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Setting Adrift in Mediæval Law and Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

J. R. Reinhard
J. R. Reinhard*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Extract

Midway in his canticus the woeful Troilus laments: “Al sterelees within a boot am I.” This might seem to be nothing more than a felicitous phrase aptly suited to describe the plight of the unhappy lover. But in the Man of Law's Tale Constance actually experienced the dreadful circumstances which gave rise to a metaphor. We remember that the old soldaness, after killing her son and his Christian partisans, caused the Roman bride to be put on a ship without a rudder, and bade her learn navigation back to Italy. What treasure Constance had brought to Syria was put into the boat with her, as well as a considerable supply of victuals and clothes. For a number of years thereafter Constance tossed about on the sea, preserved from harm and death by Him who saved Daniel and Jonah, until her ship stuck fast on the shore of Northumberland, where she was found by the constable of a castle who came down to search the wreck. Soon after Constance's marriage to King Ælla of Northumberland, the monarch was called away to fight his enemies. Ælla's mother, like the old soldaness of Syria, hated her son's wife and plotted her destruction. When Constance's child was born the old queen contrived that the message to Ælla announcing the news should report the birth of a monster, with the suggestion that Constance was an evil fairy; and for the king's reply she substituted a command that the young woman and her offspring should be placed in the ship in which she had been found originally,—that is, a ship without rudder in the beginning, and now, apparently, a wreck,—that she should be pushed out from shore and charged never to return. The salient facts in these two episodes, which we may call Constance I and Constance II, are: Expulsion by sea in an unseaworthy boat, setting adrift in the same kind of boat by reason of a serious indictment, and safe-conduct or protection by a mysterious or divine power.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , March 1941 , pp. 33 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1941

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References

Note 1 in page 34 See K. von Amira, Die Germanischen Todesstrafen, in Abh. der Bayer. Akad. der Wissenschaften, Philos.-Philolog. u. Hist. Klasse, xxxi, 3 (München, 1922), pp. 146–147; W. Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites (London, 1894), pp. 419–421.

Note 2 in page 35 Von Amira, op. cit., pp. 86–164.

Note 3 in page 35 Readers will recall the treatment of this matter by M. Byrne. Ériu, xi (1930), 97–100, and by Prof. Archer Taylor in L. Mackensen and J. Bolte, Handwörterbuch des deutschen Märchens (Leipzig, 1930–33), i, 155, s.v. “Aussetzung im Boot.”

Note 4 in page 35 G. Glotz, L'Ordalie dans la Grèce primitive (Paris, 1904), pp. 64–67.

Note 5 in page 36 See “Bonnie Annie” and “Brown Robin's Confession,” Child, Ballads, nos. 24 and 57, and Introduction to no. 57. There is a tangential analogue in Oehlenschläger's “Valravnen” and its source in Grundtvig, Danmarks Gamie Folkeviser (Kjöbenhavn, 1856), Pt. ii, p. lf. nr. 33. Cp. also the plight of Reyner, Chronica Monasteri de Melsa, ed. E. A. Bond, Rolls Series no. 43, I, 128.

Note 6 in page 36 Gower, Conf. Amant., v, 4230 f. tells the tale from Hyginus. See J. G. Fraser, Golden Bough, iv, 161; Plato, Minos, 3156.

Note 7 in page 36 C. Plummer, Bethada Náem Érnenn (Oxford), 1922, ii, p. 53, §53.

Note 8 in page 36 Immram Curaig Hua Corra, ed. W. Stokes, RC., xiv (1893), p. 41, §42.

Note 9 in page 36 Echtra Clerech Choluimcille, ed. W. Stokes, RC., xxvi (1905), p. 137, §9.

Note 10 in page 37 H. Zimmer, “Keltische Beiträge ii,” Z.f. deut. Alter., xxxiii (1889), 132–.

Note 11 in page 37 Children so abandoned belong to a different category from those born in wedlock but exposed because unwanted by their parents.

Note 12 in page 37 K. Meyer, Cain Adamnáin (Oxford, 1905), p. 43, note to §33 on p. 24.

Note 13 in page 37 H. Lizeray et W. O'Dwyer, Leabar Gabala, etc. (Paris, 1884), p. 137.

