OCTAVIAN: FOOTNOTES
1 Of whom the word began to spread very widely
2 He (Clement) sent his own son to learn the trade
3 That no one will attempt such feats of mastery
4 Until he knew which of the two would be victorious
5 For it was at that time the law of messengers
6 But of necessity it happens that he must fight on foot
OCTAVIAN: NOTES
Before 1 The text is preceded by an incipit: Here bygynnes the Romance off Octovyane.
1 The line begins with a large rubricated M.
10 Romances conventionally cite "books of Rome" as their source (see Eglamour, Emaré) to suggest the story's authenticity. Here it is appropriate since Rome is the Emperor's capital city.
15 The reference to romance reading is in contrast to the oral presentation of the first stanza; both are conventional. See note to Isumbras, line 135.
21 No worthier undir wede. Literally, in clothes; an idiom meaning roughly, “no worthier person alive.”
32 Southern Octavian alone does not suggest barrenness; there the unmarried Emperor is urged by his barons to take a wife so that he may have an heir. He does and twin sons are born.
66 fay (doomed to die) is infrequent in Middle English, surviving longest in Scotland (see Octovian, ed. McSparran, p. 182).
76 The building of an abbey to win the intercession of the Virgin is found only in Northern Octavian. (It is unnecessary in Southern; see note to line 32 above.) The building of abbeys to earn spiritual rewards occurs in other romances and the endowment of ecclesiastical foundations was a common practice in the Middle Ages (e.g., see Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlyle and Sir Gowther). Here it is a functional analogue of the pilgrimage undertaken by Tryamour's barren father.
The empress’ association with the Virgin Mary, initiated here, continues throughout the romance. She enlists Mary’s help once again less than two hundred lines later when she is sentenced to death by burning (lines 259–64), and it is through the “myghte of Mary mylde” that she is able to regain one of her sons from the lioness. According to Salter, this persistent association with the Virgin establishes the empress as both the “personification of loving, patient, and self-sacrificing motherhood,” and the antithesis of her inexplicably evil mother-in-law (“‘Born to Thraldom and Penance,’” p. 49).
95 The giving of gifts to bearers of good news was traditional; these rewards of three towns to each messenger were generous.
124 ff. The episode of the supposed lover is derived from the Crescentia story (see The Erle of Tolous).
172-84 ff. 172-84 In the Cambridge text the Empress remains asleep during this scene.
185 Churching was a purification ritual for women after the birth of a child (usually forty days). Only in Northern Octavian is the punishment of the empress so delayed.
217 Adultery with the wife of one's lord was classified as an act of treason, according to medieval English law.
223 The role of the Empress' father here is suggestive of the cruel father found in other romances of calumniated queens. There the father intends to punish his daughter; here his condemnation of her is unwitting, and later he laments her ordeal (line 241).
244-55 Only the first three triplets appear in the corresponding Cambridge stanza, where they follow an introductory triplet that does not appear in Thornton.
273 nere ne myghte. MS: nere myghte. McSparran's emendation.
281 Florins were issued in Florence and circulated widely from the mid-thirteenth century. Edward III introduced a florin to England in 1343. Broh says a florin was worth six shillings, eight pence (Sir Isumbras, p. 111). Extrapolating from his calculations, a florin would have been worth roughly two hundred dollars in modern money.
303 wafull. MS: illegible. McSparran's emendation.
349 The belief that a lion will not harm those of royal blood is traditional. E.g., it occurs in Bevis of Hampton and in Spenser’s Faerie Queene, Book 1. The motif of the child carried off by a lion is found in the later romance Torrent of Portengale. Lost children suckled by wild animals are not uncommon in European legend, the story of Romulus and Remus being perhaps the best- known example. The English romance Chevalere Assigne, a version of the swan-knight legend, features a nurturing hind. Such episodes in the lives of culture heroes harken back to more primitive explorations of concepts of nature and culture, animal and human.
353 In the Old French Octavian, the child is carried off by a dragon. This seems to be one of the first references to a griffin carrying off a child. Later it appears in Eglamour and Torrent.
407 See Sir Isumbras, ed. Broh, p. 111 (note to line 359).
411 This line has been moved from after line 405 where it appears in the manuscript, following McSparran's emendation.
476 Another faithful lioness appears in the ballad Sir Aldinger. The faithful lion in Yvain is better known, and like the lioness, fights beside its master, though its faithfulness is earned by an act of kindness.
511 In Southern Octavian her circumstances are humbler; she supports herself by needlework, as does the heroine in Emaré.
515 Apparently the Emperor did not follow his queen's request to christen the children before burning them (see lines 266 ff.), but rather, in his pity, just banished them all without a christening. Second christenings were strictly forbidden in the fourteenth century; thus the christening of the one child here and the other in line 629 should not be perceived as second christenings.
