[81] Marie, who drew all her materials from Bretagne, probably
refers to some Armorican edition, of the history of these ill-fated
lovers.
[82] From this, which forms no part of the Sir Tristrem of
Thomas, the Rhymer, it is evident that the same tale was popular in
France, at least thirty years before the probable date of that work.
No. XII.--ELIDUC.
This is stated to be a _very_ old Breton lay. Its original title was
"Guildeluec ha Gualadun," from the names of the two heroines; but it was
afterwards more commonly stiled, The Lay of Eliduc.
Eliduc was a knight of Bretagne, much admired for military prowess,
courtesy, and political sagacity; in consequence of which, his
sovereign, who loved and admired him, was in the habit of entrusting to
his management the most important cares of government. Indeed, so great
was his influence at court, that he enjoyed, almost as completely as the
king, the privilege of the chace in the royal forests. But the favour of
sovereigns is always precarious; and so adroit were his enemies, that he
was suddenly deprived of all his honours, and even banished the country,
without being able to obtain from his once indulgent master, the
privilege of knowing his crimes, or being confronted with his accusers.
Fortunately he was in the prime of life, fond of adventure, and not of a
temper to despond. He retired to his castle, convened his friends, and
communicated to them the king's injustice, and his own projects; which
were, to embark for England, and there enter into the pay of the first
king who might want his assistance. But he had a wife, the fair and
amiable Guildeluec, whom he tenderly loved; and whom, as he was
unwilling to carry her into exile, he earnestly recommended to their
care and attentions. He then selected ten knights as his companions, and
departed for the sea-coast, escorted by nearly all his friends and
vassals, and accompanied by his wife, who was almost frantic with grief
at this cruel separation, and whom he could scarcely reconcile to her
fate, by repeating again and again the most solemn assurances of eternal
and inviolable fidelity. At length he embarked with a fair wind, and
landing at Totness, in Devonshire, proceeded towards Exeter. The king of
this district had an only daughter, heiress of his dominions; and,
having refused to bestow her on a neighbouring prince, was at that time
involved in a most distressful war, and besieged in his capital. Eliduc
went no further: he sent a message to the distressed king, offering his
assistance; and requesting, should the proposal be rejected, a safe
conduct through the country. The king most gladly accepted the offer,
and ordered his constable to prepare a house for the reception of the
welcome guests, and issue a suitable sum of money, with a supply of
provisions for their monthly expenditure. Eliduc and his attendants were
magnificently entertained. His inn was the house of the richest burgess
in the town, and _the grand tapestry room_[83] was surrendered to the
knight by its proprietor. Eliduc on his part was equally liberal. He
issued strict orders to his attendants, that during the first forty
days, none of them should accept either pay or provisions from the
court; and during this time kept, at his own expence, a profuse table
for the accommodation of such knights as were unprovided with other
means of subsistence. On the third day, an alarm was spread that the
enemy had again over-run the country, and might shortly be expected at
the gates. Eliduc flew to arms; and, having assembled his ten knights,
was soon after joined by fourteen more from different parts of the city,
who declared themselves ready to encounter, under his commands, any
inequality of numbers. Eliduc praised their zeal; but observed, that
this intemperate valour was more fitted for the lists of a tournament
than for useful service; and requested that they, who knew the country,
would shew him some defile in which he could hope to attack the enemy on
equal terms. They pointed out a hollow way in the neighbouring forest,
by which the invaders usually passed and returned; and Eliduc, while
hastening there, described the measures he meant to pursue, and exhorted
them to follow him with vigour. All was so well planned and executed,
that the foe were surprized laden with booty; and their commander, with
thirty principal officers, seized on his palfrey, and made prisoners
almost without resistance. The squires and other attendants at the same
time secured a large quantity of baggage, and the troop immediately
hastened their return towards the city, where their appearance excited
no small consternation. The king, having mounted a watch-tower, had
descried his small garrison of knights engaged in a distant action with
very superior numbers; after which, seeing a large body in full march
for the city, he concluded Eliduc had betrayed him; caused the gates to
be shut, the alarm to be sounded, and commanded the citizens to defend
the walls. But being quickly undeceived, he welcomed his deliverer with
transports of joy and gratitude; and, after receiving his oath of
allegiance for a year, invested him with the supreme military command,
and assigned ample pensions to himself and all his attendants. The
king's daughter, the beautiful Guilliadun, became anxious in her turn to
behold the extraordinary stranger, who had confirmed her father in his
throne, by means of a troop of knights, who scarcely appeared competent
to the defence of the walls. She invited him to an audience, to which he
was formally introduced by one of her chamberlains; seated him near her
on a bed; and entered into conversation on a variety of indifferent
topics. But during the discourse, she could not help remarking that this
consummate warrior and statesman was young and handsome; and found her
heart completely engaged. After sighing and turning pale, and making
many reflections on the indelicacy of avowing her passion, she would
probably have done it, if the knight had not, by respectfully taking
leave, put an end to the interview. He, in the mean time, had not been
blind to her perfections, her youth, beauty, simplicity and frankness of
character, and, above all, those artless sighs which assured him of her
affection, had made an indelible impression on his heart. At length the
image of his wife, and his solemn assurances of fidelity, interrupted
the dream of happiness in which he had involuntarily indulged; but the
interruption became painful; and while he mentally repeated the promise
of adhering to duty, he felt that promise disavowed by his inclination.