Note 14 in page 37 Coir Anmann, ed. tr. W. Stokes, Irische Texte, iii. 2 (Leipzig, 1897), pp. 312, 313, §55.

Note 15 in page 38 Carl Keller, Die Mittelenglische Gregoriuslegende (Heidelberg, 1914), pp. 44 and 51. The first quotation is from MS Cotton Cleopatra D. IX and the second from Auchinleck MS.

Note 16 in page 38 E. Kölbing, Tristrams Saga ok Ísondar (Heilbronn, 1878), p. 37, lines 26f., p. 38, lines 1–3. See also Sir Tristrem, ibid., stanzas cv, cvi.

Note 17 in page 39 Saga Ólafs Konúngs Tryggvasonar, cap. 106, in Fornmanna Sögur eptir Gömlum Handritum, Kaupmannahøfn, i, 224 f.; tr. J. Sephton (London, 1895), pp. 151–153.

Note 18 in page 39 Victor Victensis Bistorta persecutionis Africanae provinciae sub Geiserico et Hunirico regibus Wandalorum, i, 5, ed. C. Halm, MGH: Auct. Antiq. (Hannoviae, 1879), iii, i, p. 5.

Note 19 in page 40 J. Ussher, Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, ed. C. R. Elrington (London, 1847–64), v, 27.

Note 20 in page 40 Ussher, op. cit., v, 28. T. A. Cook, Old Provence (New York, 1911), i, 79, refers to the legend of the three Marys set adrift in an open boat after the death of Christ, and their arrival at Les Baux, but gives no references.

Note 21 in page 40 Carl Horstmann, Sammlung Altenglischer Legenden (Heilbronn, 1878), p. 152.

Note 22 in page 41 Horstmann, op. cit., p. 164, vv. 87 f. See also Mirk, Festial, ed. T. Erbe, EETS, es. xcvi, p. 204.

Note 23 in page 41 The Pleasant Historie of Tom à Lincolne, in W. J. Thorns, Early English Prose Romances (London, 1858), ii, 259–260.

Note 24 in page 42 Emare, ed. A. B. Gough (London, 1901).

Note 25 in page 42 “Malfred and Mogens,” in R. C. A. Prior, Ancient Danish Ballads (London, 1860), ii, 311 f.; Grundtvig, ii, 122.

Note 26 in page 43 Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos, etc., Decada Primera, viii, viii, ed. A. de Altolaguirre y Duvale (Madrid, 1935), iii, 227; Sir Arthur Helps, The Spanish Conquest in America (New York, 1856), i, 279–316; Altolaguirre y Duvale, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (Madrid, 1914), pp. xxxvii-li.

Note 27 in page 44 King Horn, ed. J. Hall (Oxford, 1901).

Note 28 in page 45 Ólafs Saga Tryggvasonar, cap. 145, tr. J. Sephton (London, 1925).

Note 29 in page 45 Betha Finnchua Bri Gobunn, ed. tr. W. Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore (Oxford, 1890), p. 242, lines 3157 f. The MS is dated after 1450.

Note 30 in page 45 Suetonius, Nero, xxxiv. See also Casaubon's ed. (Lipsiae, 1802), iii, 195.—The author of the Excerpta Valesiana records that Theodoric the Goth was angry when Pope Johannes refused to deliver his insolent message to Emperor Justinus; so he “gave orders that a ship should be built, and that Johannes should be embarked on it with the other bishops.” The writer does not say that it was an unseaworthy ship, but he points out that “God . . . conducted them in safety.” See J. C. Rolfe's edition of Ammianus Marcellinus, Loeb Classical Library, iii, 565.

Note 31 in page 46 C. Plinii Caecilii Secundi Panegyricus Trajano Augusto dictus (Parisiis, 1796), cap. xxxiv, ad fin.

Note 32 in page 46 Pliny, op. cit., cap. xxxv.

Note 33 in page 46 For this reference I am indebted to the editor, Sanford B. Meech, who has prepared The Book of Margery Kempe for publication by the Early English Text Society, Extra Series. See p. 69, line 19 f.

Note 34 in page 47 Karl von Richtofen, Untersuchungen über friesische Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin, 1880–82), ii, i, 459–460; R. Dareste, Nouvelles Études du Droit, 3m série (Paris, 1906), p. 206; J. Grimm, Deutsche Sagen (Berlin, 1891), No. 450.

