170 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



religious songs, moral proverbs, and religious 

 stories, so the Edda contains the history of 

 Norway, religious songs, a book of proverbs, 

 and numerous stories. The original Edda was 

 compiled and edited by Saemun Sigfusson, an 

 Icelandic priest, in the eleventh century. Tt 

 contains twenty-eight parts or books, all of 

 which are in verse. 



Two hundred years later, Snorro Sturles- 

 son, of Iceland, abridged, re-arranged, and 

 reduced the prose of the Edda, giving the vari- 

 ous parts a kind of dramatic form like the 

 Dialogues of Plato. It then became need- 

 ful to distinguish between the two works ; 

 so the old poetical compilation is called the 

 Elder or Rhythmical Edda, while the more 

 modern work is called the Younger or Prose 

 Edda, and sometimes the Snorro Edda. The 

 Younger Edda is, however, partly original, 

 containing the discourse of Bragi on the 

 Origin of Poetry ; here, too, we find the 

 famous story called by the Germans ' ' Nibe- 

 lungen-Lied." Beside the Sagas contained in 

 the Eddas there are a number of productions 

 of various forms. 



Miracle Plays, The, were founded on the 

 historical parts of the Old and New Testa- 

 ments and on the lives of the saints. They 

 were performed at first in churches, and after- 

 wards on platforms in the streets. Their de- 

 sign was to instruct the people in Bible his- 

 tory ; but long before the Reformation, they 

 had so far departed from their original charac- 

 ter as to bring contempt upon the church and 

 religion. The exhibition of a single play 

 often occupied several days. The earliest re- 

 corded Miracle Play took place in England in 

 the beginning of the twelfth century ; but they 

 soon became popular in France, Germany, 

 Spain, and Italy. 



In Germany these plays, with one excep- 

 tion, were suppressed in the year 1779. The vil- 

 lages of Oberammergau in the Bavarian High- 

 lands, had, upon the cessation of a play, in 

 1633, vowed to perform the "Passion of Our 

 Saviour " every tenth year out of gratitude, 

 and also as a means of instruction to the peo- 

 ple. The pleading of a deputation of Oberam- 

 mergau peasants with Maximilian II. of Ba- 

 varia, saved their play from general condemna- 

 tion. The play was remodeled and is per- 

 haps the only Miracle Play that survives to 

 the present day. The performance lasts for 

 eight hours with an intermission of one hour 

 at noon ; and though occurring only once in 

 a decade is repeated on several Sundays in 

 succession during the season. The characters 

 in the play number about 500. The person- 

 ator of the Saviour seems to regard the per- ' 

 formance of his part as an act of religious j 



worship ; and the other important actors are 

 said to be selected for their holy life and to be 

 consecrated to their work with prayer. Travel- 

 ers from all parts of the world flock to 

 Oberammergau during the time announced 

 for its representation. 



Cid Campeador, historically Roderigo 

 Diaz, the noted Spanish warrior, is so inter- 

 mingled with fable that it is almost impossible 

 to get at the truth. His career i.; celebratec 

 in the Spanish Epic, " Poem of the Cid." 

 From this poem and other Spanish works 

 Southey translated and compiled his ' ' Chroni- 

 cle of the Cid." 



The Cid is supposed to have been born 

 about the year 1026, and to have died at 

 Valentia, 1099. He was such a terror to the 

 Moors, and seemed so superior to all others, 

 that he was called El Seid (Arabic for the 

 Lord) ; and finally Cid Campeador (Lord 

 Champion). 



Rebecca, of Ivanhoe. Sir Walter Scott's 

 model for this character was a young woman, 

 Rebecca Gratz by name, of an honorable 

 Jewish family of Philadelphia. She was born 

 on the 4th of March, 1781, and in her younger 

 days, and even beyond middle life, possessed 

 singular beauty. She was noted for her be- 

 nevolent and charitable life and for her devo- 

 tion to the Jewish faith. One of the most 

 intimate friends of her family was Washing- 

 ton Irving, who in the fall of 1817 first 

 introduced the character to the notice of Scott 

 during his visit to Abbotsford. During one 

 of their many conversations, Irving spoke of 

 his friend Rebecca Gi-atz of Philadelphia, de- 

 scribed her wonderful beauty, and related the 

 story of her firm adherence to her religious 

 faith. Scott was deeply interested and con- 

 ceived the plan of embodying a character like 

 hers in one of his novels. Shortly after this 

 he wrote Ivanhoe, and named his heroine 

 Rebecca. 



Romance of the Rose, the Iliad of 

 France, is a poetical allegory begun by Guil- 

 laume de Loris in the latter part of the thir- 

 teenth century and continued by Jean de Munge 

 in the fourteenth century. The poet dreams 

 that Dame Idleness conducts him to the palace 

 of pleasure, where he meets Love, whose at- 

 tendant maidens are Sweet Looks, Courtesy. 

 Youth, Joy, and Competence; by them he is 

 conducted to a bed of roses. He has just 

 singled out one rose when an arrow from 

 Love's bow stretches him fainting on the 

 ground and he is carried away. When he is 

 revived he resolves to find his rose, and Wel- 

 come promises to aid him. Shyness, Fear, and 

 Slander obstruct his way ; Reason advises him 

 to give up the quest ; Pity and Kindness show 



