On the Middle English Metrical Romance of Emare (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from On the Middle English Metrical Romance of EmareThe folk-tale of which Emare is a literary version is told to this day in various forms among the peasantry throughout the length and breadth of Europe. Its appearance fully developed in the 12th century as a part of the Vita Offœ Primi, where it forms a heroic tradition stamped with the genuine Teutonic spirit, shows that it is not to be classed with the numerous märchen which Crusaders and Mongol hordes are believed to have introduced into Europe. The local distribution of the tale points also to the conclusion that it is indigenous in the West. More than forty popular versions have been collected by R. Kohler and H. Suchier, all of which, with five exceptions, are European. They follow three main types, which may be roughly located among (A) the Teutons, (B) the S. Europeans, and (C) the Slavs. These märchen appear in the main to be independent of the literary versions, and in many cases display apparently mythical traits, and other marks of great age.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.