OF SIX MEDIEVAL WOMEN 



as they are intertwined, thrive, but as soon as 

 they are separated, both perish. Says Tristan, 

 " Sweet Love, so is it with us nor you without 

 me, nor I without you." 



But besides this conception of love which 

 Marie had simply found awaiting expression, 

 when we turn to examine the stories somewhat 

 in detail, we find legend and poetry, Eastern 

 magic and Christian symbolism, mingled with 

 strange ingenuity. Whence came all these 

 divers threads which Marie has so dexterously 

 interwoven ? It is very difficult to tell whether 

 we are wholly in a world of romance, accepted 

 by her without question, or whether she had 

 some understanding of the divers matters she 

 touches upon, and shaped them into a new form 

 to suit new hearers. The answer to this question 

 seems to depend on whether Marie recounted 

 the lays from hearsay, or whether they had been 

 already written down, and were merely retold 

 by her, she colouring them with the atmosphere 

 of her time, which was charged with strange 

 incongruities of religion and magic. To this 

 we can give no certain answer, since Marie 

 herself gives no hint, and only tells us that the 

 ancient Bretons made the lays. But whatever 

 may have been her contribution, Christian or 

 otherwise, to the original matter she worked 

 upon, we cannot help feeling that we have 

 before us the remains of some primitive 

 mythology overlaid and interpenetrated with 

 Eastern lore, especially that of India, which, in 



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