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XIX.—The Sources of Chaucer's Parlement of Foules
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
Theories offering interpretations of Chaucer's Parlement of Foules based upon the orthodox belief that the central incident of the poem is in some way connected with a royal marriage have at least refused to do loyal service at one prominent point. No theory of historical allegory has yet explained in a wholly satisfactory manner the outstanding fact that the Parlement of Foules is artistically a well rounded poem, and yet contains an unfinished story. Why does not the formel eagle choose her mate after our interest has been aroused in the pleadings of her lovers?
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References
1 Festschrift für Lorenz Morsbach, Studien zur Englischen Philologie, l (1913), pp. 279 ff.
2 Tyrwhitt's Chaucer, note ver. 1920; Morley, English Writers, v, pp. 154 ff.
3 Saturday Review, Apr. 15, 1871.
4 Koch, Chaucer Essays (Chaucer Society), pp. 400 ff
5 Emerson, Modern Philology, viii, pp. 45 ff.; Modern Language Notes, xxvi, pp. 109 ff.; Moore, Modern Language Notes, xxvi, pp. 8 ff.
6 Studien zur Englischen Philologie, l, pp. 288 ff.
7 Skeat's Chaucer, i, p. 67.
8 Skeat's error is noticed by Sypherd, Studies in Chaucer's Hous of Fame (Chaucer Society), 1907, p. 25.
9 Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets, ed. T. Wright, ii, p. 437; quoted by Skeat in his Chaucer, i, p. 74; translated by Douglas M. Moffat (Yale Studies in English, xxxvi, pp. 11 ff.).
10 An admitted source for certain characteristics of the central incident of the Parlement and its general framework is the French love-vision poetry (see Sypherd, Studies in Chaucer's Hous of Fame, pp. 1 ff., and pp. 20 ff.). Likewise the Court-of-Love poetry may have furnished hints for birds (see Manly, work cited, p. 285). But here again can be found no suggestion of the story itself.
11 Il Paradiso degli Alberti … . di Giovanni da Prato, del codice autografo e anonimo della Riccardiana a cura di Alessandro Wesselofsky, Bologna, 1867, ii, pp. 98-171.
12 Ibid., i, ii, pp. 81 ff.
13 Ibid., i, i, pp. 24 ff.; also pp. 220 ff. The “dates between which” Wesselofsky establishes as 1379 and 1415 by references to the death of two well known men.
14 Ibid., i, i, p. 23.
15 Ibid., i, i, pp. 221 ff.
16 The Italian has “isparvieri.” This seems only a chance resemblance to any bird in the Parlement of Foules.
17 This and other strange professions or accomplishments which are attributed to the lovers, and yet seem to play no part in the story, will be better understood when the folktale behind the Paradiso is examined. Many are apparently petrified features of the old tale.
18 Work cited, p. 287, note 4.
19 I adopt for convenience the assignment of authorship made by Wesselofsky, whose arguments have not been challenged, so far as I know.
20 Das Märchen von den “Menschen mit den wunderbaren Eigenschaften,” seine Quelle und seine Verbreitung, Ausland, xli (1858), pp. 969 ff., Kleinere Schriften, ii, iii, pp. 94 ff.
21 Il Paradiso degli Alberti, i, ii, pp. 238 ff.
22 Popular Tales and Fictions, 1887, i, pp. 277 ff.
23 Studj di Critica e Storia Letteraria, Bologna, 1912 (Revised and enlarged edition), ii, pp. 160 ff.
24 Kleinere Schriften, i, pp. 438 ff.
25 Bibliographie des ouvrages Arabes, 1892-1909, vi, p. 133, note 3; viii, p. 76.
26 Revue des Traditions Populaires, vii (1892), p. 188, note 4.
27 Revue des Traditions Populaires, xxxi (1916), pp. 98 ff. and 145 ff.
28 See p. 508, below, for a scheme of classification. Perhaps the most familiar version of the Rescue type is Grimm 129, Die vier kunstreichen Brüder. For very close analogues to Grimm see Fr. Woeste, Zeit. für D. Myth., i, p. 338; Paul Sébillot, Contes Populaires de la Haute-Bretagne, 1880, No. 8, pp. 53 ff; Georg Widter und Adam Wolf, Jahrbuch für Rom. und Eng. Lit., vii, p. 30; A. H. Wratislaw, Sixty Folk-Tales, 1889, No. 9, pp. 55 ff.; H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, 1910, No. 82, ii, pp. 33 ff. These all have striking similarities to the German tale. Because Grimm 129 is so familiar, and because Benfey naturally gives it an important place in his essay, the mistake is sometimes made of considering it representative of all versions of The Contending Lovers. However, it is well to keep in mind that the tale in Grimm has gone far from the simpler Oriental versions, and shows much probable admixture from general folk-lore. With its highly skilled lovers and rescue accomplished by means of the ship, it is representative only of one class of versions, not of the whole tale.
