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Swan Knights
Jan. 19th, 2006 10:47 amOne major type of chanson de geste I missed earlier was the one devoted to Mr Soup and his mates, Crusaders all. I think it is obvious why a good Jewish girl would forget them.
The introductions are interesting, though.
"Godefroi de Buillon" (fiction, not person - spelling and inverted commas are my way of distinguishing) is 13th/14th century (well, the manuscript is) and a prose summary of several epics. I chose it because it is the smallest of the big black books containing Crusader epics. Also because it does something really strange for a prose work. The first section "The Birth of the Swan Knight" (Wagner was not the first person to steal this story) has a first paragraph that is dreadfully familiar.
"Lords, hear and listen." The "Roll up" bit I talked about earlier, plus how the Swan Knight came from a great lineage (proving he was of epic worth) and a little bit about his history (a very little bit) and how the version without rhyme is shorter and sweeter.
Selling a new type of story - a rather summary prose chanson de geste - through the introduction. Telling us through using familiar language that it has all the benefits of the other versions, plus it is shorter. And it pays a tribute to the rhymed version - the author puts himself/herself in the picture "Sure the rhyme is gorgeous, but hey, this is shorter." Readers' Digest Condensed Epics.
I will try to get back online tonight, because there is more interesting stuff in these intros. Western Christians are reshaping the epic the same way they are reshaping the world to Christianity - all very Crusaderish. The question is how the introduction deals with this intention.
The introductions are interesting, though.
"Godefroi de Buillon" (fiction, not person - spelling and inverted commas are my way of distinguishing) is 13th/14th century (well, the manuscript is) and a prose summary of several epics. I chose it because it is the smallest of the big black books containing Crusader epics. Also because it does something really strange for a prose work. The first section "The Birth of the Swan Knight" (Wagner was not the first person to steal this story) has a first paragraph that is dreadfully familiar.
"Lords, hear and listen." The "Roll up" bit I talked about earlier, plus how the Swan Knight came from a great lineage (proving he was of epic worth) and a little bit about his history (a very little bit) and how the version without rhyme is shorter and sweeter.
Selling a new type of story - a rather summary prose chanson de geste - through the introduction. Telling us through using familiar language that it has all the benefits of the other versions, plus it is shorter. And it pays a tribute to the rhymed version - the author puts himself/herself in the picture "Sure the rhyme is gorgeous, but hey, this is shorter." Readers' Digest Condensed Epics.
I will try to get back online tonight, because there is more interesting stuff in these intros. Western Christians are reshaping the epic the same way they are reshaping the world to Christianity - all very Crusaderish. The question is how the introduction deals with this intention.