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Metropolitan Line.

Overview

Hidden origins in literature and legend

'This is just another facet of that literary motif found everywhere in medieval Arthurian legend and medieval romance,' said Quintin. 'Disguise. Exchange of identity. The concealment of identity. It's endemic!'

'Origins that are hidden or unknown,' said Miranda, thoughtfully. 'It is slightly different, though.'

'In what way?'

'Well, when the Fair Unknown arrives at King Arthur's court and is asked his name, he genuinely doesn't know what it is. When the maiden Le Freine, in a Breton lai, asks the nun who has been bringing her up who her true parents are, she does so because she genuinely doesn't know. She isn't concealing her identity or assuming a disguise. When the little boy Arthur draws the sword from the stone, he genuinely doesn't know that he is the son of King Uther Pendragon. Sir Degaré has no idea who his mother is, in another Middle English Breton lai, which is why he unknowingly puts himself in danger of marrying her.'

'Well, then, there are links with Dionysian drama in that case – those plays that were put on in Athens at the Festival of Dionysus, by playwrights like Sophocles and Euripides,' said Quintin. 'Because that is exactly what Oedipus does when he doesn't know where he really came from. Like many heros of medieval romance, he is brought up at a royal court, where his true origins are unknown. And he actually does marry his mother.'

'And there are other instances of this in Ancient Athenian drama,' Quintin continued. 'In Euripides play Ion, a gentleman arrives at the temple of Apollo in Greece with no inkling that the boy sweeping the temple precinct is his son; the boy was wafted there as a baby by Apollo, we are told. And in Euripides' Hippolytus, Theseus's son is taken to a foreign land at the very end by the goddess Artemis, who changes his features and his age, and gives him a new name '

'Medieval romance uses very similar plots,' said Miranda. 'When Christabel is sent away in a boat without rudder or oar with her new-born baby son, and a griffin snatches her child away and carries him across the sea to Israel, he is brought up by the king there as his own son. And he very nearly marries his own mother! And in another romance, the knight Sir Isumbras starts a new life as a blacksmith's apprentice.'

'Havelok the Dane was a king's son,' said Quintin, 'but he worked as a kitchin scullion in Lincoln Castle until a birthmark betrayed his royal status to everyone.'

'A birthmark?'

'Yes. Rather like the Apis bull, I suppose.'

'Or the Dalai Lama.'

'Well, it was on his shoulder I think. Or his back.'

'The Icelandic saga-writers get in on the act with characteristic humour,' said Miranda. 'A hero in one of their legendary sagas is fated to live for three hundred years, and goes off at one point in the story to live in a forest, where he wears a suit of tree bark and claims not to remember much of his previous existance. They call him Barkman.'

Take a quick tour

The Metropolitan Line passes through a succession of places in time and location where hidden origins are 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 maroon button for a quick journey through the summaries. Click or tap on any summary to dive deeper.

Hidden Origins

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Medieval Romance

Sir Eglamour of Artois

14th century, Middle English: 15th and 16th century manuscripts at Cambridge University Library, Lincoln Cathedral Library, British Library, Bodleian Library.

The king took home the child that he had found in the forest. 'I have seen a wonderful thing! Look what God has sent me!' he said. The Queen was delighted and sent for a nurse immediately.

Viking Romance

The Saga of Arrow-Odd

13th century, Old Norse.

Arrow-Odd dressed himself in birch-bark and claimed not to be able to remember much of the time before he went into the forest to live.

Medieval Icelandic Sagas

The Saga of Hervor and King Heidrek the Wise

13th century, Old Norse.

Angantyr Arngrimsson's daughter Hervor lived as the warrior Hervard for a long time, before returning home to her embroidery.

Arthurian legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

'What is your name?' asked King Arthur.

'I could not tell you,' replied the young man.

'It is truly a marvel that such a fine-looking young man as you does not know his own name,' said the king.

Arthurian legend

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur

15th century, late-Medieval English.

Only the little boy Arthur seems able to draw the sword from the stone. But he is the humble Sir Hector's son, everybody knows that.

Arthurian legend

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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

The lord appeared as a normal man in his role as Sir Gawain’s host. But he is also the knight whom Sir Gawain beheaded a year earlier.

Arthurian legend

The Fair Unknown

14th century, Middle English, British Museum, Lambeth Palace Library London, Bodleian Library Oxford, Biblioteca Nazionale Naples.

The child said: 'I haven’t a clue who I am, Sir, isn’t that ridiculous!'

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.

'Tell me your name, curious young man?'

'That is my name,' replied Ipomadon, playfully. 'Curious young man.'

The lady laughed. 'It is good enough,' she said. 'I welcome you, Curious, to my court.'

Medieval Romance

Havelok the Dane

13th century Middle English, unique manuscript copy dating to early 14th century, Oxford.

They loosened the ropes that were binding him and immediately saw a birthmark on his shoulder that marked him out as a king’s son.

Medieval Romance

Sir Isumbras

Early-fourteenth century, Middle English, Cambridge University Library, Lincoln Cathedral Library, British Library.

'I have never before seen a man who works at a blacksmith's forge conduct himself so well in battle,' said the king, incredulously, to the former knight.

Breton lais

Marie de France: The Story of Guigemar

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

The lady hesitated, for although the shirt looked familiar to her she could not find the courage to untie the knot in it, although she was the only one able to do so.

Middle English Breton Lais

Sir Degaré

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

By the age of ten, the king's daughter's child had grown into a strong and good-looking young lad who knew no other father and mother but the merchant and his wife.

Middle English Breton Lais

The Tale of Emaré

14th century, Middle English: British Library.

'Egaré is the daughter of an earl in a far land. I sent for her to teach my children courtesy and to be their governess,' the steward informed his king.

Middle English Breton Lais

The Lay le Freine

14th century, Middle English; unique manuscript copy in the National Library of Scotland, a faithful translation of the 12th century Old French poem Le Fresne, by Marie de France.

That evening, the maiden took the baby in her arms and stole away. She carried the infant over a wild and windswept heath, through woods and across fields.

Classical mythology and drama

Euripides: Ion

5th century BC, Ancient Greek drama.

The boy Ion's mother has arrived seeking guidance from Apollo. But, of course, she and the boy have no knowledge of each other.

Classical mythology and drama

Sophocles: King Oedipus

5th century BC, Ancient Greek drama.

A shepherd finds an abandoned child, takes him to the king of Corinth, and young Oedipus is brought up as the king's own son.

Classical mythology and drama

Euripides: Iphigenia in Tauris

5th century BC, Ancient Greek drama.

He is a man whose soul is very dear to her but whose outward appearance is that of a stranger. A total stranger.

Classical mythology and drama

Euripides: Hippolytus

5th century BC, Ancient Greek drama.

In order that Hippolytus might be protected from Zeus, the goddess Artemis changed his features and his age, and gave him a new name.

Classical mythology and drama

Homer: The Odyssey

8th century BC, Ancient Greek.

'Even on Crete we have heard of Ithaca,' replies Odysseus, strangely. 'But I am a fugitive and have escaped with half my wealth, as you can see.'

Classical mythology and drama

Homer: The Odyssey

8th century BC, Ancient Greek.

'I once played host to a man who told me that he was from Ithaca,' Odysseus said. 'His father’s name was Laertes, I remember.'

English poetry

Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tale from the Man of Law

14th century, Middle English. Numerous printed copies.

The senator’s wife was her aunt, although she did not recognise Constance and indeed had no idea who she was.