CAXTON SOCIETY'S PUBLICATION S.

CHRONICLES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED,

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

THE HISTORY AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE of the middle ages,

Already Published, or in the Press. 1. Henrici de Silgrave Chronicon Anglise. Edited by C.

Hook, 1 vol. 8vo, 5s. 6d. ■2. Gaimar, Estorie des Engles, Havelok and Herward.

Edited by T. Wright esq., E. S. A., &c. 3. Eevolte du conte de Warwick; Lettre Erancaise sur

Marie I; and Petite Chronique du siege

d'ORLEANS. Edited by Dr Giles, 1 vol., 3s. 6&. '4, Walteri Abbatis Dervensis epistolseo Edited by Mr C.

Messiter.

5. Eadulfi Nigri Chronica duo. Edited by Colonel

Anstruther.

6, Benedicti abbatis Petriburgensis de vita et miracuxis

S. Thomje. Edited by Dr Giles.

PUBLICATIONS:

©P THE

caxton; society.

2. GAIMAR HAVELOK EI HERWARD.

GAIMAR, HAVELOK ET HERWARBv THE ANGLO-NORMAIST

METRICAL CHROMCLE

OF

GEOFFREY GAIMAR,

»i

PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME IX ENTIRE FROM THE M&. IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINING:

THE LAY OF HAVELOK, THE LEGEND ©F ERNULE;

AND THE LIFE OF HERWARBi

EDITED BY

THOMAS WRIGHT ESQ. M. A., F, S. A. ftc

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE,. (ACADEMIE DES INSCRIPTIONS ET BELLES LETTRES.)

LONDON ;.

Printed for the Caxton Society, By- A, BLACK, 8 Wellington St. Noeth>

1850.

C-\

7Q

TO THE

.ACADEMIE DES INSCRIPTIONS ET BELLES LETTRES

©F THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE,

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED

AS A HUMBLE TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FOR THAT LEARNED BODY

AND OF ATTACHMENT TO THE STUDIES TO WHICH

IT HAS GIVEN SO MUCH DISTINCTION,

Preface,

Geoffrey Gaimar is one of those numerous writers of the middle ages whose name would have been unknown to us, if a portion of his writings had not been preserved. From the circumstance connected with the account he gives of his labours at the end of the work, he appears to have written this chronicle between the years 1147 and 1151. All we know of his position in society is the information derived from his own chronicle that he was attached to the household of Constance, the wife of Ralph fitz Gilbert, a powerful baron of the North in the time of king Stephen. He lived at a time when the recent publication of Geoffrey of Monmouth's romance of the British History had created a great interest on such subjects ; and at the request of his patroness he undertook to translate that work into Anglo-Norman verse, and continue it through the

10 PREFACE.

Anglo-Saxon and into the Anglo-Norman period. Geoffrey of Monmouth's work was written at the instigation of Robert earl of Gloucester, to whom it was dedicated ; and we learn from Gaimar's own account of the matter that Walter Espec, a well- known Yorkshire baron of that time, having obtained a copy of it from earl Robert himself, the lady Constance, through her husband, procured the loan of it in order that Gaimar might make a tran- slation. How far he followed or varied from his original, we have no longer the oppoitunity of judging, for that part of Gaimar's work, eclipsed, it would appear, by the subsequent translation by Wace, fell into neglect, and seems now to have perished. The supplementary portion of Gaimar's chronicle, the history of the Anglo-Saxon kings, was more esteemed, and copies of it being multi- plied in manuscript, four of them have fortunately been preserved. At the end, he intimates an intention of writing a separate history of the reign of Henry I. (see 1. 6483), but we have no means of ascertaining if he ever carried this design into effect ; his chronicle, as now preserved, ends with the death of William Rufus.

Gaimar makes several allusions, especially at the end of this book, to the sources from whence he derived the materials of his history of the Anglo- Saxons ; they are in some respects obscure, but we learn from them, which however is sufficiently

PREFACE. II

evident from the work itself, that his principal guide was the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the text which he used heing one preserved at Winchester. But the chief value of this chronicle arises from the atten- tion which Gaimar had paid to the old historical traditions of the northern and eastern parts of England, several of which he has preserved, and they form invaluable illustrations of some parts of the earlier annals of our country.

