In the _Chansons de Geste_ a great discovery has been made since my essay was written; the _Chançun de Willame_, an earlier and ruder version of the epic of _Aliscans_, has been printed by the unknown possessor of the manuscript, and generously given to a number of students who have good reason to be grateful to him for his liberality. There are some notes on the poem in _Romania_ (vols. xxxii. and xxxiv.) by M. Paul Meyer and Mr. Raymond Weeks, and it has been used by Mr. Andrew Lang in illustration of Homer and his age. It is the sort of thing that the Greeks willingly let die; a rough draught of an epic poem, in many ways more barbarous than the other extant _chansons de geste_, but full of vigour, and notable (like _le Roi Gormond_, another of the older epics) for its refrain and other lyrical passages, very like the manner of the ballads. The _Chançun de Willame_, it may be observed, is not very different from _Aliscans_ with regard to Rainouart, the humorous gigantic helper of William of Orange. One would not have been surprised if it had been otherwise, if Rainouart had been first introduced by the later composer, with a view to "comic relief" or some such additional variety for his tale. But it is not so; Rainouart, it appears, has a good right to his place by the side of William. The grotesque element in French epic is found very early, _e.g._ in the _Pilgrimage of Charlemagne_, and is not to be reckoned among the signs of decadence. There ought to be a reference, on p. 298 below, to M. Joseph Bédier's papers in the _Revue Historique_ (xcv. and xcvii.) on _Raoul de Cambrai_. M. Bédier's _Légendes épiques_, not yet published at this time of writing, will soon be in the hands of his expectant readers. I am deeply indebted to many friends--first of all to York Powell--for innumerable good things spoken and written about these studies. My reviewers, in spite of all differences of opinion, have put me under strong obligations to them for their fairness and consideration. Particularly, I have to offer my most sincere acknowledgments to Dr. Andreas Heusler of Berlin for the honour he has done my book in his _Lied und Epos_ (1905), and not less for the help that he has given, in this and other of his writings, towards the better understanding of the old poems and their history. W. P. K. OXFORD, _25th Jan. 1908_. CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I THE HEROIC AGE PAGE Epic and Romance: the two great orders of medieval narrative 3 _Epic_, of the "heroic age," preceding _Romance_ of the "age of chivalry" 4 The heroic age represented in three kinds of literature--Teutonic Epic, French Epic, and the Icelandic Sagas 6 Conditions of Life in an "heroic age" 7 Homer and the Northern poets 9