Contributions to the History of the Legend of Saint George, With Special Reference to the Sources of the French, German And Anglo-Saxon Metrical Versions

Abstract

It has become evident so far that the basis for the different Latin forms of the story of the martyrdom of Saint George known in Western Europe during the Middle Ages was the apocryphal version. There is no evidence whatever of any direct influence of the Greek form of the legend upon the Latin variations. Zarneke in the Ber. ü. d. Verh. d. k. sächs. Ges. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig , 1874, p. 5, had laid down as a criterion for such influence the introduction of Diocletian and Maximian by the side of Datian; and Weber, in Z. f. r. Ph. , V, p. 505, accepted this principle, and on the basis of it he made a rough classification of the different forms of the legend known to him. Our investigation, I think, has shown clearly that no historical study of the growth of the legend can be based upon this entirely external feature. The introduction of the name of Diocletian into Zc and the versions deriving from it may be due to some remote influence of the canonical version, but beyond the presence of this name, the texts of this group do not show the slightest influence of the Greek form of the legend. The further addition of Maximian was a simple and natural step, after the story of the martyrdom had been placed in the tenth persecution of the Christians, and can prove nothing. As a matter of fact, the name is found in versions that do not have the remotest connection with each other, such as Me, V, and Zc, d, e, g.

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