Note 35 in page 47 Ancient Laws of Ireland (Dublin and London, 1865), i, 204–205.

Note 36 in page 48 Ancient Laws, i, 14–15. See below, note 37.

Note 37 in page 48 Quoted by K. Meyer, Cáin Adamndin (Oxford, 1905), p. 43, note to §33.1 have adopted Miss Byrne's reading and interpretation of ina cintaib anfoit no inndethberi torbaid; see Ériu, xi (1930), 98, 99.

Note 38 in page 48 K. Meyer, Cáin Adamndin (Oxford, 1905), p. 31, §45.

Note 39 in page 48 Transactions of the Philological Society, 1869, p. 196.

Note 40 in page 49 Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, I.T.S., ii, 84–87.

Note 41 in page 49 W. Stokes und E. Windisch, Irische Texte, ii. 1 (Leipzig, 1884), p. 181, lines 193 f.

Note 42 in page 49 O'Curry's Transcript 2250 (113).

Note 43 in page 49 Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts (Halle and Dublin, 1907), i, p. 5, lines 5 f.

Note 44 in page 50 I owe these references to murchreth to the kindness of Dr. V. E. Hull.

Note 45 in page 50 R. Atkinson, Ancient Laws, v (Dublin, 1901), 361, 363.

Note 46 in page 50 Irisches Recht: I. Dire, Ein Altirischer Rechstext. II. Zu den unteren Ständen in Irland, in Abh. der Preuss. Akad. der Wissen. (1931), Phil. Hist. Klasse, nr. 2, pp. 3–90; see pp. 60–90; hereinafter referred to as IR.

Note 47 in page 51 IR, 61–62, 65–66, 75. See also R. Thurneysen, Cōic Conara Fugill, in Abh. der Preuss. Akad. der Wissen. (1925), Phil.-Hist. Klasse, no. 7, p. 10 §ix, p. 76; hereinafter referred to as CCF.

Note 48 in page 51 CCF, 76, §54; IR, 68, §iii.

Note 49 in page 51 CCF, 22, §17.

Note 50 in page 51 IR, 73–74, 75.

Note 51 in page 52 IR, 66, 74, 75. E. O'Curry, Manners and Customs (London, 1873), i, cxvii, cxix.

Note 52 in page 52 CCF, 38, 65, 80. See ZCP., iv (1903), 231; xx (1933), 200 and note 3. See also Urchuillti Bretheman, ed. R. M. Smith, Irish Texts, iv (London, 1934), p. 26, line 2, §7: “A judge must understand coirpdire ball o ara co fond i. o urrad co murchurtha, that is, body-fine of limbs from temple to bottom, that is, from free man to sea-waif.”

Note 53 in page 52 Thurneysen, Irisches Recht, p. 39, Kommentar II; Heplads, lxiv, Ancient Laws, v, 320 f.

Note 54 in page 53 Sanas Cormaic, ed. K. Meyer, Anecdota front Irish Manuscripts, iv (Dublin and Halle, 1912), no. 229.

Note 55 in page 53 W. Stokes, The Tripartite Life of Patrick, Rolls Series, No. 89 (1887), i, 221–223.

Note 56 in page 53 Stokes, op. cit., ii, 286–289.

Note 57 in page 53 Op. cit., i, clxxiv.

Note 58 in page 54 W. Stokes, Rev.Celt., ix (1888), 17–19, §§8–9.

Note 69 in page 54 W. Stokes, Rev.Celt., xxvi (1905), §§5, 51, pp. 135, 165.

Note 60 in page 54 W. Stokes, Rev.Celt., x (1889), 87.

Note 61 in page 55 R. I. Best, Ériu, iii (1907), 153.

Note 62 in page 55 Martyrology of Donegal, tr. J. O'Donovan, Irish Archaeol. and Celtic Soc. (1864), p. 83.

Note 63 in page 55 Vita Kentigerni, ed. tr. A. P. Forbes, Historians of Scotland V (Edinburgh, 1874), cap. 3, p. 39.

Note 64 in page 56 Op. cit., 2nd ed., Paris, 1920, p. 345.

