Georges Guynemer: Knight of the AirBordeaux, Henry
History
Georges Guynemer: Knight of the Air
Bordeaux, Henry
Air pilots -- France -- Biography; Guynemer, Georges, 1894-1917; World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations
In _Huon de Bordeaux_, a _chanson de geste_ with fairy and romantic
elements, Huon leaves for Babylon on a mission confided to him by the
Emperor, which he was told to fulfil with the aid of the dwarf sorcerer,
Oberon. At the chateau of Dunotre, in Palestine, where he must destroy a
giant, he meets a young girl of great beauty named Sebile, who guides
him through the palace. As he is astonished to hear her speak French,
she replies: "I was born in France, and I felt pity for you because I
saw the cross you wear." "In what part of France?" "In the town of
Saint-Omer," replied Sebile; "I am the daughter of Count Guinemer." Her
father had lately come on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, bringing
her with him. A tempest had cast them on shore near the town of the
giant, who had killed her father and kept her prisoner. "For more than
seven years," she added, "I have not been to mass." Naturally Huon kills
the giant, and delivers the daughter of Count Guinemer.
In an article by the learned M. Longnon on _L'Element historique de Huon
de Bordeaux_,[33] a note is given on the name of Guinemer:
"In _Huon de Bordeaux_," writes M. Longnon, "the author of the _Prologue
des Lorrains_ makes Guinemer the son of Saint Bertin, second Abbot of
Sithieu, an abbey which took the name of this blessed man and was the
foundation of the city of Saint-Omer, which the poem of _Huon de
Bordeaux_ makes the birthplace of Count Guinemer's daughter. It is
possible that this Guinemer was borrowed by our _trouveres_ from some
ancient Walloon tradition; for his name, which in Latin is Winemarus,
appears to have occurred chiefly in those countries forming part, from
the ninth to the twelfth century, of the County of Flanders. The
chartulary of Saint Vertin alone introduces us to: 1st, a deacon named
Winidmarus, who in 723 wrote a deed of sale at Saint-Omer itself
(Guerard, p. 50); 2d, a knight of the County of Flanders, Winemarus, who
assassinated the Archbishop of Rheims, Foulques, who was then Abbot of
Saint-Bertin (Guerard, p. 135); 3d, Winemarus, a vassal of the Abbey,
mentioned in an act dated 1075 (_ib._, p. 195); 4th, Winemarus, Lord of
Gand, witness to a charter of Count Baudouin VII in 1114 (_ib._, p.
255). The personage in _Huon de Bordeaux_ might also be connected with
Guimer, Lord of Saint-Omer, who appears in the beginning of _Ogier le
Danios_, if the form, Guimer, did not seem rather to derive from
Withmarus."[34]
[Footnote 33: _Romania_, 1879, p. 4.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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