Medieval French epic. Features of literature of the ancient Middle Ages
The leading genre of medieval literature was epic poems, which arose at the final stage of the formation of nations and their unification into states under the auspices of the king. Medieval literature of any nation has its roots in ancient times.
Through the intricate outline of fairy-tale plots, through the apparent simplicity of the images, ancient wisdom emerges, passed on from generation to generation by the storytellers of foggy Albion - Great Britain and Brittany - a peninsula full of mysteries in western France... Picts and Scots, Britons and Anglo-Saxons, mysterious Celts, the wise magician Merlin, who possessed prophetic gift and predicted many events that occurred centuries later. Fabulous-sounding names - Cornwall, Wales, Tintagel, Camelot, the mysterious Brocéliand Forest. In this forest, as legends say, many miracles happened, here the knights of the Round Table fought in duels, here, according to legend, is the grave of Merlin. Here, from under a flat stone, the magical Bellanton spring gushes out. If you scoop up water from a source and moisten this stone with it, then even on the hottest and windless day, when there is not a cloud in the sky, a strong wind will blow and rain will pour. Since time immemorial, the inhabitants of Brittany have surrounded standing stones - menhirs, and table stones - dolmens with legends and traditions. No one still knows exactly who built these structures and when, and therefore people have long attributed magical powers to ancient stones...
Myths and historical facts, legends and stories about miracles and exploits over many generations are gradually synthesized into a heroic epic, which reflects the long process of formation of national self-awareness. The epic forms the people's knowledge of the historical past, and the epic hero embodies the people's ideal idea of themselves.
Despite differences in the condition and time of occurrence, content and style early medieval epics have a number of typological features that distinguish them from the epic monuments of the mature Middle Ages:
· in the epic of the early Middle Ages, a kind of mythologization of the past is observed, when the narration of historical events is combined with myth and fairy tale;
· the main theme of the epic cycles of this period is the struggle of man with the forces of nature hostile to him, embodied in fairy-tale images of monsters, dragons, giants, etc.;
· the hero, as a rule, is a fairy-tale-mythological character endowed with miraculous properties and qualities (flying through the air, being invisible, growing in size, etc.).
Celtic (Irish) sagas, formed in the 2nd–7th centuries, were quite ramified in plot, their creators are considered filids- ancient guardians of secular learning, composers of battle songs and funeral laments. At the same time, bards developed a lyrical tradition. The most important cycle of Irish sagas is considered Uladsky(named after one of the ancient tribes of Northern Ireland), where the central epic hero is Cu Chulainn. Indicative in this cycle is the saga “The Stealing of the Bull from Qualinge,” which depicts a series of fights between Cuchulainn and enemy heroes. The main narrative text has many branches, poetic insertions, and there is a lot of mythology and fantasy in it. The god Lugh comes to the aid of the exhausted hero in the form of a young warrior, and the warlike fairy Morrigan offers him her support. Central to the saga is the battle between Cuchulainn and his brother-in-arms, the mighty hero Ferdiad, who had horny skin. The battle lasts three days, and only by using the well-known fighting technique of the “horned spear”, Cu Chulainn kills Ferdiad. He suffers greatly because, while fulfilling his military duty, he was forced to kill a friend of his youth, he falls unconscious, and then mourns. The brown bull of the Cualinge Ulads deals with the white-horned bull of their Connacht opponents and rushes, devastating their lands, until he crashes on a hill. Since the war began because of its theft, now it loses its meaning, peace is concluded, and the Ulads seize large booty.
Scandinavian songs about gods and heroes, which were also popular in Iceland in the 13th century, date back to the 9th–12th centuries, the so-called “Viking Age,” although much suggests their more ancient origin. It can be assumed that at least some of them arose much earlier, even in the non-literate period. They are systematized in a book called “ Elder Edda"(The name "Edda" was given in the 17th century by the first researcher of the manuscript, who transferred to it the title of the book of the Icelandic poet and historian of the 13th century Snorri Sturluson, since Snorri relied on songs about the gods in his story about myths. Therefore, Snorri's treatise is usually called " Younger Edda”, and the collection of mythological and heroic songs - the “Elder Edda”. The etymology of the word "Edda" is unclear).
Unlike the songs of the Icelandic skald poets, for almost every one of which we know the author, Eddic mythological songs anonymous. Myths about the gods, stories about Sigurd, Brynhild, Atli, Gudrun were public property, and the person who retold or recorded the song, even re-creating it, did not consider himself its author. Of greatest interest are the Eddic songs, reflecting the mythological ideas of the ancient Scandinavians. They are noticeably close to real everyday life. The gods here are powerful, but not immortal; their behavior is easily comparable to the life of a primitive tribe: endless wars with neighbors, polygamy, seizure of prey and the constant threat of death. Everything that happens is especially harshly predetermined by fate: together with the whole world, the gods will die in the battle with the giants, but then they will be reborn again for a new, happy life. This is the content of the song “Divination of the Völva”:
At the beginning of time
when Ymir lived
was not in the world
no sand, no sea,
there was no land yet
and the firmament,
the abyss gaped
the grass didn't grow.
While the sons of Bor,
Midgard created
fabulous,
did not raise the earth,
sun from the south
there was light on the stones,
grew up on the ground
green herbs.
Then the gods sat down
to the thrones of power
and confer
became sacred
called the night
and to the offspring of the night -
evening, morning
and in the middle of the day -
given a nickname
to count time.
...I will see through everything
the fate of the mighty
glorious gods.
The brothers will begin
fight each other
close relatives
they will perish in strife;
sad in the world,
great fornication
the age of swords and axes,
shields will crack,
age of storms and wolves
until the end of the world;
spare a person
there will be no man.
The sun has faded
the earth is sinking into the sea,
fall from the sky
bright stars,
the flames are raging
feeder of life,
the heat is unbearable
reaches the sky.
She sees:
rises again
from the sea land,
green as before;
the waters are falling,
eagle flies
fish from the waves
he wants to catch it.
Aces meet
on Idavoll-field,
about the peace belt
they talk mightily
and remember
about glorious events
and the runes of the ancients
great god.
Based on the functions and names of the gods, one can see the connection between Eddic mythology not only with ancient mythology, but also with ancient Germanic mythology, which gives scientists grounds to speak of it as German-Scandinavian. The Supreme God is Odin, the creator of the world and people, he grants victories and patronizes the brave. Valkyries, the winged warlike daughters of Odin, carry heroes killed in battles to his palace Valhalla and serve them during feasts with the supreme god himself. The majority are destined to live in the three worlds. The upper world (Asgard) is for the gods, the middle world (Midgard) is for people, the underground is the kingdom of the dead (Niflheim), where the giantess Hel rules (everyone goes there except those who go to Valhalla).
The most archaic part of the Elder Edda, according to its researchers, is the so-called gnomic stanzas, which contain the rules of worldly wisdom and behavior. Most of them are contained in the “Speeches of the High One,” that is, Odin. They reflect the life, customs and morality of the ancient Vikings, when such human qualities as courage, the desire for glory, loyalty to friends were encouraged, and cowardice, greed, and stupidity were condemned. Many of them amaze with the depth of wisdom contained in them and its enduring significance (some still sound very relevant today):
The heroic epic songs of the Elder Edda include a number of plots known from the common German legends about Sigurd (Siegfried) and the Nibelungen treasure. They are characterized by high heroic pathos, the main thematic content in them is the re-interpretation of the major historical events of the times of the Great Migration of Peoples and the Viking Age as family feuds, revenge for breaking oath promises. This is the tragic story of the giantess Brynhild, who seeks the death of Sigurd, who is guilty of breaking his vow to marry her and whom he still loves. Such are the bloody endings of the stories of Gudrun, Gunnar and Hegni, the blacksmith of Velund. Fate and circumstances lead to the death of worthy, noble heroes. Both mythological and heroic songs are attracted by the amazing expressiveness of Eddic poetry, based on the traditional folk poetic arsenal, a subtle combination of heroism and everyday life, epic and lyricism.
The ancient German folklore heritage is also represented by mythological and heroic songs, which were mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus back in the 1st century. Mythological songs told about the earth-born god Tuisco and his son Mann, from whom the ancestors of the people descended. They meant the sons of Mann - the ancestors of the main German tribes. But perhaps more common among the warlike Germans were songs glorifying their military campaign life, duels, and the courage of individual heroes. This is always a warrior, a warrior, performing feats for the glory of the family, presented as an example of physical strength and valor. One of the surviving, and even then incomplete, monuments of the heroic epic is recorded around 800 "Hildebrand's Song". It is based on both the events of the fall of the Roman Empire and the motif of a random duel between father and son, common in the epics of many nations. The work is almost devoid of a descriptive element and represents a dialogue corresponding to a military ritual, full of heroism and drama.
The Anglo-Saxon folk epic can be represented by dating back to the 8th century. poem "Beowulf". Unlike those discussed above, this is a work of large epic form. The descriptive element is developed here, the action unfolds gradually, the narrative is replete with digressions that slow down the story of events. The main plot of the poem is formed by two independent lines, united by the theme of the fight against monsters who have encroached on the peaceful life of people. First, the glorious Gautian hero Beowulf helps the Danish king Hrothgar, the great-grandson of the first ruler Scyld Skefing, defeat the humanoid monster Grendel, and then, becoming the king of the Gautian lands, in a difficult duel he kills the fire-breathing dragon that was devastating his land. . The poem begins with a mournful picture of the funeral of the ancestor of the Danish kings, Scyld Skefing, and ends with a solemn scene of the burning of the Gautian king Beowulf on a funeral pyre and the construction of a mound over his grave. One can assume the deep symbolism of such a roll call of two lines: the leaders of only friendly tribes left, but their descendants in new lands are destined to create a single Anglo-Saxon nation.
Epic of the mature Middle Ages differs from the poems of the early period:
· mythology occupies a much smaller place; it is not mythical creatures that act, but people, although endowed with exaggerated properties (the age of Charles the Great, the strength of Brunhild, etc.);
· the main character fights with the pagans for the truth of the Christian faith;
· First –. Second -. Third -. Some poems focus on one of these topics, others emphasize the main one for them, making the others secondary.