29 The tales in question are the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh of the collection. A text of the Vetālapanchavinsati has been constituted by Uhle, based largely on the Çivadāsa redaction (Die Vetālapañcavinçatika, Leipzig, 1881). However, the tales are to be found translated directly from the Sanskrit only in scattered places. It is convenient to use the Hindi version of the work known as the Baitāl Pachīsī, which is translated from the Sanskrit and has in turn been translated into English by W. Burckhardt Barker (Hertford, 1855) and into German by Hermann Oesterley (Leipzig, 1873). See pp. 65 ff., 133 ff., 143 ff., and 157 ff. of Barker's translation.
30 See the Vetāla tales as they appear incorporated into the twelfth-century Sanskrit compilation Kathā-Sarit-Sāgara, tr. C. H. Tawney, 1884, ii, pp. 242 ff. and I, pp. 498 ff.; for other Oriental versions, some of them quite different from those of the Vetālapanchavinsati, see Vedāla Cadai, tr. B. G. Babington, 1831 (Miscellaneous Translations from Oriental Languages, Vol. i), tales 2, 4, and 5; B. Jülg, Kalmückische Märchen, 1866, No. 1, pp. 5 ff.; B. Jülg, Mongolische Märchen-Sammlung, 1868, pp. 238 ff.; Baron Lescailler, Le Trône Enchanté (the Persian Senguehassen-Battissi, which is related to an old Sanskrit collection known as the Sinhāsana-dvātrinsati) 1817, i, pp. 177 ff.); Tooti Nameh, or Tales of a Parrot (the Persian Tūti Nāma), tr. for J. Debrett, 1801, pp. 49 ff., 113 ff., and 122 ff.; W. A. Clouston, The Book of Sindibad (the Persian Sindibad Nāma), 1884, pp. 106 ff.; Galland, Les Mille et Une Nuits, 1881, x, pp. 1 ff.
31 Each of the four tales in the Vetāla collection represents a distinct type.
32 A cursory glance over titles cited will give some idea of how widespread it is. I have been able to gather some more or less out-of-the-way versions which have not hitherto been cited. It is an interesting fact that The Contending Lovers is a favorite in Africa. See, for example, George W. Ellis, Negro Culture in West Africa, 1914, pp. 211 ff. and 201 ff. See also R. E. Dennet, Folk-Lore of the Fjort, 1898, No. 3, pp. 33 ff. and No. 16, pp. 74 ff.; C. Velten, Märchen und Erzählungen der Suahedi, 1898, p. 71; Henri A. Junod, Les Chants et les Contes des Ba-Ronga de la Baie de Delagoa, 1897, No. 27.
33 Straparola in a tale (I piacevoli Notti, night vii, fable 5) closely taken from Morlinus (see Hieronymi Morlini, Parthenopei, Novellae, Fabulae, Comoedia, 1855, No. lxxx, pp. 155 ff.) has the following conclusion (tr. W. G. Waters, 1894, p. 73):
“But with regard to the lady, seeing it was not possible to divide her into three parts, there arose a sharp dispute between the brothers as to which one of them should retain her, and the wrangling over the point to decide who had the greatest claim to her was very long. Indeed, up to this present day it is still before the court: wherefore we shall each settle the cause as we think right, while the judge keeps us waiting for his decision.”
34 Exhaustive proof would be too lengthy, but it may be suggested that from old times tales have existed about artisans or skilful brothers who go out into the world and contend with one another for fortune, but in which no girl is the reward. (See Benfey, Pantschatantra, 1859, ii, pp. 150 ff., Der kluge Feind; material mentioned by Wesselofsky, Il Paradiso, i, ii, p. 246; Benfey, Kleinere Schriften, ii, iii, pp. 132 ff., the second part of the Ausland essay.) It may be also suggested that in many ancient versions of The Contending Lovers and in some more modern versions the love service is dependent slightly or not at all upon skill or professions possessed by the lovers. Vetālapanchavinsati has a contention where emphasis is laid upon caste and general excellence, and where no service is performed by means of skilled accomplishments, though there is some mention of these. The second tale of the same collection tells of a girl who was restored to life by the faithful services of her suitors, who neither are artisans nor profess skill. In this connection it is well to note that exceedingly little skill and nothing of artisanship enters into the services performed by the young men in Il Paradiso degli Alberti.
