libraries of the North, most of them are fuppofed to have had fome foundation in truth, and the more ancient they are, the more they are believed to be connected with true history (y).

It was not probably till after the Hiftorian and the Bard had been long difunited, that the latter ventured at pure fiction. At length when their bufinefs was no longer to inftruct or inform, but merely to amuse, it was no longer needful for them to adhere to truth, Then fucceeded fabulous and romantic Songs, which for a long time prevailed in France and England before they had books of Chivalry in profe. Yet in both thefe countries the Minstrels till retained fo much of their original inftitution, as frequently to make true events the fubject of their Songs (z); and indeed, as during the barbarous ages, the regular Hiftories were almost all written in Latin by the Monks, the memory of events was preferved and propagated among the ignorant laity by fcarce any other means than the popu lar Songs of the Minstrels.

II. THE inhabitants of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, being the latest converts to Chriftianity, retained their original manners and opinions longer than the other nations of Gothic race: and therefore they have preferved more of the genuine compofitions of their ancient poets, than their fouthern neighbours. Hence the progrefs, among them, from poetical hiftory to poetical fiction is very difcernible: they have fome old pieces, that are in effect complete Romances of Chivalry (a). They have also (as hath been obferved) a mul

(y) Vid. Mallet. Northern Antiquities, paffim.

(z) The Editor's MS. contains a multitude of poems of this latter kind. It was probably from this cuftom of the Minstrels that fome of our first Hiftorians wrote their Chronicles in verfe, as Rob. of Gloucester, Harding, &c.

(a) See a Specimen in 24 Vol. of Northern Antiquities, &c. P. 248, &c.

titude of SAGAS (b) or Hiftories on romantic fubjects, containing a mixture of profe and verfe, of various dates, fome of them written fince the times of the Crusades, others long before: but their narratives in verse only are esteemed the more ancient.

Now as the irruption of the NOR MANS (c) into France under Rollo did not take place till towards the beginning of the tenth century, at which time the Scaldic art was arrived to the highest perfection in Rollo's native country, we can easily trace the descent of the French and English Romances of Chivalry from the Northern Sagas. That conqueror doubtless carried many SCALDS with him from the North, who tranfmitted their skill to their children and fucceffors. These adopting the religion, opinions, and language of the new country, fubftituted the heroes of Christendom instead of those of their Pagan ancestors, and began to celebrate the feats of Charlemagne, Roland, and Oliver; whose true history they set off and embellished with the Scaldic figments of dwarfs, giants, dragons, and inchantments. The first mention we have in song of those heroes of chivalry is in the mouth of a Norman warrior at the conquest of England (d): and this circumstance alone would fufficiently account for the propagation of this kind of romantic poems among the French and English.

But this is not all; it is very certain, that both the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks had brought with them, at their first emigrations into Britain and Gaul, the fame fondness for the ancient fongs of their ancestors, which prevailed among the other Gothic tribes (e), and

(b) Eccardi Hift. Stud. Etym. 1711, p. 179, &c. Hickes's Thefaur. Vol. II. p. 314.

(c) i. e. NORTHERN MEN: being chiefly Emigrants from Norway, Denmark, &c.

(d) See the Account of TAILLEFER in Vol. I. ESSAY, and Note. (e) Ipfa CARMINA memoriæ mandabant, & prælia inituri decantabant; qua memoria tam fortium geftorum a majoribus patratorum ad imitationem animus adderetur. Jornandes de Gothis,

that

that all their firft annals were tranfmitted in these popular oral poems. This fondness they even retained long after their converfion to Christianity, as we learn from the examples of Charlemagne and Alfred (f). Now POETRY, being thus the tranfmitter of facts, would as eafily learn to blend them with fictions in France and England, as the is known to have done in the north, and that much fooner, for the reasons before affigned (g). This, together with the example and influence of the Normans, will eafily account to us, why the first Romances of Chivalry that appeared both in England and France (h) were compofed in metre, as a rude kind of epic fongs. In both kingdoms tales in verfe were ufually fung by Minstrels to the harp on festival occafions and doubtlefs both nations derived their relish for this fort of entertainment from their Teutonic ancestors, without either of them borrowing it from the other. Among both people narrative Songs on true or fictitious fubjects had evidently obtained from the earlieft times. But the profeffed Romances of Chivalry feem to have been first composed in France, where alío they had their name.

(f) Eginhartus de CAROLO MAGNO. "Item barbara, & antiquiffima CARMINA, quibus veterum regum actus & bella canebantur, fcripfit." c. 29.

Afferius de ELFREDO MAGNO. "Rex inter bella, c..... Saxonicos libros recitare, & MAXIME CARMINA SAXONICA memoriter difcere, aliis imperare, & folus affidue pro viribus, ftudiofiffime non definebat." Ed. 1722, 8vo. p. 43.

(g) See above, pp. xi, xvii, &c.

