Cycles

Unlike the later form of the novel and like the chansons de geste, the genre of romance dealt with traditional themes. Overwhelmingly, these were linked in some way, perhaps only in an opening frame story, with three thematic cycles of tales: these were assembled in imagination at a late date as the "Matter of Rome" (actually centered on the life and deeds of Alexander the Great conflated with the Trojan War), 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, within which was incorporated the quest for the Holy Grail); medieval authors explicitly described these as comprising all romances.^[2]

In reality, a number of "non-cyclical" romances were written without any such connection;^[3] these include such romances as King Horn,^[4] Robert the Devil,^[5] Ipomadon,^[6] Emaré,^[7] Havelok the Dane,^[8] Roswall and Lillian,^[9] Le Bone Florence of Rome,^[10] and Amadas.^[11]

Indeed, some tales are found so often that scholars group them together as the "Constance cycle" or the "Crescentia cycle"—referring not to a continuity of character and setting, but to the recognizable plot.^[3]

[edit] Sources

The earliest medieval romances dealt heavily with themes from folklore, which diminished over time, though remaining a presence. Many early tales had the knight, such as Sir Launfal, meet with fairy ladies, and Huon of Bordeaux is aided by King Oberon,^[12] but these fairy characters were transformed, more and more often, into wizards and enchantresses.^[13] Morgan le Fay never loses her name, but in Le Morte d'Arthur, she studied magic rather than being inherently magical.^[14] Similarly, knights lose magical abilities.^[15] Still, fairies never completely vanished from the tradition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being.^[16]

Early persecuted heroines were often driven from their husbands' homes by the persecutations of their mothers-in-law, whose motives are seldom delineated, and whose accusations are of the heroines' having borne monstrous children, or committed infanticide, or practicing witchcraft—all of which appear in such fairy tales as The Girl Without Hands and many others; but, as time progresses, a new persecutor appeared: a courtier who was rejected by the woman or whose ambition requires her removal, and who accuses her of adultery or high treason, motifs not duplicated in fairy tales, and while he never eliminates the mother-in-law, many romances such as Valentine and Orson, change from the mother-in-law to the courtier, whereas a more recent version never goes back.^[17]

Some romances, such as Apollonius of Tyre, show classical pagan origins.^[18] Tales of the Matter of Rome in particular may be derived from such works as the Alexander Romance.

The Acritic songs (dealing with Digenis Acritas and his fellow frontiersmen) resemble much the chanson de geste, though they developed simultaneously but separately. These songs dealt with the hardships and adventures of the boarderguards of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) - including their love affairs - and where a predominantly oral tradition which survived in the Balkans and Anatolia until modern times. This genre may have intermingled with its Western counterparts during the long occupation of Byzantine territories by French and Italian knights after the 4th crusade. This is suggested by later works in the Greek language which show influences from both traditions.

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 literature of Romance comes from Scandinavia in the form of the legendary sagas. The setting is Scandinavia, but occasionally it moves temporarily to more distant and exotic locations (including Constantinople). There are also very often mythological elements, such as gods, dwarves, elves, dragons, giants and magic swords. The heroes often embark on dangerous quests where they fight the forces of evil, dragons, witchkings, barrow-wights, and rescue fair maidens.

The new courtly love was introduced to the romance by Chretien de Troyes, combining it with the Matter of Britain, new to French poets.^[19] In Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (unlike his earlier Erec and Enide), the behavior of Lancelot conforms to the courtly love ideal;^[20] it also, though still full of adventure, devotes an unprecedented amount of time to dealing with the psychological aspects of the love.^[21]