378 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Kinal'do. In Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered " he 

 belonged to the army of the Christians. He was the son 

 of- Bertoldo and Sophia, and nephew of Guelpho, but 

 was brought up by Matilda. The name, Rinaldo, is 

 also found in Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato," in 

 Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso." and in other romantic 

 tales of Italy and France. He was one of Charlemagne's ! 

 Paladins, and cousin to Orlando. Having killed Charle- 

 magne's nephew Berthelot, he was banished and out- 

 lawed. After various adventures and disasters, he went I 

 to the Holy Land, and, on his return, succeeded in 

 making peace with the emperor. 



Ring and the Book, The. An idyllic epic, by 

 Robert Browning, founded on Italian history. Guido 

 Franceschini, a Florentine Count of shattered fortune, 

 married Pompilia, thinking her to be an heiress. Finding 

 this a mistake the count treated Pompilia so brutally 

 that she left him under the protection of Caponsacchi, 

 a young priest, and being arrested at Rome, a legal sepa- 

 ration took place. Pompilia sued for a divorce, but, 

 pending the suit, gave birth to a son. The count mur- 

 dered Pompilia, and Pietro and Violante, her supposed 

 parents, but being taken red-handed, was brought to 

 trial, found guilty, and executed. 



Rip Van Winkle. Sketch Book, Irving. An 

 indolent, good-natured fellow, living in a village on the 

 Hudson. While shooting among the Catskill Mountains 

 he meets with a stranger whom he helps in carrying a 

 keg over rocks and cliffs; with him he joins a party who 

 are silently rolling ninepins. Rip Van Winkle drinks 

 deeply of the liquor they furnish, and falls into a sleep 

 which lasts twenty years, during which the Revolution- 

 ary War takes place. After awaking. Rip returns to 

 the village, finds himself almost forgotten and makes 

 friends with the new generation. The name of the 

 great actor, Joseph Jefferson, became so identified with 

 this character that to the English-speaking world he 

 was Rip Van Winkle. 



Robert the Devil. The hero of an old French met- 

 rical romance of the Thirteenth Century, the same as 

 Robert, first Duke of Normandy, who became an early 

 object of legendary scandal. Having been given over 

 to the Devil before birth, he ran a career of cruelties 

 and crimes unparalleled, till he was miraculously re- 

 claimed, did penance, and became a shining light, and 

 married the emperor's daughter. In the Eleventh 

 Century the romance was turned into prose, and of the 

 prose story two translations were made into English. 

 There was also a miracle play on the same subject. The 

 opera of "Robert le Diable was composed by Meyer- 

 beer, in 1826. 



Robin des Bois. In Germany, a mysterious hunter 

 of the forest. Robin des Bois occurs in one of Eugene 

 Sue's novels "as a well-known mythical character whose 

 name is employed by French mothers to frighten their 

 children." 



Robin Goodfellqw. Sometimes called Puck, son 

 of Oberon, a domestic spirit, the constant attendant on 

 the English fairy-court; full of tricks and fond of practi- 

 cal jokes. He is also considered the same as Lob-lie- 

 by-the-fire, in some tales. His character and achieve- 

 ments are recorded in the well-known ballad beginning 

 "From Oberon in Fairy-land." Wright, in his "Essays 

 on the Literature, Superstitions, and History of England 

 in the Middle Ages," suspects Robin Goodfellow to have 

 been the Robin Hood of the old popular Morris dance. 



Robin Hood. A famous EnKlish oytlaw whose ex- 

 ploits are the subjects of many ballads, but of whose act- I 

 ual existence little or no evidence can be discovered. | 

 Various periods, ranging from the time of Richard I. j 

 to near the end of the reign of Edward II., have been j 

 assigned as the age in which he lived. He is usually 

 described as a yoeman, and his chief residence is said to 

 have been the forest of Sherwood, in Nottinghamshire. 

 Ot his followers, the most noted are Little John; his 

 chaplain, Friar Tuck; and his companion. Maid Marian. 

 The popular legends extol his personal courage and gen- 

 erosity, and his skill in archery. Scott introduces Robin 

 Hood in two novels " Ivanhoe " and " The Talisman. " 

 In the former he first appears as Locksley the archer, 

 at the tournament. 



Robinson Cru'soe. A tale by Daniel Defoe. Robin- 

 son Crusoe went to sea, was wrecked, lived on an unin- 

 habited island of the tropics, and relieved the weariness 

 of life by numberless contrivances. At length he met a 

 young Indian, whom he saved from death. He called 

 him his "man Friday," and made him his companion 

 and servant. This story has been translated into more 

 languages than any other English book. 



Rob Roy. The title and hero of a novel by Sir 

 Walter Scott. It signifies "Rob the Red," and was the 

 sobriquet of a famous Scottish outlaw, Robert MacGre- 

 gor, the chief of the clan MacGregor. 