· the central theme changes. three directions can be distinguished in it: 1) defense of the homeland from external enemies (Moors (Saracens), Normans, Saxons); 2) endless bloody feuds of feudal lords; 3) faithful service to the king, protection of his rights and punishment of apostates
Now in epic tales a loyal vassal of his overlord plays a very important role. This was required by the ideology of feudal society. The process of consolidation of nations was ending: previously disparate tribes united under the auspices of the king, who became a symbol of national unity. Serving the king was the embodiment of patriotism, since it was automatically service to the homeland and state. The duty of loyal vassals is to obey the king unquestioningly.
Such, for example, is the hero of the French "Songs of Roland", who did not spare his life to serve King Charlemagne. He, at the head of a small detachment of Franks in the Roncesvalles Gorge, repels the attack of thousands of Saracen troops. Dying on the battlefield, the hero covers his body with his military armor, lies down facing the enemies, “so that Karl would tell his glorious squad that Count Roland died, but won.”
Karl began to look for Roland on the hill.
There the grass is not green - the color is red:
French blood is red on her.
Karl began to cry - there’s no point in not crying,
He saw three blocks between two trees,
I saw Durandal's mark on them,
Near them I found my nephew in the grass.
How could the king not grieve with all his heart!
He dismounted where the dead man lay,
He pressed the dead man to his chest
And with him he lay unconscious on the ground.
Roland is the hero of numerous songs about robes, the so-called chansons de geste, performed by folk singers called jugglers. They probably did not mechanically repeat the lyrics of the songs, but they often contributed something of their own.
The monument of folk poetry is based on historical events, significantly rethought. In 778, the king of the Franks, Charles, made a campaign beyond the Pyrenees for rich booty. The Frankish invasion lasted several weeks. Then Charles's army retreated, but the Basques attacked the rearguard in the Roncesval gorge, commanded by the king's nephew Hruodland. The forces were unequal, the Frankish detachment was defeated, and Hruodland perished. Charles, returning with a large army, avenged the death of his nephew.
Folk storytellers gave an exceptional character to everything that happened. The short campaign turned into a seven-year war, the goal of which, as interpreted by the jugglers, became extremely noble: Charles wanted to convert the unfaithful Saracens to the Christian faith. The Saracens were the collective name for the Arab tribes that invaded the Iberian Peninsula; they were Muslims, not pagans. But for the storytellers they were simply non-Christians who should be guided on the path of true faith. The king has aged considerably; the song says that the gray-bearded old man is two hundred years old. This emphasizes his greatness and nobility.
Where the rose hips bloom, under the pine tree,
A gold chased throne was installed.
Charles, the king of France, sits on it.
He has gray hair and a gray beard,
Beautiful in figure, majestic in face.
It's easy to recognize him from afar.
The ambassadors dismounted when they saw him,
As they should, they bow to him.
He liked to weigh the answer slowly.
Your sovereign is both old and gray-haired.
He is over two hundred years old, as I heard.
Hruodland became Roland, but most importantly, he gained exceptional heroic power. Together with his companions: knight Olivier, Bishop Turpin and other brave knights, he killed thousands of enemies on the battlefield. Roland also has extraordinary battle armor: the sword Durendal and the magic horn Oliphant. As soon as he blew the horn, the king, wherever he was, would hear him and come to his aid. But for Roland it is the greatest honor to die for the king and dear France.
Every Moor wears Saracen armor,
Each has three rows of chain mail.
All in good Zaragoza cones,
With strong forged swords from Vienne,
With Valencian spears and shields.
The badge on the shaft is yellow, or white, or al.
The Arabs are in a hurry to jump off the mules,
The army mounts on war horses.
The day is shining and the sun hits your eyes,
The armor on the fighters is burning with fire.
Trumpets and horns call to the Moors,
The noise flies towards the French from afar.
Roland says to Olivier: “Brother,
The infidels want to attack us."
“Praise the creator!” Roland answered him.
We must stand up for the king.
A vassal is always happy to serve the lord,
To endure heat and cold for him.
He is not sorry to give blood for him.
Let everyone chop down the infidels from the shoulder,
So that they don’t write evil songs about us.
God is for us - we are right, the enemy is wrong.
And I won’t set a bad example for you.” Aoi!
Roland's patriotism contrasts with the betrayal of his stepfather Ganelon, who entered into a vile conspiracy with opponents of the Franks.
The Song of Roland took shape over almost four centuries. The real details were partly forgotten, but its patriotic pathos intensified, the king was idealized as a symbol of the nation and state, and the feat in the name of faith and people was glorified. The characters in the poem are highly characterized by their belief in immortality, which the hero gains through his heroic deeds.
Ruy Diaz de Bivar also faithfully serves his king Alfonso VI, receiving his nickname Cid Campeador (master-warrior) from the conquerors who were forced to recognize his superiority. Start "Songs about Sid"(XII century) was lost, but the exhibition told that King Alfonso was angry with his faithful vassal Rodrigo and expelled him from Castile. Folk singers - in Spain they were called juglars - emphasize democracy in their favorite, and the reason for the royal disfavor was the envy and slander of the nobility. The new king Alfonso VI, who undeservedly condemned and expelled the hero, was at first mistaken in supporting the arrogant aristocrats of Leon, who did not want to come to terms with the loss of his former primacy. Largely thanks to the reasonable, unarrogant behavior of Sid, although he was unfairly offended by the king, but for the sake of national unity and did not succumb to the temptation of revenge, the much-needed reconciliation takes place. His vassal devotion to his king in the song appears as no less valiant, significant act of a hero than military exploits and conquests. Conquering new lands from the Arabs, Sid each time sends part of the tribute to the king and thereby gradually achieves forgiveness.
In the first part, the songs artistically convincingly complement the lengthy story of the Cid’s exile, his farewell to his wife Doña Jimena and his little daughters Elvira and Sol with the story of the hero’s increasingly significant victories over the Moors and the rich booty, which he generously shares with the king. The second part is devoted to how, after the reconquest of Valencia by the Cid and the final reconciliation with him, Alfonso VI, the weddings of his daughters with the noble Infanta de Carrion are appointed. Only the merits of the hero, an infant by birth, especially noted by the king, allowed him to become related to the highest aristocracy. The third part is a story about how vile and mercantile Sid’s sons-in-law turned out to be, how decisively he seeks punishment from the king and the Cortes, and how the princes of Navarre and Aragon send their attorneys to ask for the hands of Doña Elvira and Doña Sol.
The image of Sid captivates with its realistic versatility. He is not only a brave commander, but also a subtle diplomat. When he needed money, he did not disdain deception; he cleverly deceived gullible moneylenders, leaving them chests with sand and stones as collateral. Sid is having a hard time with the forced separation from his wife and daughters, and when the king betrothed them to noble swindlers, he suffers from the insult and calls out for justice to the king and the Cortes. Having restored the honor of the family and gained royal favor, Sid is satisfied and marries his daughters a second time, now to worthy grooms. The proximity of the epic hero of the Spanish epic to reality is explained by the fact that “The Song of Cid” arose just a hundred years after Rodrigo accomplished his exploits. In subsequent centuries, the Romansero cycle arose, telling about the youth of the epic hero.
Germanic heroic epic "Song of the Nibelungs" was written down around 1200, but its plot dates back to the era of the “great migration of peoples” and reflects a real historical event: the death of the Burgundian kingdom, destroyed by the Huns in 437. But, as mentioned above, the Nibelungen heroes have an even more ancient origin: heroes with similar names and destinies appear in the Scandinavian monument “Elder Edda,” which reflected the archaic Viking era. However, the Scandinavian and German heroes also have significant differences. In the Edda, events are mainly mythological in nature, while in the Song of the Nibelungs, along with myths and legends, history and modernity are reflected. It is not so much a heroic as a tragic flavor that predominates in it; the initiative belongs to people of strong, cruel passions, bringing death to everything sincere, pure (even good witchcraft forces), and to themselves. Thus, the brightest hero of the song, the Dutch prince Siegfried, is not saved from death either by his heroic strength and invulnerability, received after he bathed in the blood of the dragon he killed, or by his invisibility hat. In turn, a terrible fate will befall all those involved in the insidious murder of Siegfried, who appropriated and hid in the waters of the Rhine his untold wealth - the Nibelungen treasure (the name of the treasure goes back to the Burgundian knights who seized the treasure, nicknamed the Nibelungs - the inhabitants of the “land of fogs”) .
Due to the fact that “The Song of the Nibelungs” was formed over several centuries, its heroes act in different time dimensions, combining in their minds the daring of valiant deeds with the observance of courtly etiquette. In particular, the courtly poetry of the 12th century left its mark on the German heroic epic with its cult of the beautiful lady and the motive of the love of a knight who had never seen her, but was inflamed with passion for her only because rumor glorified her beauty and virtue throughout the land.
Large-scale in volume, “The Song of the Nibelungs” is divided into two fairly independent parts. The events in the first center around the court of the Burgundian king Gunther, where Siegfried arrives at the beginning of the story. The prince from the Lower Rhine, the son of the Dutch king Siegmund and Queen Sieglinde, the conqueror of the Nibelungs, who took possession of their treasure - the gold of the Rhine, is endowed with all the virtues of knighthood. He is noble, brave, courteous. Duty and honor are above all for him. The authors of the “Song of the Nibelungs” emphasize his extraordinary attractiveness and physical strength. His very name, consisting of two parts (Sieg - victory, Fried - peace), expresses the national German identity at the time of medieval strife. He arrived at Gunther's court with the intention of marrying his sister Kriemhild. Rumors about her extraordinary beauty turned out to be so convincing for the hero that he fell in love with her in absentia and was ready to do anything to win her hand and heart. Gunther is not averse to becoming related to the strongest of the knights, but first puts forward a number of conditions, the main one of which is to help him himself take possession of the Icelandic warrior maiden Brunhilda, whom he was unable to defeat in the most difficult sports competitions (namely, these are her conditions for marriage). Thanks to the invisibility cap, Siegfried quietly provides Gunther with a solution not only to athletic problems, but also removes Brunhild’s ring and belt of innocence on their wedding night. Subsequently, these objects will quarrel between the two queens, inflame the hatred of Brunhild, who considered herself insulted, towards Siegfried and lead to a tragic outcome. Gunther will take his wife’s side, and with his consent, the vassal Hagen von Tronje will treacherously hit Siegfried in the only vulnerable spot on his back (while bathing in the dragon’s blood, it turned out to be covered with a fallen linden leaf) and take possession of his treasure.
