Rivista di Filologia romanza, II, 205, 28 verses, Romania, XI, 398. C. Piedmont, communicated by Nigra, with other versions, to Romania, XI, 394, No 4, 48 verses. D. Romania, XI, 393 f, No 3, 34 verses. E. Ib. p. 395, No 6, 42 verses. F. Ib. p. 392 f, No 2, 46 verses. G. 'Conte Anzolin,' Wolf, Volkslieder aus Venetien, p. 61, 57 verses. H. Romania, XI, 396, No 7, 38 verses. I. Ib. p. 394 f, No 5, 26 verses. J. 'Il re Carlino,' Ferraro, Canti popolari monferrini, p. 34, 42 verses. K. Romania, XI, 392, No 1, 20 verses. L. 'Il Conte Angiolino,' Rovigno, Ive, Canti popolari istriani, p. 344, 34 verses. M. 'Il Conte Cagnolino,' Pontelagoscuro, Ferraro, as above, p. 84, Rivista di Filologia romanza, II, 196, 36 verses. All these are from recent tradition.
The name Rinaldo, Rinald, is found only in I, C, and the latter has also Lüis. Lüis is the name in E; Carlino, Carlin, in J, H; Angiolino, Anzolin, L, G; Cagnolino, M. The rank is king in C, E, H-K; prince, D; count, G, L, M.