Note 65 in page 56 J. Grimm. Weislümer (Göttingen, 1840–78), iii, 671.

Note 66 in page 57 M. Armaei Senecae Rhetoris Controversiae, in Opera (Amstelodami, 1672), iii, 225.

Note 67 in page 57 J. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, 4th ed. (Leipzig, 1899), ii, 285–286.

Note 68 in page 58 Vitae Offae Secundi in Appendix to Matthaei Parisiensis Opera, ed. William Wats (Paris, 1644), p. 9a; Paris, 1684, p. 971.

Note 69 in page 58 See F. Olivero, Beowulf (Torino, 1934), pp. xxv, lxiii.

Note 70 in page 58 Matthew Paris, Chronica majora, ed. H. R. Luard, Rolls Series, I, 395, ad an. 870; Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, tr. J. A. Giles (London, 1849), i, 194–195; Flores Historiarum attributed to Matthew of Westminster, ed. H. R. Luard (London, 1890), I, 435–436; Richard of Cirencester, Speculum Historiale de Gestis Regum Angliae, ed. J. E. B. Mayor (London, 1863–69), i, 335.

Note 71 in page 58 William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Regum Anglorum, ed. W. Stubbs (London, 1887–89), I, 156; Matthew Paris, Chronica majora, ad an. 934, ed. cit., I, 450; Richard of Cirencester, op. cit., ed. cit., II, 64.

Note 72 in page 59 H. L. D. Ward, Catalogue of Romances, I, 199–203.

Note 73 in page 59 MS Cotton Galba E. VII. See F. S. Haydon, Eulogium Historiarum, Rolls Series, 9 (London, 1860), ii, 216–218.

Note 74 in page 60 A. Jubinal, Nouveau Recuail de Contes, etc., Paris, 1842, ii, 354–371. The lines are not numbered in this edition.

Note 75 in page 60 H. O. Sommer, The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances (Washington, 1909), I, 18–19. For this reference I am indebted to the kindness of Prof. J. S. P. Tatlock.

Note 76 in page 60 Sommer, op. cit., pp. 158–159.

Note 77 in page 61 K. von Amira, Die Germanischen Todesstrafen, Abh. der Bayer. Akad der Wissen., Philos.-Philolog.-Hist. Klasse, xxxi, No. 3 (München, 1922), p. 195 and note 3; H. Brunner, Deutsche Rechtsseschichte (München, Leipzig, 1928), ii, 616, 621.

Note 78 in page 62 Riche his Farewell lo Militane Profession (1581), Shakespeare Society, Vol. 33 (London, 1846), p. 113. See Giraldi Cinzio, Gli Hecatommithi, ii. 6.

Note 79 in page 62 Barnabe Riche, op. cit., pp. 115 f.

Note 80 in page 62 In other like stories the hero does this in revenge for the shabby treatment he has received at the hands of the girl or her father; there is no such motive here.

Note 81 in page 63 L. Strackerjan, Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogtum Oldenburg (Oldenburg, 1867), ii, 347 f., No. 633.

Note 82 in page 63 Analogous Märchen, in which the sea-going vessel is sometimes a boat, sometimes a tub, are found among the Finnish tales reported by Oskar Hackman, Sagor, in Finlands Svenska Folkdìktnìng, i A (Helsingfors, 1917 [–20]), Vol. 132, pp. 387–390, 392.

Note 83 in page 63 F. J. Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Boston and New York, 1882–98), No. 13.

Note 84 in page 63 Child, op. cit., i, No. 49, p. 441, stanza 19.

Note 85 in page 64 The death of Fidhmuine O'Suanaigh is recorded by the Four Masters at the year 750; that of his brother Fidhailre is placed by Tigernach at 763.

Note 86 in page 64 Geinealack ua bh-Fiachrach in The Genealogies, Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, ed. tr. J. O'Donovan (Dublin, 1844), p. 37 f. Manuscript dated 1650–1664.

Note 87 in page 65 Ailred of Rievaux, The Life of Saint Ninian, ed. tr. A. P. Forbes (Edinburgh, 1874), cap. x, pp. 20, 152.

Note 88 in page 66 Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer (Leipzig, 1899) ii, 286.

Note 89 in page 66 Von Amira, Die Germanischen Todesstrafen, op. cit., p. 145.