simple facts of the birth and death of Christ. Except in a few
places--such as, for instance, the exquisite and widely popular story
of _Amis and Amiles_ (the earliest vernacular form of which is a true
_chanson de geste_ of the twelfth century)--there are not many
indications of any higher or finer notion of Christianity than that
which is confined to the obedient reception of the sacraments, and the
cutting off Saracens' heads whensoever they present themselves.[22]

[Footnote 21: _V. infra_ on the scene in _Aliscans_ between William of
Orange and his sister Queen Blanchefleur.]

[Footnote 22: Even the famous and very admirable death-scene of Vivien
(again _v. infra_) will not disprove these remarks.]

[Sidenote: _Realist quality._]

In manners, as in theology and ethics, there is the same simplicity,
which some have called almost barbarous. Architecture and dress
receive considerable attention; but in other ways the arts do not seem
to be far advanced, and living is still conducted nearly, if not
quite, as much in public as in the _Odyssey_ or in _Beowulf_. The hall
is still the common resort of both sexes by day and of the men at
night. Although gold and furs, silk and jewels, are lavished with the
usual cheap magnificence of fiction, very few details are given of the
minor _supellex_ or of ways of living generally. From the _Chanson de
Roland_ in particular (which, though it is a pity to confine the
attention to it as has sometimes been done, is undoubtedly the type of
the class in its simplest and purest form) we should learn next to
nothing about the state of society depicted, except that its heroes
were religious in their fashion, and terrible fighters. But it ought
to be added that the perusal of a large number of these _chansons_
leaves on the mind a much more genuine belief in their world (if it
may so be called) as having for a time actually existed, than that
which is created by the reading of Arthurian romance. That fair
vision we know (hardly knowing why or how we know it) to have been a
creation of its own Fata Morgana, a structure built of the wishes, the
dreams, the ideals of men, but far removed from their actual
experience. This is not due to miracles--there are miracles enough in
the _chansons de geste_ most undoubtingly related: nor to the strange
history, geography, and chronology, for the two divisions are very
much on a par there also. But strong as the fantastic element is in
them, the _c