civilization they transplanted to England, and as a consequence of this blending of cultures, a new language, much nearer the English of today, came into being, together with new political and social institutions.

From this collision of the races that were finally to complete the making of England, new modes of looking at life, a new and more flexible mode of expressing ideas in language, and new literary forms were born. All these came to fine flower in the poetry of Chaucer. As a background for the study of that poetry we need some acquaintance with the literature and life of the period of transition from the Norman Conquest to the fourteenth century.

Changes in the Language. The effect of the collision of the two languages, French and English, was to break down some of the differences between them. Many new words found their way into our language, enriching it immeasurably. New verse forms, some of which had gained high perfection in France, modified greatly the style and rules of our poetry. Old English had been a highly inflected language, somewhat like German. The new English language became much simpler. Many of the inflectional endings disappeared altogether, or were modified into a final e; even this rudimentary inflection. tended to disappear as time went on. What is more, the language varied in different parts of the country. Northern English was much more conservative than the language spoken in Chaucer's

London, since the collision between the two languages was less marked away from the court. London became the literary center as well as the commercial and political center of the kingdom, and the London dialect therefore came to be the standard. For this reason it is much easier for the modern student to read Chaucer than to read a fourteenth century poem written in the north of England.

LITERATURE OF THE TRANSITION

The Chronicles. Early in the AngloNorman period, a number of chronicles were written. These chronicles interest the general reader today mainly for what they say about King Arthur, who became to English literature what Aeneas was to Latin literature and what Odysseus was to the Greeks. They also contain stories that were used by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists. Some of them were in Latin, such as the twelfth century chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Geoffrey gives a highly romantic account of Arthur, taken, as he says, from an old "British book," in which Arthur appears as a world conqueror somewhat like Alexander or Julius Caesar. About the year 1200 Layamon wrote the Brut, a verse chronicle of Britain. It begins with the story of King Brutus, the legendary greatgrandson of Aeneas, and extends to 689 A.D. The Brut was based on a French chronicle, and is interesting for its style, which combines some of the characteristics of the older Anglo-Saxon verse with the new French forms, and for its stories of Lear, Arthur, and other early heroes. It

introduced the Round Table. To read it was no evening's pastime; it contained upwards of thirty thousand lines.

Courtly and Popular Literature. Many scholarly and religious books were written during these centuries; many lyric poems; many romances about Arthur and his Round Table. Some of these were in English; many were in French. In both languages they appealed to the better educated people of the court, but the common people had their ballads and went to see elaborate reli

gious dramas which were played on festival days in all the larger towns. Some account of both these classes of literature, courtly and popular, will enable us to understand Chaucer and his works.

THE ROMANCES

The New Political and Social Institutions. The Normans introduced feudalism and chivalry into England. The nobles held great estates, granted by the king, and in return paid taxes and supplied forces for his wars. On their estates were castles, centers of brilliant social life. Leadership in the church and in intellectual matters belonged to these overlords, who lived according to French, rather than English, standards. Farm work, trades, and household service belonged to the common people, mainly of Anglo-Saxon blood. This system made it easy for the literary and social ideals of Europe to permeate English life and thought. People throughout the continent and England were divided not by national boundaries so much as by class distinctions. The courtly literature of France, therefore, was better known in an English castle than was any native production. A community of culture. was also aided by the universal use of Latin as the language of diplomatic and learned correspondence, and as the language of the services of the church.

A NORMAN CASTLE

Chivalry. Accompanying feudalism was chivalry. The center of the system was the knight, the ideal gentleman of medieval times. He was of high lineage, and devoted himself to the search for individual distinction through his prowess at arms. He rode about seeking adventure, taking part in tournaments, winning the favor of ladies through his skill and devotion, rescuing those who were in distress. Admission to the order of knighthood was very formal, requiring long preparation, high character, and the favor of the king or some great knight. Readers of Tennyson's Idylls of the King and of Scott's medieval romances are familiar with the system.

