French culture & literature

"Norman" means "North-man". The Normans were, in fact, of the same blood as the Danes, but they had thoroughly absorbed the culture of the late Roman Empire, had been long Christianized, and spoke that offshoot of Latin we call Norman French. Thus their kingdom in France had a very different set of traditions from those of the country they conquered - Great Britain. One could sum it up by saying that the Norman way of life liked south - towards the Mediterranean, towards the sun, towards wine and laughter, while the Anglo-Saxon way of life looked towards the grey northern seas - grim, melancholy, heavy, humourless. And speaking about the French and Anglo-Saxon languages and cultures we could compare them as colour TV (French) and black-and-white TV (Anglo-Saxon).

Not that the conquering Normans were irresponsible or inefficient (qualities which, wrongly, people often associate with the southern races). William the Conqueror made a thorough job of taking over the country, and had everything neatly inventoried - down to the number of deer in the forests, so it was said - and this inventory carried the frightening name of Domesday Book. So the first piece of Norman writing in England is a catalogue of the King's property, for William saw himself as the owner of the country. He owned the land and everything in it, but granted land to the nobles who had helped him achieve his conquest, and so set up that feudal system which was to transform English life. Feudalism may be thought of as a sort of pyramid, with the king at the apex and society ranged below him in lower and lower degrees of rank, till at the base you have the humblest order of men, tied to working on the land, men with few rights. Few rights, but yet rights, for one of the characteristics of feudalism was responsibility working two ways - up and down. The barons were responsible to the King, but the King had his responsibilities towards them too, and so on down to the base of the pyramid.

With the coming of the Normans (with their laws, their castles, knowledge of the art of war), the Anglo-Saxons sank to the position of abjectness which killed their culture and made their language a despised thing. The state language of the country was French, not Anglo-Saxon. All the official institutions also carried out their work in French.

The Normans came from France where culture & literature were influenced by the culture & literature of the southern French province Provance. This region was already highly developed in the 11^th century both in cultural & economic spheres. And their literature was an example to follow for the whole France, because it was an expression of a new type of the one opposed to the ascetic religious literature & morals. The troubadours (трубадуры), the singers who went from palace to palace, sang the exquisite feelings of knights. And their attempt to express the depth of feelings & emotions in their songs was very important for further development of literature at large. They created a picture of an ideal knight but in reality knights were very often far from being ideal & perfect people.

So, gradually appeared chivalrous (рыцарская) poetry in the courts of feudal nobles. And as the Normans came from France they brought their culture & literature with them. The genres they brought were chivalrous poetry (рыцарская поэзия) & the romance (рыцарский куртуазный роман).

The 12^th century was the period when these genres were flourishing in Britain. At first romances were brought from France but gradually Normans began to take Celtic legends for composing them. Among the first writers who introduced these genres into English literature were the following ones: Wace (Вас) with his romances "Brut" ("Брут") & "Rom an de Rou" ("Роман о P у ") (this romance tells of a Scandinavian Viking Rollo by name, his reign, his heirs, etc. The author tried to be very precise when describing various battles, deeds & feats of the Normans which finished with their invasion of Britain); Robert de Borron with his "Joseph d'Arimathie" ("Иосиф Аримафейский"); Mary the French (Мария Французская) with her "Chevrefueille" ("Жимолость") in which she tells the legend about Tristan & Isoud (Тристан и Изольда). All of these writers began to take Celtic legends for the plots of their romances, the stories about King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table and many others.

At first romances were written in French as it was the language of the nobles at that time & the official language of the country at large. But by & by romances in Anglo-Saxon began to appear.

The first romances in English appeared in the 13^th c. The earliest of them was "King Ногп"("КорольГорн") (1225). Then followed "TheLay ofHavelok" ("Песнь о Гавелоке"), "Sir Beves of Hamptoun" ("Бевис Гемптонский")& "Guy of Warwick" ("Гай из В a p в и к a "). At the end of the 14^th century appeared the most famous romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" ("Сэр Гавейн и Зелёный р ы ц а р ь "). In this work the most characteristic features of the romance are most vividly reflected. The personages are knights who regard their dignity as the most valuable thing in the world. So are the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur & the Green Knight who once appeared in the court. The main conflict of the story is dedicated to the Code of Chivalry (рыцарский кодекс чести): a true knight was supposed to be brave, just, honest, strong-willed, loyal (devoted to his Lord, his Lady & his cause (своему делу, занятию)). Such traits as cowardice, meanness, disloyalty, treachery, weak will were considered to be shameful. It happens so that Sir Gawain breaks his word & as a result he feels a great deal of repentance. Here is the main conflict of the story. The story takes its tale from the myths of the Round table and tells of the knight Gawain and his curious encounter with the Green Knight, a giant who, having had his head cut off by Gawain, calmly picks it up, tucks it under his arm and walks off. But he had made a compact that after a year he should deliver a return blow, at the Green Chapel where Gawain undertakes to meet him. On the way there Gawain stays at a castle and is subjected to many various temptations by the lord's wife. He resists them, but when the lord of the castle proves to be the Green Knight, Gawain conceals from him the girdle of invulnerability the lady had given him. The Green Knight had himself planned the temptations, and because of the one deception Sir Gawain is given a blow which, however, only slightly wounds him, his merit in resisting the main temptations being sufficient to save him from receiving a fatal blow. The romance is written in the language which shows little Norman influence.

