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"Nest pas autentik, mais apocrophum": Haveloks and Their Reception in Medieval England

"Nest pas autentik, mais apocrophum": Haveloks and Their Reception in Medieval England by Richard J. Moll IKE many medieval narratives, the storyof Havelok exists somewherebetweenromanceandhistory,and,tobefrank,modernliterarycriticsaremoreinterestedinromancethanhistory.TheromanceversionsoftheHavelokstory,therefore,havereceivedthelion's shareofcriticalattention.Thisisonlytobeexpected,asboththeAngloNorman and Middle English Havelok poems are excellent examples ofearlyromanceanddeservecarefulcriticalscrutiny.Recentworkon Havelok, however, has begun to examine more closely the historical textsinwhichtheDanishheroisbutoneofdozens,orevenhundreds, of British rulers. Still, critical comment on the story as it is found in chroniclestendstotreatthesetextsassourcesofinformationregardingtheromances,particularlytheMiddleEnglishHavelok the Dane.By themid-fourteenthcentury,however,Havelokhadbecomepartofthe broadly defined "Brut tradition," and his story was widely available bothasanindependentromancenarrativeandasyetanotherepisode within the lengthy cycle of British historiography. Despite this dual See, for example, Caroline Eckhardt, "Havelok the Dane in Castleford's Chronicle," Studies in Philology98(2001):1­17,andjuliaMarvin,"HavelokintheProseBrutTradition,"Studies in Philology102(2005):280­306.Ishouldpointoutthatinusingtheterms "chronicle"and"romance"Idonotwishtoprovokedebateconcerningthegenreofany particulartext.Ingeneral,Iuse"romance"toindicatetheepisodicversionsofthestory, particularly the Middle English Havelok (as opposed to the Anglo-Norman Lai ). for a recentdiscussionofthegenreofthetextthatincludesthoroughbibliographyonthesubject, see K. S.Whetter, "Gest and Vita, folktale and Romance in Havelok," Parergon 20, no.2(2003):21­46.Whetter(andindeedmostcriticswhoaddressthequestionofgenre) focusesontheMiddleEnglishtextitself,whileIamconcernedwiththewaysthatthe narrativewasreceived. 165 ©2007TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress Haveloks in Medieval England existence,theimpactofthestory'sgenericconfusiononthereception ofitsvariousretellingshasgonelargelyunquestioned,withthenotable exceptionofaboldstatementinThorlacTurville-Petre'sstudy,England the Nation:"Werarelyhavemuchevidenceonthewayinwhichcontemporary readers classified a medieval work, but it is clear that the storyofHavelok,thoughwhollyfictional,wasunhesitatinglyaccepted asahistoryintheearlyfourteenthcentury."Turville-Petre'scomment hasmuchofinterestinit(whichheaddressesintheanalysisthatfollows),butIwanttoexaminetworelatedissues:first,theassumption thattherewassuchasthingas"theHavelokstory";and,second,the claimthatsuchastory"wasunhesitatinglyacceptedasahistory."As thequotationmakesclear,Turville-Petreismostinterestedintheearly fourteenthcentury,butitisdifficulttogaugethereceptionoftheHavelok story in this period, since the earliest surviving versions do not makeexplicittheirjudgmentofthenarrative'shistoricalauthority.By midcentury,however,RobertMannyngandSirThomasGrayhadseriousdoubtsaboutthevalidityofthetale,andfifteenth-centuryscribes wereoftenatalossastohowtodealwithatraditionthathadbecome confusedandcontradictory.Ifindeedearlyfourteenth-centuryauthors thoughtthestoryofHavelokwashistory,thosewhoreadtheirwork evenagenerationlaterweremuchlesscertainaboutthehistoricityof Havelok'sreign. TheearliestaccountsofHavelok(thosedatedbefore1350)arewell known.Thecompletenarrativeshavebeeneditednumeroustimes,and the shorter passages found in chronicles have been summarized and reprintedsincefredericMadden'sfirsteditionoftheEnglishromance. ThefirstsurvivingHavelokstoryisfoundinGeffreiGaimar'sL'Estoire des Engleis,composedinAnglo-Normaninthelate1130s.Gaimar'saccountiscloselyrelatedtotheLai d'Haveloc(ca.1190­1220),anditmay beconvenienttosummarizesomeofthesalientfeaturesoftheplot.I shouldnotethatmyinterestisnotinrecappingthewholeplotbutin emphasizingthoseinstanceswherethesetextsdifferfromtheMiddle Englishromance: DuringthereignofConstantine,thereweretwootherkingsinBritain,Adelbriht(whoruledNorfolkandpartsofLincolnshire)andEdelsi(whoruledLincoln and Lindsey). Adelbriht marries Edelsi's sister,Orwain.When ill, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Studies in Philology University of North Carolina Press

"Nest pas autentik, mais apocrophum": Haveloks and Their Reception in Medieval England

