exchange of identity montage, artwork and standing stones

Hammersmith and City Line

Overview

An exchange of identity in literature and legend

'It all depends on what you are prepared to accept as an exchange of identity,' said Miranda.

'If you allow yourself to include all instances of someone assuming the identity of another person,' she continued, 'then there are numerous examples to choose from. Other lines contain many such examples. Disguise and the concealment of Identity. There is a wealth of it to choose from. The story of The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle for example, where the ugly hag turns into a beautiful woman. And the occasion when King Arthur assumes the likeness of the Duke of Tintagel in order to sleep with the duke's wife and conceive the future King Arthur.'

'Or in Irish mythology,' said Quintin. 'When the enemies of Diarmuid all fall from a tree looking like Diarmuid himself.'

'And in Ancient Greek legend,' said Miranda. 'When Athene takes on the appearance of Telemachus, or the appearance later of a shepherd when she meets with Odysseus on a beach.'

'Or in Norse mythology, when Odin pretends to be King Gylfi.'

'Breton lais,' replied Miranda. 'When the emperor's daughter Emaré pretends to be Egaré, the daughter of an earl. And in medieval romance, where the hero Ipomadon pretends to be his arch rival Lyoline whom he has just defeated in battle.'

'But these aren't proper exchanges of identity,' she objected. 'A proper exchange would be more like, for example, one that occurs in the medieval story of Amis and Amiloun, where, even though they are not related, the pair are sufficiently alike for each to be able to pretend to be the other, which they do.'

'Well, the best example of that sort of thing occurs in Welsh mythology,' said Quintin. 'In the Welsh myths from the Mabinogion. Pwyll, the Lord of Dyved exchanges places with a king of the Otherworld. They both agree to take on the appearance of each other, and to live as each other for a year. And Euripides wrote a play for the Festival of Dionysus in Ancient Athens about Helen of Troy. She was actually living in Egypt during the Trojan War, in this play, whilst a surrogate Helen was in Troy.'

'Sir Gawain has to assume the identity of a knight who has been killed,' said Miranda, 'and ride his horse and carry his arms so that he can complete the man's mission, in the First Continuation to Chrétien de Troyes' Conte du Graal, the story of the graal.'

'Odin and Gestumblindi exchange clothes and Odin goes off to answer some riddles on the man's behalf, in an Icelandic legendary saga,' replied Quintin.

'Sir Gawain exchanges places with Gologras and walks off the field of battle as the loser, when he has actually won.'

'Sir Lancelot rides off wearing Sir Kay's arms, leaving Sir Kay to ride home disguised as Sir Lancelot.'

'Sir Gawain cuts off the head of the Knight of the Green Chapel, but has to suffer a similar blow himself a year later.'

'Two cousins of Lancelot are changed into greyhounds and their greyhounds into a likeness of themselves, so that the two boys can escape from captivity and return to the land beneath the lake, in the very early-thirteenth century pre-cyclic Lancelot,' said Quintin.

'So there are quite a few proper examples,' said Miranda.

Take a quick tour

The Hammersmith and City Line passes through a succession of places in time and location where an exchange of identity is to be found in literature, legend or mythology. Click or tap on the circles and tunnel markers to dive deeper into the discoveries that Quintin and Miranda have made. Alternatively, click or tap on the large red button for a quick journey through the summaries. Click or tap on any summary to dive deeper.

Exchange of Identity

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Medieval Icelandic Sagas

The Saga of Arrow-Odd

13th century, Old Norse.

Ogmund is now King Quillanus of Novgorod and permanently wears a mask, but Odd sees beneath it to the scars that he has inflicted upon his old adversary.

Medieval Icelandic Sagas

The Saga of Hervor and King Heidrek the Wise

13th century, Old Norse.

Gestumblindi and Odin exchange clothes and Odin, as Gestumblindi, goes off to ask the king riddles.

Irish Mythology

Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill: Diarmuid and Grania

pre-12th century–present. Old Irish | Modern Irish, folklore.

It looked for all the world as though it was Diarmuid himself who landed on the ground. Then Garbh took his own shape again and they recognised their mistake.

Irish Mythology

The Voyage of Maeldun

12th century, Old Irish. Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow), Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.

A shepherd stands between these flocks and when he takes a white sheep over to the other side of the wall, it turns black, and when he brings a black sheep across the wall it turns white.

Scandinavian Mythology

Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda

13th century, Icelandic: numerous copies in Iceland, Copenhagen.

King Gylfi disguises himself as an old man, gives himself the name Gangleri and enters Odin’s hall.

Irish Mythology

Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill: The Daughter of King Under-Wave

pre-12th century–present. Old Irish | Modern Irish, folklore.

It is not long before Diarmuid looks and finds, not the old hag who came under his blanket but a beautiful young woman sleeping next to him.

Medieval English Poetry

Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tale from the Wife of Bath

14th century, Middle English. Numerous printed copies.

And when the knight saw how beautiful this ugly old crone had become, and how young, he took her up in his arms.

Medieval English Poetry

Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tale from the Knight

14th century, Middle English. Numerous printed copies.

He snatched up a great mirror and saw that his face had changed – his colour was not as it had been and his features were all different.

Ancient Greek Mythology

Homer: The Odyssey

8th century BC, Ancient Greek.

