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Germanic and Celtic Heroic Traditions 25
of epic poetry in general: the infidelity of his wife
Gunnhumara, the treachery of his nephew Modred, might
appear in a German epic poem as well. But in the French
poems of the British cycle the historical core is overgrown
by the weeds of most luxurious fantasy. In the mabinogi
of Kulhwch and Olwen the hero is obliged to perform
a series of nearly impossible tasks in order to win Olwen
and it is Artus who gives him assistance: the hunting of
the boar Twrch Trwyth is the most remarkable feat
among these adventures. The French romances introduce
a new kind of literature; we have adventures like the
famous one in the forest of Broceliande, where water
sprinkled on a stone arouses a formidable tempest,
whereupon a gigantic knight challenges the hero. We
may say that here for the first time in Western Europe
there appears something we are accustomed to call pure
fiction. These romances are the outcome of most
exuberant fantasy. But this is only one side of this
remarkable literary phenomenon. For here we get the
impression of a new kind of public too, with quite different
tastes and wants. These nobles and noblewomen have
no longer any interest in the glorious exploits of their
forebears; they only expect to hear thrilling tales to drive
away hours of idleness and ennui. They like to hear
adventures of the utmost unreality, love stories extravagant
and pathetic, conflicts with dwarfs and giants
who suddenly appear around the corner of the street.
But here we find at the same time a setting that is as
unreal as it could be; often we have the impression of
wandering through a country where rolling mists blur the
sharp contours of reality. In effect these British
champions are knights errant wandering at random.
In this borderland of the natural and the supernatural
we are prepared for everything unforeseen and weird; it
is like a folktale, but more eccentric and more
sophisticated.
I wish to emphasize by these examples taken from the