532 The line begins with a large rubricated N, marking the turn of the story to the career of the other twin, Florent.
575 A badge in the shape of a palm was often worn by those who had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
606 Clement's wife is named Gladwyn in line 948. She is nameless in other versions, but in the French Octavian Clement's son is named Gladwains. Her gladness here thus befits her.
627 In the Thornton manuscript, this line follows line 625. In moving the line, I follow McSparran's emendation.
645 chawndelere. That is, chandler, i.e., candlemaker, but the Cambridge text has chaungere. In the French Octavian, Clement’s son is to become a money-changer, while Florent is sent to be a butcher. In Southern Octavian only, Clement himself is a butcher.
664–807 Only the first line of the stanza remains in the Thornton manuscript where a leaf is missing after folio 102, so 147 or possibly 159 lines have been lost (Octovian, ed. McSparran, p. 11). The missing passage is supplied from the Cambridge text. However, the Thornton text resumes in a stanza to which none in Cambridge or the French Octavian corresponds, relating the giant’s interview with the sultan. (Line 664 in the Thornton manuscript reads: The squyer therof was full gladd.)
675 In the Cambridge manuscript hym is repeated.
760 This line begins with a large letter A, marking the conclusion of the enfance of Florent and the beginning of the episode of the war with the Sultan.
793 Borogh Larayn corresponds to Bourg-la-reine in the Parisian arrondissement of Sceaux (Mills, note line 787, p. 203). The reference to this locale is unique to Northern Octavian.
807a Mills, following Cambridge Ff. 2.38, provides a transition from what is missing in Thornton that smooths over the gap:
The gyauntys name was Aragonour;
He lovyd that maydyn par amour,
That was so feyre and free;
And sche had levyr drawyn bene
Than yn hur chaumber hym to sene:
So fowle a wyght was he!
[lines 805-10]
808 The Thornton text resumes at this point. The Sultan has promised Marsabelle to the giant, should he win the battle, and the giant eagerly accepts the challenge single-handedly.
816 Mount Martyn. The Cambridge text reads throughout Mount Mertrous which corresponds to the French Octavian's topographically accurate reference to Montmartre.
863-86 These two stanzas are not present in the Cambridge manuscript, omitting the Giant's bargain of Dagobert's head for Marsabelle's hand.
866 Dagobert was king of the Franks in the early seventh century.
867 abrayde. Mills treats as two words, a brayde, and glosses the phrase as "a bout," rather than as an adverbial form of abraiden, "abroad," "out of the house," or "out in the open." A third possibility might be an adverbial form of abreiden, meaning “violently” (Six Middle English Romances, p. 204).
899 Here begins a series of stanzas of dialogue notable for their use of repetition and formal structure of statement and reply.
908 nolde. MS: wolde. McSparran's emendation; the context requires a negative.
911-34 These two stanzas are not present in Cambridge. Their omission would seem to be due to the composer's desire to shorten the narrative.
935 ff. This follows the French Octavian closely, preserving its mock-heroic tone (see Octovian, ed. McSparran, p. 194). The knight setting out in inferior, borrowed armor is conventional, especially in chivalric enfances (see Sir Perceval of Galles).
936 An actone was a padded jacket worn under the hauberk (coat of mail).
945 seven yere. MS: seven. Emendation by McSparran and Sarrazin following the Cambridge text.
962 The aventayle is the chain-mail neckpiece of a suit of armor. A bacenete is a type of helmet.
1007-15 Thornton's nine-line stanza lacks three lines present in the Cambridge MS and the Old French Octavian:
Jhesu that syttyth yn trynyté
Blesse the fadur that gate the
And the modur that the dud bere
1058 ff. The ironic detail of Florent's presentation of the giant's head does not appear in the Old French Octavian or the southern English version. There the head is presented to the French king and publicly displayed.
1064 The word brighte is written at the end of the line and marked for insertion after als. The sense demands that it be read before als or that a second als be added after it.
1072 Florent is apparently still on horseback, having ridden into the hall.
1098 Clermont is a town north of Paris. The reference to this locale is unique to Northern Octavian.
1123 Marsabelle's seemingly negative attitude toward Florent is a little puzzling. In the French Octavian she is at first favorably disposed to the giant and only admits her feelings for Florent after much soul-searching. Here she seems to put up a front to hide her feelings from her father.
1125 He bote. MS: He. Emendation by McSparran and Sarrazin, following the Cambridge text.
1146 that I ne. MS: that ne. McSparran emends the line: Allas, þat ne with my lemane [I] wore.
1172 A large rubricated capital T at the beginning of this stanza marks the fourth division: the episode of the knighting of Florent.
1175-1231 These lines are omitted in the Cambridge text, diminishing Clement's role and the social comedy.
