K. H. Further the author of the romance, quite in keeping with the conventions of contemporary romances, has introduced and elaborated descriptions of battles and of sports and tournaments on every possible occasion. In R. H. Horn is a curteis knight, whose knightly honour forbids him to take oath. Stimming further points out the difference in cultivation of manner as reflected in the love-making scenes of the two versions. When Athulf is introduced to Rimenhild's bower, Anon vpon Apulf child Rymenhild gan were wild, K. H. 295-6, she has him seat himself on her bed, embraces him, and offers herself as his bride. Rimel, on the other hand, who before Apulf's coming has carefully regarded the glass, pur veer sa belted, Pur saver de su vis cum il est culured, on his appearance, takes him by the hand, leads him to a seat, seats herself beside him, and then expresses the wish, "Bels amis, dès ore voil estre mise en vostre justise," politely adding, "si vostre plaisir est." All this, Stimming concludes, is an unmistakable evidence of the later time of R. H.'s composition. Granting the truth of this conclusion, the difference of treatment in the two versions is also no doubt in part due to the difference in the public for which each version was intended, and also still more, perhaps, to the difference in function of the two works. It must be noted that K. H. is a popular ballad-like poem perhaps of the kind referred to in R. H., while the French R. H. is an artificial and conventionalized romance of prowess and love. That the ballad-like version K. H., simple, even primitive in matter, in manner, and in metrical form, should have been derived from the sophisticated, artificial romance, R. H. deserves little consideration. On the other hand that the artificial romance should have been derived from the simple ballad-like story, incomplete in its record of details, is even more unworthy of consideration, though quite probably Thomas, the French romancer, may have been to some extent influenced by this English version, with which he was probably acquainted, as we may infer from the following passage: Mes un lai ai oi dunt ioe sai la meitie Mut en auez oi parler en cest regne E de lamur de horn ke ele od taunt ame Coe est ueir dist Guffer, Rigmel est mut loéé The French romance is no doubt constructed from an English story, as we may infer from the proper names, which in general seem to be Germanic in origin, from occasional English words, e. g. welcumez 800, King Horn. § 2. Versions. xiii wite God, wrec 150, etc., from references to English such as, Mes com apelent horn li engleis, R. H. 4206, and especially from the general features of the story which seem to be Germanic. Further, "in the introduction to the French romance of Waldelf we are informed that the romance of Horn was taken from an English original" (T. Wright, Essays on Middle Ages, I, 102. London, 1846). The English gleeman's version quite likely was composed directly from oral tradition, while the romance rests upon some version of the story, the "parchemin" so often referred to. This hypothetical version, judging from the identity of the story in its main outline with that in K. H., must be the version upon which R. H. rests also, or must rest upon the same tradition with K. H. A third version of the story of Horn is the romance of Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild, the only copy of which is the incomplete one contained in the famous collection of the Auchinleck MS. of the 14th century. (One leaf lost in the middle and one or two at the end.) Of this romance, which is composed in twelve-lined strophes, rime couée, there are preserved 1136 lines, that is to say, 96 strophes, not all complete. The story, very briefly summarized, is as follows: Hapeolf, king of "al Ingelond fram Humber norp," has one son named Horn. To Horn Hapeolf gives eight companions and puts all under the instruction of Arlaund. Hapeolf annihilates a host of Danish invaders, but within nine months is again attacked, this time by three kings from Ireland, and after an heroic fight, in which he slays five thousand, is stoned to death, and "an erle of Northumberland" seizes the kingdom. Herlaund conducts the nine boys "fer soupe in Inglond," where they are received by Houlac the king. The king's only daughter, Rimneld, loves him and asks Herlaund to bring Horn to her bower. As in the other versions, Arlaund first brings Haperof, but the second time brings Horn to Rimneld, and the princess gives Horn rich presents, and promises to be his if he shall be dubbed knight. But Wikard and Wikel, two of Horn's companions, calumniate Horn and Rimneld to the king, and Horn is banished. After vain attempts at a reconciliation with the king, he takes leave of Rimneld, who gives him a ring with a magic stone: "When be ston wexep wan pan chaungep pe pought of pi leman pan have lorn mi maidenhed." Horn takes the name of Godebounde, has heroic adventure in the forest, wins a great tournament in Wales, then crosses over to Ireland, and delivers king Finlawe (Finlak) from his enemy, Malkan, the one who had slain Horn's father. Atula, Finlak's daughter, loves Horn, but he remains true to Rimneld, notices that the stone in his ring has turned pale, and with a hundred knights, crosses over into England in time to save Rimneld from marrying King Moioun, overthrows Moioun in the tournament, slays Wigard and smites out the eye of the false Wizel, Wigard's brother. Horn marries Rimneld, and, after five days of feasting, makes ready a force to go into North-Humberland to win back his father's kingdom. The single MS. ends abruptly at this point. It will be seen that the main outline of the story as told in the other two versions, is here preserved, but with many modifications, with some omissions and some additions. The scene of action has shifted. We hear no more of the to us obscure names Suddenne and Westir; the whole action takes place in the British isles. The names of the persons, too, are greatly transformed, Horn and Rimneld, and possibly Moioun being about the only names common to all the versions. The whole introduction of the present version, dealing with the bravery and death of Hapeolf, Horn's father, which forms about a quarter of this romance version as preserved to us, is entirely strange to K. H. and to R. H. Other features peculiar to H. C. are: Hapeolf's instructions to the boy companions of Horn, to bear fealty to Horn, 137 ff.; the fine gifts and rich entertainment by Rimnild of Herlaund and Haderof and, later, of Horn, 330 ff., 377 ff.; the manner of the courtship, where Horn no longer plays the reluctant part, urging his poverty as an excuse, 373 ff.; the episode of the departure of Horn's companions Tebeaud, Winwald, Garins and Apelston for foreign lands, 445 ff. Wikel here does not accuse Horn of designs on the king's life and kingdom, 486 ff. Horn remains at home from the hunting, not to visit Rimnild, but "for blodeleteing, Al for a maladye." 