The text of Gaimar's history, as now preserved, is printed for the first time complete in the present volume. The Anglo-Norman portion was previ- ously printed by Michel, in the first volume of his Chroniques Anglo-Normandes (8vo. Rouen 1835) ; the Anglo-Saxon portion has since appeared in the large volume of historians of the ante-Norman period, edited by the late Mr Petrie, under the direction of the English Record Commission. This chronicle is preserved in four independent manu- scripts, one of which is found in the British Museum (MS. Reg. 13, A, xxi), a second in the Arundel Collection in the Herald's College (where it is marked C, iv, 27), and the two others in the cathe- dral libraries of Durham and Lincoln. As far as can be judged by the collations given in Petrie, I am inclined to think that the Durham manuscript is the oldest and philologically the best ; the manu- script in the Herald's College is certainly much inferior to that in the British Museum, and it is in

12 PREFACE.

some parts slightly abridged by the omission of a few lines. It was from the manuscript of the Herald's College, the worst of them all, that M. Michel published his edition of the latter part of Gaimar, and, professing to give the variations of the manuscript in the British Museum, he has done it very imperfectly, even overlooking many of the lines which are omitted in his text. Petrie's edition is taken from the better text of the Museum manu- script, but it has been edited by one very little acquainted with the grammatical forms and con- struction of the language, and, though at first collated on the original manuscript with some care, the greater part of it is edited so incorrectly that every two or three lines present an error, often a grave one.

The present edition is a careful representation of the manuscript preserved in the British Museum, which is in a writing of the thirteenth century. A few notes have been added, intended partly as popular illustrations of the historical allusions, and partly to explain the language or the variations of the manuscripts. In the former, I have not hesitated to make full use of the notes given with the text in Mr Petrie's volume.

The number of historical legends and traditions given by Gaimar, seemed to offer an opportunity for collecting together in the form of an appendix a few of the historical legends of these early times

PREFACE. 13

which have been preserved in a separate form. My design in this respect was at first much more extended than circumstances have allowed me to carry into effort. The appendix to the present volume contains three documents, the romance or lay of Havelok, the legend of Ernulf and the Danes, and the life of Hereward. I propose, however, to publish a supplementary volume, which shall contain the historical legends that want of room has obliged me to omit on the present occasion.

The story of Havelok is given at considerable length in the earlier part of Gaimar's text, but still in a manner so evidently abridged from some more complete romance, that it has even been conjec- tured to be an interpolation in the original. In the Arundel manuscript of Gaimar, preserved in the Heralds' College, the only known copy of a separate romance or lay of Havelok is inserted immediately after Gaimar's history, and was edited by Sir Fred- erick Madden for the Roxburghe Club, and subse- quently in an 8vo volume by Michel. Madden has given with his edition the English romance of Havelok from a manuscript at Oxford. The Anglo- Norman romance of the Arundel manuscript is printed in the appendix of the present volume from Michel's text. It is necessary in many instances for the explanation of Gaimar, by whose text it also is sometimes explained, for the romance in the Arundel manuscript appears to be itself in an

14 PREFACE.

abridged form. "Although both," as the editor of the text of Gaimar in Fetrie's volume observes, " have the same story in substance, and often con- tain lines exactly alike, yet, besides the different order in which the incidents are narrated, each has occasionally circumstances wanting in the other, and such too it should seem, as would leave the story incomplete unless supplied from the other copy. Thus, the visit to the hermit [Ap. p. 17], which is omitted in Gaimar, was probably in the original romance ; for without it Argentine's dream tells for nothing : and in the Arundel copy there is a particular account of Havelok's defence of a tower by hurling stones on his assailments, which here [p. 19 ; conf. Ap. p. 23] is so obscurely allud- ed to as to be hardly intelligible. On the other hand, instead of the descriptions of the extraordi- nary virtues of Sygar's ring in Gaimar [p. 23], it is merely said in the Arundel copy [Ap. p. 28] that Sygar would give his anel d'or to whoever could sound the horn : and, to omit other instances, at p. 25 of Gaimar, a festival is described on the authority of VE stork, of which no notice whatever occurs in the Arundel MS." It is hardly necessary to observe that the varieties, quoted in Pe trie's notes as from the Arundel MS., are taken from the romance printed in my appendix.

The second article in the appendix to the present volume is a portion of an original Latin story relat-

PREFACE. 15

ing to the cause of the Danish invasion of 867. It is printed in the notes to Petrie's edition from a manuscript in the library of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, and is here reprinted from Petrie. The manuscript from which it is taken (MS. C. C. C. Cant. No. 1 39) is said to be of the twelfth century. The third and last article of the appendix is a new edition of the now well known life of the Sax- on Hereward. The first edition was published in the Chroniques Anglo-Normandes in 1839, and was edited from a transcript in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, made for Gale the antiquary, from the original which is still preserved among the muniments of Peterborough Cathedral. I have not had an opportunity of examining the original manuscript, which I am told is in parts very diffi- cult to read ; the transcript at Cambridge is certainly often incorrect, especially in the earlier part, which, since the first edition was printed, has been care- fully collated with the original. The remainder has been revised from the edition in the Chroniques Anglo-Normandes.

London, March 25, 1850. Thomas Wright.

[C]7 COMENCE L'ESTORIE DES EJ\ GLES SOLUM LA TBANSLACION MAISTBE GEFFBEI GAIMAB.

