Sir Orfeo
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| - | As a [[literary genre]], '''romance''' or '''chivalric romance''' refers to a style of [[heroic prose]] and [[verse narrative]] current in [[Europe]] from the [[Middle Ages]] to the [[Renaissance]]. | + | '''''Sir Orfeo''''' is an [[Anonymous work|anonymous]] [[Middle English]] [[narrative poetry|narrative poem]]. It retells the story of [[Orpheus]] as a king rescuing his wife from the [[fairy]] king. |
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| - | Many medieval romances recount the marvellous [[adventure novel|adventure]]s of a chivalrous, [[hero]]ic [[knight]], often of super-human ability, who, abiding chivalry's strict codes of honour and demeanour, goes on a [[quest]], and fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favour with a [[Princess lointaine|"distant princess"]]. The story of the medieval romance focuses not upon love and sentiment, but upon [[adventure novel|adventure]]; some would call contemporary [[comic book]]s and [[science fiction]] the genre's successors. | + | |
| - | ==Characteristics of the romance== | + | |
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| - | The term was coined to distinguish popular material in the [[Vernacular literature|vernacular]] (at first the [[Romance languages]] [[French language|French]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], later [[German language|German]], [[English language|English]] and others) from scholarly and ecclesiastical literature in [[Latin]]. | + | |
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| - | The boundaries between the romance and the [[chansons de geste]] of the [[troubadour]]s were somewhat fluid. In general, the [[ballad]]s were the property of professional performers, while the romance was associated more with amateurs and private readers. Nevertheless, a professional poet-performer like [[Chrétien de Troyes]] could turn his hand to composing romances. The distinction between an early verse romance and a chanson de geste is often difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to make. | + | |
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| - | Unlike the [[novel]] (''nouvelle romaine'' or "new romance") and like the [[chansons de geste]], the romance dealt with traditional themes, above all three thematic cycles of tales, assembled in imagination at a late date as the [[Matter of Rome]] (actually centered on the life and deeds of [[Alexander the Great]]), the [[Matter of France]] ([[Charlemagne]] and [[Roland]], his principal [[paladin]]) and the [[Matter of Britain]] (the lives and deeds of [[King Arthur]] and the Knights of the [[Round Table (Camelot)|Round Table]], within which was incorporated the quest for the [[Holy Grail]]). The [[Acritic songs]] (dealing with [[Digenis Acritas]] and his fellow frontiersmen) resemble much the ''chanson de geste'', though they developed simultaneously but separately. | + | |
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| - | A related tradition existed in Northern Europe, and comes down to us in the form of epics, such as ''[[Beowulf]]'' and the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]''. However, the richest set of Germanic Romantic literature comes from [[Scandinavia]] in the form of the [[Fornaldarsaga]]s. The setting is [[Scandinavia]], but occasionally it moves temporarily to more distant and exotic locations. There are also very often mythological elements, such as [[Norse god|god]]s, [[Norse dwarf|dwarves]], [[Elf|elves]], [[European dragon|dragon]]s, [[jotun|giants]] and [[magic sword]]s. The heroes often embark on dangerous quests where they fight the forces of evil, dragons, witchkings, barrow-wights, and rescue fair maidens. | + | |
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| - | Many or most of the sagas are based on distant historic events and this is evident in cases where there are corroborating sources, such as ''[[Göngu-Hrólfs saga]]'', ''[[Ragnar Lodbrok|Ragnars saga loðbrókar]]'', ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'' and ''[[Volsunga saga|Völsunga saga]]''. In the case of ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' the names in the [[Goths|Gothic]] setting indicate a historic basis, and the latter parts of the saga are still used as a historic source for Swedish history. They often contain very old Germanic matter, such as the ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' and the ''[[Völsunga saga]]'' which contains poetry about [[Sigurd]] that did not find its way into the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' and which would otherwise have been lost. Other sagas deal with heroes such as [[Ragnar Lodbrok]], [[Starkad]], [[Orvar-Odd]], [[Hagbard and Signy]]. | + | |
