she came on purpose to gain the love of the young knight. She knows his past and future, and is all-powerful to do anything for him he may wish. She has no limitations of beauty, age or resources. In both lays she is thus represented; but while in Lanval she is consistently portrayed, in Graelent, in the passage I have summarized, she is confused with a swan-maiden: she must needs be captured by the hero, who gets her into his power by stealing the clothes she has left on the bank while she bathes. Moreover, traces of the joining of the two distinct conceptions are present in our lay. The maiden who one moment pleads with Graelent for mercy and who allows herself to be ravished by force alone, who declares: "Graelent, vus m'avés surprise" (300), nevertheless adds the following bit of information, which would indeed be bewildering did we not know that the inconsistency is due to the introduction of elements foreign to the original story: Graelent, vos estes loiaus Prox è curtois è assés biax: Pur vus ving-jou à la fontaine, Pur vus souferai-jou grant paine; Bien savoie ceste aventure (315 ff.). The author has now evidently returned to the original material. The words just quoted should be compared with the following from Lanval: Lanval, fet ele, bels amis, pur vus vinc ieo fors de ma terre de luinz vus sui venue querre Se vus estes pruz e curteis (110 ff.). The verbal agreement between the two lays, in reality very slight, is nowhere more significant. Lanval, I repeat, is much more primitive in this part of the narrative than Graelent; and the swan-maiden adventure has evidently been clumsily introduced into a lay where it has no business to be, thereby causing confusion and inconsistency. Where, we may now ask, did the author of Graelent get his material? I have pointed out elsewhere1 that in this episode and especially in the hunt which precedes it, Graelent shows striking likeness to the lay of Guingamor, and that a very similar story is contained in the Old French Dolopathos by Herbert, based on the Latin prose version of John of Alta Silva, which was written between 1179 and 1212. But neither of these poems can be regarded as the source of the interpolation in our lay. There is, however, a poem, in another language and of a much later date, part of which I should like to bring into comparison with this interpolated passage. I refer to the 14th century Middle High German poem of Friedrich von Schwaben 2-a long, rambling, uninspired production, chiefly interesting because of the old traditions it embodies and its allusions to mediaeval works and their heroes. It tells of a fabulous Duke Frederick of Swabia, whom the poet leads from one extraordinary adventure into another without troubling himself much about a reasonable plot. Into this heterogeneous mass of material taken from all kinds of sources, is introduced a romantic version of the story of Wayland and the swan-maidens, which is to be found nowhere else in mediaeval literature except in the beautiful Eddic lay Volundarkviða, which dates from the end of the ninth century. This is the best part of the old German poem-the only part, I may add, which is accessible in more than a summary.3 "Lay of Guingamor" (Harvard Studies and Notes, IV, 1897, 236 ff.) 9 Dr. K. H. Hermes published about 600 lines of the text under the heading Die Wielandsage im F. v. S., in von der Hagen's Germania, VII (1846), 95-115. The poem was first analysed by Langer in Gräter's Bragur, ein Literarisches Magazin der Teutschen u. Nord. Vorzeit, Leipzig, VI, I (1798), 181-189; VI, II (1800), 189-205; vII, I (1802), 209–235. Cf. Uhland, Schriften, 1, 481 ff.; Grimm, Deut. Heldensage, 310 ff.; 473; Raszmann, Die deut. Heldensage u. ihre Heimat, 1857/8, 2nd ed., 1863, 11, 265; Jiriczek, Deut. Heldensagen, 1898, 1, 24 ff.; Paul's Grundriss, 2nd. ed., 111, 642. Ludvig Voss announces an edition of the poem in his dissertation, Ueberlief. u. Verfasserschaft des M.H.D. Ritterromans, F. v. S., Münster, 1895. If we compare the stories of Wieland and Graelent, we see that they are both represented as handsome knights who enter the service of a king in order to aid him in a war with another prince. In both cases they come into high favor with the kings they serve, but their wages are unjustly withheld by their lords, and they are thus reduced to poverty. In W. the king refuses to pay the knight, in order that he may not be able to leave him. In Gt. his refusal is said to be at the suggestion of the amorous queen, who later plays a prominent part in the story; but traces of the original explanation are clear in the words : Povre le tenist entur lui Qu'il ne péust servir autrui (151–2). W. bitterly laments his situation. He has, he realizes, lost his türe arwait, but there is nothing now for him to do: not being able to leave, he must remain at court in poverty. Even so, Gt. is sad and downcast. He "n'atent nul secors" (159) and decides that "ne li remest que engagier" (155). W. in his distress rides out alone from the city, and suddenly finds himself in the presence of a beautiful hind, whom he follows until he comes to an open place where is a prunnen klar. Separated from the hind, he sees three doves come flying to the fountain and there transform themselves into beautiful women, remove their clothes and go in bathing. W. quietly gets possession of their garments, and then shows himself. When they see him, the maidens are at first terrified, and "nackent und plos" bewail their unhappy condition. Finally, one of them thus appeals to W. (p. 108): lieber gesell, Nu hör, was ich wel! Du hast genommen unser gewand, Wir haben dir ne leit getan; Darum soltu unz das gewand lan, Daz stat wol deinen eren. Nu tu mich geweren! W. replies that one of them must marry him: Oder ir müst nackent stan, Und ich wil von euch gan; Ewr gewand trach ich hin. They inquire whether he is of noble race; but he will not tell and insists on his demand. They then offer him money. Wir wellen mit dir dingen Daz du lebest kostlich In ainem jeden rich Unser gewand mag dir nit frumen; Nun bis versunnen Gib uns wider daz! But he refuses. At last, seeing that there is no escape, they agree to his proposals. Er gab in ir gewand, Und gieng hindan zů hand. Thereupon, after much complaint, the charming Angelburg, the leader of the three maidens, grants him her love. In like manner, we remember, Gt. rides out alone into a forest, "très pensix, mornes è dolent" (198). While he is wandering about, he discovers a hind, who leads him to the clear fountain within which he sees three damsels bathing, their clothes having been left on the bank. He pays no more heed to the hind-messenger, but turns all his attention to the three bathers, especially to the one preeminently beautiful. Ne la veut en l'iave tuchier, Par tant le cuide retenir Ses Dameiseles s'aperçurent Del' Chevalier, en effroi furent. Lor Dame l'a araisuné, Par mautalent l'a apelé: Graelent, lai mes dras ester, K'il ne li face nul anui. Sa chemise li a dunée: Cele s'en ist de maintenant, Il li tint le mantel devant, Puis l'afula è si li rent (223 ff.). Thereupon, he presses his suit, and the maiden, after much protestation, finally gives way, and grants him her love. The Wieland episode in Friedrich von Schwaben is evidently a very close parallel to the interpolation in Graelent. The two stories cover just about the same ground, and emphasis is laid on the same features. It should be noted particularly how minutely the two accounts agree, not only in the attitude of the hero towards the three maidens, but also in their attitude towards him. Their "reasoning," which |