Italy, Germany, and the north. For it seems utterly incredible that one rude people should adopt a pecu

therefore every thing must be derived from them to the Northern Asiatics in the remotest ages, &c. With as much reason, under the word OCCIDENTAL, we might represent the early traditions and fables of the North and South of Europe to have been the same; and that the Gothic mythology of Scandinavia, the Druidic or Celtic of Gaul and Britain, differed not from the classic of Greece and Rome.

There is not room here for a full examination of the minuter arguments, or rather slight coincidences by which our agreeable Dissertator endeavours to maintain and defend this favourite opinion of Dr. W. who has been himself so completely confuted by Mr. TYRWHITT. (See his notes on "Love's Labour Lost," &c.) But some of his positions it will be sufficient to mention such as the referring the Gog and Magog, which our old Christian Bards might have had from Scripture, to the Jaguiouge and Magiouge of the Arabians and Persians, &c. [p. 13.-That "we may venture to affirm, that this [Geoffrey of "Monmouth's] Chronicle, supposed to contain the ideas of the "Welsh Bards, entirely consists of Arabian inventions." [p. 13.]—And that, "as Geoffrey's History is the grand repository "of the Acts of Arthur, so a fabulous History, ascribed to Turpin, is the ground-work of all the Chimerical Legends which "have been related concerning the conquests of Charlemagne "and his twelve peers. Its subject is the expulsion of the Sara

cens from Spain; and it is filled with fictions evidently con"genial to those which characterize Geoffrey's History." [p. 17.]-That is, as he afterwards expresses it," lavishly decora

ted by the Arabian Fablers," [p. 586.]-We should hardly have expected that the Arabian Fablers would have been lavish in decorating a history of their enemy; but what is singular, as an instance and proof of this Arabian origin of the Fictions of Turpin, a passage is quoted from his IVth chapter, which I shall beg leave to offer, as affording decisive evidence that they could not possibly be derived from a Mahometan source. Sc. "The Christians under Charlemagne are said to have found in "Spain a golden idol, or image of Mahomet, as high as a bird "can fly. It was framed by Mahomet himself of the purest "metal, who, by his knowledge in necromancy, had sealed up "within it a legion of diabolical spirits. It held in its hand a "prodigious club; and the Saracens had a prophetic tradition, "that this club should fall from the hand of the image in that "year when a certain king should be born in France, &c. [Vid. p. 18, Note.]

liar taste and manner of writing or thinking from another, without borrowing at the same time any of their particular stories and fables, without appearing to know any thing of their heroes, history, laws, and religion. When the Romans began to adopt and imitate the Grecian literature, they immediately naturalized all the Grecian fables, histories, and religious stories; which became as familiar to the poets of Rome as of Greece itself. Whereas all the old writers of chivalry, and of that species of romance, whether in prose or verse, whether of the Northern nations, or of Britain, France, and Italy, not excepting Spain itself, appear utterly unacquainted with whatever relates to the Mahometan nations. Thus with regard to their religion, they constantly represent them as worshipping idols, as paying adoration to a golden image of Mahomet, or else they confound them with the ancient Pagans, &c. And indeed in all other respects they are so grossly ignorant of the customs, manners, and opinions of every branch of that people, especially of their heroes, champions, and local stories, as almost amounts to a demonstration that they did not imitate them in their songs or romances: for as to dragons, serpents, necromancies, &c. why should these be thought only derived from the Moors in Spain so late as after the eighth century? since notions of this kind appear too familiar to the Northern Scalds, and enter too deeply into all the Northern Mythology, to have been transmitted

* The little narrative songs on Morisco subjects, which the Spaniards have at present in great abundance, and which they call peculiarly Romances (see vol. I. Book III. No. XVI. &c.) have nothing in common with their proper Romances (or Histories) of Chivalry; which they call Historias de Cavallerias: these are evidently imitations of the French, and show a great ignorance of Moorish manners: and with regard to the Morisco, or Song-Romances, they do not seem of very great antiquity few of them appear, from their subjects, much earlier than the reduction of Granada, in the fifteenth century: from which period, I believe, may be plainly traced, among the Spanish writers, a more perfect knowledge of Moorish customs, &c.

to the unlettered Scandinavians, from so distant a country, at so late a period. If they may not be allowed to have brought these opinions with them in their original migrations from the North of Asia, they will be far more likely to have borrowed them from the Latin poets after the Roman conquests in Gaul, Britain, Germany, &c. For I believe one may challenge the maintainers of this opinion to produce any Arabian poem or history, that could possibly have been then known in Spain, which resembles the old Gothic romances of chivalry half so much as the Metamorphoses of Ovid.