Ca en arere, el livere bien devant, Si vus en estes remembrant, Avez oi com faitement Costentin tint apres Artur tenement ; E com Iwain fu feit reis De Mnref e de Loeneis. Mes ce co veit mult malement : Mort sunt tut lur meiHur parent. E li Seisne se sunt espanduz, Ki od Certiz furent venuz, 1(

Des Humbre tresk'en Cateneis : Done lur out Modret li reis. Si unt saisi e [tut] purpris La terre que ja tint Hengis. Cele claiment en heritage ; Car Hengis estait de lur linage. Este-vus ci acheson Dunt en grant travail entrent Breton: Si funt Escoz e les Pictais,

4. Costentin tint. The allusion is to the concli ding portion of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History, an-* therefore also of the Brut or Anglo-Norman versic of it, which preceded the present work. Muref ar Loeneis are Murray and Lothian.

2 GEFFREI GA1MAK,

Li Gawaleis e li Combreis ; 20

Tel guere funt la gent estrange,

En grant dolur entra Bretaigne.

Li Angleis tuz jurs aereisseient ;

Car de ultremer sovent venaient.

Cil de Seissoigne e de Alemaigne,

S'ajustent a lur compaigne ;

Pur dan Hengis, lur ancessur,

Les altres firent d'els seignur.

Tuz jurs si com il conqueraent,

Des Engleis la reconuissaient, 80

La terre k'il vont conquerant,

Si Fapelent Engsland.

Este-vus ci un acheson,

Par quei Bretaigne perdi son nun,

E les nevoz Artur regnerent,

Ki encontre Engleis guereierent.

Meis li Daneis rnult les haeient, Pur lur parenz, ki inorz estaient Es batailles ke Artur fist Centre Modret, Fil puis oscist. 40

Si 90 est veir ke Gilde dist En la geste, trova escrit, Ke dous reis out ja en Bretaigne, Quant Costentin estait clievetaigne ; Cil Costentin li nies Artur Ki out Tespee Caliburc.

41. Gilde. This is apparently a mere hap-hazard appeal to Gildas as an authority ; and the history allu- ded to is prohabiy that more commonly known as the Chronicle of Nermius.

46. Caliburc. This famous sword of King Arthur, called also Caliburn, and more usually Escalibor, is very frequently mentioned in the poetry and romance of the Middle Ages, and the possession of it was con- sidered, as here, one of the most remarkable characte- ristics of the fabulous hero of British History. It was said to have been in the isle of Avalon. Wace, [Horn.

ESTORIE DES ENGLEi. 3

Adelbrit aveit a nun li uns des reis ;

Eiches hom fu, si ert Daneis :

Li altres out nun Edelsie ;

Sue ert Nicole e Lindeseie, 50

Des Humbre desk'en Roteland

Ert le pais en son comant :

Li altre ert reis de la contree

Ki ore est Nortfolc apelee.

Tant s'acointerent cil dui rei,

K'il furent coropaignon par fei ;

E k'entre els dous out tel amur,

Edelsi dona sa sorur

A Adelbrit,, eel riche reis,

Ki ert del linage as Daneis. 60

Li altre rei estait Breton,

Ki Edelsi aveit a nun :

Sa sorur out nun Orwain ;

Mult ert tranche e de bone main.

De son seignur out Line fille, Ke Tom apela Argentille. La pucele crut e teh.it, Car asez fu ki la norit. Si avint trestut pur veil', Ke son pere n' out nul altre eir. 70

En Denemarche le regnez

de Br. 9514] says of Arthur,

Calabrum ot cainte s'espee, Qui bien fu longe et Men fu l&e; En l'ile d'Avalon fu faite, Qui la tint nue mult s'en haite,

47. Adelbrit. On the following story of Havelok, see the remarks in the introduction to the present volume.

50. Nicole. Lincoln, a name which the Normans seem to have been unable to pronounce, as they inva- riably changed it to Nicole.

56. Compaignon par fei. This pledge of friendship or fraternity — sworn brotherhood — was not unusual in the Middle Ages, and enters frequently as an inci- dent in the old romances and tales.

4 GEFPREI GAIMAB.

Aveit quatre riches contez,

E en Bretaigne aveit conquis

Cair-Coel od tut le pais :

De Colecestre tresk'en Hoiland

Durout son realme en un tenant.

Tant cum il fa si poestis,

Edelsi fu bien sis amis.

Mes done avint ke Adelbrict fu mort

Enz en la cite de Teford. 80

A Colecestre fu portez,

Hoc fu li reis enterrez ;

E Orewain e Argentille;

Co fu la raine e sa fille,

En sunt ale en Lindeseie,

A son frere, reis Edelsie.

Li regnes ke Adelbrict teneit

Li unt livere, que garde en seit :

Car la raine ert enfermee,

We mais vint jurs ad duree 9D

Apres Albrict : quant fu finie,

Unt la raine ensepelie.

E Argentille fa norie

A Nicole, e en Lindeseie

Si com dit Fantive gent.

Ele n'out nul cheval parent

De par sun [pere] des Daneis.