The second part takes us to the court of the Hun king Etzel (Attila), where the widow of Siegfried Kriemhild, who became his wife, many years later will carry out bloody revenge for a past atrocity. Pretending that everything has already been forgotten, she cordially invites the Burgundian knights, led by brother Gunther, to visit her. When they finally dared to come, he ordered everyone to be destroyed. She tries to find out from the wounded Hagen where the treasure is hidden, and when this fails, she cuts off his head. Both Etzel and Hildebrand, who was at his court, were so amazed by the cruelty of the reprisal against the glorious men that Hildebrand himself kills Kriemhild. The Nibelung family is dying, the ill-fated treasure, which will attract many more seekers, is forever lost in the depths of the Rhine.
“The Song of the Nibelungs” is a story about the vicissitudes of human destinies, about the fratricidal wars that tore apart the feudal world.
Serbian heroic epic- one of the components of the folk poetic heritage of the southern Slavs (Serbs, Montenegrins, Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Bulgarians). Songs telling about what happened in the 14th century are imbued with special drama. Turkish invasion and selfless resistance to it. Central here is the Kosovo cycle, which comprehensively covers the heroic battle and defeat of the Serbs in the battle with the Turks in 1389 on the Kosovo field. The epic narrative depicts both the greatest tragedy and a vivid symbol of the valor and patriotism of the defenders of their native land. The death of the Serbian prince Lazar and his most prominent associates, the sacrifice of thousands of national heroes in an unequal struggle, the loss of independence appear as the greatest national disaster, sprinkled with the bitter tears of the survivors. Their lot is unenviable, so the images of grieving and courageous Serbian women are imbued with special warmth and lyricism: the Jugovići mother who lost nine sons, young Milosevski, the wife of Voivode Obilic and many, many others. The heroism of the fallen echoes the heroism of the conquered, but not conquered, who retain in their hearts the faith in future freedom.
The main pathos of the epic tales of the mature Middle Ages, be it the “Song of Roland”, “Song of Sid” or the East Slavic “Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, is a call for the consolidation of the nation, rallying around a strong central government. In “The Song of the Nibelungs” this idea is not expressed directly, but throughout the entire poem the idea is consistently conveyed about what disastrous consequences the struggle for power leads to, what catastrophes fratricidal strife entails, how dangerous discord is within one family clan and state.
Medieval Latin literature. Poetry of the Vagants.
Clerical(that is, church) medieval literature in Latin, originating in the Roman Empire, created a whole system of its own genres. The most important of them include lives of saints And visions.
Hagiography- church literature describing the lives of saints - was especially popular throughout the centuries-old development of the Middle Ages. By the 10th century the canon of this literary genre was formed: the indestructible, strong spirit of the hero (martyr, missionary, fighter for the Christian faith), a classic set of virtues, constant formulas of praise. The life of the saint offered the highest moral lesson and captivated people with examples of righteous life. Hagiographic literature is characterized by the motif of a miracle, which corresponded to popular ideas about holiness. The popularity of the lives led to the fact that excerpts from them—“legends”—began to be read in church, and the lives themselves began to be collected in extensive collections.
The penchant of the Middle Ages for allegory and allegory was expressed by the genre of visions. According to medieval ideas, the highest meaning is revealed only by revelation - vision. In the genre of visions, the fate of people and the world was revealed to the author in a dream. Visions often told about real historical figures, which contributed to the popularity of the genre. Visions had a significant influence on the development of later medieval literature, starting from the famous French “Roman of the Rose” (13th century), in which the motif of visions (“revelations in a dream”) is clearly expressed, to Dante’s “Divine Comedy”
The genre is adjacent to visions didactic-allegorical poem(about the Last Judgment, the Fall, etc.).
Didactic genres also include sermons, various kinds of maxims (moralizing sayings), borrowed both from the Bible and from ancient satirical poets. Sentences were collected in special collections, original textbooks of worldly wisdom.
Along with the epic genres of clerical literature, its lyrics also developed, developing their own poetic images and style. Among the lyrical genres of clerical literature, the dominant position was occupied by spiritual poems and hymns glorifying the patron saints of monasteries and church holidays. The hymns had their own canon. The composition of a hymn about saints, for example, included an opening, a panegyric to the saint, a description of his exploits, a prayer to him asking for intercession, etc.
Of the secular literature in Latin, the most interesting are historical chronicles, in which truth and fiction were often intertwined. Works such as “History of the Goths” by Jordan (VI century), “History of the Franks” by Gregory of Tours (VI century), “History of the Danes” by Saxo Grammar (XII century) had great artistic value and were often used as sources of plots for writers the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (for example, Shakespeare learned the plot of the tragedy “Hamlet” from the chronicle of Saxo Grammar).
A special place in medieval Latin literature was occupied by free-thinking, sometimes mischievous poetry of the vagantes or (a very rare term)) goliards (XI - XIII centuries). Its creators were wandering monks, schoolchildren, students, and representatives of the urban plebs. Having emerged in the early Middle Ages (8th century), the poetry of the vagants reached its heyday in the 12th-13th centuries. in connection with the emergence of universities in Europe. The Vagantes were educated people: they knew antiquity, folklore, church literature very well, their music was addressed to the spiritual elite of medieval society - the educated part of it, who knew how to appreciate poetic creativity, but at the same time the wandering poets remained, as it were, “dropped out” of the social structure of medieval society, personally independent and financially insecure - these features of their situation contributed to the development of the thematic and stylistic unity of their lyrics.
Here, in a vagantic environment, Latin poetry reached an exceptional and, at first glance, unexpected flowering. The Vagantes lived among the people, in their way of life they differed little from the folk singers and storytellers - jugglers and shpilmans, but they were alien to their folk language: they clung to Latin as the last support of their social superiority, their cultural aristocracy. They contrasted French and German songs with their own, Latin ones.
The poetic heritage of the Vagants is wide and varied: these include poems glorifying sensual love, taverns and wine, and works exposing the sins of monks and priests, parodies of liturgical texts, flattering and even impudent petitionary poems. The Vagantes also composed religious chants, didactic and allegorical poems, but this theme occupied an insignificant place in their work.
A huge number of vagant poems and songs are scattered throughout Latin manuscripts and collections: the most extensive of them, Benedictbeiren (Carmina Burana), compiled in southern Germany in the 13th century, contains over 200 poems. The vast majority of these poems are anonymous. Of course, this anonymity does not mean that there was no individual creativity here: here, as elsewhere, a few created new and original works, dozens reproduced them with their imitations, and hundreds were engaged in processing and rewriting what had already been created. At the same time, of course, there was no need at all for the poet himself to lead a vagant lifestyle: every venerable cleric had a schoolboy youth behind him, and many had enough spiritual memory to find words for the feelings of their early years even in retirement. If these words fell into the tone of the ideas and emotions of the vagant masses, they were quickly assimilated by them, their poems became common property, lost their names, were added to, and reworked; restoring the appearance of individual authors of vagant works is becoming almost hopeless.
Three names belonging to three generations emerge for us from this nameless element. The first of the Vagant poets known to us is Hugon, nicknamed Primus (i.e., Elder) of Orleans, who wrote ca. 1130-1140s. Primate's poems are exceptional for the Middle Ages in terms of the abundance of everyday details: they are extremely “earthly”; the author deliberately emphasizes the baseness of their themes - the gifts he begs for, or the reproaches he experiences. He is the only one of the vagants who portrays his beloved not as a conventional beauty, but as a prosaic city harlot:
This house is pitiful, dirty, wretched and ugly in appearance,
And the table is sparse: just salad and cabbage -
That's all the treat. And if you need anointings, -
He will buy bull fat from any carcass,
Spending a little, he will buy a sheep's or a goat's leg,
The bread will crush and soak, stale since last night,
He will add crumbs to the lard, he will season this prison with wine,
Or, rather, sludge, like wine slop...
(Translation by M. Gasparov)
The second outstanding Vagant poet is known only by the nickname Archipiita, poet of poets; ten of his surviving poems were written in 1161-1165. and are addressed mostly to his patron Reynald of Dassel - the chancellor of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa - whom the poet accompanied during Frederick's Italian campaign and on the way back. Archipiita is also a wanderer, also a poor man, but his poems do not have that caustic gloom that fills the poems of the Primate: instead, he flaunts lightness, irony and brilliance. By his own admission, he was from a knightly family and became a clergyman only out of love for “literature.” Instead of talking about his individual misadventures, he paints a general self-portrait: he owns the famous “Confession,” one of the most popular Vagant poems:
Having condemned with bitterness the dishonorable path of life,
I gave her a strict and unflattering sentence:
Created from weak, lightweight matter,
I am like a leaf that the surrounding wind blows across a field...
Here the poet with undisguised pleasure repents of his devotion, firstly, to Venus, secondly, to the game, thirdly, to wine; Here are perhaps the most famous lines of all Vagant poetry:
Take me to the tavern, O death, and not to the bed!
Being close to wine is dearer to me than anything else;
It will be more fun for the angels to sing too:
“Have mercy on the great drunkard, oh God!”