As it has already been mentioned the bases for the Norman romances were different works by Norman poets (in French), who used Celtic & Danish legends having reworked them according to the demands of the chivalrous literature.

Actually the most famous romances in English literature were those about King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table. There were romances both in English & French which told of King Arthur who was a half legendary hero from Celtic legends who might have lived in the 6^th c. been the leader of the Celts in their struggle against the Saxons. King Arthur was the main hero of a great number of medieval stories. His image united a large cycle (цикл) of the romances, which were transformed changed during different historical epochs. The following English romances were composed on the basis of the legends about King Arthur: "Arthur" ("Артур"), "Arthur and Merlin" ("Артур и Мерлин"), "Launcelot of the Lake" ("Ланцелот Озёрный"), etc. Such stories were popular among common people too. There is even a belief that one day King Arthur will come back again.

King Arthur was the son of the English King Urther P e n d r a g о n. On the advice of Wizard Merlin he was brought up not at home but in the court of Lord Ector. When Pendragon died there was a great contest: the participants had to pull out Pendragon's magic sword E x с a 1 i b u r out of the stone. The winner was to become a new king of the country. Arthur was the only one who managed to do it, so he became the heir to the throne. Some romances also tell us of Arthur's marriage with Lady Guinevere, of the famous castle of С a m e 1 о t where Arthur lived & where his brave knights gathered in a large hall at the Round T a b 1 e, of their deeds & feats. In many romances not only Arthur himself but the knights are also the protagonists of the stories (such as Launcelotofthe Lake who is supposed to have had a love affair with Lady Guinevere; S i r Gawain; Perceval who was one of the best knights, etc.). Alongside with the king & the knights Wizard Merlin & Morgana le Fay act (фея Моргана). Arthur's death is also described in the romances: Arthur had a son Mordred by name. Mordred wanted to be the king of the country & when Arthur was away he announced him dead. When Arthur came back there was a fight between them. Mordred was killed but Arthur himself was mortally wounded. Before he died he asked to throw his sword into the sea & there is a legend that one day he will return to get it back.

In the 60s of the 15^th c. Thomas Malory (about 1417-1471) collected, systematized & rearranged the romances about King Arthur. Inl469 he retold their contents in the book " M о r t e d ' A r t u r " (from French - "Death of Arthur"). It was published in 1485 by the famous publisher С a x t о n & was a great success. This book was one of the most prominent books of the 15^th c. Malory managed to rearrange the romances so perfectly that the best features of the popular French & English romances were preserved. Besides, the author introduced a lot from himself into the stories.

The plot of King Arthur's story was later used many times by different writers: Edmund Spencer in the 16 c, John Milton, Robert Southey, Walter Scott, Alfred Tennyson in the 19^th c, William Morris, etc. Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" ("Янки при дворе короля Артура", 19^th с.) is a parody on the stories about King Arthur. A contemporary English writer Mary Stuart/ Stewart wrote a tetralogy about King Arthur's life: "The Crystal Cave" ("Хрустальная п e щ e p a"), " T h e Hollow Hills" ("Полые холмы"),"ТЬе Last Enchantment" ("Последнее очарование").

These romances are not only magic by nature, they also contain religious elements. For example, the story "The Quest for the Holy Grail" ("Поиски чаши святого Грааля") (it was one of the reasons for crusades, but it was very difficult to find the cup as only a morally ideal & perfect person could see it).

Although English & French romances of this cycle have very much in common, the French ones are much more elaborate & exquisite. The theme of refined love obtains the major place in them. English romances work on the same legends, have the same plot, but they preserve epic & heroic bases which were characteristic of the ancient legends themselves. The real life of the time is much better & deeper reflected in them, including violence, rough morals & dramatism.

Another romance which was a most famous at the time was the one about Tristan & Isoud-" Tristan et Isolde". There are several variations of the romance. One of them was adopted by V a g n e r in his opera.

Tristan was a son of King of Cornwell Mark by name. Once Tristan was badly wounded in a battle & went to be treated to the Irish Queen Isoud. There he met her daughter - Princess Isoud of the Golden Hair (Изольда Златовласка). He was cured & came back home. A bit later his father Mark asked Tristan to go to Ireland to win the princess for him (сосватать за него принцессу), for Mark. Before Tristan & Isoud left for Cornwell Queen Isoud gave her daughter's maid some love potion (любовное зелье). It was to be given to Isoud of the Golden Hair & King Mark on the day of their wedding to bind them in an unending love. But Tristan & the princess drank it on their way to Cornwell by mistake & fell in love with each other. Yet Isoud of the Golden Hair had to marry King Mark & Tristan had to leave for France where he married Isoud of the White Hands (Изольда Белорукая). Once he was mortally wounded & asked to send for his beloved, for Isoud of the Golden Hair. If she was coming there was supposed to be a white flag on the ship, if not - a black one. But although the flag was white Tristan's wife said that it was black & Tristan died without seeing his beloved.