John H Reis wrote:
>
> I was wondering if anyone knows where the ballad Kemp Owyne originated
>
> from.I know it gave birth to The Laidley Worm Of Spindlestone Heughs,but
> when i go in the other direction all i get on the net is about 12 copies of
> the same web page saying that FJ Child thought it had similarities with
> Icelandic,Danish and German stories.
>
> Heres what i,ve got so far
>
> The Saga of Hjalmter and Olvir which seems to have originated from an
> earlier icelandic saga.In this version the maiden is named Vargeisa
>
> Le Bel Inconnu-a French romance by Renaut de Bage,where Sir Gawains
> son Guinglain rescues Blonde Esmeree from her serpent form
>
> the fier baiser in Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's "Lanzelot " of the early 13 th
> century and other German Arthurian tales
>
> Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which has gawain battling wyrmes and
> receiving kisses and
>
> Gawain and Lady Ragnall (the loathesome lady0
>
> I suspect that somehow 12 th and 13 th century Arthurian romances written
> in France and Germany mutated into Scotlands Kemp Owyne ballad.
>
> Any ideas?
In Hales and Furnival's 'Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript', II, p.
414, they note similar stories, to Li Biaus Desconneus (original French
version, published as 'Le Bel Inconnu') = (English) Libius Disconius,
in Mandevile's Travels and Robert Lamb's 'The laidly worm of
Spindleston-heugh'. They conclude their paragraph : "The remote
original of all these stories, was, probablely, much older than
the time of Herodotus, by whom it was related (Urania)."
Owain gets bare mention in Libius Disconius.
[Guinglain didn't know his own name and so was named Libius Disconius
(the fair unknown) by King Arthur when he went to court to become a
knight.]
Bruce Olson
--
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