(Translation by O. Rumer)
Finally, the third classic of Vagant lyricism is Walter of Chatillon, already known to us, the author of “Alexandrides”. He was never an unplaced cleric, he has no begging poems at all, he hardly talks about himself in his poems, but stands up for his entire learned class; Most of his poems are satirical, with pathos denouncing the love of money of the prelates and their indifference to true learning. Both Walter's accusatory poems and his no less brilliant love songs enjoyed wide popularity and evoked many imitations. Of the three poets, Walter is the most “literary”: he takes popular popular motifs and, with the help of an arsenal of rhetorical means that he masters perfectly, turns them into exemplary poems. He especially loves spectacularly developed allegories, in which the broad picture is first sketched out, and then each of its details receives a precise allegorical interpretation:
If the shadow covered
Low-lying fields, -
We have to wait for the influx.
If the heights are mountainous
A black veil
Hidden in the menacing darkness, -
Visible in that phenomenon
doomsday
True signs.
Low valleys -
This is the essence of the laity:
Kingdoms and thrones
Counts and nobles.
Luxury and vanity
Like a night of evil
They are overwhelmed;
God's punishment
Mortal torment
It awaits sinners.
(Translation by M. Gasparov)
It is easier to imagine the primate reading poetry in a tavern, Archipiita - at court, Walter - in the preaching pulpit.
The 12th century is filled with the creativity of the founders of Vagant poetry, the 13th century with the activities of nameless epigones, and by the 14th century. these Latin lyrics completely disappear from the stage. The crisis of overproduction of learned clergy resolved itself, the interests of the learned class switched from Ovidianism to scholasticism and mysticism, and wandering monk-preachers flocked along the roads instead of wandering scholars. And the artistic experience accumulated by the Latin lyricism of the vagantes passed on to the knightly lyricism in new languages, which had an incomparably wider audience.
Knightly (courtly) literature: troubadour lyrics, knightly romance.
In the XI–XII centuries. The church is noticeably drained of blood in the crusades, intra-confessional struggles, discussions of numerous heresies, and discussions at church councils about the correction of faith and morals. Many of its educated ministers go out into the world, often becoming vagant clerics, especially skeptical of any kind of prohibitions on the freedom of the human spirit and body. A growing spiritual breakthrough was increasingly felt, which more and more persistently shifted cultural life from religious centers to knightly castles and cities taking on their own identity. Secular culture remained Christian in character. At the same time, the very image and lifestyle of the knights and townspeople predetermined their focus on earthly things, developed special views, ethical standards, traditions, and cultural values. Before the urban culture itself was formed, secular spirituality began to establish itself in knightly culture.
The creator and bearer of knightly culture was the military class, which originated in the 7th – 8th centuries, when conventional forms of feudal land tenure developed. Chivalry, a special privileged layer of medieval society, over the centuries developed its own traditions and unique ethical standards, its own views on all life relationships. The formation of the ideas, customs, and morality of chivalry was largely facilitated by the Crusades and his acquaintance with the Eastern tradition.
The earliest centers of the new culture are noted in the French south, in Provence, and the secular poetry that arose there, where the central characters are a knight and his Beautiful Lady, is called courtly(courtly-aristocratic) (from the French court - yard).
Courtliness, courtliness- a medieval concept of love, according to which the relationship between a lover and his Lady is similar to the relationship between a vassal and his master. The most important influence on the formation of the ideal of courtly love was the Roman poet Ovid (1st century), whose poetic “treatise” - “The Art of Love” - became a kind of encyclopedia of the behavior of a knight in love with a Beautiful Lady: he trembles with love, does not sleep, he is pale, may die from the unrequited feeling. Ideas about such a model of behavior became more complicated due to Christian ideas about the cult of the Virgin Mary - in this case, the Beautiful Lady whom the knight served became the image of his spiritual love. The influence of Arab mystical philosophy, which developed the concept of Platonic feeling, was also significant. One of the centers of the emerging new culture was the code of knightly honor. A knight must not only be brave, loyal and generous, he must also become courteous, graceful, attractive in society, and be able to feel subtly and tenderly. To the heroic ideal of former times is added a moral and aesthetic ideal, which is impossible to feel and master without art.
The creators of the salon culture, where the mission of a kind of priestess is assigned to the Beautiful Lady - the mistress of the castle, were those who settled at large courts and were professionally engaged in writing, performing, and teaching troubadours And minstrels. Their great merit is that they not only make available to poetry the increasingly complex world of chivalry, the new family and social role of women (the 12th century in France was also marked by the fact that women received the right to land inheritance), but also found and created previously unknown in the native language, words that express feelings, mental states and experiences of a person.
The main place in Provençal lyrics is occupied by the theme of high courtly love, which acts as the strongest moral feeling that can change, ennoble and elevate a person. She is given the power to triumph over class barriers, she wins the heart of a proud knight who finds himself in vassal dependence on the Beautiful Lady. In understanding the place and role of poetry in people's lives, troubadours were divided into adherents of clear and dark styles. Supporters of a clear manner considered it their duty to write for everyone and about understandable, topical things, using simple, commonly used language. The dark style gave preference to vague hints, allegories, metaphors, and complicated syntax, without fear of being difficult to understand and requiring effort to understand. If in the first case a democratic tradition stemming from folklore developed, then in the second one was influenced by learned poetry and an orientation toward a narrow circle of initiates.
Courtly lyrics had their own system of genres.
Canzona- the most popular genre, it is a fairly voluminous love poem, ending with the poet’s parting words to his brainchild or recommendations to the juggler-performer. Its shorter form was called vers.
Love will sweep away all barriers,
Since two people have one soul.
Love lives in reciprocity
Cannot serve as a replacement here
The most precious gift!
It's stupid to look for pleasure
The one who hates them!
I look forward with hope
Breathing tender love for that one,
Who blooms with pure beauty,
To that noble, non-arrogant one,
Who was taken from a humble fate,
Whose perfection they say
And kings are honored everywhere.
Serena- “evening song”, performed in front of the beloved’s house, in which the glorification of her beauty could be intertwined with subtle, incomprehensible to her husband, allusions to the forbidden love connecting a knight and a lady.
Alba- “song of dawn”, sung at dawn by a sleepless friend to wake up a knight who spent the night in his beloved’s bedchamber, and to prevent an unwanted meeting with her husband.
The hawthorn leaves drooped in the garden,
Where Don and his friend capture every moment:
The first cry is about to sound from the horn!
Alas. Dawn, you were too hasty!
Oh, if God would give the night forever,
And my darling never left me,
And the guard forgot his morning signal...
Alas, dawn, dawn, you were too hasty!
Tenson- a dispute between poets on moral, literary, civil topics.
Sirventa- originally a soldier's song (of service people), and later a polemic on political topics.
Pastorela- a story about a meeting in the lap of nature between a knight errant and an attractive shepherdess. She may succumb to his affectionate speeches and, seduced, be immediately forgotten. But in response to the knight’s harassment, he can call the villagers, before whose pitchforks and clubs he hastily retreats. To justify himself, he can only curse the mob and their unworthy weapons.
I met a shepherdess yesterday,
Here at the fence wandering.
Brisk, albeit simple,
I met a girl.
She's wearing a fur coat
And colored katsaveyka,
A cap - to cover yourself from the wind.
Among the most prominent Provençal troubadours we can name Guillaume VII, Count of Poitiers (1071–1127), Jauffre Rudel (c. 1140–1170), Bernard de Ventadorn (wrote c. 1150–1180), Bertrand de Born (1140–1215), Arnaut Daniel (wrote c. 1180–1200).
The traditions of Provençal lyrics were continued by German poets - Minnesingers(“singers of love”) - authors of German secular poetry. German knightly poetry - Minnesang– was strongly influenced by Provençal lyrics. At the same time, the work of the Minnesingers has a number of features.
The Minnesingers themselves composed music for their works, but they were usually distributed by traveling singers - stilettos. Although the main theme of the Minnesingers’ work was the celebration of refined feelings for the Beautiful Lady, like their Provençal predecessors, their poetry is more restrained, sad, prone to didacticism, and often painted in religious tones (while remaining mostly secular). The most prominent Minnesingers were Heinrich von Feldeke, Friedrich von Hausen, Wolfram von Eschenbach and others.
Along with lyrics, the knights created a genre that replaced epic poems - this novel .
The French-speaking territories of northwestern Europe are considered to be the birthplace of the chivalric romance, and it became established in the 12th century. the word novel at first simply meant a large work of poetry in the living Romance language (as opposed to texts in Latin). But soon its own genre and thematic specificity becomes obvious.
The hero of the novel still remains a noble knight, but his image undergoes significant changes. Thus, the epic did not care about the appearance of the hero-knight (Roland’s face, for example, is indistinguishable under the knight’s visor), while the authors of knightly novels, in addition to selfless bravery, courage, and nobility, note the external beauty of the hero (Tristan’s broad shoulders, curls...) and his ability to behave : he is always polite, courteous, generous, restrained in expressing feelings. Refined manners convince of the noble origin of the knight. In addition, the hero’s attitude towards his overlord has changed. A noble paladin of his king, while remaining a vassal, often acquires a slightly different status: a friend and confidant of the monarch. And often they are relatives (Tristan, for example, the nephew of King Mark). The purpose of knightly deeds has also changed: the hero is driven not only and not so much by the desire to fulfill the instructions of his master and devotion to him, but by the desire to become famous in order to win the love of the Beautiful Lady. In novels (as well as in lyrics), love for a knight is the delight of earthly life, and the one to whom he gave his heart is a living, bodily embodiment of Madonna.
Having placed love at the center of its attention, the novel reinforces the story about it with legendary and historical images that were impressive at that time. The novel also necessarily contains fantasy in its dual manifestation: as the supernatural (wonderful) and as the unusual (exceptional), elevating the hero above the prose of life. Both love and fantasy are covered by the concept of adventures, towards which the knights rush.
The chivalric romance spread throughout the territories of future Germany and France, easily overcoming the language barrier. The authors of chivalric novels were called trouvères. Trouvères essentially composed entertaining tales about the endless adventures of a knight. Chronologically and thematically, three cycles of chivalric romance were formed: ancient, Breton, and Eastern Byzantine.