The Themes of the Romances. According to a medieval French writer, there were three "matters," or sources of material, on which writers of the romances drew. The "Matter of France" dealt with Charlemagne and his knights. The "Song of Roland" was the most famous of these romances; according to an old account of the battle of Senlac, a minstrel named Taillefer rode before Duke William, "singing of Roland and of Charlemagne, of Oliver and the knights who died at Roncesvaux." We can well believe this, for the story is a thrilling one, told in verse that has a martial ring. The "Song of Roland" is one of about a hundred similar "chansons de geste," or "songs of history"; many of them were well known in Norman England.

KNIGHTS JUSTING

The Arthurian Romances. The second "matter" was that of Britain. These stories, as the name indicates, are based on British (Celtic, not Anglo-Saxon) legends. The most famous of these deal with Arthur and his great knights. They reached their highest perfection in the writings of Christian of Troyes, in the twelfth century. In them, Arthur is less important than he had been in the verse chronicles of Geoffrey and Layamon; the main interest centers in the adventures of "the greatest knight in the world," an honor held successively by Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval, and Galahad. Certain elements were also added to the original story, such as the account of the Grail. Great cycles, or groups of stories, were built up around the adventures of these knights, and, as in the case of the Charlemagne romances, they were as well known in England as in France. They were a part of the entertainment and education of ladies and gentlemen of the court. Chaucer knew them well, and made many references to them. In the fifteenth century Sir Thomas Malory compiled a sort of prose epic about the life and death of Arthur and the deeds of the knights of the Round Table, basing his account on the famous French romances, and his work is the source of most of their influence on modern English literature, such as Tennyson's Idylls of the King.

Classical Themes. The third group of romances, dealing with the "Matter of Rome the Great," contains stories of Thebes, Troy, Alexander, and Aeneas. Greek and Latin poetry and drama were not so widely known in the Middle Ages as they have become in later times, but the

more famous classical stories, changed in character and in subject-matter, had a sort of popularity through romances similar in many respects to those about Charlemagne and Arthur. That is, we do not find in them an authentic picture of old Greek and Roman life; they are colored by chivalry and medieval ideas; they show how the French writers drew on every conceivable variety of material in their search for plots.

English Romances. Some of the Arthurian romances were translated from French into English; separate stories, not belonging to the great cycles, were also used. The English versions were usually less courtly than the originals, and often combined popular traditions with the chivalric elements. The alliterative Morte Arthure, of the fourteenth century, is a remarkable poem which combines the old stories of Arthur's expedition against Rome with the account of his death later made familiar by Malory. Gawayne and the Green Knight (fourteenth century) was written in northern England, by an unknown poet, in the time of Chaucer. It tells a good story with animation and remarkable skill in portraiture.

in a year and a day to receive the return buffet. Gawayne accepted the challenge, and struck off the stranger's head with a single blow. The Green Knight picked up the head, held it in front of him, and rode off. A year later Gawayne, in spite of the protests of his friends, went to fulfill his agreement. At a castle he was splendidly entertained by a knight who made with him an agreement that at the end of each day they would exchange whatever of value each had gained during the day. The host went hunting, and at supper

gave to Gawayne the trophies he had won. Meantime Gawayne had been entertained at the castle by the host's wife, a lady of surpassing beauty, who had made love to him; he gave to his host the kiss he had accepted from the lady. This was repeated for three days, but Gawayne hid a girdle that the lady had given him to protect his life against all attacks. On New Year's Day he went to the Green Chapel, where he found his adversary. He was complimented on his punctuality, and received three blows, only one of which wounded him slightly. Then the strange knight revealed himself as Gawayne's host, saying that the temptations had been planned as a test. Except in one detail, he had kept his word, so that Gawayne was wounded but slightly.

Thus the poem exalts the virtue of faithfulness to one's plighted word, and is a good illustration of the way in which the romances inculcated love for the chivalric virtues.

The Significance of the Romances. While the medieval romances profess to deal with matters of history, they give no accurate information about the early contest of the Britons with the Saxons and the Romans. They reflect, instead, medieval ideas of the gentleman, and Arthur became the ideal English hero. They were the novels of their day, read by ladies and gentlemen of the court, and they represent the aspirations of the time in matters of conduct just as Dante's Divine Comedy reflects the religious idealism of the same period. The great cathedrals of France and England also represent the desire of the soul to rise to something nobler than

From a manuscript in the British Museum

A ROYAL FEAST OF THE PERIOD

can be afforded by everyday life. Romance, divine vision, and cathedral are not transcripts of the facts of life, but the expression of the longing of men and women of all times for what is excellent.