Oiez ke fit eel felons reis.

Pur Ferite k'il coveita,

80. Teford. Thetford, in Norfolk, was a place of great importance under the Saxons, and is made the scene of events in several romances of the Anglo- Danish cycle.

95. L'antive gent. "The ancient people" are frequently referred to as authorities in the old metrical histories and romances ; but it is a mere form of words, adopted often only to fill up a rhyme, and must not always be taken literally as a proof that there was a popular tradition.

ESTOBIE DBS ENGLES. »

Sa nece mesmariat. 100

H la donat a un garcon, Ki Cuheran aveit a nun : Pur co k'abeisser la voleit, Se purpensa kJil li durreit.

Cil Cuheran estait quistrun, Mt;s mult par ert bel valetun. Bel vis aveit, e beie mains, Cors eschevi, suef e plains. Li sons semblanz ert tut tens lez 5 Beles jambes out, e bels piez. 110

Mes pur co que hardi estait, E volunters se combateit, N'aveit valet en la meison, Si lui feseit abataison E sur lui comencast mellees, K'il ne Y rueit jambes levees. E quant il ben se corucout, De sa ceinture le liout ; E si cil done n' aveit guarant, Bien le bateit a un vergant. 120

E nepurhoc tant frans esteit, Si lui vailez li prometteit Ke pur ico mains ne Y antast, Ignel ure le deliast. Quant il se erent entrebaisez, Done estait Cuharan baitez ; E li reis e li cnevaler Li donouent de lur manger. Asquanz li donouent gastels, Asquanz quarters de simenels, 130

Les altres bastes e gelines, Ki lur veneint des quisines ; Ke tant aveit pain e conrei,

130. Simenels. — Cakes made of fine flour. The name remains in the simnel-cakes of modern times.

6 GEFFREI GAIMAR.

Ke dous vallez aveit od sei :

E as vallez de la meisons

Eeseit sovent mult larges dons,

De simenels e de canestels,

E de hastes e de gastels.

Pur co estait si ben amcz,

E si preisez, e si loez, 140

N'aveit frans liom en la meison,

Si Cuheran en voleit don,

K'il ne lui donast voluniers.

Mes il n'aveit soing de luers,

De tant doner com il aveit,

Co lui ert vis ke poi estait ;

E quant il n'aveit ke doner,

Volunters Falout enprunter,

Puis le donout, e despendeit ;

Co k'enpromtout tresLien soldout. 150

Quant k'il aveit, trestut dunout ;

Mes nule rien ne demandout.

II ert issi, en la meison, Esqueler a une quistron. Dous valez out k?ii nurisout : Seignurs, oiez purquei il le fesout. II quidout Fil fussent si frere ; Mes ne lur apartint son pere, Ne sa mere, ne son linage, Ne n' estait de lur parage; 160

Purhoc s'il estait en tel despit, Venuz esteit de gentil lit : E si li reis s'aparceust, Ne quid ke ja sa nece eust. Dunt il ert nez, pas ne saveit : De lui son jugleur feseit.

166. Jugleur. Although the Jougleur or min- strel was a necessary attendant at the courts of the great barons, he was considered as belonging to a very low, and even disgraceful, caste of society, and

EST0R1E DBS ENGLES. /

Pun la terre Albrict tolir, Feseit sa nece od lui gisir ; La fille al rei en povere lit. Ore est mesters ke Deus ait : 2 70

Car ci out feit grant cruelte, Pur coveitise de eel regno ; Quant pur le regne sul aveir, Honist sa nece, a son espeir, E la dona a son quistrun, Ki Cuheran aveit a nun. Cil ne saveit ke femme estait, Ne k'il fere li cleveit : Tresk'il unkes el lit veneit. Adeuz giseit, si se dormeit. 180

Argentille ert en grant purpens,

Pur quei il giseit si adenz ;

E mult forment s'esmerveillout,

Ke unkes vers lui ne se turnout ;

Ne ne la voleit aprismer,

Com home deit fere sa muller.

La nece al rei se compleigneit >

Sovent son uncle maldisseit,

Ki si 1' aveit disherite,

Eaun tel horn donee ; 190

Tant k'il.avint a une nuit,

K'il firent primes lur deduit.

Apres ico si s'endormirent ;

Mult s'entreamerent e joirent. La fille al rei, en son dormant,

Songat k'ele ert od Cuherant

Entre la mer e un boscage,

U conversout un urs salvage.

Devers la mer veait venir

Pors e senglers, prist asaillir 200

Icel grant urs, ke si ert ner,

therefore it was a degrading match for a princess.

8 GEFFUEI GAIMAK.

Ki voleit Cuheran manger,

Od Furs aveit asez gopil] z,

Ki puis le jur eurent perilz :

Car les sengiers les enlrepristrent ;

Mult en destruistrent e oscistrent.

