Heroines Of Romance Their Own Motive

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

At first reading, the women in romances such as Eliduc, King Horn and Lai d’Haveloc perhaps appear as if their actions are defined by their partners’ ambitions; however, they have their own motive for their behaviour, which will become apparent when their deeds are thoroughly assessed.

In Eliduc, Guildelüec is married to the knight Eliduc and after a series of events; he falls in love with someone else, a beautiful maiden named Guilliadun. However, Eliduc neglects to tell Guilliadun that he is already married and when she finds out, she falls into a deathlike swoon. Guildelüec, suspicious of her husband’s behaviour and has him followed to the chapel where Guilliadun’s body lays. Guildelüec visits the chapel herself and realises that the woman there is her husband’s paramour. Guildelüec revives Guilliadun from her deathlike state with a flower that possesses healing powers. After Guildelüec witnesses the happy reunion between her husband and the maiden, she selflessly decides to become a nun in order to let her husband marry Guilliadun.

In this synopsis of the poem, it seems that Guildelüec only takes the veil, which would allow an annulment of marriage, since it is her husband’s desire to marry someone else. However, is this deed only beneficial for Eliduc? Is he the sole motivator for her actions? The answer is no. Guildelüec is always described as ‘wise’, which is undeniably true since she refuses to be a victim of her husband’s error in judgement (as Guilliadun was) and saves her husband from the quandary he has created by letting his heart rule his head. Her actions are "motivated by the purest Christian caritas [love for all people]" (Nelson 153) as her selfless deeds did not only affect a major change in her worldly status but also insured her own salvation and that of other sinners (Nelson 153). Her sacrifice makes it possible for Eliduc to have perfect love with Guilliadun and ultimately their devotion to God as they turn to God themselves in the end; therefore, Guildelüec’s actions turn the tide and are not defined by Eliduc’s objectives.

Additionally, as Guildelüec is not the only female character in the lay, the actions and character of Guilliadun also need to be considered. Whereas Guildelüec is described as wise, Guilliadun is depicted as the most beautiful maiden in the kingdom. She is rather naïve as she falls for Eliduc solely for his reputation and if she cannot have him as her lover she would "die a mournful death" (Burgess and Busby 115). Furthermore, she is not accustomed to any form of rejection as she "is most surprised that he [Eliduc] did not come to her" (Burgess and Busby 114) and therefore sends her chamberlain to summon Eliduc, who willingly obeys. Guilliadun obtains what she desires and it is Guilliadun who initiates the bond between her and Eliduc as the storyline of the lay would have turned out differently if she had not beckoned him to her room and if she had not send the tokens of love. Although the story is called Eliduc, which is sensible as it is about him and his choices, the claim that Marie de France makes in the beginning that the lay should be called Guildelüec and Guilliadun is also justified as she draws attention to the key role of both women.

In King Horn, after his father, the king of Suddene, is murdered by the Saracens that have invaded his country, Horn and his comrades manage to escape to safety to the land of Westernesse where they are taken in by king Almair. Everyone loves Horn and "mest him luvede Rymenhild" (line 252), the king’s daughter. She loves him so much that she nearly goes mad and as she was unable to speak to him in public, she sends her steward to summon him with the message that she is ill and wants to see him in private. This deed of Rymenhild is reminiscent of Guilliadun’s as they both summon the man they love and both instigate their relationship. Additionally, Rymenhild also contemplates suicide when she believes that Horn is dead "[t]o herte knif heo sette" (line 1213), which is akin to Guilliadun statement to die if she cannot have Eliduc.

When Horn arrives in Rymenhild’s bedchamber, she takes him by the hand, kisses him and informs him that he will take her as his wife. It is her main objective to get married; however, Horn claims that he is unworthy to marry her as he has no status and she is the king’s daughter; this causes Rymenhild to swoon and she only awakes when Horn says he will marry her if she helps him to acquire knighthood. In the Middle Ages, status was a highly important aspect and as a knight "[o]ne raised to honourable military rank by the king or other qualified person" (OED), Horn would be worthy to marry Rymenhild. After Horn is dubbed a knight, he for the second time delays their marriage as he now wants to prove his knighthood first. This could be regarded as argument that Horn has used Rymenhild in order to fulfil his desires; however, it must be remembered that Rymenhild’s conduct serves her own aspiration as all her actions make it possible for her to marry her beloved in the end and therefore she may help him to obtain what he craves for but in the meantime follows her own agenda.

Where ambiguity about the behaviour of the previously mentioned women could be detected, this is not applicable to the deeds of Argentille in The Lai D’Haveloc since her own ambitions are defined by her actions. In the lay, dissimilar to Eliduc and Horn, Haveloc’s ambitions are not highly apparent other than that he wants to be sociable and therefore submits to the will of others, per example he firstly obeys his foster father in going to England, then the king by marrying his niece and later on his wife Argentille. Moreover, "[i]t is Argentille who takes decisions, instigates, action, possesses resource and initiative: she is the true protagonist of the Lai d’Haveloc" (Weis 15, "Power"); as a result, it appears that in this poem that the traditional view of the roles is reversed and it is the male’s actions that define the ambitions of his female partner.

As an orphan, Argentille’s wicked uncle, king Edelsi, marries her off to Cuaron (Haveloc), unaware of his parentage, for Edelsi wishes to keep her from power since she is the genuine heir of the kingdom. Haveloc is physically very powerful and is generally a good person; however, in contrast to Argentille’s intelligence he is rather naïve and ignorant. Therefore, Argentille needs to make use of her wisdom in order to get them out of the humiliating situation they find themselves in. After she has a prophetic dream, she is not satisfied with Haveloc’s interpretation and seeks aid elsewhere. Consequently her actions lead to the discovery of Haveloc origin and finally to her own goal which is to regain her inheritance. This becomes possible when Haveloc is king of the Danes and she suggests him to cross the sea to England and "[t]he king said he would do it, since she advised him so" (Weis 156, "Birth"). Furthermore, it is her "trick" (Weis 157, "Birth") that enables the Danes to win in battle against all odds, which allows Haveloc (and her) to possess the land what once belonged to her father Achebrit and eventually the land of her uncle as he dies without a rightful heir other than her and Haveloc.