In the ancient cycle, plots and legendary historical themes borrowed from the classics were reworked in a new knightly manner. Love, adventure, and fantasy dominate in one of the earliest works of the genre - “The Romance of Alexander” (second half of the 12th century) by Lambert le Thor, where the famous commander is represented as a sophisticated medieval knight. The anonymous “Roman of Aeneas” (c. 1160) dates back to Virgil’s Aeneid, where the hero’s differently shaped love relationships with Dido and Lavinia come to the fore. Around the same time, “The Romance of Troy” by Benoit de Saint-Maur appeared, built on love episodes from various adaptations of the Trojan cycle of myths.
The Breton cycle is the most extensive and indicative of the chivalric romance. The material for it was Celtic folklore filled with poignant love adventures, a whole series of legends about the legendary King of the Britons Arthur (5th–6th centuries) and his Knights of the Round Table, and the prose chronicle of Godfrid of Monmouth “The History of the Kings of Britain” (c. 1136). The entire cycle can be divided into four groups: 1) short, short story-like Breton lays; 2) novels about Tristan and Isolde; 3) the novels of the Round Table are actually Arthurian; 4) novels about the Holy Grail.
Among the most popular novel plots of the Breton cycle is the legend of the love of the young man Tristan of Leonois and the Queen of Cornwall, Isolde Blonde. Having arisen in the Celtic folk environment, the legend then gave rise to numerous literary fixations, first in Welsh, then in French, in adaptations from which it entered all major European literatures, not passing through Slavic ones.
The number of literary monuments in which the plot of the strong but sinful love of Tristan and Isolde is developed is very large. Not all of them have been preserved equally. Thus, according to Celtic sources, the legend is known only in the form of fragments, and its early French adaptations have been completely lost. French poetic novels of the second half of the 12th century. have also reached our time far from completely; later versions are much better preserved, but they are much less original and distinctive. In addition, the legend, having arisen in the deep Middle Ages, continued to attract writers and poets in modern times. Not to mention the mention of the main characters of the legend (say, in Dante, Boccaccio, Villon and many others), August Schlegel, Walter Scott, Richard Wagner and others dedicated their works to it. Alexander Blok was going to write a historical drama based on the plot of the legend.
The large number of literary works about the love of Tristan and Isolde has led to a large number of versions of the legend. The earliest evidence of the folklore existence of the legend of Tristan and Isolde (“Triads of the Isle of Britain”), as well as its first literary adaptations, are fragments of Welsh texts. In them the main characters are "Tristan, son of Tallukh, and Essild, wife of Mark." The lovers with two servants, taking pies and wine, take refuge in the Kelidon forest, but Markh - the husband of Essild - together with the warriors found them. “Tristan stood up and, raising his sword, rushed into the first duel and finally met March, the son of Mairchion, who exclaimed: “And at the cost of my life I would like to kill him!” But his other warriors said: “Shame on us if we attack him!” And Tristan emerged from three fights unharmed.” King Arthur, to whom March turns, tries to resolve the dispute between March and Tristan. “Then Arthur reconciled him with Marchus, son of Mairchion. But even though Arthur persuaded everyone, no one wanted to leave Essild to another. And so Arthur decided: one would own it while the leaves were green on the trees, the other would have the rest of the time. This is what Markh chose, because then the nights are longer.” The decision of the wise king delighted the quick-witted Essild: “Essild exclaimed when Arthur told her about this: “Blessed be this decision and the one who made it!” And she sang this English:
I will name you three trees,
They keep leaves all year round,
Ivy, holly and yew -
As long as we live
No one can separate us from Tristan.
Another of the early versions of the novel, belonging to the Norman trouvere Béroul, is a detailed, lengthy and very colorful narrative in which Tristan and Isolde appear as innocent victims of a love drink given to them by a servant’s mistake. The drink is charmed for three years; during these years, lovers cannot live without each other.
Another extensive epic direction developed in the Breton cycle were the novels of the Round Table.
Arthur was a petty ruler of the Britons. But the Welsh author of the historical chronicle, Geoffrey of Monmouth, portrays him as a powerful ruler of Britain, Brittany and almost all of Western Europe, a semi-mythical figure, one of the heroes of the struggle of the Celts against the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Arthur and his twelve loyal knights defeat the Anglo-Saxons in many battles. He is the supreme authority in politics, his wife Genievre is the patron of the knights in love. Lancelot, Gauvin, Yvain, Parzival and other brave knights flock to the court of King Arthur, where everyone has a place of honor at the round table. His court is the center of courtliness, valor and honor. Another legend is closely connected with the legend about the kingdom of Arthur - about the Holy Grail - the communion cup in which the blood of Christ was collected. The Grail became a symbol of the mystical knightly principle, the personification of the highest ethical perfection.
The group of Arthurian novels itself is distinguished by the variety of plots, love stories and exploits of many glorious knights, all of whom had in common only the fact that they showed themselves worthily in tournaments at the court of King Arthur and feasted at his famous Round Table. This theme was most successfully developed by Chrétien de Troyes (c. 1130–1191), known both as a lyricist and as the author of stories about Tristan and Isolde, about the Holy Grail. His popularity was based not only on his ability to uniquely combine the real, legendary and fantastic, but also on new approaches to creating female images. The educated, talented trouvere was patronized by Maria Champagne, who was fond of knightly poetry. Chrétien de Troyes was prolific, five of his novels have come down to us: “Erec and Enida”, “Cliges, or the Imaginary Death”, “Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion”, “Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart”. The main conflict of his novels is the solution to the question of how to combine a happy marriage with knightly deeds. Does the married knight Erec or Yvain have the right to sit out in the castle when the little and orphans are offended by cruel strangers? At the end of his life, for some unknown reason, he quarreled with Maria of Champagne and went to seek the protection of Philip of Alsace. “Parzival, or the Tale of the Grail” is the last novel that has not reached us, but became known thanks to a very free interpretation of Chrétien’s text, made when translated into German by Wolfram von Eschenbach.
In the XIII–XIV centuries. Works in which knights show perseverance and determination not in serving duty, not in risky fights, but in recklessly idyllic love are becoming increasingly popular. For example, the story “Aucassin and Nicolette” (it belongs to the Eastern Byzantine cycle) depicts the main characters in exactly this way. The count's son Aucassin, in love with the Saracen captive Nicolette, is ready to go against his father's will and disdain religious and class differences. He does everything solely for the sake of happiness with his beloved, forgetting even about his patriotic duty. His only valor is loyalty to his chosen one, who, in turn, is passionately and touchingly devoted to her beloved. The unconcealed parodic background of such works seemed to precede the onset of a new era and was indirect evidence of the growing influence of urban literature on the knightly one, which was losing its position.
Urban and folk literature: fabliaux and schwanks; allegorical poetry; folk ballads; mysteries, miracles and farces.
With the invention of artillery guns, knighthood gradually lost its social role, but the burghers - townspeople united in craft workshops and merchant guilds - strengthened. With the acquisition of special city rights by Magdeburg in 1188, the circle of European cities seeking self-government in major areas of legal, economic and social relations rapidly expanded. Thanks to the emergence and spread of Magdeburg law, the successes of cities in their struggle with feudal power for independence, for the gradual self-affirmation of the third estate, were legally consolidated.
By the beginning of the 12th century, burgher literature had formed, in opposition to the chivalric romance and courtly lyricism. The city dweller is distinguished by down-to-earthness, a desire for practical-useful knowledge, and an interest not in knightly adventures in unknown lands, but in the familiar environment, everyday life. He does not need the miraculous; his own intelligence, hard work, resourcefulness, and, ultimately, cunning and dexterity become his supports in overcoming everyday difficulties. Hence, the literature shows attention to the details of everyday life, simplicity and brevity of style, rough humor, in which a free interpretation of established ethical principles is visible. On the other hand, a significant place in it is occupied by works of an instructive, even protective nature, where private enterprise, good morals, and fear of God are glorified, combined with sharp anti-feudal and anti-church satire.
The townspeople had their own genres, and turning to already formed genres, the townspeople parodied them. The humorous literature of the Middle Ages developed for a whole millennium and even more, since its beginnings date back to Christian antiquity. Over such a long period of its existence, this literature, of course, underwent quite significant changes (literature in Latin changed the least). Various genre forms and stylistic variations were developed. The first, most developed genre of everyday satire of the 12th-13th centuries was the French fabliau.
Fablió(the name comes from the Latin “fabula” due to the initial identification of any funny, amusing story with a fable, already known under this ancient Latin name) were small (up to 250-400 lines, rarely more) stories in verse, mostly eight-syllable, with a pair rhymed, had a simple and clear plot and a small number of characters. Fabliau becomes perhaps the most widespread genre of urban French literature and experiences its heyday in those years when the decline of knightly literature begins, putting forward such masters as Henri d'Andely, Jean Bodel, Jacques Bézier, Hugon Leroy of Cambrai, Bernier, and finally like famous Ruytbeuf, the first remarkable representative of French urban literature, who tried his hand at many poetic genres.
Unlike the early medieval heroic epic, where the heroism of people fighting for the interests of their clan and tribe, sometimes against infringement of their honor, was glorified, in the epic of the heyday of the Middle Ages a hero was glorified, fighting for the integrity and independence of his state. His opponents are both foreign conquerors and rampaging feudal lords, who with their narrow egoism cause great damage to the national cause. There is less fantasy in this epic, there are almost no mythological elements, replaced by elements of Christian religiosity. In shape it has character of great epic poems or cycles of small songs united by the personality of the hero or an important historical event.
The main thing in this epic is its nationality, which is not immediately realized, since in the specific situation of the heyday of the Middle Ages, the hero of an epic work often appears in the guise of a warrior-knight, overwhelmed by religious enthusiasm, or a close relative, or an assistant to the king, and not a person from the people. Portraying kings, their assistants, knights, and people as heroes of the epic, according to Hegel, he did this “not out of preference for noble persons, but out of a desire to give an image of complete freedom in desires and actions, which is realized in the idea of royalty.” Also, the religious enthusiasm, often inherent in the hero, did not contradict his nationality, since the people at that time gave their struggle against the feudal lords the character of a religious movement. The nationality of heroes in the epic during the heyday of the Middle Ages - in their selfless struggle for the national cause, in their extraordinary patriotic inspiration in defense of their homeland, with the name of which on their lips they sometimes died, fighting against foreign enslavers and the treasonous actions of anarchist feudal lords.
