10 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
the captive Oriana is represented as throwing to 
her lover a rose wet with tears, as the sweetest 
pledge of her unalterable faith. The various 
allegorical meanings which were in the middle 
ages attached to the rose are described in the 
celebrated Romaunt de la Rose, which was com¬ 
menced, in the year 1G20, by Guillaume de Lor- 
ris, and finished, forty years later, by Jean de 
Meun. 
In the famous German Helderibuch, or Book 
of Heroes, which is supposed to have been 
chiefly written by Henry von Ofterdingen, the 
Rose Garden of Wurms holds a distinguished 
place. This garden was encircled by a silken 
thread instead of a wall; and the victorious 
knights who defended it against the encroach¬ 
ments of a party of giants were, by Princess 
Chrymhilde, rewarded with a chaplet of roses 
and a kiss. One of the knights, named Hilde- 
brandtf is described as having accepted the 
chaplet but declined the salute. A monk, 
named Ilsan, however, who was one of the 
triumphant warriors, not satisfied with the re¬ 
wards conferred on himself, demanded a chaplet 
and a kiss for each of the fifty-two monks of the 