RELIGIOUS AND DIDACTIC LITERATURE

Religious Elements in the Romances. Besides the unity given to all Europe by the spread of feudalism and chivalry, there was the unity of religious faith. One church, more powerful than any political authority, with a ritual uniform not only throughout a nation but throughout Europe, commanded the submission of all men everywhere. This common religious faith pervades the romances, whatever their language, taking various forms. The Charlemagne romances dealt largely with the wars between Christian and Saracen, and with the Crusades. The Arthurian romances are filled with references to the Church; to conform to all the observances. of religion was an essential duty of knighthood. Some of these references are merely formal, but in stories like Gawayne and the Green Knight we frequently find religious idealism of rare beauty. In the later French romances, particularly those based on the story of Galahad and the quest of the Grail, the conventional situations and incidents take on allegorical significance; the quest for the Grail is mystic in its teaching of the power of the purified mind to attain a vision of heavenly truth and beauty.

A HERMITAGE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
(This ancient dwelling is still standing)

was to be attained through action; the chivalric quest, substance of the romances, is the medieval interpretation of this ideal. To others, the highest perfection might be attained only through meditation and withdrawal from the world. Hermits were highly honored. Tennyson tells us, in "St. Simeon Stylites," of a holy man, typical of others in his time, who lived upon a platform raised high above the ground, in order to escape the contaminations of earth. Richard Rolle, an English mystic of the fourteenth century, lived in a little hermitage, practicing the life of contemplation, writing of the way by which the soul, even in this present life, may see God.

The Pearl. Typical of this literature of religious idealism is the fourteenth century poem known as "The Pearl." Its author is unknown, and even the meaning of the poem is doubtful. To some readers it is an allegory of the religious life; to others it is the cry of a desolate soul for a precious friend lost in death's dateless night. Probably both views are correct: a father mourning for the loss of his daughter has a vision of her in Paradise and is comforted; such is the teaching of death to the Christian. The intense personal grief at first unsettles faith, but as time passes the suffering becomes idealized, and finally gives way to a new life of deeper vision and peace. Such was the experience of Dante,

whose grief for the death of Beatrice, whom he loved, at first plunged him into doubt and despair but at length became the means by which he attained a vision of God. Such, too, was the experience of Lord Tennyson as set forth in In Memoriam.

"The Pearl" is a dream-vision. The poet had lost his daughter, his pearl beyond price; his treasure is fallen in the grass and he cannot find it, nor can he leave the place. In August, when the grain is being garnered, the pearl has been lost among the flowers of the field: gilly-flowers, and peonies, sweet to the sight, sweeter in their smell. He sees a forest, rocks shining in the sun; he hears the birds singing in the branches of the trees, and the song of the brook as it glides over pebbles that shine like stars when weary men sleep. In the midst of all this beauty he sees a maiden clad in white; to his joy he recognizes in her the lost jewel of his heart. So he follows to where she shows him the heavenly city.

Other Vision Literature. The medieval period was distinguished for its visions of the beauty that transcends the dull round of earthly life. Swept by plague and pestilence, preyed upon by famine and the slaughter of battle, loving the beauty of Nature, but as yet unable to use her to make life comfortable and safe, humanity found consolation in meditating upon the glories of the unseen world. The medieval cathedral, poem in stone, spoke this aspiration. The Divine Comedy of Dante clothed in words the same idealism. The poem of the "Phoenix," in the Old English period, and in the time of Chaucer "The Pearl," alike portrayed the right of the soul to find a beauty that surpasses the beauty of earth, mirror of the changeless beauty of the world beyond human experience. The vision of the Grail was the same in essence as Dante's vision of Beatrice in Paradise or the poet's vision of his Pearl.

Not only to religious idealism was the dream-vision applied. Love allegories were as frequent as the thousand interpretations of theological or Biblical truth. Most famous was the Romance of the Rose, written in France in the thirteenth cen