Athene orders a ship to be made ready for a voyage to Pylos. She appears in the shape of Telemachus and everyone thinks that it is him giving the orders.

Ancient Greek Mythology

Homer: The Odyssey

8th century BC, Ancient Greek.

Odysseus's men were turned into pigs, only their minds remained the same.

Ancient Athenian Drama

Sophocles: The Theban Plays

5th century BC, Ancient Greek.

He was swallowed by the Earth but was given no single grave, as though this was significant. As though a single grave might have been inappropriate.

Ancient Athenian Drama

Euripides: The Suppliants

5th century BC, Ancient Greek.

It is a small moment in the play but one that has captured my attention. Not Evadne flinging herself into the flames but a child carrying an urn, a single urn, holding the ashes of Capaneus and Evadne, mixed as though they are one.

Ancient Athenian Drama

Euripides: Alcestis

5th century BC, Ancient Greek.

Heracles is leading a woman beside him. We know who she must be. We know who she is! And yet Heracles says that he came across her at a public games, that he won her in an athletic contest.

Ancient Athenian Drama

Euripides: Helen

5th century BC, Ancient Greek.

Am I to believe that the same person has spent the same ten years both in Troy and on the shores of the Nile Delta?

Ancient Athenian Drama

Aristophanes: The Frogs

5th century BC, Ancient Greek drama.

Dionysus is persuading Xanthias to change clothes with him and to be Heracles. Dionysus hands to Xanthias the lion-skin cloak and the olive-wood club. They exchange masks.

Middle English Breton Lais

The Tale of Emaré

14th century, Middle English: British Library.

Emaré was washed up on a beach in Wales and found by the king's steward. He asked her her name, but she changed it and said that she was called Egaré.

Old French Tales from Brittany

Marie de France: The Story of Bisclavret

12th century, Old French: British Library, Bibliothèque Nationale Paris.

Whilst he is in the forest he is not half a man and half a wolf, he is all wolf. A wolf with a man's mind.

Old French Tales from Brittany

Marie de France: The Story of Guigemar

12th century, Old French: British Library, Bibliothèque Nationale Paris.

The deer fell. It was badly hurt; but incredibly, the arrow bounced off the deer’s skull, flew back through the air and transfixed Guigemar through the thigh, wounding him badly.

Medieval Romance

The Story of Amis and Amiloun

14th century, Middle English: British Library, Bodleian Library Oxford, Advocates Library of Scotland.

'Take my clothes, all of them,' said Sir Amiloun, 'and I shall dress myself in yours, as though I were you.'

Welsh Mythology

The Mabinogion: Pwyll Lord of Dyved

14th century, Middle Welsh, National Library of Wales

King Arawn's terms are that they should exchange places and live as each other for a year and a day.

Medieval Romance

A Good Tale of Ipomadon

12th century, Anglo-Norman French, Hue de Rotelande | 15th century Middle English verse translation at Chetham's Library Manchester.

Ipomadon took a black banner from the tent and then everybody believed that he was Lyoline!

Medieval Romance

King Horn

13th century, Middle English, manuscript copies in Oxford, Cambridge and the British Library.

Cutberd has won the day. But as one of three, or as one against three?

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

14th century, Middle English, British Museum, London.

It is part of the agreement that Sir Gawain should suffer himself, a year later, the single decapitating blow that he has given to the Knight of the Green Chapel at King Arthur’s Christmas feast.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

The Knight of the Misshapen Coat takes up the new shield that the damsel has given him and, along with his new name, rides off to continue the quest.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

And then Sir Lancelot told Queen Guinevere everything, how he had been made to lie with Elaine "because she looked like you, my lady the queen." And so Queen Guinevere forgave him.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Old French Vulgate Cycle: Merlin

13th century, Old French: 15th century Middle English translation, Cambridge University Library.

King Uther Pendragon, whom Merlin has cast into the shape of Igraine's husband the Duke of Cornwall, lies with Igraine all night, and the future King Arthur is conceived.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

Sir Lancelot rides away wearing Sir Kay's arms, and so Sir Kay is forced to return to King Arthur's court disguised as Sir Lancelot.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

Sir Palamedes has agreed to meet Sir Tristram in combat on an assigned day; Sir Tristram keeps his side of the bargain, a knight arrives and 'they fight together the space of four hours' before Sir Tristram realises that he is fighting with Sir Lancelot.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Old French pre-Vulgate Lancelot

13th century, Old French.

The boys became the greyhounds and the greyhounds took on the appearance of the boys.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

16th century, Middle English, Bodleian Library, Oxford

Sir Gawain told King Arthur and Queen Guinevere how Dame Ragnelle had suddenly changed from being a revoltingly ugly woman to the beautiful creature they could all see before them.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

First Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' story of the Grail

Late-twelfth or early-thirteenth century, Old French, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

The pledge that Sir Gawain has made is to pursue the knight's quest wearing the stranger knight's own arms and riding his horse.

Medieval Arthurian Legend

The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain

16th century, Middle English, National Library of Scotland

'You can deny that it is you who has defeated me but affirm that it is I who has defeated you. Let us each take on the mantle of the other.'

Medieval Arthurian Legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

'By my knighthood!' exclaimed Sir Palamedes, 'I didn't recognise you. I thought you were the King of Ireland, for you are wearing his arms.'