whereas, the poem as it now stands, introduces us at once to the scene in which Ginovêr's attendant receives such uncourteous treatment from the maladvised dwarf. This is followed by an account of the Tournament of the Sparrow hawk, which takes place at Tulmein, the residence of Duke Imain, and in which Erec overcomes Ydêrs the son of Niut, whom he sends to apologize to the Queen for the insult of the preceding day; the dwarf's share of the punishment consisting of an unmerciful whipping. On his return to Arthur'r court at Cardigan, Erec's nuptials with Enite are celebrated with great pomp.

Enite's bridal dress, (which Hartmann quaintly describes as being neither too large nor too small, "weder ze enge noch ze wit,") is the gift of Ginover, and the ceremony is performed by the Bishop of Cantwarse, [Canterbury.] A long list is here given of the knights of the Round Table, a hundred and forty in all, and the other guests at the wedding, amongst which are mentioned the two kings of Antipodes, Brians and Bêlêc, who are brothers, and one of whom is a dwarf, and the other a giant.

On Erec's return with his bride to Karnant, the capital city of his father's kingdom, Destregâls, he leads a life of ease and inactivity, from which, as in the Mabinogi, he is roused by Enite's tears. In the expedition which follows, we have the same adventures with robber knights, &c. as in the Welsh.

The poem breaks off abruptly (some part of it being lost) after the encounter with Guivrez le Pitît, King of Irlant, who is represented as being so small in stature that Erec finds some difficulty in getting a fair blow at him. At length, however, he succeeds in vanquishing him, and they end by becoming friends, and binding up each other's wounds, which as the poet remarks, "is friendly enough."

“Ditz was friuntlich gennoc.”

When we recover the thread of the story, we find Erec disputing with the "false Kai," and refusing to go with him to speak with Arthur, who is encamped in the neighbourhood. Kai attempting

to add force to his entreaties, gets knocked off his horse, Gringulgeten, which Erec is about to appropriateto himself, when Kai represents that it was only "lent for a ride” to him by Gâwein; and after

much persuasion he gets it back on condition that he brings him the owner. Gawein also invites Erec to accompany him, but succeeds no better than Kai. The interview is at last brought about by Arthur's pitching his tent beside the road on which Erec is journeying. Erec has his wounds healed by a magic plaister, made by Fâmurgân, the Queen's sister, and again sets forward with Enite. We next have his fight with the giant, by whose club he is stunned; and his adventure at the court of Oringles, the Count de Limors, where the confusion was so great on his recovering from his swoon, and slaying the Count, that all the assembled company hasten to disappear through the doors, or to creep under the tables, and none have the politeness to say "Herre, welt in für gan.” “Sir, after you."

After a second combat with Guivreiz, the Little King, who does not recognize him till it is half over, they proceed amicably together to an island where two of Guivrez's sisters reside. One of these ladies presents Enite with a beautiful horse, which the Little King had found tied to a tree in a wood, and which he had carried off in spite of the entreaties of another dwarf, its master. The description of this horse extends over more than 500 lines.

When Erec and Enite again journey on, accompanied by Guivreiz, they come to the city of Brandigân. Here they are hospitably received by King Ivreins, and are shewn into a vast marble hall, where they find eighty ladies, all clothed alike in black satin, the wives of those knights who had perished in an enchanted garden, called Joie de la Curt, which stood just outside the city. Nothing daunted by the fate of these hapless warriors, nor by a warning he receives from a lady whom he meets with in a pavilion in the garden, (and who proves to be Enite's sister,) Erec encounters and overthrows its possessor, the giant Mâbonagrîn, and causes the enchantment to cease by blowing a magic horn which hangs upon a tree near at hand.

Having performed this feat, Erec returns quietly to Destregals, where he succeeds his Father, King Lac, and where he and Enite spend the remainder of their lives in peace and happiness.

ICELANDIC VERSION OF EREC.

In the Royal Library at Stockholm there is preserved a copy of an Icelandic Saga on the subject of the Mabinogi of Geraint. The volume in which it is found is a folio, on paper, (marked, Icelandica No. 46,) and contains the following pieces :

Eyrike Kappa Artus Kongs.
Bievus.

Fertram och Plato.

Konrad Keysarasyne.

Partalopa.

5.

6.

A Facsimile of the commencement of Erik Saga is here annexed.

Kulhwch ac Olwen.