Quant li gopil furent destruit,

Cel urs, ke demenout tel bruit,

Un sul sengler, fier e hardi,

L'ad par con cors sul asailli. 210

Tel lni dona de lune dent,

En dous meitez le quer li fent.

Quant Furs se sent a mort feri, Un cri geta, puis est chay ; 03! li gopil vindrent corant, De tutes pars, vers Cuherant, Entre lur quisses lur cuetes, Les chefs enelins, a genuletes ; E runt semblant de rnerci quere A Cuheran, a ki firent guere. 220

Quant il les out feit tuz lever, Envers la nier volt repairer. Li grant arbre, ki el bois erent, De totes parz Fenclinerent. La mer montout e li floz vint, De si k'al bois ne se tint ; Li bois si ehaeit, la mer veneit, Cuheran ert en grant destreit: Apres veneient dous leons : Si chaeient a genullons; 230

Mes des bestes mult oscieient El bois, ki en lur veie estaient. Cuheran, pur pour k'il out, Sur un des granz arbres montout : E les leons vindrent avant, Envers eel arbre agenullant. Par tut le bois out si grant cri,

ESTOTUE DES ENGLES. 9

Ke la dame s'en eveilli ;

E cum elc out ico sunge,

Son seignur ad fort enbracc. 240

Ele le trova gisant envers :

Entre ses bras si Fad aers,

Pur la pour ses oilz overit,

Une flambe vit, ki issit

Eors de la buche son marri,

Ki uncore ert tut endormi.

Merveillat sei de F avision,

E de la buche son baron,

E de la flambe k'ele vit :

Ore entendez k'ele dit. 250

1 Sire/ fet-ele, ' vuz ardez ! Esveillez-vus si vus volez. De vostre buche une flambe ist ; Jo ne sai'unkes ki [F] i mist/ Tant Fenbrasca e trest vers sei, K'il s'esveilla ; e dist : f Purquei, Purquei nFavez eveille, bele amie ? Purquei estes espoutie ?' Tant la preia, e tant la blandist, K'ele li conta tut, et regehit, 260

De la flambe, e de Y avision K'ele out veu de son baron. Cuheran [Fen] respondi : De F avision k'il oi, Solum son sens, espeust le songe : Kank'il dist, tut ert menconge. ( Dame/dist-il, ' co serra bien, Anbure a vostre oes, e al mien. Ore nFest avis ke 90 pot estre :

265. Espeust. Interpreted. This word does not occur in the Glossaire de la Langue Romane of Roquefort; it represents the Latin exposuit.

2

10 GEFFKEI GAIMAR.

Li reis tendra demain sa feste; 270

Mult i avera de ses barons.

Cerfs, e clieverels, e veneisons,

E altres chars tant i avera,,

E en la quisine tant remaindra,

Tant en prendrom a espandant,

Les esquiers ferai manant

Des bons lardez e de brauns,

Des esqueles as baruns.

Li esquier me sunt aclin,

Ambure al vespre e al matin : 280

Cil signefient li gopil

Dunt vus songastes ; co sunt-il.

E Furs est mort, bier fu oscis ;

En un bois fu salvage pris.

Dous tors i ad pur les leons ;

E pur la mer, pernum les pluins,

U Fewe monte come mer,

De si que freit la feit cesser ; La char des tors i serra quite : Dame, Favision est dite/ 290

Akgentille, quant ot co dire, —

c Uncore avant me dites, sire,

Quei icel fu put espeleir,

K'en vostre buche vi ardeir ?'

* Dame/ dist-il, ' ne sai ke dait :

Mes en dormant si me deceit.

Treske jo dorm, ma buche esprent,

De la flambe nient ne me sent.

Veires jo en ai hunte mult grant,

Ke co nFavient en dormant/ 300

Dist Argentille : ' A moi entent :

300. After this line there is evidently a break in the narrative, which may be supplied from the sepa- rate romance of Havelok. Either Gaimar, or the per- son who introduced the story of Havelok into his

ESTORIE DES ENGLES. 11

Nus sumus ci hontusement.

Mielz nuz vendreit estre exillez

Entre aliens, e enpairez,

Ke ci gisir en tel hontage.

Amis, u est li ton linage p

* Dame/ fet-il, ' a Grimesby :

D'iloc turnai quant jo vine ci.

Si la ne trois mun parent e,

Suz ciel ne sai dunt jo sui neV 310

' Amis/ feit-ele, ' car i alora, Saver si ja troverom Nuls horn ki mai ne tei amast, TJ mieldre conseil nus donast/ Dist Cuheran, fLa maie ainie, U seit saver u seit folie, Jo ferai co ke vus volez : La vus merrai si vus me loez.' La nut jurent, tresk'al cler jur ; Lendemain vont a lur seignur, 320

Al rei vindrent, querent conge. Quant il 90 ot, si en fu heite. [Tut en riant le lur dunad : A tuz ses humes s'en gabad, E dit, i S'il unt un poi de faim, U al tierz jor, u al demein, Tut se mettrunt al repairier, Quant ne purrunt mielz espleiter/ Ore s'en vunt cil a Grimesbi ; La troverent un bon ami. 330

Pesclieur ert, iloc maneit ; La fille Grim cekii aveit.