Moll, Richard J. (Richard James)
Studies in Philology , Volume 105 (2) – Mar 31, 2008
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University of North Carolina Press
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Copyright © 2008 by The University of North Carolina Press. All rights reserved.
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1543-0383
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Abstract

by Richard J. Moll IKE many medieval narratives, the storyof Havelok exists somewherebetweenromanceandhistory,and,tobefrank,modernliterarycriticsaremoreinterestedinromancethanhistory.TheromanceversionsoftheHavelokstory,therefore,havereceivedthelion's shareofcriticalattention.Thisisonlytobeexpected,asboththeAngloNorman and Middle English Havelok poems are excellent examples ofearlyromanceanddeservecarefulcriticalscrutiny.Recentworkon Havelok, however, has begun to examine more closely the historical textsinwhichtheDanishheroisbutoneofdozens,orevenhundreds, of British rulers. Still, critical comment on the story as it is found in chroniclestendstotreatthesetextsassourcesofinformationregardingtheromances,particularlytheMiddleEnglishHavelok the Dane.By themid-fourteenthcentury,however,Havelokhadbecomepartofthe broadly defined "Brut tradition," and his story was widely available bothasanindependentromancenarrativeandasyetanotherepisode within the lengthy cycle of British historiography. Despite this dual See, for example, Caroline Eckhardt, "Havelok the Dane in Castleford's Chronicle," Studies in Philology98(2001):1­17,andjuliaMarvin,"HavelokintheProseBrutTradition,"Studies in Philology102(2005):280­306.Ishouldpointoutthatinusingtheterms "chronicle"and"romance"Idonotwishtoprovokedebateconcerningthegenreofany particulartext.Ingeneral,Iuse"romance"toindicatetheepisodicversionsofthestory, particularly the Middle English Havelok (as opposed to the Anglo-Norman Lai ). for a recentdiscussionofthegenreofthetextthatincludesthoroughbibliographyonthesubject, see K. S.Whetter, "Gest and Vita, folktale and Romance in Havelok," Parergon 20, no.2(2003):21­46.Whetter(andindeedmostcriticswhoaddressthequestionofgenre) focusesontheMiddleEnglishtextitself,whileIamconcernedwiththewaysthatthe narrativewasreceived. 165 ©2007TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress Haveloks in Medieval England existence,theimpactofthestory'sgenericconfusiononthereception ofitsvariousretellingshasgonelargelyunquestioned,withthenotable exceptionofaboldstatementinThorlacTurville-Petre'sstudy,England the Nation:"Werarelyhavemuchevidenceonthewayinwhichcontemporary readers classified a medieval work, but it is clear that the storyofHavelok,thoughwhollyfictional,wasunhesitatinglyaccepted asahistoryintheearlyfourteenthcentury."Turville-Petre'scomment hasmuchofinterestinit(whichheaddressesintheanalysisthatfollows),butIwanttoexaminetworelatedissues:first,theassumption thattherewassuchasthingas"theHavelokstory";and,second,the claimthatsuchastory"wasunhesitatinglyacceptedasahistory."As thequotationmakesclear,Turville-Petreismostinterestedintheearly fourteenthcentury,butitisdifficulttogaugethereceptionoftheHavelok story in this period, since the earliest surviving versions do not makeexplicittheirjudgmentofthenarrative'shistoricalauthority.By midcentury,however,RobertMannyngandSirThomasGrayhadseriousdoubtsaboutthevalidityofthetale,andfifteenth-centuryscribes wereoftenatalossastohowtodealwithatraditionthathadbecome confusedandcontradictory.Ifindeedearlyfourteenth-centuryauthors thoughtthestoryofHavelokwashistory,thosewhoreadtheirwork evenagenerationlaterweremuchlesscertainaboutthehistoricityof Havelok'sreign. TheearliestaccountsofHavelok(thosedatedbefore1350)arewell known.Thecompletenarrativeshavebeeneditednumeroustimes,and the shorter passages found in chronicles have been summarized and reprintedsincefredericMadden'sfirsteditionoftheEnglishromance. ThefirstsurvivingHavelokstoryisfoundinGeffreiGaimar'sL'Estoire des Engleis,composedinAnglo-Normaninthelate1130s.Gaimar'saccountiscloselyrelatedtotheLai d'Haveloc(ca.1190­1220),anditmay beconvenienttosummarizesomeofthesalientfeaturesoftheplot.I shouldnotethatmyinterestisnotinrecappingthewholeplotbutin emphasizingthoseinstanceswherethesetextsdifferfromtheMiddle Englishromance: DuringthereignofConstantine,thereweretwootherkingsinBritain,Adelbriht(whoruledNorfolkandpartsofLincolnshire)andEdelsi(whoruledLincoln and Lindsey). Adelbriht marries Edelsi's sister,Orwain.When ill,

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Studies in Philology – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Mar 31, 2008

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