MARIE DE FRANCE ^ 



In this strength -giving potion we may ^ 

 perhaps see the expression of a Christian, and "s 

 the survival of a pre-Christian belief, where the'J" v 

 getting of strength and life is only possible^ ^ 

 through a direct act of communion, either^* 'o 

 material or spiritual, with the god. Such world-r^ fc 

 old beliefs, in which the supernatural intervenes^ 3* 

 to help the natural, are also intimately connected,\v~-' 

 even if they are not identical, with the magic of 

 philtres and charms. 



We pass from Christian symbolism to magic 

 in the lay of " Yonec." The delightful ease 

 with which mediaeval folk turned from magic 

 to religion, or vice versa, shows how simply they 

 accepted what they did not understand. At the 

 same time it proves how intermingled the two 

 were, and that what some are inclined to separate 

 now, were once regarded as one and the same 

 thing, the eccentricities and impositions which 

 have developed in both being of mere external 

 growth, and to be treated accordingly. In the 

 lay of " Yonec " a young wife, passing fair, is 

 shut up by her jealous old husband in a great 

 paved chamber in a tower of his castle, to which 

 no one save an ancient dame and a priest has 

 admittance. After seven years of this isolation 

 and uncongenial company, the lady remembers 

 that she has heard tell that means have been 

 found to rescue the unhappy, and she wishes 

 with all her heart that deliverance may come 

 to her. Suddenly a shadow comes across the 

 window, and into her chamber there flies a 



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