single one of
the great Arthurian romances was written; and as both the French and
English, and even the German, writers of these latter were certainly
acquainted with the _chansons_, the imitation, if there were any, must
lie on their side. As a matter of fact, however, there is little or
none. The later and less genuine _chansons_ borrow to some extent the
methods and incidents in the romances; but the romances at no time
exhibit much resemblance to the _chansons_ proper, which have an
extremely distinct, racy, and original character of their own. Hallam,
writing later than Dunlop, and if with a less wide knowledge of
Romance, with a much greater proficiency in general literary history,
practically passes the _chansons de geste_ over altogether in the
introduction to his _Literature of Europe_, which purports to
summarise all that is important in the _History of the Middle Ages_,
and to supplement and correct that book itself.

[Footnote 19: Dunlop, _History of Prose Fiction_ (ed. Wilson, London,
1888), i. 274-351. Had Dunlop rigidly confined himself to _prose_
fiction, the censure in the text might not be quite fair. As a matter
of fact, however, he does not, and it would have been impossible for
him to do so.]

[Sidenote: _Their isolation and origin._]

The only excuse (besides mere unavoidable ignorance, which, no doubt,
is a sufficient one) for this neglect is the curious fact, in itself
adding to their interest, that these _chansons_, though a very
important chapter in the histories both of poetry and of fiction, form
one which is strangely marked off at both ends from all connection,
save in point of subject, with literature precedent or subsequent. As
to their own origin, the usual abundant, warm, and if it may be said
without impertinence, rather futile controversies have prevailed.
Practically speaking, we know nothing whatever about the matter. There
used to be a theory that the Charlemagne Romances owed their origin
more or less directly to the fabulous _Chronicle_ of Tilpin or Turpin,
the warrior-Archbishop of Rheims. It has now been made tolerably
certain that the Latin chronicle on the subject is not anterior even
to our existing _Chanson de Roland_, and very probable that it is a
good deal later. On the other hand, of actual historical basis we have
next to nothing except the mere fact of the death of Roland
("Hruotlandus comes Britanniae") at the skirmish of Roncesvalles. There
are, however, early