MARIE DE FRANCE 



The lay of " Eliduc," the last in the manu- 

 script, is also the longest and most elaborate. 

 Marie unfolds her story with so certain yet so 

 subtle a hand, that the reading of it is like the 

 unwinding of some finely illuminated parchment- 

 roll where miniature follows miniature, each 

 perfect in itself, yet all needful to the whole. 

 To the charm of its pictures of mediaeval life, 

 with the fine scene between the two women, 

 and their final reunion in the same convent, 

 there is added an incident which gives special 

 interest and importance to the story, since it 

 brings us into touch with one of the oldest and 

 most widespread of traditions the restoration 

 to life, from apparent death, by means of a 

 flower. There are few pursuits more fascinating 

 than the tracing of traditions, except, it may be, 

 that of symbols, with which they have so much 

 in common. We find the same traditions, just 

 as we find the same symbolic figures, common 

 to the most widely separated peoples, and the 

 real interest in the case of each lies in trying to 

 discover how and why in the course of their 

 migrations their form and their significance 

 have been varied or modified. But before 

 considering the tradition, let us first hear the 

 story. 



Eliduc, a knight of Brittany, whose wife, 

 Guildeluec, was very dear to him, had for over- 

 lord one of the kings of Brittany, with whom, 

 owing to faithful service, he had gained high 

 favour. Being defamed on this account by 



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