(b) The Romances on the fubject of PERCEVAL, SAN GRAAL, LANCELOT LU LAC, TRISTAN, &c. were among the first that appeared in the French language in PROSE, yet thefe were originally compofed in METRE: The Editor has in his poffeffion a very old French MS. in verfe, containing L'ancien Roman de PERCEVAL, and metrical copies of the others may be found in the libraries of the curious. See a Note of Wanley's in Harl. Catalog. Num. 2252, p. 49, &c. Nicholfon's Eng. Hift. Library, 3d Ed. p. 91, &c.See also a curious collection of old French Romances, with Mr. Wanley's account of this fort of pieces, in Harl. MSS. Catal. 978, 106.

The

The Latin Tongue, as is obferved by an ingenious writer (i), ceafed to be spoken in France about the ninth century, and was fucceeded by what was called the ROMANCE Tongue, a mixture of the language of the Franks and bad Latin. As the Songs of Chivalry became the most popular compofitions in that language, they were emphatically called ROMANS or ROMANTS; though this name was at first given to any piece of poetry. The Romances of Chivalry can be traced as early as the eleventh century (k). I know not if the Roman de Brut written in 1155, was fuch: But if it was, it was by no means the firft poem of the kind; others more ancient are still extant (1). And we have already seen, that, in the preceding century, when the Normans marched down to the battle of Haftings, they animated themselves, by finging (in fome popular romance or ballad the exploits of ROLAND and the other herces of Chivalry (m).

So early as this I cannot trace the Songs of Chivalry in English. The most ancient I have feen, is that of HORNECHILD defcribed below, which feems not older than the twelfth century. However, as this rather

(i) The Author of the Effay on the Genius of Pope, p. 282. (k) Ibid. p. 283. Hift. Lit. Tom. 6. 7.

(1) Voi Preface aux "Fabliaux & Contes des Poetes François "des XII, XIII, XIV, & xv fiecles, &c. Paris, 1756, 3 Tom. 12mo." (a very curious work.)

(m) Vid. fupra, Note (d), Vol. I. ESSAY, &c. Et vide Rapin, Carte, &c.-This fong of ROLAND (whatever it was) continued for fome centuries to be ufually fung by the French in their marches, if we may believe a modern French writer. "Un jour qu'on chantoit "la CHANSON DE ROLAND, comme c'etoit l'ufage dans les marches. "Il y a long temps, dit il, [John K. of France, who died in 1364] "qu'on ne voit plus de Rolands parmi les François. On y verroit encore "des Rolands, lui repondit un vieux Capitaine, s'ils avoient un Charlemagne à leur tête." Vid. tom. iii. p. 202, des Effaies Hift. fur Paris de M. DE SAINTEFOIX: who gives as his authority, Boethius in Hift. Scotorum. This author, however, fpeaks of the Complaint and Repartee, as made in an Affembly of the States, (vocato feratu) and not upon any march, &c. Vid. Boeth. lib. xv. fol. 327. Ed. Paris, 1574

VOL. III.

b7

resembles

refembles the Saxon Poetry, than the French, it is not certain that the firit English Romances were translated from that language *. We have feen above, that a propenfity to this kind of fiction prevailed among all the Gothic nations (n); and, though after the Norman Conqueft, this country abounded with French Ro. mances, or with Tranflations from the French, there is good reason to believe, that the English had original pieces of their own.

The ftories of King Arthur and his Round Table, may be reasonably fuppofed of the growth of this ifland; both the French and the Armoricans probably had them from Britain (o). The ftories of Guy and Bevis, with fome others, were probably the invention of English Minstrels (p). On the other hand, the English procured tranflations of fuch Romances as were most current in France; and in the Lift given at the conclufion of these Remarks, many are doubtlefs of French original.

The firt PROSF books of Chivalry that appeared in our language, were thofe printed by Caxton (q); at leaft,

*See on this fubject, Vol. I. Note, S. 2. page lxxviii; and in Note G g. p. ciii. &c.

(n) The first Romances of Chivalry among the GERMANS were in Metre: they have fome very ancient narrative fongs, (which they call Lieder) not only on the fabulous heroes of their own country, but also on thofe of France and Britain, as Triftram, Arthur, Gawain, and the Knights von der Tafel ronde. (Vid. Goldafti Not. in Eginhart. Vit. Car. Mag. 4to. 1711, p. 207.)

(o) The Welsh have still some very old Romances about K. Arthur; but as these are in profe, they are not probably their first pieces that were compofed on that fubject.

(p) It is most credible that these stories were originally of English invention, even if the only pieces now extant fhould be found to be tranflations from the French. What now pass for the French originals were probably only amplifications, or enlargements of the old English ftory. That the French Romancers borrowed fome things from the English, appears from the word TERMAGANT, which they took up from our Minstrels, and corrupted into TERVAGAUNTE. See Vol. I. p. 76, and Gloff." Termagant.”

(q) Recuyel of the Hyftoryes of Troy, 1471. Godfroye of Boloyne, 1481. Le Morte de Arthur, 1485. The life of Charlemagne,