35 Of necessity I give here only a very brief description of types together with examples from among versions of the tale. I hope to follow this scheme in making a detailed study of The Contending Lovers and in carrying out closer comparisons with other folktales and with the Parlement of Foules than it is possible to make in this paper.
36 This is represented in the Orient, but so far as I know does not exist as a separate type in Europe, although its influence is sometimes seen in other types. See Vetālapanchavinsati 7 (Baitāl Pachīsī, tr. Barker, pp. 175 ff.), where one lover can make a wonderful cloth, one understands the language of animals, one is acquainted with the Shastras, and one can discharge an arrow which will hit what is heard though not seen; also see Kathā-Sarit-Sāgara, tr. Tawney, ii, pp. 275 ff. and i, pp. 498 ff., which are practically the same tale.
37 See Vetālapanchavinsti 2 (tr. V. Henry, Revue des Traditions Populaires, i, 1886, pp. 370 ff.) in which one lover renders love service by allowing himself to be burned upon the maid's pyre, one guards her ashes, and one travels and accidentally finds a magic formula which is the means of resuscitation; see also as representatives of the type Senguehassen-Battissi, tale 10, part 3 (tr. Lescailler, Le Trône Enchanté, 1817, i, pp. 199 ff.); Rev. E. M. Geldart, Folk Lore of Modern Greece, 1884, pp. 106-25 (first tale told by the casket); Charles Swynnerton, Indian Nights' Entertainment, 1892, i, p. 228; H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, 1910, No. 74, i, pp. 378 ff,; H. Parker, same work, No. 82, ii, pp. 39-9 (variant A); H. Parker, same work, No. 82, ii, pp. 42-3 (variant C); P. Macler, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xxiii (1908), No. 1, pp. 327 ff.; R. E. Dennett, Folk-Lore of the Fjort, 1898, No. 3, pp. 33-4.
38 The Oriental prototype is represented by the first part of the tale of Prince Ahmed and the Fay Pari-Banou in the Arabic Thousand and One Nights (Galland, ed. 1881, x, pp. 1 ff.), in which one lover buys a magic flying carpet, one a telescope, and one a magic apple, one smell of which cures a person on the point of death. The youths are thus enabled to see the princess mortally ill, to reach her, and to cure her. The versions are very numerous, but show surprisingly little variation. See Gherardo Nerucci, Sessanta Novelle Popolari Montalesi, 1880, No. 40, pp. 335 ff.; Christian Schneller, Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol, 1867, No. 14; J. G. von Hahn, Griechische und Albanesische Märchen, 1864, No. 47, I, pp. 263 ff.; Rev. W. Henry Jones and Lewis Kropf, The Folk-Tales of the Magyars, 1889, pp. 155 ff.; Madam Csedomille Mijatovics, ed. Rev. W. Denton, Serbian Folk-Lore, 1874, pp. 230 ff.; John T. Naaké, Slavonic Fairy Tales, 1874, pp. 194 ff.; G. Stier, Ungarische Sagen und Märchen, 1850, No. 9, pp. 61 ff.; Friedrich S. Krauss, Tausend Sagen und Maerchen der Südslaven, 1914, No. 63, i, pp. 196 ff.; F. H. Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, 1899, No. 13, pp. 53 ff.; Fernan Caballero, tr. J. H. Ingram, Spanish Fairy Tales, 1881, pp. 22 ff.; Consiglieri Pedroso, tr. Miss Henriqueta Monteiro, Portuguese Folk-Tales, 1882, No. 23, pp. 94 ff.; Adeline Rittershaus, Die Neuisländischen Volksmärchen, 1902, No. 43, pp. 183 ff.; Mrs. A. W. Hall, Icelandic Fairy Tales, 1897 (?), pp. 19 ff.; Jón Arnason, tr. Powell-Magnússon, Icelandic Legends, 1866, pp. 348 ff.; M. Longworth Dames, Balochi Tales, Folk-Lore, iv (1893), No. 12, pp. 205 ff.; George W. Ellis, Negro Culture in West Africa, 1914, No. 18, pp. 200 ff.; Henri A. Junod, Les Chants et les Contes des Ba-Ronga de la Baie de Delagoa, 1897, No. 27; C. Velten, Märchen und Erzählungen der Suaheli, 1898, p. 71 (the tale being here given in dialect; it is summarized by Cosquin, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xxxi, p. 103).
