LEOATZO
121
LEGENDS
Logfttio Sleulft. See Sicily.
Legend, Thb Golden. See Jacopo be Voraginb.
Le^jendfl, Litbrart or Profane. — ^In the period of natioiml ormns history and legend are inextricably mingled. In uie course of oral transmission historic narrative neccfisaril}^ becomes more or less legendary. Details are emphasised or exaggerated, actions as- cribed to different motives, facts are forgotten or suppressed, chronological and geographical data con- f usfxi, and traits and motifs from older tales arc added. Gradually this* tradition, passing from mouth to mouth, takes on a more defimte shape and a more dis- tinct outline, and finally it passes mto literature and receives a permanent and fixed form. We are seldom able to give a clear and connected account of the ori- gin and development of a saga or legend. In most cases the literary sources on which we depend for our knowledge are of comparativelv late date, and even the earliest of them present the legend in an advanced phase of evolution. Of preceding phases we can form an opinion <m]y through a critical analysis and com- parison of the soiurces. In this process of reconstruc- tion much must be left to conjecture; uncertainty necessarily prevails, and difference of opinion is un- avoidable.
Germanic Heroic Saga, — A brief notice of this vast subject must suffice. The Euhemeristic method of interpretation, which attempts to explain the sagas on a purely historical basis, is now generally discredited. A blending of mythic and historic elements is now conceded te be a necessary process in all saga-forma- tion. But the view, imtil recently generally accepted, which interprets the mythical traits as due to the personification and 83rmbolization of natural phe- nomena, has b^n criticized on good grounds. No doubt, nature symbolism plays a large r61e in myth- ology proper, but it seems to have little, if anything, to oo with the development of the primitive hero-tales. llieir roots seem to lie rather in fairy-lore. Thus in the greatest and oldest of Germam'c heroic sagas, that of Siegfried, the nucleus is apparently a primitive Low Gennan tale of greed and murder and cruel ven- seanee, amplified oy motifs like those of the dragon- fi^t and the Sleeping Beauty. Siegfried, who owns a treasure, is murdered by his covetous brother-in-law HiH^n. Grimhild (Kriemhild), Siegfried's widow, marries another king, who actuated by greed, murders TTimrpn. Grimhild in revenge murders her second hus- band. This seems te be the bare outline of the old tale which was combined with a new historic sasa, traceable to the destruction of the Buigundiuns by the Huns in 437, and the sudden death of the great Hunnish l^uler, Attila, after his marriage to a Ger- man princess, Bdico (i. e. Hilde), in 452. Now, when Uie two sagas were fused, Ildico was conceived as a Buivundian princess who slew Attila in revenge for Uie destruction of her kin. Sweeping changes in the ac- tion and the motives of the storv were a necessary con- seouence of this fusion. The Norse version ('* £dda , " Volsungasaga") and the German version of the "Nibelungeniied" both tell of Grimhild 's revenge. But in the former she kills her husband, the slayer of her brother, as in the older form of the legend; m the latter version she kills her brothers, in revenue for the murder of her husband (see Germany, sub-title Liter-- atwre, III).
While Siegfried is a mjrthical figure, Dietrich of Bern is historic. He is the famous East-Gothic king, Theodoric, who ruled over Italy (493-526). Dietrich and Bern are the German forms of Theodoric and Verona. The heroic figure of the king became the centre of the great mass of Gothic tradition, and a wbc^ cycle of sagas gathered about his name. Man^ loetd legends were <uawn into this cycle. The basic historic facts were completely distorted in process of legendaiy fonnation> and when the great Dietrich
saga appeared in literature, in the Old Hi^h German
" flildebrandslied '\ in numerous Middle High Gerxhan
epics (see Germany, sub-title Literature, III), and
the "Thidrekssaga" (which, though written in Norse
about 1250, is based on Low German tradition), little
that is historical remained.
Myth and history are also combined in the Beowulf sa^a, which forms the subject of the oldest English epic. Beowulf, a prince of the Gcdtas, comes to ndp tne Danish king, Hrothgar, against Grendel, a fiendian monster, who nad ravaged the Danish realm. In two mighty combats he slays Grendel and Grendel's mother. Ketuming, he becomes king of his people, over whom he rules happily for fifty years. Once more the aged hero goes forth, to battle with a fire- breathing oragon that devastates the land. He kills the monster, but dies of injuries sustained in the fight. It is generally believed that the Beowulf saga is of Scandinavian origin. But whether the enic arose in Scandinavia or in England is a question that has not
been decided.
On the subject in general consult Symons, Germaniache HeUUriMge in Paui*, Grundriss der GerffUiniachen PhUologie (2ml
ingen saga
una die Entwickdung der Nxhelungcneage (Hallc, 1907). The presentation of the Kenesis of the legend given above is based on this work. For the Dietrich saga see particularly JiBicxax« Deutsche Heldentagen (Strasburg, 1898). For the Beowulz saga see Stmons, op. cit., 644-651, where bibliography is given.
Leaends of Charlemagne, — It was inevitable that Charlemagne should become the hero of romance and legend. His actual exploits were magnified and ad- ditional ones were invented or transferred te him from other popular heroes, especially Frankish kings of the same name, like Charles Martel and Charles the Bald. The formation of legend relating to Charlemagne be- gan even during the lifetime of the great ruler. In the book of the so-called Monachus ^ngallensis, which was written after 883 on the basis of oral tradition, he appears alreadv as a legendary figure. Among the stories there related are those of the Iron Charles en- tering Pa via, where the Langobardian King Deside- rius, and Otker the Frank await his coming, and the latter swoons at the sight of the mailed emperor; or of the giant Eishere who, in battle against the Slavs, spears seven to nine heathens like frogs on the point of his lance; of the ruthless slaughter of all those captur^ Saxons whose stature exceeded the measure of the emperor's sword. Unlike the heroic sa^as, the Charlemagne legends from their very inception show an ecclesiastical tinge. In this connexion we may re* call the canonization of Charles by the antipope Paschal III in 1165, which, of course, never possessed validity.
When the Franks lost their Germanic character their hero became identified with the French nation- ality. Stories connectetl with his name were more or less current in various parts of Germany. It was said that he did not die, but resided in the Odenljerg, Hessia, or the Untersl)erg (near Salzburg), whence he would reappear to bring back the empire to glory. His justice also was proverl)ial, as is atteat^nl by the story, told in German chronicles, of the serpent ringing the bell that Charles had set up before his palace for all those having a grievance to bring to his attention. But he never became prominent in German literature, whereas in France he became the very centre of the national heroic &pop6es. His legendary deeds and those of his pakdins were celebratc<l in numerous epics or " Chansons de Geste " ("Chanson do Koland ", "P^lerinage", "Aspremont", "Fierabras, "Ogier", " Kenaud de Montauban ", etc.) . At first these poems were only loosely connected; later on attempts were made at cvclic unification, resulting in such compila- tions as the "Charlema^e" of Girard d' Amiens (c. 1300), the German "Karlmeinet", the Norwegian " KarlamagntSssaga" and the Italian prose romance
