The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story — John Shaqi
The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk StoryGerould, Gordon Hall
General
The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story
Gerould, Gordon Hall
Dead -- Folklore; Folk literature -- Themes, motives; Grateful dead (Tale)
According to Dianese, [49] the knight of that name has wasted his
substance. When he hears that the King of Chornualglia (Cornwall)
has promised his daughter and half of his kingdom to the knight who
wins the tourney that he has called, Dianese gets his friends to fit
him out and sets forth. On the way he passes through a town where the
traffic is diverted from the main street because of a corpse which
has long been lying on a bier before a church. He learns that it is
the body of a knight, who cannot be buried till his creditors have
been paid. At the cost of everything he possesses, save his horse,
the hero satisfies the creditors and has the knight buried. When he
has gone on two miles, he is joined by a merchant, who promises him
money, horses, and weapons if he will give in return half of what he
wins in the tourney. Dianese agrees, is fitted out anew, and succeeds
in overcoming all comers in the contest. Thus he obtains the hand
of the princess and half the kingdom. With his bride, the merchant,
and his followers he starts for home; but, when they are only a
day's journey from their destination, he is required by the merchant
to fulfil his promise--to choose between his bride as one half, his
possessions as the other. Dianese takes the lady and rides on. Soon,
however, he is joined by the merchant, who praises his faithfulness,
gives up the treasures, explains that he is the ghost of the debtor
knight, and disappears.
In Old Swedish [50] the daughter and heiress of the King of France
promises to marry whatever knight is victor in a tourney which she
announces. Pippin, the Duke of Lorraine, hears of this and sets out
for France. At the end of his first day's journey he finds lodging
at the house of a widow, who is lamenting because her husband, once
in good circumstances, has died so poor that she cannot bury him
properly. Pippin takes pity on her, and pays for the man's funeral. On
his further journey he falls in with a man on a noble steed, who gives
him the horse on condition of receiving half of whatever he shall
win. Unthinkingly Pippin agrees and wins the tourney with the help of
the horse. After he has married the princess, he is asked by the helper
to fulfil his promise. He offers at first half, then the whole of his
kingdom, in order to keep his bride, and is finally told by the man
that he is the ghost of the dead, while the horse was an angel of God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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