Quant recunut les tres meschiens,

narrative, seems to have abridged the romance rather carelessly, and to have left in more than one place a hiatus of this kind.

323. Tut en riant. The MS. of the British Mu-

12 GEFFllEI GAIMAE.

Cuaran e les dous fiz Grims ; E il sot de la fille al rei] en la lei

* - peants en son corage,

Dist a sa femme, que mult ert sage :

' Dame/ dist-il, 'que ferom ?

Si vus loes, discoverom 340

A Haveloc, le fiz le rei,

Nostre conseil, e le segrei.

Dimes li tut overtement,

Dum il est nez, e de quel gent/

Dist la dame ; f S'il le saveit,

Jo quid k'il le descovereit

En tel liu, par son folage,

U tost Ten avendreit grant damage.

II n'e[st] mie si savant,

K'il sace coverir son talent. 350

S'il saveit ke des reis fu nez,

Curtes ures serreit celez.

E nepurhoc ore Fapelom ;

Dunt il est nez, li demandom :

E si sa femme vent od lui,

Bien li poum dire, 90 qui,

Dum il est nez, e de quel terre,

Com il exillat par la guerre/

Atant apelent Haveloc ; E Argentille vint avoc. 360

E li prodom e sa muller I/unt pris mult bel a resuner. 'Amis/ funt-il, 'dunt es tu nez ? En quel liu est tis parentez ? '

seum is here torn, but the part between brackets is supplied from the Durham MS., which unfortunately wants six lines, of which a word or two only are pre- served in the Museum MS.

336. There seems to be here another break in the

ESTOllIE DES ENGLES. 13

'[Dame/ fait-il, 'ci laissai

Mun parente quant m'en turnai.

Tu es ma sixer, jo sui tis frere,

Ambure de pere e de mere.

Grim fud mis pere, un peschur,

Ma mere ot nun Sebruc,] sa uxor. 370

Quant furent mort] de ci turnai,

Mes dous freres] od mei menai.

Ore eimes] granz, revenuz sumes,

Mes nos parenz ne conussumes ;

Ne mais sul tai, e ton seignur :

Bien sai tu es nostre sorur/

Eespont Kelloc : ' Tut i ad el :

Unc ton pere ne vendi sel,

Ne ta mere ne fu salnere ;

Grim vendi sel, si fu peschere. 380

De mes freres grant gre te sai,

De 90 ke's as nuri te mercierai.

Hier arivat leus al port

Un grant kenart, e bon e fort.

Pain e char meined, e vin e ble ;

D'icel unt-il mult grant plente.

Ultre la mer volent passer.

Si vus volez od els aler,

Jo quid k'il irrunt el pais

U sunt vos parenz e vos amis. 390

narrative, which must be supplied from the Romance. 365. Dame. The deficiency of the Museum MS. is here again supplied from the Durham MS.

377. Tut i ad el. The four words represent the Latin words totum ibi habet aliud : in Anglo-Nor- man phraseology it means " Every thing is different in this case " from what you imagine. It may he ob- served as a rule in Anglo-Norman grammatical con- struction that 1 ad takes the accusative case before and after : the literal construction is, as represented by the Latin, there it has every thing different.

14 GEFFREI GAIMAK.

Si vus volez od els aler,

Nus les vus purrums bicn aluer.

Dras vus durrum a remuers,

Si porterez de nos deners,

E pain, e char, e bon cler vin,

Pur prendre al vespre e al matin.

Conrei averez tant cum voldrez ;

Vos dous vallez od vus merrez.

Mes celez ben vostre segrei : —

Vus fustes fizaun bon rei ; 400

Danemarche out par heritage,

Si out son pere e son linage.

Li vostre pere out nun Gunter ;

Si prist la fille al rei Gaifer,

Alvive out nun ; ele me nuri ;

Maint ben me fit tant cum vesqui,

[Ele me levad, 90 dist ma mere ;

Fille sui Grim, un sun cumpere.

Mes 90 avint en vostre terre,

Li reis Arthur la vint conqueere, 410

Pur sun treu, que li detint ;

Od m[ult grant gent el pais vint.

Al rei Gunt[er semblad contraire;

Juste la mer li tin[t bataille.]

Oscis i fu li reis Gunter,

E d" ambes parz maint chevaler.

Ki Artur volt, dona la terre.

Meis la reine, pur la guere,

Ne pout en la terre remaneir ;

Si s'en fui od le dreit air 420

Co estes vus, si cum jo crei,

Danz Haveloc, le fiz le rei.