Roderick Dhu. Lady of the Lake, Scott. An 



outlaw and chief of a band of Scots who resolved to 

 win back what had been lost to the Saxons. In con- 

 nection with Red Murdock he sought the life of the 

 Saxon Fitz James. 



Roderigo. In Shakespere's "Othello," a Venetian in 

 love with Desdemona, who when the lady eloped with 

 Othello, hated the "noble Moor." 



Koirer Drake. Name of hero and title of novel 

 by H. K. Webster. "Captain of Industry " is the added 

 appellation to name of hero, who is interested in the 

 working of a copper-mine, the founding of a trust, the 

 change from the old-fashioned trust to the simple plan 

 of one monster corporation, and the deadly business 

 fight for supremacy found in modern industrial stnitfule*. 



Ko land. The hero of one of the most ancient and 

 popular epics of early French or Frankish literature, was, 

 according to tradition, the favorite nephew and captain 

 of the Emperor Charlemagne. In Italian romance he is 

 called Orlan'do. He was slain in the valley of R<>M<T<- 

 valles as he was leading the rear of the army from Spain 

 to France. The oldest version of the "Song of Roland," 

 forming part of the "Chansons de Geste," which treat 

 of the achievements of Charlemagne and his paladins, 

 belongs to the Eleventh Century. Throughout the 

 Middle Ages, the "Song of Roland was the most popu- 

 lar of the many heroic poems, and William of Normandy, 

 when on his way to conquer England, had it sung at the 

 head of his troops, to encourage ..them on their march. 

 At the present day, the traditionary memory of the heroic 

 paladin is still held in honor by the hardy mountaineers 

 of the Pyrenees, amongst whose dangerous defiles the 

 scene of his exploits and death is laid. Roland is the 

 hero of Thdroulde's "Chanson de Roland;" of Turpin's 

 "Chronique"; of Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato"; of 

 Ariosto's " Orlando Furioso." 



Romance of the Hose. A poetical allegory, begun 

 by Guillaumede Lorris in the latter part of the Thirteenth 

 Century, and continued by Jean de Meung in the former 

 half of the Fourteenth Century. The poet dreams that 

 Dame Idleness conducts him to the palace of Pleasure, 

 where he meets many adventures among the attendant 

 maidens, Youth, Joy, Courtesy, and others by whom 

 he is conducted to a bed of roses. He singles out one, 

 when an arr"ow from Love's bow stretches him fainting on 

 the ground. Fear, Slander, and Jealousy are afterward 

 introduced. 



Romances. The. French troubadours composed 

 romances and sung them at the courts of the Norman 

 kings. Richard I. was himself a troubadour. The sub- 

 jects of the romances were generally the deeds of Charle- 

 magne and his knights, or of King Arthur and his knights, 

 and a little later tales of the Crusaders became popular. 

 Old tales were retold, and the incidents were transferred 

 to Eastern lands. From the time of Edward II. many 

 of these tales were translated into English. 



Ro'me-o. In Shakespere's tragedy of "Romeo and 

 Juliet," a son of Montague, in love with Juliet, the 

 daughter of Capulet, who was the head of a noble house 

 of Verona, in feudal enmity with the house of Mon'tague. 



Ro'mulus. The mythical founder of the city of 

 Rome. His name is only a lengthened form of Romus, 

 and he is, therefore, to be regarded as a symbolical 

 representation of the Roman people. 



Rosetta Stone. Found at R9setta in the delta of the 

 Nile, contains equivalent inscriptions in hieroglyphics 

 and in Greek letters. The meaning of the Greek text 

 being known the hieroglyphics could be translated. 



Round Table, The. History of Prince Arthur, 

 Sir T. Malory. A table made by Merlin for Uther the 

 pendragon. Uther gave it to King Leodegraunce of Camel- 

 yard, and when Arthur married Guinevere (the daughter of 

 Leodegraunce), he received the table with a hundred 

 knights as a wedding present. The table would seat 

 150 knights, and each seat was appropriated. What is 

 usually meant by Arthur's Round Table is a smaller one 

 for the accommodation of twelve favorite knights. King 

 Arthur instituted an order of knighthood called "the 

 knights of the Round Table,", the chief of whom were 

 Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Lamerock or Lamo- 

 rake. The "Siege Perilous" was reserved for Sir Gala- 

 had, the son of Sir Lancelot by Elaine. 



Roussillon, Alice. The heroine of the romance* 

 " Alice of Old Vincennes " by Maurice Thompson. Her 

 guardian was Gaspard Roussillon, a successful trader 

 with the Indians. "Eat frogs and save your scalps" 

 was the plan of the Latin Creoles. " Papa Roussillon " 

 was a frog-eater and the ruling spirit in his little village. 

 The English and their Indian allies arranged their 

 attack on the fort at Vincennes, and the American fiag 

 was in danger. Alice, with the help of a cripple boy, 

 Jean, stole the flag, no search or questioning could reveal 

 the whereabouts of either flag or thief, and at the end of 