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| - | In the later [[medieval]] and [[Renaissance]] period, the important [[Europe]]an literary trend was to fantastic fiction. Exemplary work, such as the English ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' by Sir Thomas Malory (c.1408–1471), and the Spanish/Portuguese ''[[Amadis de Gaula]]'' (1508), spawned many imitators, and the genre was popularly well-received, producing such masterpiece of renaissance poetry as [[Ludovico Ariosto]]'s ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' and [[Torquato Tasso]]'s ''[[Gerusalemme Liberata]]'' and other 16th century literary works in the romance genre. But in the judgement of many learned readers of the time, the romance was poor literature, inspiring only broken-down ageing and provincial persons such as [[Don Quixote]], knight of isolated province [[La Mancha]]. ''[[Hudibras]]'' also lampoons the faded conventions of chivalrous romance. Romances had been deemed harmful distractions from more substantive or moral works from the high Middle Ages, in works of piety, but by 1600 most readers would agree. | + | |
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| - | Many medieval romances recount the marvellous [[adventure]]s of a chivalrous, [[hero]]ic [[knight]], often of super-human ability, who, abiding chivalry's strict codes of honour and demeanour, goes on a [[quest]], and fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favour with a [[Princess lointaine|lady]]. The story of the medieval romance focuses not upon love and sentiment, but upon [[adventure novel|adventure]]; some would call contemporary [[comic book]]s and [[science fiction]] the genre's successors. | + | |
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| - | The first romances heavily drew on the legends and fairy tales to supply their characters with marvelous powers. The tale of ''[[Sir Launfal]]'' features a fairy bride from folklore, and ''[[Sir Orfeo]]'''s wife is kidnapped by the fairy king, and Sir Orfeo frees her from there. These marvelous abilities subside with the development of the genre; [[fairy]] women such as [[Morgan le Fay]] become enchantresses, and knights lose magical abilities. | + | |
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| - | Romancers wrote many of their stories in three, thematic cycles: (i) the Arthurian (the lives and deeds of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table); (ii) the Carlovingian (the lives and deeds of Charlemagne, and Roland, his principal paladin); and, (iii) the Alexandrian (the life and deeds of Alexander the Great). In the later [[medieval]] and [[Renaissance]] period, the important [[Europe]]an literary trend was to fantastic fiction. Exemplary work, such as the English ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' (c.1469), by Sir Thomas Malory (c.1408–1471), and the Spanish ''[[Amadís of Gaul]]'' (1508), spawned many imitators, and the genre was popularly well-received. | + | |
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| - | Originally, this literature was written in [[Old English]] and [[Provençal]], later, in French and German—the notable works being ''King Horn'', [[Havelok the Dane]]; and Amis and Amiloun; later romances were written as prose, e.g. ''Le Morte d'Arthur''. | + | |
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| - | ''[[Don Quixote]]'' (1605, 1615), by [[Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra]] (1547–1616), is a satirical story of an elderly country gentleman, living in La Mancha province, who is so obsessed by chivalric romances that he seeks to emulate their various heroes. | + | |
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| - | ==Relationship to modern 'romantic fiction'== | + | |
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| - | In later romances, particularly those of French origin, there is a marked tendency to emphasize themes of [[courtly love]], such as faithfulness in adversity. From ''ca.'' 1800 the connotations of "romance" moved from fantastic and eerie, somewhat [[Gothic literature|Gothic]] adventure narratives of novelists like [[Ann Radcliffe]]'s ''[[The Sicilian Romance]]'' (1790) or ''[[The Romance of the Forest]]'' (1791) with erotic content to novels centered on the episodic development of a [[courtship]] that ends in marriage. With a female protagonist, during the rise of [[Romanticism]] the depiction of the course of such a courtship within contemporary conventions of [[realism (arts)|realism]], the female equivalent of the "[[Bildungsroman|novel of education]]", informs much [[Romantic fiction]]. | + | |