405. Alvive. Algiva. The Saxon g was constantly exchanged for 11, v, and w, in Anglo-Norman.

407. The passage between brackets is supplied from the Durham MS.

ESTORIE DES ENTGLES. 15

Mis pere aveit mult bon nef ;

La raine amenout suef :

Vers cest pais la menout,

Quant si avint, cum Deu plout,

De utlaghes fumes encontrez :

En mer furent trestuz ruez

Nos chevalers, e nostre gent,

E la raine ensement. 430

Unc ne guari horn, fors mun pere,

Ne nule femme, fors ma mere.

Mis pere estait lur conussant ;

Pur 90 guarirent li enfant,

E jo, e VQS, e mi dui frere,

Par la priere de muu pere.

En cest pais quant arivames,

Nostre grant nef par mi trenchames ;

Car tute fu freite e malveise,

Quant la raine fu oscise. 440

De nostre nef meison feimes :

Par un batel ben guarisimes,

Dunt nostre pere ala pescher.

Peison eumes a manger,

Turbuz, salmuns, e mulvels,

Graspeis, porpeis, e makerels,

A grant plente, e a fuison

Eumes pain e bon peison.

[Del peissun cangium le pain,

Horn nous aportout a plain. 450

E cum nous eumes deniers,

Mis peres dune devint salniers.

Tant cum vesqui, il e ma mere

Bien vus nurrit, mielz que mi frere.

E jo remis, si pris seignur,

439. Freite, Broken, fracta. 449. Another passage is here supplied from the Durham MS.

16 GEFFREI G AIM All .

Oil m'ad tenud a grant onur. Marcliant ert, mer sot passer, E set bien vendre e achater. En Danemarche fud le autreer, E a plusurs [oid preier, 460

S'il vus trovast ke [venissiez,] E le pais chalengissez. Bien vus loam ke turnez, Vos dous vallez od vus menez ; Pur vus servir saient od vus. Si bien vus prent, mandez le nus : Nus siwerons, si vus volez, Si Deu vus rent vos heritez/ Dist Haveloc, e sa mulier, ' Nus vus rendrum mult bon luer; 470

Plus vus ferum ke ne querez, Si Deus nus rent nos heritez : E les vallez od nus merrum ; Par Deu, bien en penserom/ Eespont la dame , ' Yeirement, Ci remaindrez tant k'aiez vent : E si jo puis, ainz ke passez, De meillur dras vestuz serrez/ Cil remistrent done a sajur ; Yestuz furent par honur. 480

Tant sujurnent, ke vint l'ore, E puis si sunt en nef entre. E dans Algers, li marchanz, Ad fet par els li covenanz. Lur froc dona, il e Kelloc, Pur la meisne Haveloc : E asez lur i mist vitaille ; Tresk'a treis meis ne volt ke faillex Pain e vin, e char e bon peisson, Lur mist el nef a grant fuson ; 490

E treskes la nef flota,

ESTOBIE DES ENGLES. 17

Li esterman bien se dresca.

Dous niefs i out, tut verement ;

Lur sigles drescent al vent,

Taut unt nage e governe,

K'en Denemarche sunt arive.

En la contree u ariverent,

A une vile s'en alerent,

IA quistrent somers e carrei ;

Mener i firent lur conrei. 500s

Les marchanz sunt tuz rem^s,

Od lur herneis, es dous nefs,

E Haveloc e sa moiller

Vont a la vile herberger.

Iloc maneit uns riches horn, Sigar Estalre aveit nun : Seneschal fu al rei Gunter, E de sa terre justiser. Maes ore ert tels k'en peis teneit, E icel riche rei forment haeit, 510

Ki done ert reis poistifs Sur l'altre gent de eel pais, Pur son seignur, k'il aveit mort Par la vertu de Artur le fort ; Ki Tout par treison mande, E eel pais li out done. Pur co k'il ert traitres e fel, Plus[urs] en unt tenu tel [conseil Ke ja od li ne se te[ndrunt, Ne de lui terre ne [prendrunt, 520

492. Li esterman. The steersman or pilot. The word is not uncommon in Anglo-Norman poetry, though it seems to have been overlooked by Roque- fort in compiling his Glossary.

506. Estalre. i. e. Sigar the steward. Steallere was the Anglo-Saxon title of an officer, called by the Normans Seneschal. One of the MSS. reads Estarle — the r, and 1, when thus combined, are often trans- posed in Anglo-Norman.

a

18 GEFPKEI 0A1MAH.

Dcsci k;il sache[nt del dreit eir, De sa vie u [de sa inort le veir. Cist reis ki [done ert el pais, II esteit fr[ere al rei Aschis Ki pur Art[ur sufftid la mort La ii [Modret li fist tel tort ; II out [a nun Odulf le reis ; Mult f [ud haiz de ses Daneis.

Si e[um Deu plut, e aventure, D[eus mist enAveloc sa cure,] 530

Pur sa moiller, ke trop ert bele, La fille al rei, dame Argentele.

Sis baclielers done Fasaillirent,

Pristrent la dame, lui ferirent ;

E ses vallez mult leidengerent,

En plusurs lius lur chef bruserent.

