L1GC1ID8
125
LEOENDS
yas, Knifl^t of the Swan " (edited by ThomB in *' Early
English Prose Romances ' ' ) . In Spain the legend was
incorporated in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar"
(xlvii sq.). There are also versions in Italy and Ice-
land. Of special interest is the development of the
legend in Germany.
In the French versions the swan-knight is called Hellas (Elie). In Konrad von Warzburg's epic Der Schwanritter" (c. 1260) he remains unnamed. The lady in distress is the Duchess of Brabant, the em- peror is Charlemagne. The swan-knight is not the ancestor of Godfrey of Bouillon, but of the dukes of Cleves. Konrad's version is based on an unknown French source. So is the brief outline given by Wolf- ram at the close of his " Parzival". There the legend is connected with that of the Grail in that the hero is the son of Parzival, the Grail-king. Here also he is called Loherangrin (i. e. Loherene Garin, Garin the Lotharingian). The duchess is Elsa of Brabant. Whether these changes in names are Wolfram's own, or whether they were in his French source cannot be decided. On the basis of Wolfram's outline, but am- I^ified and expanded by the introduction of wholly extraneous matter, arose between 1283 and 1290 the bulky German epic " Lohengrin", the work, it seems, of two different authors, but unknown. The Lohen- grin story is here a mere episode of the legendary min- strel contest held at the Wartburg castle and is put into the mouth of Wolfram himself. The accuser is here Count Friedrich Telramund, the emperor is Henry I the Fowler, and a Duchess of Cleves instigates Elsa to put the forbidden question. We see that in German versions Cleves figures in the legend; in fact, in some chronicles the scene of action is laid there (see Grimm, " Deut-sche Sagen ", 4th ed., ed. Steig, Berlin, 1905, no. 535), and the date given is 711. Fantastic continua- tions are found in the poem called Der jUngere Titurel " (c. 1260) and in the bulky versified narrative of Ulrich FUctrer "Buch der Abenteue" (written c. 1490). According to the account there given^ Lohen- grin sallies forth a second time, and comes to Lyzabori (Luxemburg) where he marries the Princess Belaye. An attempt is made on his life by her jealous relatives, and, though it is repulsed, Lohengrin succumbs to a wound received in the struggle. His wife dies of grief.
GoLTHBR in Roman\9che Fonchungen (1890), V, 103-136; Todd, preface to La Naisaance du Chevalier au Cyqne in Publication of the Modern Languape Asaociation of America, IV (Baltimore. 1889); Munckeb. Die Dichtung dee Lohengrin von Riekard Wagner und ihre Quellen in BeHage zur Allgemeinen Ztitung (1891). no. 148; Panskb, Lohenhrinatudien (Halle. 1894); BLdra In ZeUachHft far romamsche PhUologie, XXI (1897), 170 sq.; Idbu in Zeitschrift far deiUachea AUertum, XUI (1898), 1 sq.
Tannhduser. — This legend, as related in German folk-songs of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and their variants in Low German, Dutch, and Dan- ish, is as follows: Tannh&user, a minstrel knight, en- ters the mountain of Venus, a sort of subterranean paradise where the heathen goddess holds her volup- tuous court, and for a ^ear he revels in its unholy pleasures. Then a longmg seizes upon him to return to earth, and when^ through the aid of Mary, whom he invokes, his wish is realized, he hastens to Rome to implore pardon for his sin from Pope Urban IV. This ihe pope refuses to grant; TannMuser cannot be saved any more than the staff in the pontiff's hand can put forth fresh leaves. In despair the knight returns to the mountain of Venus and is not seen again. Soon after, the staff bursts into blossom and now messen- gers are sent to seek the knight, but too late.