485 ff. There is no Saracen invasion of Houlac's kingdom. Horn tries to appease the king, 541 ff. The ring has a different function, 571 ff. The ring it is that prompts Horn's return to Rimnild. Still other features peculiar to this edition are: the heroic adventure in the forest, 613 ff.; the tournament at the court of Elidan in Wales, 664 ff.; and the whole account of Horn's experiences in Ireland, the occasion of his journey there, the character of the battle (in which Horn is wounded), and the absence of mention of king Finlak's proposal to give his daughter and kingdom to Horn. All these independent traits in H. C. lead us to conclude that this version must rest, directly or indirectly, on a tradition different from that underlying K. H. and R. H. That, as Stimming thinks probable, the writer "unmittelbar aus der sage selbst geschöpft" seems unlikely con King Horn. § 2. Versions. XV sidering the highly sophisticated1 nature and artificial form of this version, and the frequent remarks of the author, " in boke as we rede," etc. More likely it rests directly on an earlier version of the story, which in its turn rests on a Northern tradition of the story. That such a Northern tradition existed we have evidence in the Scottish ballads of Hind Horn [Child's (F. J.) English and Scottish Ballads. Boston, 1882-84], which while emphasizing only one element, the separation of the two lovers and their reunion through the agency of the magic ring, agree with the H. C. version rather than with that of K. H. and R. H. What, then, is the relation of H. C. to K. H. and to R. H.? Wissmann says, apparently with truth: "Das Gedicht von Horn Childe hat von dem Gehalt des K. H. nichts bewahrt, was nicht auch R. H. hätte." On the other hand H. C. has a number of important traits in common with R. H., for instance, the names: Herland (R. H.); Herlaund, Arlaund, Harlaund, Arlond, etc. (H. C.); Allof (R. H); Hapeolf (H. C.); Wikel (R. H.); Wizel (H. C.); Haþerof (R. H.); Haderof (H. C.) and Hunlaf (R. H.); Houlac (H. C.); further, Haderof's ignorance of Herland's intention to palm him off as Horn, the love of the Irish princess for Horn, Horn's meeting with Moioun (Moging) and Wikard, and his riddle of the net told here, the tournament and the contest between Horn and Moioun, Horn's thanks to king Houlac (Hunlaf). From the considerable French element in the vocabulary of H. C., including frequent rime words, the French form Cornwayle riming with the French phrase saun faile, it is reasonable to suppose that the author was acquainted with French, and the general tone of the romance, the feudalism inculcated by King Hapeolf, 133 ff., the tournaments and the general air of luxury in addition to the abovementioned striking traits in common with R. H., suggest almost inevitably that the author of H. C. must have been acquainted with, and influenced by, the French version. The Scottish ballads of Hind Horn (cf. Child, as above, I, 187), as said above, emphasize only one element of the original story, namely, the separation of Horn and the princess, and their reunion through the agency of the magic ring. The story in Hind Horn agrees more closely (notably in the function of the ring, peculiar to the Northern versions) with H. C. than with R. H. or K. H., and seems to rest, along with H. C., on a northern version of the story. The later French romance Ponthus et la belle Sidoine is an adapta 1 The author of H. C. endeavours to be realistic. There are no more vague terms, like Sarazins, etc. Further, there is a parallelism with the story of Harold, suggesting that this version has been influenced by historical events. tion of the French version (R. H.) of the Horn story. It is purely an artificial product based on R. H., and has little bearing on the origin and history of the version in hand. It is interesting in this connection as showing how possible it is to tell the same story with different names, the only name in common between R. H., and the adaptation being that of the steward Herlant. (Cf. English translation, King Ponthus and the Fair Sidone, edited by F. J. Mather, Publ. of the Mod. Lang. Assoc. of America, xii, 1-150.) The story of Ponthus also appears in a German Volksbuch (cf. Simrock, I. 1 ff.). § 3. ELEMENTS OF THE STORY. The story of Horn, it is generally believed, had its origin in the turbulent times of the Danish invasions, but the kernel of genuine historical tradition is probably small. How the different elements in such a story aggregate, we can plainly see in the case of the Hereward: "The writer of the life of Hereward," according to Wright, "had, among other sources of information, the work of the presbyter, Leofric, Hereward's archdeacon. This Leofric, he tells us, occupied himself in collecting for the edification of his hearers, all the acts of the giants and warriors from the fables of the ancients, or, in the instance of more modern heroes, from the trustworthy relations of those who had known them, and in writing them in English that they might be preserved in people's memories." In this way grew the Hereward story, and in a similar manner, we may suppose, that the story of Horn attracted to itself many new and foreign elements, receiving its development and final form probably at the hands of the jongleurs, or gleemen, whom we are to think of as wandering widely and gathering romantic material from the most remote regions. In another place (Publ. of the Mod. Lang. Assoc. of America, xv. 221232) I have attempted to point out some of the Germanic elements' in the story. It seems possible to distinguish two essential elements in the story (1) Horn's expulsion from his kingdom and his return and avengement of his father's death; (2) the separation and reunion of the faithful lovers. Of these elements the first seems to be especially Germanic. At least historic incidents which might supply the nucleus for such a tale were particularly common in connection with the continual wars between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and also with the invasions of England, Danish and Norman. (Cf. the death of Beaduheard. Eng. Chron. (Winch.) a. 787, also the death of Aethelwulf at hands of Danes, avenged by his brother Aethelstan. Gaimar, 2391 ff.) The second element also may have been of Germanic origin, though it has become greatly convention |