39 For Oriental prototypes see Vetālapanchavinsati 5 (tr. Benfey, Kleinere Schriften, ii, iii, pp. 96 ff.), in which the suitors are a man of supreme knowledge, a possessor of a magic chariot, and a wondrously accurate marksman; see also Senguehassen-Battissi, tale 10, part 1 (tr. Lescailler, Le Trône Enchanté, 1817, i, pp. 188 ff.); Tūti Nāma 22 (Tooti Nameh, tr. for Debrett, 1801, pp. 113 ff.); W. A. Clouston, The Book of Sindibad, 1884, pp. 106 ff.
40 Here the youths always reach the captive princess by means of a ship, which one of their number is usually skilful enough to build. See tale from Il Novellino, text of Giovanni Papanti, Catalogo dei Novellieri Italiani in Prosaþ 1871, No. 23, i, pp. 44 ff.; Hieronymus Morlinus No. 79 (Parthenopei, Novellae, Fabulae, Comoedia, 1855, pp. 155 ff.); Giovanni Francesco Straparola, I Piacevoli Notti, night vii, fable 5; Gian Battista Basile, Il Pentamerone, v, 7; Domenico Comparetti, Novelline Popolari Italiane, 1875, No. 19, i, pp. 80 ff.; Georg Widter und Adam Wolf, Volksmärchen aus Venetien, Jahrbuch für Romanische und Englische Literatur, vn, p. 30; A. H. Wratislaw, Sixty Folk-Tales, 1889, No. 9, pp. 55 ff.; Joseph Wenzig, Westslawischer Märchenschatz, 1857, pp. 140 ff.; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, No. 129; Friedrich Woeste, Zeitschrift für Deutsche Mythologie, I, p. 338; Paul Sébillot, Contes Populaires de la Haute-Bretagne, 1880, No. 8, pp. 53 ff.; F. M. Luzel, Contes Populaires de Basse-Bretagne, 1887, No. 9, iii, pp. 312 ff.; Svend Grundtvig, Danske Folkeaeventyr, 1881, No. 17, pp. 210 ff.; H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, 1910, No. 82, ii, pp. 33 ff.
41 When the demon or monster pursues, the princess is hidden by the suitors in a tower or palace which one of their number can erect at a moment's notice. The number of lovers is large, usually seven. See Laura Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Märchen, 1870, No. 45, i, pp. 305 ff.; Giuseppe Pitrè, Novelle Popolari Toscani, 1885, No. 10, I, pp. 65 ff.; Giuseppe Pitrè, same work, i, pp. 71 ff.; Giuseppe Pitrè, Fiabe Novelle e Racconti Popolari Siciliani, 1875, I, pp. 196 ff.; Giuseppe Pitrè, same work, I, p. 197; Auguste Dozon, Contes Albanais, 1881, No. 4, pp. 27 ff.; Gustav Meyer, Albanische Mārchen, 1881, No. 8, pp. 118 ff.; Friedrich S. Krauss, Sagen und Märchen der Sudslaven, 1883, No. 32, i, pp. 120 ff.; I. Jagić, Aus dem Südslavischen Märchenschatz, Archiv für Slavische Philologie, v (1881), No. 46, pp. 36 ff.; Léon Pineau, Contes Populaires Grecs de L'isle de Lesbos, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xii (1897), pp. 201 ff.; Rev. E. M. Geldart, Folk Lore of Modern Greece, 1884, pp. 106 ff. (third tale told by the casket).
42 See Friedrich S. Krauss, Sagen und Märchen der Südslaven, 1883, No. 33, pp. 124 ff.; A. M. Tendlau, Fellmeiers Abende, Märchen und Geschichten aus grauer Vorzeit, 1856, ii, pp. 16 ff.; Reinhold Köhler, Jahrbuch für romanische und englische Literatur, vii (1866), pp. 33 ff.; E. Aymonier, Textes Kmers, première série, 1878, p. 44; J. A. Decourdemanche, Revue des Traditions Populaires, XIV (1899), pp. 411 ff.; M. D. Charnay, Revue des Cours Littéraires de la France, 1865, p. 210, Souvenirs de Madagascar.