No doubt we have here a tale of originally heathen character^ subsequently Christianized. Its theme is the famihar story of the seduction of a human being by an elf or fairy. But all the delights of the fairy- realm cannot make him f or^t his earthly home, for which he longs. His desire is granted^ but he is not happy, and in the end returns to the f airy-laad. This
moil/ is a commonplace in folk-lore literature. In the
German legend the seductive fairy is identified with
the ancient goddess of love, and the story is given a
distinctly religious colour through the introduction of
the pilgrimage of the repentant sinner to Rome. The
motif of the withered staff bursting into blossom has
also manv parallels in sacred legend, and is evidently
a later addition. How the legend came to assume the
form outlined above can only be surmised. Of the
poems that we possess on the subject none dates fur-
ther back than the middle of the fifteenth century.
The famous Volkalied that gives the above version is
from the sixteenth century. A passage in Hermann
von Sachsenheun's poem, "Die Morin" proves that
the legend, with its essential traits, was already known
in 1453 when the poem was written. There Tann-
hiluser is referred to as the husband of Dame Venus.
Now the historical Tannhiiuser was a Minnesinger of
the thirteenth century, who seems to have led a roving
life, in the course of which he experienced many
changes of fortune. His checquered career is reflected
in his poems, which exhibit a strange mingling of dis-
solute boasting and pious sentiment. In one poem
ascribed to him, repentance is expressed for foolish
and sinful living, and this poem is supposed to be re-
sponsible for his appearing in the legend in the role of
tne penitent knignt. But this is purely conjectural.
As a matter of fact, the only connexion between the
legendary and historical Tannhiiuser is the identity
of name.
It is noteworthy that a legend strikingly similar to that of Tannhauser is attached in Italy to the Monte della SibiUa, near Norcia. It is related at length by Antoine de La Sale in his " Salade ", written between 1438 and 1442. He visited the sibyl's cave in 1420, and heard the storv from the people of the neighbouring region. A still earlier reference to the legend is found in the famous romance "Guerino il meschino" of Andrea dei Magnabotti (1391). The Italian version knows that the cavalier entering the cave is a German, but does not mention his name; the queen of the sub- terranean paradise is the Sibyl of ancient prophetic fame, transformed into the goddess of pleasure. In view of these parallels which antedate the appearance of the legend m German literature, Gaston Paris dis- putes the German origin of the Tannhiiuser legend, and regards Italy as its home. Its ultimate source he finds in Celtic folk-lore. But this cannot be proved, since the earlier history of the legend is not attested by any extant literary monuments either in Italy or in Germany. It is to be noted that in the German ver- sion there is a distinct tone of hostility to the papacy, wholly lacking in the Italian variants. In fact the miracle of the blossoming staff is a pointed reproof of the pope's harshness. This can readily be explained if the legend developed in Germany, where antipapal feeling was strong after the days of the Hohen- staufens. The dominant idea of the legend is the glorification of God's infinite mercy to sinners. But this ideal is set forth in a spirit most unfriendly to the (IJhurch. The attitude ascribed to the pope by the Volkslied is wholly contrary to Catholic cloctrine.
Qrasse, Der Tannhduaer unk ewige Jude (Dresden, 1861); VON ScHLEiNiTC, Wagner'a Tannhtiuacr und Sdngcrkrieg aufder Wartburg (Meran, 1891), especially 127-178; Golther, Ge- achichte der Tannhduaer-Sage und Dichtung in Bajfreuther Taachenkdlender (1801). 829 sq.; Schmidt, TannhAuaer in Sage und Dichtung in Nord und Siid (Nov., 1802); SOderhjelm, Antoine de La Sale et la U-gende deTannhAuxer in Mimoiren de la aociH* nfo-Philologiqueh Ilelaingfora. II (1897), 101-167; Paris. Lfgendea du Moyen Age ^Paria, 1003), 111-145; RBrHCHSL, Die Tannh'iwtcrttaoe in Ar>//' Jnhrbiirher fiir dan KlaasiitcAe AUertum, Geachichte und dtutache Liie^ni*^. XIII (LeipziK. 1904), 653-667.
Robert ihe Devil. — God's boundless grace to sinners is also the theme of this legend as prf aented in French romances. Robert is the devil's own child, for his mother, despairing of heaven's aiJ in order to obtain a son, has addressed herself to the devil. From th0