Guilliadun, after a sleepless night, found it impossible to keep her
secret, and having summoned a trusty chamberlain, confided to him her
sudden, and, as she thought, inexplicable passion. After a long
discussion, she at length, at his suggestion, dispatched him to the
knight with the usual salutations of courtesy, and with the present of
her ring and a rich girdle. Eliduc immediately replied by an equally
courteous message; put the ring on his finger; bound the girdle round
his loins; offered a rich present to the chamberlain, who declined it;
but avoided all discussion on the subject of his message. The impatient
princess was almost driven to despair by the report of her chamberlain,
who, though convinced that Eliduc could not be insensible to the
kindness of his mistress, was unable to satisfy her mind, or even his
own, concerning the cause of such extreme discretion. Both, indeed, were
ignorant of the conflicts by which he was agitated. To recall his former
fondness for his wife, and to conciliate his duty and affection, was no
longer possible: to betray and dishonour the amiable Guilliadun would be
infamous; and to encourage her passion and his own, without being
hurried too far, was extremely difficult; yet on this he ultimately
resolved; and, having mounted his horse, set off for the palace under
pretence of paying his court to the king, but with the real view of
obtaining an interview with his daughter. The monarch was at that moment
in the apartment of the princess, to whom, while be played a game of
chess with a foreign knight, he explained the moves. On the entrance of
Eliduc he immediately introduced him to her, enjoining her to entertain
and form an acquaintance with a knight, who had few equals in merit; and
the young lady, gladly obeying the injunction, retired with her lover to
the farther end of the apartment. After a long silence equally painful
to both, and which each ineffectually attempted more than once to
interrupt, Eliduc luckily bethought himself of returning thanks for the
ring and girdle; which, as he assured her, he valued far beyond all his
earthly possessions. This warmth of expression encouraging the princess,
she frankly proceeded to make an avowal of her passion, declaring, if he
should reject her hand, there was no other man on earth whom she would
ever accept as a husband; and, when he mysteriously replied, that, as
far as his wishes were concerned, there could be no bar, but that it was
his purpose, after the year of service for which he was pledged to her
father, to return and establish himself in his own country, she told him
she had full confidence in his honour, and was persuaded, when the time
arrived, he would make all proper arrangements for her future destiny.
Thus ended the interview to their mutual satisfaction. Eliduc, watchful,
enterprizing, and indefatigable, soon recovered for her father all the
lost provinces, and insured future tranquillity by the capture of his
enemy; but scarcely was the war concluded, when the knight received an
embassy from his former master, whose ingratitude had been punished by
the loss of half his kingdom, and the jeopardy of the rest, adjuring him
to come with all speed to the rescue of a country which was now purged
of the monsters whose false accusations had occasioned his exile. Such
an embassy, a few months sooner would have been most welcome, but to
part with Guilliadun now appeared the heaviest of misfortunes. He felt,
however, that duty called him away, and determined to obey the summons.
He went to the king; read the letters he had received; and earnestly
requested leave to depart, though his stipulated term of service was not
expired; observing, at the same time, that the state of his majesty's
affairs no longer required his attendance; and, promising at the first
appearance of difficulty, he would return with a powerful body of
knights. The king, after making the most splendid offers to detain him,
unwillingly yielded; but to obtain the consent of Guilliadun was far
more difficult. Trusting that she possessed the whole heart of her
lover, and perfectly unconscious that his hand had been previously given
to another, she insisted on accompanying him, and threatened to destroy
herself in case of his refusal. His remonstrances were accompanied by
fainting fits, which terrified Eliduc into a solemn promise of
unqualified submission to her will; but he represented, that having
sworn fealty to her father, she could not now go with him, without a
breach of his oath; whereas, after the expiration of his term of
service, he could, without disgrace, comply with her wishes; and he
promised, on the honour of a knight, that if she would fix a day, he
would return and carry her off. With this promise she was satisfied, and
after many tears, and a mutual exchange of rings, ultimately permitted
him to depart. The return of Eliduc gave infinite pleasure to his
friends, to the king his master, and above all, to his excellent wife,
who now hoped she should be indemnified, by his beloved society, for her
long and dreary hours of widowhood. But she beheld, with surprise and
consternation that he harboured some secret grief, and anxiously
enquired if any thing in her conduct had given him displeasure. Eliduc
assured her of the contrary, but told her, in apparent confidence, that
he was forced by his oath to return to the king whom he had lately
quitted, so soon as he should have settled the affairs of his own
country; that he had much to endure, much to accomplish; and that,
harassed as he was on all sides, he should never regain his former
gaiety till he should have extricated himself from all his difficulties.