But we well know that the Scythian nations situate in the countries about Pontus, Colchis, and the Euxine sea, were in all times infamous for their magic arts and as Odin and his followers are said to have come precisely from those parts of Asia, we can readily account for the prevalence of fictions of this sort among the Gothic nations of the North, without fetching them from the Moors in Spain, who for many centuries after their irruption lived in a state of such constant hostility with the unsubdued Spanish Christians, whom they chiefly pent up in the mountains, as gave them no chance of learning their music, poetry, or stories; and this, together with the religious hatred of the latter for their cruel invaders, will account for the utter ignorance of the old Spanish romancers in whatever relates to the Mahometan nations, although so nearly their own neighbours.

On the other hand, from the local customs and situations, from the known manners and opinions of the Gothic nations in the North, we can easily account for all the ideas of chivalry, and its peculiar fictions.* For not to mention their distinguished respect for the fair sex, so different from the manners of the Mahometan nations, their national and domestic history so naturally assumes all the wonders of this species of fabling

• See Northern Antiquities, passim.

† Ibid.

that almost all their historical narratives appear regular romances. One might refer, in proof of this, to the old Northern SAGAS in general: but, to give a particular instance, it will be sufficient to produce the History of King Regner Lodbrog, a celebrated warrior and pirate, who reigned in Denmark about the year 800.* This hero signalized his youth by an exploit of gallantry. A Swedish prince had a beautiful daughter, whom he intrusted (probably during some expedition) to the care of one of his officers, assigning a strong castle for their defence. The officer fell in love with his ward, and detained her in his castle, spite of all the efforts of her father. Upon this he published a proclamation through all the neighbouring countries, that whoever would conquer the ravisher and rescue the lady should have her in marriage. Of all that undertook the adventure, Regner alone was so happy as to achieve it: he delivered the fair captive, and obtained her for his prize. It happened that the name of this discourteous officer was ORME, which in the Islandic language signifies SERPENT: wherefore the Scalds, to give the more poetical turn to the adventure, represent the lady as detained from her father by a dreadful dragon, and that Regner slew the monster to set her at liberty. This fabulous account of the exploit is given in a poem still extant, which is even ascribed to Regner himself, who was a celebrated poet, and which records all the valiant achievements of his life.t

WITH marvellous embellishments of this kind the Scalds early began to decorate their narratives: and they were the more lavish of these in proportion as they departed from their original institution; but it was a long time before they thought of delivering a set of personages and adventures wholly feigned. Of the

p. 321.

Saxon Gram. p. 152, 153.—Mallet, North. Antiq. vol. I. † See a Translation of this poem among "Five Pieces of "Runic Poetry," printed for Dodsley, 1764, 8vo.

great multitude of romantic tales still preserved in the libraries of the North, most of them are supposed to have had some foundation in truth; and the more ancient they are, the more they are believed to be connected with true history.*

It was not probably till after the Historian and the Bard had been long disunited, that the latter ventured at pure fiction. At length, when their business was no longer to instruct or inform, but merely to amuse, it was no longer needful for them to adhere to truth. Then succeeded fabulous Songs and Romances in verse, which for a long time prevailed in France and England before they had books of Chivalry in prose. Yet in both these countries the Minstrels still retained so much of their original institution as frequently to make true events the subject of their Songs ;t and indeed, as during the barbarous ages, the regular Histories were almost all written in Latin by the Monks, the memory of events was preserved and propagated among the ignorant Laity by scarce any other means than the popular Songs of the Minstrels.

II. THE inhabitants of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, being the latest converts to Christianity, retained their original manners and opinions longer than the other nations of Gothic race: and therefore they have preserved more of the genuine compositions of their ancient poets than their Southern neighbours. Hence the progress, among them, from poetical history to poetical fiction is very discernible: they have some old pieces, that are in effect complete Romances of Chivalry. They have also (as hath been ob

* Vid. Mallet, Northern Antiquities, passim,

The Editor's MS. contains a multitude of poems of this latter kind. It was probably from this custom of the Minstrels that some of our first Historians wrote their Chronicles in verse, as Robert of Gloucester, Harding, &c.

See a Specimen in 2d Vol. of Northern Antiquities, &c. p. 248, &c.