Si cum il s'en [vjunt od s'araie,

Danz Havelocs en out envie :

Prent une hache mult trenchant,

K'en une meison trova pendant ; 540

Cels ad ateint en la ruele,

Ki menouent dame Argentele :

Treis en oscist, dous en tua,

E al siste le poing trencha ;

Prent sa femme, vint al ostel.

Es-vus, le cri mult criminel,

Prist ses vallez e sa moiller,

Si s'en entra en un muster ;

524. Aschis. This is the Aschillius rex Daci^e mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth [Hist. Reg. Br. xi, 2] as slain fighting in the army of king Arthur in his last fatal battle against Modred.

532. The scribe of the Brit. Mas. MS. has left a blank after this line to show he was conscious some- thing was wanting to the sense of the narrative. It must be supplied from the Romance. The Br. Mus. MS. reads Argentelete for Argentele.

ESTOttlE PES ENGLES. 19

Feruia les us, pur la pour,

Puis monterent sus en la [tur. 550

Hoc aveit tel [defensail

Ja, n'i fust pris [senz grant travail :

[Kar cil tres bien se defendirent ;

Blescied i erent eels ki's asailirent.

Quant dan Sigar vint puignant,

Veit cum les pieres vait ruant.

Danz Avelocs, qui mult ert fort,

Les cine bricuns aveit ii mort.

Sigar le vit, si Favisat ;

Del rei Guntier dune li membrat ; 560

Tresqu'il unques Fot choisid,

Unc pur ses humes ne F liaid :

A sun seignur resemblot,

Que quant le vit tel pitied en ot,

Qu'a mult grant paine pot parler.

Tut Fasalt ad fait cesser ;]

Peis e trues lui afia

En sa sale Fen amena,

Lui e sa femine, e ses compaienz,

Les dous vallez, dunt dis ainz. 570

E quant furent aseurez,

Li riches horn ad demandez

Ki il estait, e com ad nun,

E dunt erent si compaignon ;

E de la dame demanda,

Dunt ele vint, e ki li dona.

' Sire/ fet-il, e ne sai ki sui :

En cest pais quid ke nez fui.

Un mariner, ki Grim out nun,

M'en menat petit valetun ; 580

En Lindeseie volt aler.

Com venimes en halt mer,

De uthlages sumes asailliz,

Par ki sui si malbailliz :

£0 GEFFEEI GAIMAR.

Ma mere i ert, si fu oscise ;

Jo guari, ne sai en quele guise :

E li prodom en eschapa,

Ki me nuri, e mult m'ama ;

II e sa femme me nurirent,

E mult m'amerent e cherirent. 590

Quant furent mort, si m'en turnai,

[Un rei se]rvi u jo alai ;

E dous vadlez furen]t od mei

Tant cum jo fui od eel r]ei ;

Tant fui od lui en ma ju]vente,

fE ceste dame iert sa parente.

Si cum lui plut, la me donad,

E ensemble nus espusad.

Ci sui venud en cest pais,

Ne cunuis nul de mes amis ; 600

Ne jo ne sai a escient

Si jo ai un sul parent.

Mais per le los de un marchant,

A Grimesbi est remanant,

Mult est prodom, nun ad Algier ;

II me load, e sa muillier,

Ci a venir, mis amis querre

E mes parenz en ceste terre.]

Mes jo ne sa[i] un sul nomer,

Ne ne sai com les puise trover/ 610

Dist li prodom, ' Cum as-tu nun?'

c Sire, ne sai/ sil li respon[t],

Mes cum jo fui en la curt grant,

Si m'apelerent Cuherant ;

E tant cum jo fui valleton,

590. m'amerent. This reading is adopted from one of the other MSS., as evidently better than that of the Museum MS. me nurirent, a mere repetition of the conclusion of the foregoing line, probably by an over- sight of the scribe.

ESTOKIE DES ENGLES 21

Sai ben que Haveloc oi a nun.

A Grimesby [fui] Paltr'er,

Haveloc m'apelat Alger ;

Ore sui ici, quel ke voldrez

De ces dous nuns m'apelerez/ 620

Sygar s'estut, si escultat : Del fiz le rei bien li membrat ; E eel nun dunt il diseit, Le fiz Gunter eel non aveit. Si li membrat de un altre vice, K'il vit jadis, par la nurice, De la flambe ki ert issant De sa buche, quant ert dormant. La nuit le fist tres bien guaiter, La u. il just od sa muller. 630

Pur co k'il ert forment lasse De la bataille, e del pense K'aveit eu le jor devant, S'il s'endormi, nuls ne 1' demant. Ignel pas com il dormi, De sa bucbe ia flambe issi. [E li] servant ki Punt guaite, [A lur seignur Funt] tost nuncie: [E li prodom levat] del lit; Quant il i vint la fla]mbe vit. 640

Dune sot il