1192 The king and the emperor cut his meat to honor him. It was an honor to serve and carve for those of higher rank. Even great nobles coveted appoint-ment to such ritualized service.
1206 Clement's beating the minstrels is especially uncourtly, not to mention unmotivated. Romance heroes are more often characterized by their patronage of minstrels; this bourgeois "hero" seems more concerned with cutting costs.
1280 Only in Northern Octavian does the recognition of father and son come here. In the French and southern versions it comes at the end in the family reunion scene, as is usual in Eustace/Constance/Crescentia-type narratives. Northern Octavian's separation of the recognitions gives rise to inconsis-tencies in lines 1613 and 1625. Octavian's recognition of Florent as his son is best explained by the fact that in the French Octavian the father is penitent.
1295 The Emperor's lament for his lost wife is more consistent with his character in the French Octavian, where he has (somehow) realized her innocence and gone in search of her.
1316 The hero disguised in the enemy's camp, and his narrow escape, is a conventional episode in epic romances. See King Alexander and Gawain's bold foray into Lucius' camp in the Alliterative Morte Arthure.
1332 Florent here uses the singular pronoun the rather than the royal ye in addressing the Sultan, indicating his inferiority. See also line 1599.
1373 Cambridge reverses the order of lines 1370-73 and lines 1373-75, giving a superior reading. There the Sultan's men first recognize Florent, then seize their weapons and attack him.
1387 This gruesome head/football simile may be conventional; see Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where members of Arthur's court fend off the Green Knight's rolling head with their feet.
1420 herte. MS: herde. McSparran's emendation. See line 1507 for another occur-rence of this formula.
1436-71 The weak verse here and the vagueness of the events may be due to a departure from the French Octavian. Only the northern version develops this encounter into a major battle. The treatment serves to demonstrate Florent's prowess, but permits the other Christians to seem ineffective by contrast.
1448 I have emended the manuscript reading in to and. Syte (distress, grief) is a rare Northern form. The formula used here, sorow and syte, occurs in Old Norse (see Octovian, ed. McSparran, p. 197).
1506 haulsynge. Literally, "necking."
1532 The father of Josian, Saracen princess of Bevis of Hampton, also has a magic horse. In spite of Marsabelle's suggestion, the steed is not particularly instrumental in the defeat of the Sultan.
1564-65 These lines are inverted in the Cambridge manuscript.
1580 This description of Clement’s superior horsemanship repeats a simile used in line 1017 to describe Florent: “Sprong als sparke dose of glede.” As Wright notes, “This new skill is grossly inconsistent with Clement’s usual role as a rebuttal to chivalry, and illustrates the infirmity of the fabliau-romance partition” in Northern Octavian because Clement’s successful manipulation of the sultan depends on actual prowess and not “the pure workings of guile” (“Fabliau Ethos,” p. 493). Both the Old French and southern versions of Octavian exemplify a more traditional fabliau ethos in which Clement is the honored champion.
1612-13 As in lines 1624-26, Florent's parentage seems to be unknown here, an inconsistency created by the northern composer's rearrangement of the recognition scenes. See note to line 1280.
1621-1770 These lines are mutilated in the Thornton manuscript where half of folio 108 is missing. The first parts of lines 1621-52 and almost all of lines 1651-62 remain on folio 108 recto, column A, but column B, and column A on the verso are missing. The ends of lines 1740-73 are present on 108 verso in column B. In the text, the missing and mutilated passages have been supplied from the Cambridge manuscript. These lines agree substantially with what remains in the Thornton manuscript.
1627 A large capital A begins the line, marking the final battle and the reunion episode where the other twin, Octavian, again appears.
1714 brenyes. MS: bremus. McSparran's emendation.
1774-79 Cambridge reverses the order of these two three line units and gives the better reading since Octavian's defense of the mother is continuous, followed by his father's reaction.
1785 The Cambridge manuscript includes three lines not present in the Thornton text:
Than spekyth the lady of honowre
To hur lorde the emperour
Wordys of grete pyte.
These seem to be original, since they provide an important transition and the Thornton stanza is short.
1823 Death by burning was the usual punishment for women convicted of treason. McSparran cites the statutes of Edward III (Octavian, p. 199).
1824 [B]elle, meaning cauldron, is a local Yorkshire term; it always appears with reference to burning (see Octovian, ed. McSparran, p. 199).
1828–33 Wright suggests that this disturbing use of laughter in a romance that otherwise fails to preserve most of the fabliau humor found in both the Old French and Southern versions of Octavian “can only be interepreted as a signifier of social and moral opprobirum” (“Fabliau Ethos,” p. 492).
1844 The Cambridge text here concludes briefly:
Jhesu lorde, hevyn kynge
Graunt us all thy blessyng
And yn hevyn to abyde.