43 See Tūti Nāma, 5 (Tooti Nameh, tr. for Debrett, 1801, pp. 49 ff.), in which the disputants are a goldsmith, a carpenter, a tailor, and a hermit; see also Senguehassen-Battissi, tale 10, part 4 (tr. Lescailler, Le Trône Enchanté, 1817, I, pp. 205 ff.); B. Jülg, Mongolische Märchen-Sammlung, 1868, pp. 238 ff.; Rev. E. M. Geldart, Folk Lore of Modern Greece, 1884, pp. 106 ff. (the second tale told by the casket); Theodor Benfey, Pantschatantra, 1859, I, pp. 491 ff.; F. Macler, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xxiii (1908), pp. 333 ff.; H. Carnoy, La Tradition, v (1891), pp. 326 ff.; René Basset, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xv, p. 114; Albert Socin, Diwan aus Centralarabien, 1900 (Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Classe der Königl. Sächs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften), Teil ii, No. 107, p. 126; Belkassem ben Sedira, Cours de Langue Kabyle, 1887, pp. 225 ff.; Ferdinand Hahn, Blicke in die Geisteswelt der Heidnischen Kols, 1906, No. 13, pp. 24 ff.; M. Longworth Dames, Balochi Tales, Folk-Lore, iii (1892), pp. 524 ff., No. 6.
44 This type is apparently known in popular literature only in the Orient. See Vetālapanchavinsati 6 (tr. Benfey, Orient und Occident, i, 1862, pp. 730 ff.); Tūti Nāma 24 (Tooti Nameh, tr. for Debrett, 1801, pp. 122 ff.); Senguehassen-Battissi, tale 10, part 2 (tr. Lescailler, Le Trône Enchanté, 1817, i, pp. 194 ff.).
45 Sometimes in these versions mere feats of skill are performed by the lovers instead of service benefiting the maid. See Novella del Fortunato nuovamente stampata, Livorno, 1869 (carefully summarized by R. Köhler, Kleinere Schriften, ii, pp. 590 ff.); G. F. Abbot, Macedonian Folklore, 1903, p. 264; Friedrich Kreutzwald, tr. F. Lowe, Ehstnische Märchen, 1869, No. 3, pp. 32 ff.; E. Cosquin, Contes populaires de Lorraine, No. 59, pp. 184 ff.; R. E. Dennet, Folk-Lore of the Fjort, 1898, No. 16, pp. 74 ff.; George W. Ellis, Negro Culture in West Africa, 1914, No. 27, pp. 211 ff.
46 Even folk-tales much less sophisticated than the Paradiso version may have an elaborate court scene. See the highly interesting Breton tale given by F. M. Luzel, Contes Populaires de Basse-Bretagne, 1887, No. 9, iii, pp. 312 ff.
47 The right of choice is definitely given the maiden in the following versions, which are of the Caste, Resuscitation, Rescue, and Gifts types: Vetālapanchavinsati 7, H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, 1910, No. 74, i, pp. 378 ff.; F. M. Luzel, Contes Populaires de Basse-Bretagne, 1887, No. 9, iii, pp. 312 ff.; Auguste Dozon, Contes Albanais, 1881, No. 4, pp. 27 ff.; Gustav Meyer, Albanische Märchen, 1881, No. 8, pp. 118 ff.; Svend Grundtvig, Danske Folkaeventyr, 1881, No. 17, pp. 210 ff.; Joseph Wenzig, Westslawischer Märchenschatz, 1857, pp. 140 ff.; Friedrich S. Krauss, Tausend Sagen und Maerchen der Südslaven, 1914, No. 63, i, pp. 196 ff.; F. H. Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, 1899, No. 13, pp. 53 ff.; Fernan Caballero, tr. J. H. Ingram, Spanish Fairy Tales, 1881, pp. 22 ff.; Consiglieri Pedroso, tr. Miss Henriqueta Monteiro, Portuguese Folk-Tales, 1882, No. 23, pp. 94 ff.; C. Velten, Märchen und Erzählungen der Suaheli, 1898, p. 71 (summarized by Cosquin, Revue des Traditions Populaires, xxxi, p. 103). These are, of course, exclusive of versions in the Paradiso and the Parlement of Foules.
48 Cf. the Caste type of our tale especially.
49 Hints for bird characters may have come to Chaucer from many sources besides the De Planctu Naturae of Alanus de Insulis. Professor Manly has suggested some interesting possible sources (work cited, p. 285). But I am hoping to show that there are many more possible points of contact between the Parlement and the bird-lore of folk-tales or more sophisticated literature.
50 Work cited, pp. 283 ff.
51 Text by Giovanni Papanti, Catalogo dei Novellieri Italiani in Prosa, 1871, No. 23, i, pp. 44 ff. The version is incomplete owing to lacunae in the manuscript.
52 Work cited.
53 Since this paper was first written I have carried out on a larger scale a study of the material here presented or indicated and have submitted it as a dissertation to Harvard University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy.