‘And Estragot with him he mette With bores hede, blake and donne. For as a bore an hede hadde And a grete mace stronge as stele. He smote Savaryz as he were madde’
1090–94
‘Estragot le poursuit, uns geans diffaes, Teste avoit com senglers, si fu rois coronés. El main tient une mace de fin ascier trempé, Un coup a Savariz desur le chef done’
587
‘Therfore Gy of Bourgoyne! Myn owen nevewe so trewe’
1179
‘Et Guion de Bourgoyne a a lui apelle, Fils est de sa soror et de sa parente: Cosins, vous en irrés . .’
647
‘He smote of the traytours hede’
1236
‘Le chief al portier trenche’
648
‘And saide “Gode gife him care, Shal he never more ete brede, All traitours evel mot thai fare” ’
1244
‘ “Diex” fist il “te maldie et que t’ont engendré, Kar traitour au darain averont mal dehé.” ’
663
‘Ferumbras to Seinte Petris wente’
1260
‘Al moustier de saint Piere est Fierenbras ales’
727
‘Thre hundred thousande of sowdeours’
1403
‘iii C mil chevaliers’
743
‘Sir Gye aspied his comynge, He knewe the baner of Fraunce, He wente anoone ayen the Kinge, And tolde him of that myschaunce, Howe that the cursed sowdone, Hath brent Rome and bore the relequis awaye’
1409
‘Guis parceut le baniere le roi de saint Dine, Encontre lui chevalche, la novele ont conté Come la fort cité li payen ont gasté; La corone et les clous d’iloec en sont robbé Et les altres reliques . .’
771
‘Wynde him blewe ful fayre and gode’
1425
‘Li vens en fiert es voilles que les a bien guies’
778
‘To londe thai wente iwis’
1427
‘il sont en terre entré’
783
‘Tithinggis were tolde to Lavan’
1436
‘Les noveles en vindrent al soldan diffaié’
787
‘With three hundred thousand of bacheleris’
1443
‘iii C mile François’
Other instances of resemblance may be found in the following passages:
S 49–50 = D 94–99;51 S 103 = D 202, 209; S 119 = D 385; S 146 = D 445–46; S 150 = D 503–4; S 157 = D 509; S 300 = D 967; ‹xxv› S 303 = D 915; S 396 = D 977; S 312 = D 989; S 340 = D 1063; S 360 = D 1101; S 376 = D 1119, 1121; S 377 = D 1133; S 380 = D 1136; S 699 = D 1379; S 723 = D 1384, &c., &c.
Besides, there are some names which occurring in none of the French versions, but in the Destruction, point to this poem as to the original of the Sowdan. Thus Savaris52 (S 171) seems to be taken from D 540.
Astragot or Estragot, S 346, 2944, 3022, the name of the giant by whom Savaris is slain, and who is said to be the husband of Barrock, occurs in D 1090.
The Ascopartes, a people subjected to the Soudan, are mentioned in D 98, 426, but not in F or P.
King Lowes, in the context where it occurs (S 24) is clearly taken from D 9.
Iffrez, S 165, is perhaps the same as Geffroi in D 1139, 1367, 1122.
[Mounpelers, S 3228, occurs only in D 250, 286.]
Persagyn, S 1259, seems to be identical with Persagon, D 162.
The form Laban is only met with in the Destruction, the French and the Provençal versions, and the Ashmole Ferumbras reading Balan.53
The name of the Soudan’s son, Ferumbras, is explained by the form Fierenbras, which occurs in D 57, 66, 71, 91, 343, 1210, 1237, besides the spelling Fierabras, which is the only one used in the French, the Provençal and Caxton’s versions.
Also the phrase ‘sowdan’ seems to have been derived from the Destruction (l. 1436, ‘soldan’), as it does not occur in any other version.
The great number of these resemblances seem evidently to point out the Destruction as the original of the first portion of the Sowdan; the few points in which the two versions differ not being such as to offer convincing arguments against this supposition. ‹xxvi›
Indeed if, for instance, we find a lot of nations, the names of which are not in D, mentioned by the author of the poem as belonging to the Soudan’s empire, this point can be considered as irrelevant, as from many other instances we know how fond many composers of mediæval romances were of citing geographical
‘Mahon te doint honor’ ‹xxiv›