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| - | The starting point of the fornaldarsagas' influence on the creation of the [[Fantasy]] genre is the publication, in [[1825]], of the most famous Swedish literary work ''[[Frithjof's saga]]'', which was based on the ''[[Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna]]'', and it became an instant success in [[England]] and [[Germany]]. It is said to have been translated twenty-two times into English, twenty times into German, and once at least into every European language, including modern Icelandic in 1866. Their influence on authors, such as [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], [[William Morris]] and [[Poul Anderson]] and on the subsequent modern fantasy genre is considerable, and can perhaps not be overstated. | + | |
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| - | Modern usage of [[Romance novel]] denotes a particular erotic style in a highly conventionalized modern genre, and its sub-genres in historical settings, the well-named "[[Bodice ripper|Bodice ripper]]s" produced by teams of authors often writing under joint [[pseudonym]]s. | + | |
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| - | Despite the popularity of this meaning of Romance, other works are still, occasionally, referred to as romances because of their uses of other elements descended from the [[medieval romance]], or from the [[Romantic movement]]: [[larger-than-life]] [[hero]]es and [[heroine]]s, drama and adventure, marvels that may become fantastic, themes of honor and loyalty, or fairy-tale-like stories and story settings. Shakespeare's later comedies, such as ''[[The Tempest]]'' or ''[[The Winter's Tale]]'' are sometimes called his [[Shakespeare's late romances|romances]]. | + | |
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| - | ==Northrop Frye's definition== | + | |
| - | The critic [[Northrop Frye]] in ''[[Anatomy of Criticism]]'' (1957) used romance in two separate meanings. | + | |
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| - | In one, he separated some essentials of romance from the Medieval historical vehicles, to distinguish Romance as a mode that may be detected as a theme or atmosphere in other fictions, one that falls between the mode of "myth" and that of "high mimetic". Expanding [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]'', Frye classified fictions by the power of the hero's actions, which may be greater than ours, or less, or roughly of the same degree. Thus if the hero is superior in ''kind'' to men, the action is a [[mythology|myth]]. If the hero is superior in ''degree'' to others and to his environment, the mode is that of Romance, where the actions are marvellous, but the hero is human. | + | |
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| - | The hero of romance moves in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended: prodigies of courage and endurance, unnatural to us, are natural to him, and enchanted weapons, talking animals, terrifying ogres and witches, and talismans of miraculous power violate no rule of probability... Romance divides into two main forms: a secular form dealing with [[chivalry]] and knight-errantry, and a religious form devoted to [[hagiography|legends of saints]]. Both lean heavily on miraculous violations of natural law for their interest as stories" (Frye pp 33-34). | + | |
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| - | If, on the other hand, the hero is superior to other men but not to his environment, the tale falls into the mode of high mimetic. | + | |
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| - | He also divided fictions into the fields of comedy, romance, tragedy, and irony. In this division, the essential component of romance is adventure, and the central theme is the hero's rescue of a princess from a dragon. | + | |
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| - | ==List of romances== | + | |
| - | Medieval examples: | + | |
| - | *''[[Queste del Saint Graal]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Perceforest]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Valentine and Orson]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[King Horn]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Romance of the Rose]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Guillaume de Palerme]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Le Morte D'Arthur]]'' - [[Sir Thomas Malory]] | + | |
| - | *''[[Amadis de Gaula]]''- [[João Lobeira]] (most likely; see the link to Lobeira's page for more information) | + | |
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| - | Romance as a fictive mode: | + | |
| - | Romance may or may not be realistic depending on the story and its events. | + | |
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| - | *''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' | + | |
| - | *''[[Odyssey]]'': Odysseus and Circe episode | + | |
| - | *''[[The Tempest]]'' | + | |
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Sir Orfeo is an anonymous Middle English narrative poem. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from the fairy king.
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