Celtic Imaginary: From Medieval Dama-Pé-de-Cabra to Nineteenth-Century Patriotic Versions

Summary

In the fourteenth century (c. 1340–44), D. Pedro, count of the city of Barcelos and son of King Dinis, wrote Livro de Linhagens in order to preserve the genealogy of certain noble Portuguese families. This book consists mainly of genealogical records containing several lists of names of the nobility and their family relations. Yet, it also includes legendary narratives associated with the origin of some of these families. In this article we are going to explore one of those narratives – the story of Dama-Pé-de-Cabra (“Goat-Foot-Lady”) – retold in the nineteenth century both by Alexandre Herculano (1810–77), in Lendas and Narrativas, and by Frederico Francisco Stuart de Figanière e Morão, first Viscount Figanière (1827–1908), in Elva: A Story of the Dark Ages.

The mythical story of Dama-Pé-de-Cabra, associated with the origins of the Haros of Biscay, has been deeply studied by Portuguese and Spanish critics as it appears in D. Pedro’s book and in Herculano’s version. Figanière’s retelling, however, remains unknown and has escaped the attention of Portuguese scholars, maybe because it was overshadowed by Herculano’s contemporary rendition. Bearing this situation in mind, this article focuses particularly on Elva, though the other two works will also be mentioned.

The legend of Dama-Pé-de-Cabra reveals how Portugal in the Middle Ages was in touch with several European traditions, namely those coming from what is today the United Kingdom, as well as Ireland and France. It shows a deep affinity both with medieval Irish and Welsh tales and with Melusinian literature, as well as with some French and English literary texts produced between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.

That Celtic mythical narratives influenced many literary medieval texts is confirmed by their reconfiguration in such works as Marie de France’s Breton lais “Bisclavret” and “Lanval,” Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” and the anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK). Several of the latter poem’s central motifs originate from those Celtic narratives, as many critics have demonstrated over the years. Even though this is not the place to explore the Celtic sources of SGGK, it may be helpful to mention some brief examples of how the poem recovers certain paradigmatic aspects from Celtic mythology.