![]() 121–22n18, for further suggestions as to the origins of Torrent’s name, including the Old English verb torendan ( BT tó-rendan, “to rend in two, tear in pieces”), and the Portuguese adjective torrente, whose meaning (“torrent, barrage, flood, outburst”) is strikingly similar to the later Middle English torenes.Ģ5 kyng of Portynggall. þat oþer manere ryuer hatte torrens and is a water þat comeþ wiþ a swifte rees and passeth, and hatte torrens for it encresseþ in grete reyne and fordwyneth in drye wedir” (ed. Trevisa’s 1398 translation of De Proprietatibus Rerum uses the term to describe fast-flowing streams: “Of ryuers beþ two manere kyndes. pl.)), which may be appropriate for Torrent’s character. In the later Middle Ages a “torrent” was a body of swift and violently flowing water ( MED torenes (n. The particular spelling (as in line 26, “Torrayne”), provides a rhyme, but the variant is never used again in the romance. The hero’s name, most often spelled “Torrent” or “Torent,” seems to hold no prior significance or history in chivalric literature. In any case, it is highly unlikely that there is a genuine Latin or Italian source for the story. ![]() 101n1/12) notes that “there is evidently no difference at all between in Rome and in romance,” presumably in reference to the text’s expression of antiquity and exoticism, as clearly Rome is a specific geographic location in the romance (see line 2663). ![]() The point is to add gravitas to the narrative by inventing an older and reputable source, and to signal the text’s generic affiliations. The insistence that the story comes from Rome, or that the author’s source is a “boke of Rome,” appears repeatedly in Torrent. Chaucer, for example, includes several oral tags in his parody of tail-rhyme romance, The Tale of Sir Thopas ( CT VII712–14, 833–35, 891–96). By the late fourteenth century oral tags had become such a mainstay of tail-rhyme romance that they could have been included by the author as a matter of convention, or simply to give the impression that the tale was “authentic” and genuinely came out of popular oral culture. 110) says that “the religious beginning and ending” in medieval poetry (in Torrent, lines 1––71) “may be considered as indications of the intention of oral delivery.” Such indications of orality are not, however, assured evidence that this romance was composed by a minstrel or that it ever existed in oral circulation before it was first written down. Narratorial prayers, which appear in Torrent, are also suggestive of oral performance. Oral tags at the beginning of a romance, or at significant transitions in the narrative, where the performer may have paused to take a break, often include calls for attention, silence, or as is the case here, for the audience to stay put. ![]() The suggestion of live performance links this romance to the troubadour tradition, and tail-rhyme romances were especially popular amongst minstrels, since the short lines and structured rhyme scheme made the poems easy to memorize and easy for audiences to follow. Oral formulae such as these occur frequently in Middle English romance. THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS ENGLISH SUB TORRENT TORRENTTorrent also ends with a benediction along similar lines, and the romance concludes with an “Amen” (see lines 2666–71).ħ ye woll lyst I schall yow tell. Most Middle English romances begin with a benediction or prayer of this sort, often asking God to protect the audience from Satan or sin, and to deliver them to heaven. Benson H: Halliwell edition (1842) M: Montgomery edition (2008) MED: Middle English Dictionary OED: Oxford English Dictionary.ġ-6 God that ys. SIR TORRENT OF PORTINGALE: EXPLANATORY NOTESĪ: Adam edition (EETS, 1887) BT: Bosworth and Toller, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary C: Manchester, Chetham’s Library MS 8009 (Mun. 1 He took Torrent under his guardianshipĦ Unless was distressed (?spurred)Ĩ Torrent moved quickly under his staffġ2 His hooves black as sloe berriesġ3 If it happens that I may capture ġ6 Torrent went to the side-board (a table for lower-ranking nobility)ġ7 To break date I will notĢ1 You will not have to pay annual tribute on itĢ2 that you are there and win your shoes (i.e., prove yourself worthy of knighthood)Ģ5 Lines 1235-37: The great lords who were at the feast loved the tale of the squire's adventures and arranged the competition straight awayĢ8 And give yourself nothing sorrowful (i.e., do not worry)Ģ9 Lines 1694-95: For his own sake he gave me to him, / He would nothing elseģ0 Even if had more lives than oneģ5 His acton (a padded jacket worn underneath chain mail) and his other garmentsģ7 And he could do no good (i.e., he was helpless) ![]()
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