The best monuments of the heroic epic of the XII-XIV centuries. - “The Song of Roland” is an example of a French epic, “The Song of My Sid” is Spanish, “The Song of the Nibelungs” is German, cycles of songs about Marko Kralevich and the Battle of Kosovo are South Slavic.
The Song of Roland, which appeared around 1100, is in many ways typical of the entire epic of the heyday of the Middle Ages. At the same time, it also reflected the peculiarities of the development of France at that time, where the aspirations of violent, selfish feudal lords to prevent the centralization of the country were unusually tangible and harmful. Under these conditions, an unusual phenomenon at first glance could have occurred: the inconspicuous event that formed the basis of the “Song” - the unsuccessful campaign of Charlemagne in 778 for the Pyrenees, was, as a result of processing and rethinking by popular imagination, transformed into something grandiose - into a clash two principles: the greatest heroism shown for the glory of “dear France”, with the greatest feudal egoism, which led to betrayal of that same France. The central episode of the "Song" was the battle in the Roncesvalles Gorge between the rearguard of Charles's army and the Saracens (actually the Basques). The main patriotic character is the rearguard commander Roland, the stepson of the great feudal lord Ganelon and the nephew of Charlemagne (history, however, does not know Charles’s nephew with that name). The main antipode of Roland is the traitor feudal lord Ganelon, whose betrayal led to a huge disaster - the death of the entire rearguard led by Roland. Other patriotic heroes also match Roland: his friend Olivier, Bishop Turpin, and ordinary soldiers. Ganelon, on the other hand, is the bearer of feudal egoism, who, out of personal revenge against Roland, destroys another twenty thousand compatriot warriors along with Roland. The cruel execution that befell Ganelon is perceived in the song as the punishment he deserved.
In addition to the technique of contrasting positive and negative characters, the author resorts to hyperbolization when depicting Karl (a 200-year-old wise old man with a flowing gray beard, the owner of extraordinary strength, etc.). The artistic objectivity in the depiction of Ganelon is striking, who is not denied the beauty of his appearance and personal courage. At the same time, regret is expressed that these good qualities went to an unworthy traitor. It is made clear that Ganelon’s vices are not so much his personal peculiarity as traits inherent in his class. It should be noted from the artistic features of the song its compositional harmony and coherence, the presence of techniques characteristic of folk poetry: hyperbolization, repetition, stable epithets. The nationality of the “Song of Roland”, the expression in it of the sentiments of the progressive circles of France in the 12th century. made it popular in subsequent centuries.
"The Song of My Cid", which depicts the liberation struggle of the Spanish people against those who enslaved them at the beginning of the 8th century. Arab conquerors (Moors), like the Song of Roland, are imbued with great patriotic pathos. And at the same time, one cannot help but notice its originality, the reflection in it of the democratic nature of the Spanish Reconquista (the reconquest of the country from foreign conquerors), the main force of which was the people, while the kings often played the low role of accomplices of the Moors, persecutors of those who fought for freedom . Hence the pronounced democratization of the image of the fighter against the Moors, Cid, in comparison with his historical prototype Rodrigo (Roy) Diaz de Bivar (1044-1099), a noble man nicknamed Cid. Here also lie the origins of the hero’s conflict with the king and the high nobility in the person of Count Garcia and the Infantes of Carion, with whom he does not develop friendship, even despite the fact that the Infantas become his sons-in-law for some time. Sid acts as a typical folk hero and leads the fight for freedom, has the courage, pride, self-esteem, resourcefulness, and humor characteristic of the people.
The democracy inherent in the ideological orientation of the poem largely explains the originality of its artistic style, which is characterized not so much by pathos and hyperbolization, but by warmth when depicting the hero (the constant epithet “my” - “my Sid”), the desire to show him with family everyday side, to emphasize his humor, which is felt in the finale of the “Song” - a wonderful monument to the Spanish heroic epic.
"The Song of the Nibelungs" (XIII century), created in southeastern Germany on the basis of oral tales about the era of the great migration of peoples, occupies a special place among the monuments of the heroic epic of the heyday of the Middle Ages. The main thing in the “Song” is that it paints a true picture of the tragic and gloomy life of the feudal world, the bloody world of feudal lords with their endless feuds generated by military rivalry, clashes based on the fulfillment of vassal duty, because of material wealth (“treasures”, “ treasures"), etc. What was said corresponded to the real life of the 13th century. in Germany, where feudal fragmentation and anarchy reigned. Although since 962 the country was loudly called the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, the imperial power in it was almost imperceptible.
These historical features of the development of Germany also left their mark on the German heroic epic: “The Song of the Nibelungs,” unlike the “Song of Roland,” is not characterized by patriotic pathos.
Nevertheless, "The Song of the Nibelungs", like other monuments of the heroic epic of the heyday of the Middle Ages, is folk. Her nationality is that the bloody deeds of the feudal lords are depicted in it from a popular perspective, not in terms of their approval and poeticization, but in terms of their unconditional condemnation, since they brought death to large masses of innocent people. The popular image of the most striking positive hero of the first part is Siegfried, endowed with the features of a fairy-tale hero, a brave prince from the Lower Rhine, the conqueror of the dragon and twelve giants, the owner of the Nibelungen treasure. He is friends with the Burgundian kings, whom he helps defeat the warlike Saxons, and tenderly loves their sister - his bride, and then his wife - the beautiful Kriemhild. The author contrasts Siegfried with selfish, treacherous feudal lords, such as the vassal of the Burgundian king Gunther Hagen, who is capable of committing a heinous crime - the treacherous murder of Siegfried.
The nationality of the second part of the “Nibelungenlied” lies in the ongoing condemnation of the bloody feudal strife, which is the only subject of the image here. Its main bearer is Kriemhild, hardened and morally ruined by the feudal world, turning into an evil fury, who ultimately commits terrible atrocities for the sake of revenge for the Nibelungen treasure taken from her, leading to the death of all the Burgundians and their retinue. And it is no coincidence that the old hero Hildebrant puts an end to the bloody endless deeds of Kriemhild, who thereby personifies the indestructibility of the people and their truth.
Knightly (courtly) literature XII-XIII centuries also occupies a prominent place in the literary process of his time. In terms of ideological depth, it is inferior to the heroic epic, since it expresses the moods and ideals only of the ruling class of a feudal society, and not those of the whole people, although in its best works class limitations are noticeably overcome.
The emergence of knightly, or courtly, literature (from the French word "court", meaning the court of a king or a large feudal lord) was associated with two circumstances. Firstly, the culture of the knights increased, especially thanks to their distant, horizon-expanding eastern campaigns. Secondly, in the conditions of growing resistance of the people, the feudal lords needed to create a specifically feudal, “renewed”, secular, rather than church ideology, in which literature was called upon to play a significant role. Hence the creation of the ideal of a real knight, which includes not only the qualities of a warrior, but also aesthetic virtues: knowledge of the arts, including poetry, the ability to beautifully court a woman from his environment, which resulted in a kind of “cult of the lady.”
The main genres of knightly literature - lyrics And novel. In the development of lyric poetry, a major role belonged to the poets - the knights of Provence - southern France, who received pan-European recognition. It was the Provençal poets who received the name troubadours, small genre forms of knightly lyrics have been developed: sirventa (poem on a socio-political topic), Tenson (poem-argument), canzone (or canson) - a love song in honor of a lady, varieties of which can be considered album (morning song) serenade (evening song) pastorelou (a poem about a meeting between a knight and a shepherdess). Subsequently, these genre forms were also used by the poet-knights of northern France - trouvères, Germany - Minnesingers. The most famous of the troubadours are Bertrand de Born, Bernard de Ventadorn, Jauffre Rudel; Rambaut III, Count of Orange; Guiraut de Borneil, Marcabrun; of the Trouvères - Thibault, Count of Champagne; Conon de Bethune, Marie of France, Chrétien de Troyes; from the Minnesingers - Kührenberger, Walter von der Vogelweide, Wolfram von Eschenbach.
The theme of the poets' lyrical poems is war, love and art. Knightly lyrics played a very positive role in the history of Western European poetry.
Romance And knight's tale, like the lyrics of the knight poets, they widely develop themes of military exploits and love. A characteristic feature of the poetics of a chivalric romance is a combination of fantastic and realistic elements. In addition, its fantastic nature is complicated by its adventurousness - showing the numerous adventures of knights.
Depending on the source of the plots, chivalric novels are combined into cycles, the main of which are: antique, associated with book tradition; Breton, or arturovsky, having a folklore basis in Celtic folk tales, and later Oriental, or Byzantine, associated with the eastern campaigns of the knights. An example of the novels of the ancient cycle are the novels about Alexander the Great ("Alexandria"), where the famous ancient commander is given the features of a medieval ideal knight. Novels have become widespread Breton, or Arturovsky, cycle, the second name of which - Arthurian - comes from the name of the semi-legendary King of the Britons Arthur (V-VI centuries), who successfully fought the Anglo-Saxon conquerors. In the novels, he also appears in the guise of an ideal knight. In addition to King Arthur, a prominent role in the novels of the Breton cycle is played by the knight Lancelot, secretly in love with Guinevere, Arthur’s wife; the fairy Morgana, the wizard Merlin, etc. The knights at Arthur's court are characterized by exquisite courtly morals and customs. This is vividly illustrated by the works of the French courtly epic, the creator of the Arthurian novels. Chrétien de Troyes (second half of the 12th century) "Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart", "Even, or the Knight of the Lion", "Perceval, or the Tale of the Grail." He owned a novel about Tristan that has not reached us. However, under the name "The Romance of Tristan and Isolde" it came in other versions, poetic and prose, and is the best of the chivalric novels in general. Going beyond the narrow-class knightly ideology and using a folk source - Celtic legends - determined the universal nature of its content. A stylized retelling of the plot of this novel, made on the basis of its processing that has reached us, was given by the French scientist J. Bedier (1864-1938). The main character of the novel, a young man, then a mature husband, Tristan, experiences an extraordinary passion and constancy of love for the Irish princess, blond (or golden-haired) Isolde, while he, showing extraordinary courage, performs feats in the name of the good of people (his destruction of Morold, who collected tribute from the people ). Tristan's love does not pass when Isolde becomes the wife of King Mark, his uncle and overlord, and when Tristan himself, in despair, marries another Isolde, the white-armed one, remaining essentially faithful to the golden-haired Isolde. The novel, which ends with the tragic death of both lovers, nevertheless sounds like a hymn to a sincere, natural, all-conquering feeling of love.