In the mean time, his mere name had inspired the enemy with alarm; his
re-appearance at the head of the armies brought back victory to the
royal standard; he saw and seized the moment of making an advantageous
peace; and, having done so, prepared for the execution of a more
pleasing enterprise. Taking with him only two nephews, a chamberlain and
a trusty squire, all of whom he swore to secresy, he embarked for
Loegria; stationed his vessel at some distance from the harbour of
Totness; and landing his chamberlain alone, and in disguise, sent him,
with secret instructions to the princess. The confidant executed his
commission with address; made his way unobserved to the chamber of
Guilliadun, informed her of his master's arrival, and explained the
measures he had devised for her escape. They waited for the approach of
night; when Guilliadun, without any other attendant, having muffled
herself in a short and warm mantle, which concealed the richness of her
usual garments, followed him out of the town, to a small wood, where
Eliduc, who had deferred his landing till evening, awaited her. The
knight instantly placed her on a horse, springing on another, and taking
her rein in his hand, hurried forward to the sea, and embarked without
having excited the slightest suspicion of the enterprise, to which none
were privy excepting those on board. Both wind and tide were favourable;
they arrived near the coast of Bretagne, and were on the point of
entering the harbour, when a sudden squall from the shore split their
mast, rent their sail, and exposed them for some hours to the most
imminent danger. All exertions to guide the vessel being ineffectual,
they had recourse to prayers, invoking St. Nicholas and St. Clement, and
requesting the intercession of the blessed Virgin and her Son, that they
might be permitted to land in safety. The storm continued; when one of
the sailors suddenly exclaimed, "Sir knight, you carry with you the
cause of our calamity. In defiance of God, religion, justice and honour,
you are carrying off that lady, having already a beautiful and lawful
wife in your own country. Permit us to throw your paramour into the sea,
and we shall speedily find our prayers effectual." The princess was then
lying, almost exhausted with fatigue, sickness, and fear, in the arms of
her lover; who, though bursting with rage, could only express it by
execrations, which he vented as loudly as he could in the hope of
drowning the hateful voice of the mariner, but the fatal assurance
"Eliduc was already married," had reached the ear, and sunk deeply into
the heart of Guilliadun. She fainted, and though he and his friends
employed all the means in their power for her recovery, they were unable
to produce any symptom of returning animation, a general exclamation of
grief pronounced her dead; when the knight, starting from the body,
seized an oar, felled at one blow the presumptuous seaman, threw him by
the foot into the sea, took possession of the helm, and directed it so
skilfully that the vessel reached the harbour in safety. They all
landed, and in a very few hours might reach the castle of Eliduc, which
was not far from the coast; but where could he deposit the body of his
mistress, how inter it with all the honours suitable to her rank and
merit? he at length recollected, that in the forest which surrounded his
mansion, dwelt an aged hermit, at whose cell the corpse might remain
till its interment: he could then enjoy the sad pleasure of visiting
daily the object of all his solicitude, and he determined to found on
the spot an abbey, in which a number of monks should pray for ever for
the soul of the lovely and injured Guilliadun. He then mounted his
palfrey, and, carrying the body in his arms, proceeded with his
attendants to the hermitage. The door was shut; and they discovered,
after having at length procured an entrance, the grave of the holy man,
who had expired a few days before. Eliduc caused a bed to be made within
the chapel; and placing on it his mistress, whose deadly paleness had
not yet injured her beauty, burst into a flood of tears, kissed her
lips and eyes, as if in the hopes of restoring their animation; and
solemnly pronounced a vow, that from the date of her interment he would
never more exercise the functions of a knight; but, after having erected
an abbey on the spot, sanctified by her remains, would assume himself
the monastic habit, and daily visit her tomb to express his love, his
grief, and his remorse. He then, with difficulty tore himself from the
body, and departed; having first sent a messenger to his castle to
announce that he was arrived, but so much fatigued and way-worn, as to
require nothing but repose and solitude. His wife met him with her usual
gentleness of affection; but instantly saw in his haggard looks that his
heart laboured with some misery which her tenderness was unable to
remove. His manners were such as to awaken without satisfying her
curiosity. He rose at day break, spent some hours at prayers, walked
alone into the forest, proceeded instinctively to the fatal hermitage,
and returned late in the evening, bearing with him, as it appeared, an
