countries of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. The
subject matter often varies, but the motive and form of writing
are much alike. This likeness can be seen by a short survey of
the more important kinds of literature of the period.

I. THE NATIONAL EPIC.

In every country in which the national epic grew up it had the
same origin and line of development. First there was the
historical hero. His deeds were related by the traveling gleeman
or minstrel--in brief chapters or ballads. Gradually mythical and
supernatural elements came in; the number of achievements and the
number of ballads grew very large; in this oral state they
continued for many years, sometimes for centuries.

Finally, they were collected, edited, and written down--generally
by a single editor. In all cases the names of the poets of the
ballads are lost; in most cases the names of their redactors are
but conjectural. "The Song of Roland", and the "Poem of the Cid"
are typical, simple, national epics. The "Niebelungen Lied" is
complicated by the fact that the legends of many heroes are fused
into one poem, by the fact that it had more than one editor, and
by the survival of mythological elements which mingle confusedly
with Christian features. The national epic is the expression of
the active side of chivalry. Italy has no national epic, both
because she was too learned to develop a folk-poetry, and because
the ideas of chivalry were never very active in her history.

II. ROMANCES.