Subsequently, with the decline of chivalry itself, the chivalric romance, devoid of a nutritious basis, becomes more and more imitative and epigonic. Parodies are written about it, the most striking of which is the novel by the brilliant Cervantes “Don Quixote,” which at the same time is a wonderful realistic work of the Renaissance.
Clerical (church-religious) literature of the mature and late Middle Ages developed in the same direction as in the previous period. What was new about it was the appearance liturgical drama, related to worship and built on biblical material (miracles, mysteries, morality plays). However, gradually this drama loses its specifically clerical character - it “secularizes”, merging with the examples of early urban drama. “The drama left the church porch and came to the city square” (A.S. Pushkin).
Literature of cities as one of the literary streams of the XII-XIV centuries. expressively opposes knightly literature. Its orientation is clearly anti-feudal, and the positive hero is a simple man, but endowed with a sharp mind and resourcefulness, cunning, which gives him the opportunity to emerge victorious from difficult situations. The main genres of this literature: short satirical story (French fabliau, German Schwank, Italian novella), allegorical epic about animals, various dramatic genres of small forms, of which the most popular were farces with their everyday contents.
The most typical example of fabliaux is considered to be widespread in France in the 13th century. a work by an unknown author, “The Peasant Doctor,” which later served as material for Moliere’s comedy “The Reluctant Doctor.” A sharp-witted peasant, who is forced to treat the king’s daughter, who choked on a bone, shows such resourcefulness that, without being a doctor, he actually relieves the girl of her illness and receives the reputation of a skilled healer. The fablio of Ruetbeuf (1230-1285) “The Testament of an Ass”, directed against the higher clergy, was also popular. The greedy bishop, who was going to punish the priest subordinate to him for burying a donkey in a Christian cemetery, abandons his intention when the priest gives him 20 livres “bequeathed” by the donkey. The German Schwanks, placed in the book of the city poet Stricker (d. 1250), are of a similar nature. "Pop Amis." It features the ordinary priest Amis, endowed with unusual intelligence and resourcefulness in clashes with the princes of the church, who probably comes from peasants or townspeople. Having resorted to ingenuity and cunning, he “fulfills” even such a difficult duty assigned to him by the bishop as teaching a donkey to read and write.
The best example of the so-called “animal epic” is “The Romance of the Fox,” which originated in France but then spread throughout Europe. This is a huge work, consisting of 26 episodes, in which the entire feudal world is presented in the form of a kingdom of animals. At the same time, the smart, cunning Fox (Renard) serves as the personification of the city dweller; a rude, stupid, evil owner of physical strength, a wolf (Isengrin) - a knight of average income; clumsy bear (Bren) - a large feudal lord; the lion (Noble) directly acts as the king of beasts; donkey (Baudouin) - court preacher; rooster (Chauntecleer) - the head of the court chapel or the drummer of the king's army. Birds, hares, and snails represent ordinary people, who constantly have to be on guard so as not to fall prey to the powers that be.
The changing attitude of the authors of “The Novel about the Fox” to the central image of the Fox himself is worthy of attention. The sympathies of the authors are on his side when he fights against animals that occupy a prominent position in the animal world. Like simple resourceful people from the fabliaux and schwanks, in these cases he cleverly gets away with it, putting others in a stupid position. But when the Fox begins to offend the weak - hens, chicks, hares, cats - he loses the author's sympathy and often gets into trouble himself, becoming the personification of the upper part of the townspeople, in the future - the predatory bourgeoisie.
Of the dramatic genres of urban literature, of great interest are farces. They, as a rule, depict a dishonest cunning man from the upper strata of the city, who is usually bypassed by an even more dexterous person from the very common people, as shown in the very popular 15th-century France. farce "Lawyer Patlen." The winner of the clever lawyer, who cheated the rich clothier, turns out to be the shepherd Thibault, who outwitted this scoundrel, “who would deceive the Last Judgment.”
Of the works of anti-feudal literature that go beyond the scope of social satire, those dating back to the 13th-14th centuries stand out especially. German-Austrian poem by Werner Gardener "The Peasant Helmbrecht" (1250), English allegorical poem by William Langland (1330-1400) "The Vision of Peter the Plowman", English folk Ballads of Robin Hood (XIV century). The close connection of urban literature with the real life of its time played a significant role in the subsequent development of European culture along the path of realism, preparing the transition to Renaissance literature.
During the early Middle Ages, oral poetry, especially heroic epic, actively developed, which was typical primarily for England and the countries of Scandinavia.
The collective memory of the people was heroic epic, which reflected his spiritual life, ideals and values. The origins of the Western European heroic epic lie in the depths of the barbarian era. Only by the VIII - IX centuries. The first records of epic works were compiled. The early stage of epic poetry, associated with the formation of early feudal military poetry - Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Old Scandinavian - has reached us only in fragments.
The early epic of Western European peoples arose as a result of the interaction of a heroic fairy tale-song and a primitive mythological epic about the first ancestors - “cultural heroes”, who were considered the ancestors of the tribe.
The heroic epic has come to us in the form of grandiose epics, songs, in mixed poetic and song form, and less often in prose.
Ancient Icelandic literature according to the time of origin, it includes the poetry of the skalds, Eddic songs and Icelandic sagas (prose tales). The most ancient songs of the skalds have been preserved only in the form of quotations from the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century. According to Icelandic tradition, skalds had social and religious influence, and were brave and strong people. The poetry of the skalds is dedicated to the praise of some feat and the gift received for it. Skaldic poetry is unknown to lyricism; it is heroic poetry in the literal sense of the word. The poems of about 250 skalds have survived to this day. The first of the Icelandic sagas, “The Saga of Egil,” tells about one of them, the famous poet-warrior Egil Skallagrimson (10th century).
Celtic epic is the oldest European literature. Irish sagas originated in the 1st century. AD and took shape over several centuries. They have existed in written form since the 7th century. - (came down to us in the records of the 12th century). The early Irish sagas are mythological and heroic. Their content is the pagan beliefs of the ancient Celts, the mythical history of the settlement of Ireland. In the heroic sagas, the main character Cuchulainn reflected the national ideal of the people - a fearless warrior, honest, strong, generous.
Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, dating back to the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th century, was formed on the basis of earlier oral heroic songs. The hero of the epic is a brave knight from the South Scandinavian tribe of Gauts, who saves the Danish king Hrothgar who is in trouble. The hero performs three miraculous feats. He defeats the monster Grendal, who exterminated the king's warriors. Having mortally wounded Grendal and defeated his mother, who was avenging her son, Beowulf becomes king of the Gauts. Being already old, he accomplishes his last feat - he destroys the terrible dragon, taking revenge on the Gauts for the golden cup stolen from him. The hero dies in a duel with the dragon.
"Beowulf" is a bizarre interweaving of mythology, folklore and historical events. Snake wrestling, three wonderful duels - elements of a folk tale. At the same time, the hero himself, fighting for the interests of his tribe, his tragic death are characteristic features of a heroic epic, historical in its core (some names and events described in the epic are found in the history of the ancient Germans). Since the formation of the epic dates back to the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th centuries, i.e. more than a century after the adoption of Christianity by the Anglo-Saxons, Christian elements are also found in Beowulf.
In the 12th century. the first written monuments appear medieval heroic epic in adaptations. Being original, they are based on the folk heroic epic. The images of the medieval epic are in many ways similar to the images of traditional epic heroes - they are fearless warriors, valiantly defending their country, brave, faithful to their duty.
At the same time, since the medieval heroic epic in adaptations was created during a period of already quite developed culture of its time, in traces of the influence of knightly and religious ideas of the era of its creation are obvious. The heroes of the medieval epic are faithful defenders of the Christian faith (Sid, Roland), vassals devoted to their lords.
Spanish epic - "Song of my Cid"- was composed during the period of the “Reconquista” (XII century), the time of the Spaniards’ struggle to return the lands captured by the Moors. The prototype of the hero of the poem was a historical figure - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (the Moors called him “Sid”, i.e. master).
The Song tells how Cid, exiled by King Alfonso of Castile, wages a brave fight against the Moors. As a reward for his victories, Alphonse wooed Sid's daughters to noble infantes from Carrion. The second part of the "Song" tells about the treachery of Sid's sons-in-law and his revenge for the desecrated honor of his daughters.
The absence of fiction, the realistic depiction of the life and customs of the Spaniards of that time, the very language of the “song”, close to the folk one, make “The Song of My Cid” the most realistic epic in medieval literature.
An outstanding monument of the German epic - "The Song of the Nibelungs"- was recorded around 1225. The plot of the “Song” is based on ancient German legends from the time of the Great Migration of Peoples - the death of one of the German kingdoms - Burgundy - as a result of the invasion of the Huns (437).
At the end of the early Middle Ages, the first records of the heroic epic appeared, which before that existed only in oral retellings. The heroes of folk tales were mainly warriors who bravely defended their land and people. In these works two worlds are intertwined: real and fairy-tale. Heroes often won with the help of magical powers.
| Medieval dancers. Miniature from a manuscript of 1109 |
In the 10th century An ancient Germanic epic was written down "The Poem of Beowulf" . The main character, the brave knight Beowulf, defeats the fierce giant and frees Denmark from him. Then he returns to his homeland and accomplishes many feats. For 50 long years, Beowulf rightly rules the Geat tribe, but his lands are attacked by a fire dragon. Beowulf killed the monster, but he himself died. The fairy-tale motif here is successfully intertwined with real historical events that took place in Northern Europe.