additional load of misery. He saw with astonishment that death seemed to
abstain from ravaging the beauties of Guilliadun; he involuntarily gave
way to the most flattering hopes; and, after many long sad hours of
tears and fruitless prayer, retired in anguish and disappointment. On
the third day he gave notice he should go to court, and pass the evening
with the king. His wife, in the mean time, by the promise of the most
tempting rewards, had engaged one of her pages to follow his master at a
distance, during his forest walk, and report what he should see and
hear; and the page, having on that morning executed his commission, she
determined to take advantage of Eliduc's absence to visit the hermitage,
and discover, if possible, the cause of that excessive grief to which he
gave way; and of which the death of the old hermit, much as he might
have loved him, was far from affording a satisfactory explanation. She
set forth with the page, entered the chapel, beheld, with much surprize,
a bed handsomely ornamented; and, on lifting up the covering, saw, with
still more astonishment, the young and blooming Guilliadun, "_qui
resemblot rose nuvele_." The faultless beauty of a living rival might
have excited some indignation in the bosom of the most patient wife, but
the eyes of the lovely object before her, appeared closed for ever; and
Guildeluec could find no place in her heart, for any sentiments but
those of admiration and pity. After calling her page to survey the
spectacle which fully explained and excused her husband's immoderate
grief, she sat down by the bed to reflect on the past, and decide on
her own future conduct. During, the long absence of Eliduc she had
devoted the greater part of her time to religious exercises, and now
clearly saw that to them only could she look for comfort. Having
convinced herself of this necessity, she turned, with tears in her eyes,
to the fair object of her husband's regret; when a circumstance,
apparently trifling, involuntarily arrested her attention. A weasel,
creeping from under the altar, ran upon the bed, and passing several
times over the face of the entranced Guilliadun, so far incensed the
page, that with a blow of his stick he laid it dead at his feet, and
then threw it on the floor. The animal had lain there only a few
moments, when another weasel, coming from the same hole, ran up, and
attempted awhile to sport with it, and then, after exhibiting every
appearance of grief, suddenly ran off into the wood, and returned with a
flower of a beautiful vermilion colour, which it carefully inserted into
the mouth of the dead animal. The effect was sudden, the weasel
instantaneously got upon its legs, and was preparing to escape; when the
lady exclaimed to the page, to strike it again, and he aimed a second
blow, that caused the creature to drop the flower, which Guildeluec
instantly seized, and carefully placed between the lips of Guilliadun.
The plant had not lost its efficacy. The princess, awakening from her
trance, expressed her surprise at having slept so long, and then gazed
with astonishment at the bed on which she lay, at the walls of the
chapel by which she was surrounded, and at the two unknown figures, of
Guildeluec and the page; who, kneeling by her side, loudly expressed
their thanksgiving to the Almighty for what they thought her miraculous
resurrection. At length the good lady, having finished her devotions,
began to question the fair stranger respecting her birth and preceding
adventures, which she related with the utmost candour and exactness,
till the fatal moment when the discovery of Eliduc's prior marriage had
deprived her of sense and motion. The rest was better known to her
hearers than herself; and Guildeluec, more and more charmed with her
innocence, and frankness, after avowing herself, lost no time in
comforting her, by the assurance that all her hopes and wishes might now
be speedily gratified. "Your youthful beauty," said she, "might
captivate any heart, and your merit will fix for ever that of Eliduc,
who is unalterably attached to you, and whose grief for your loss was
such as to preclude all hopes of consolation. It is my intention to take
the veil, and abandon all claim to those affections which are estranged
from me for ever. In restoring you to the now wretched Eliduc, I shall
promote, by the only means in my power, that happiness to which I have
hitherto been the unintentional obstacle." Guilliadun consented, with
silent gratitude, to accept the sacrifice so generously offered, and was
united to her lover as soon as the solemn ceremony had taken place, by
which Guildeluec consecrated the remainder of her days to heaven, in a
nunnery erected and endowed by her husband, on the site of the ancient
hermitage. Their union was followed by many years of happiness; and they
closed a life of charity and benevolence by following the pious example
of Guildeluec, who received Guilliadun into her order, while Eliduc took
the cowl in a monastery, to the endowment of which he dedicated the
remainder of his worldly possessions. From the adventure of these three,
"the olde gentil Bretons" (_li auncien Bretun curteis_) formed a lay to
transmit to future ages.