The pinnacle of the French heroic epic is "The Song of Roland" . It is based on Charlemagne’s unsuccessful campaign in Spain, when one of his troops was defeated by the Basques. The unknown author interweaves real events with fiction: a detachment of Franks is commanded by Roland, the Basques became Muslim Saracens (Arabs), and the Spanish campaign is depicted as a protracted seven-year war.
Illustrations by contemporary Ukrainian artist S. Yakutovich for the epic “The Song of Roland”
Every nation has a hero-hero, exalted in the epic: the Spaniards have Sid (“The Song of My Sid”), the Germans have Siegfried (“The Song of the Nibelungs”), the Serbs have Marko Korolevich (a cycle of songs about Mark Korolevich), etc. etc. In the heroic epic, historical events and the ideals of the people are recreated and preserved. The courage, patriotism, and loyalty of the main characters were an example for contemporaries and at the same time personified the military code of honor inherent in knightly culture.
In the XI-XIII centuries. knightly literature flourished. In the south of France, in Provence, lyric poetry is spreading troubadours . Poet-knights lived at the courts of influential lords. That’s why this poetry is also called courtly poetry. It is based on the cult of the Beautiful Lady: the knight exalts the lady of his heart, glorifies her beauty and virtues and undertakes to serve her. In honor of the noble lady, they performed feats of arms, organized tournaments, etc.
The names of many troubadours have reached us. Among them is considered a recognized master Bernart de Ventadorn . It is interesting that women also wrote courtly poetry: among almost five hundred troubadour poets, there were thirty women. Material from the site
Courtly lyrics quickly spread throughout Europe. It was created in the north of France trouvères , in Germany - Minnesingers , it was known in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula.
In the 12th century. another literary genre appears - romance. His typical hero is the knight errant, who deliberately undertakes exploits and adventures for the sake of glory, moral improvement and in honor of his lady. First, poetic novels appear, and subsequently prose novels.
The first novels of this type arose under the influence of Celtic legends about the courageous King Arthur and the brave knights of the Round Table. The most popular romance in the Middle Ages was the chivalric romance. "Tristan and Isolde" about the tragic love of the royal nephew Tristan and Queen Isolde Golden-Brace. Knightly literature contributed to the development of secular medieval culture.
Didn't find what you were looking for? Use the search
On this page there is material on the following topics:
- heroic epic of the Middle Ages knightly honor
- website
- very brief summary of the song of roland
- Averchenko's retelling
In the early Middle Ages, oral poetry developed, especially heroic epic, based on real events, military campaigns and great heroes that remained in the memory of people. Epic, Chanson de geste (lit. “song of deeds”) is a genre of French medieval literature, a song about the deeds of heroes and kings of the past (“The Song of Roland,” a cycle about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table). Its purpose is to glorify the moral values of chivalry: duty to the overlord, service to the Church and the Beautiful Lady, loyalty, honor, courage.
All works of medieval heroic epic belong to the early (Anglo-Saxon Beowulf) and classical Middle Ages (Icelandic songs of the Elder Edda and the German Song of the Nibelungs). In the epic, descriptions of historical events coexist with myth and fairy tale; the historical and fantastic are equally accepted as truth. Epic poems do not have an author: the people who revised and expanded the poetic material did not recognize themselves as the authors of the works they wrote.
"Beowulf" - the oldest Anglo-Saxon epic poem, its action takes place in Scandinavia. The text was created at the beginning of the 8th century. The action of the poem begins in Denmark, where King Hrothgar rules. A disaster looms over his country: every night the monster Grendel devours the warriors. From the land of the Gauts (in Southern Sweden), where the valiant King Hygelac rules, the hero Beowulf hurries to the aid of Denmark with fourteen wars. He kills Grendel:
The enemy was approaching;
Above the reclining
He extended his hand
To rip with the intention
clawed paw
The breast of the brave-hearted,
But the agile one
Rising up on my elbow,
He squeezed his hand,
And the terrible one understood
Shepherd of misfortunes,
What's on earth
Under the firmament
He hasn't met yet
human hand
Stronger and harder;
The soul shuddered
And my heart sank
But it was too late
Run to the den
Into the Devil's Den;
Never in my life
Never happened to him
Of what happened
In this palace.
But trouble struck Denmark again: Grendel’s mother came to avenge her son’s death. With an ancient sword and impenetrable armor, Beowulf dives into the disastrous swamp and at the very bottom inflicts a crushing blow on the monster. At the end of the poem, Beowulf takes the throne of the Gauts after the death of Hygelac. He has to save his people from a winged serpent, enraged by the theft of treasures. Having defeated the serpent, Beowulf dies from a mortal wound, bequeathing his armor to Wiglaf, the only warrior who did not abandon him in trouble. At the end of the poem, eternal glory is proclaimed to Beowulf.
"Elder Edda" is a collection of Old Icelandic songs, songs about the gods - about Hymir, about Thrym, about Alvis and the heroes of Scandinavian mythology and history, which were preserved in manuscripts dating back to the second half. XIII century The background to the manuscript is as unknown as the background to the Beowulf manuscript. Noteworthy is the diversity of songs, tragic and comic, elegiac monologues and dramatized dialogues; teachings are replaced by riddles, prophecies by stories about the beginning of the world. Songs about gods contain a wealth of mythological material, and songs about heroes tell about the good name and posthumous glory of heroes:
The herds are dying
relatives die
and you yourself are mortal;
but I know one thing
that is eternally immortal:
glory to the deceased.
(from “The Speech of the High One”).
"Song of the Nibelungs"– a medieval epic poem, classified as a German epic, consisting of 39 songs (“adventures”). It contains legends dating back to the time of the Great Migration and the creation of German kingdoms on the territory of the Western Roman Empire. It was recorded by an unknown author at the end of the 12th – beginning of the 13th centuries. In the land of the Burgundians lives a girl of extraordinary beauty named Kriemhild. Her three brothers are famous for their valor: Gunther, Gernot and Giselcher, as well as their vassal Hagen. Siegfried, the son of the Dutch king Sigmund, the conqueror of a huge treasure of the Nibelungs (since then Siegfried himself and his squad are called the Nibelungs) - the sword of Balmung and the invisibility cloak - arrived in Burgundy to fight for the hand of Kriemhild. Only after many trials (victory over the Saxons and Danes, victory over the warrior Brunhild, with whom Gunther is in love), is Siegfried allowed to marry his beloved. But the happiness of the young does not last long. The queens quarrel, Hagen finds out from Kriemhild Siegfried’s weak point (his “Herculean heel” turned out to be a mark on his back; while washing in the dragon’s blood, a linden leaf fell on his back):
My husband,–She said,–and brave and full of strength.
One day he slayed a dragon under the mountain,
I washed myself in his blood and became invulnerable...
When he began to bathe in the dragon's blood,
A leaf from a neighboring linden tree fell on the knight
And he covered his back between the shoulder blades by an inch.
It is there, alas, that my mighty husband is vulnerable.
After this confession, Hagen kills Siegfried while hunting. From now on, the Burgundians are called Nibelungs, since Siegfried's treasures pass into their hands. After grieving for 13 years and marrying the ruler of the Huns, Etzel, Kriemhild lures the brothers and Hagen to visit and kills every one of them. So she takes revenge for the death of her beloved husband and kills all the Nibelungs.
French heroic epic. A wonderful example of a medieval folk heroic epic - "The Song of Roland". In France, “songs about deeds”, which were common among knights, became widespread. There are about a hundred of them in total, forming three groups from the point of view of plot and theme: in the center of the first is the King of France, a wise monarch; in the center of the second is his faithful vassal; in the center of the third - on the contrary, a rebellious feudal lord who does not obey the king. The Song of Roland, the most famous among heroic songs, is based on a real historical event, Charlemagne’s short campaign against the Basques in 778. After a successful seven-year campaign in Moorish Spain, the Frankish emperor Charlemagne conquers all the cities of the Saracens (Arabs), except Zaragoza , where King Marsilius rules. Marsilius' ambassadors offer riches to the French and say that Marsilius is ready to become Charles's vassal. The Breton Count Roland does not believe the Saracens, but his enemy Count Gwenelon insists on a different decision and goes as an ambassador to Marsilius, plotting to destroy Roland and advising Marsilius to attack the rearguard of Charlemagne's army. Returning to the camp, the traitor says that Marsilius agrees to become a Christian and a vassal of Charles. Roland is appointed commander of the rearguard, and he takes with him only 20 thousand people. They are ambushed in the Roncesvalles Gorge and engage in battle with superior Saracen forces. In the end they die, Karl notices too late that something was wrong and returns to Roncesvalles to defeat the insidious enemy and accuse Gwenelon of treason.
Spanish heroic epic. The Spanish epic is in many ways close to the French, and the art of the Spanish epic singers, the Huglars, has much in common with the art of the French jugglers. The Spanish epic is also based mainly on historical tradition; even more than French, it is centered around the theme of the reconquista, the war with the Moors. The best and most fully preserved monument of Spanish epic poetry is "Song of My Sid". Coming down to us in a single copy compiled in 1307 by a certain Pedro Abbot, the poem of the heroic epic apparently took shape around 1140, less than half a century after the death of the Cid himself. Cid is the famous figure of the reconquista Rodrigo (Ruy) Diaz de Bivar (1040 - 1099). The Arabs called him Sid (from Arabic seid - “lord”). The main goal of his life was the liberation of his native land from Arab rule. Contrary to historical truth, Cid is depicted as a knight who has vassals and does not belong to the highest nobility. He is turned into a real folk hero, who suffers insults from an unjust king and comes into conflict with the family nobility. Due to false accusations, the Cid was expelled from Castile by King Alfonso VI. But at the end of the poem, Sid not only defends his honor, but also becomes related to the Spanish kings. "The Song of My Cid" gives a true picture of Spain both in days of peace and in days of war. In the XIV century. The Spanish heroic epic is in decline, but its plots continue to be developed in romances - short lyric-epic poems, in many ways similar to Northern European ballads.