began to be written. These are the
_Chansons de Gestes_, so called from their dealing with the
_Gestes_[17], or heroic families of legendary or historical France. It
is remarkable that this class of composition, notwithstanding its age,
its merits, and the abundant examples of it which have been preserved,
was one of the latest to receive recognition in modern times. The matter
of many of the Chansons, under their later form of verse or prose
romances of chivalry, was indeed more or less known in the eighteenth
century. But an appreciation of their real age, value, and interest has
been the reward of the literary investigations of our own time. It was
not till 1837 that the oldest and the most remarkable of them was first
edited from the manuscript found in the Bodleian Library[18]. Since that
time investigation has been constant and fruitful, and there are now
more than one hundred of these interesting poems known.

[Sidenote: Origin of Chansons de Gestes.]

The origin and sources of the _Chansons de Gestes_ have been made a
matter of much controversy. We have already seen how, from the testimony
of historians and the existence of a few fragments, it appears that rude
lays or ballads in the different vernacular tongues of the country were
composed and sung if not written down at very early dates. According to
one theory, we are to look for the origin of the long and regular epics
of the eleventh and subsequent centuries in these rude compositions,
first produced independently, then strung together, and lastly subjected
to some process of editing and union. It has been sought to find proof
of this in the frequent repetitions which take place in the Chansons,
and which sometimes amount to the telling of the same incident over and
over again in slightly varying words. Others have seen in this
peculiarity only a result of improvisation in the first place, and
unskilful or at least uncritical copying in the second. This, however,
is a question rather interesting than important. What is certain is that
no literary source of the Chansons is now actually in existence, and
that we have no authentic information as to any such originals. At a
certain period--approximately given above--the fashion of narrative
poems on the great scale seems to have arisen in France. It spread
rapidly, and was eagerly copied by other nations.

[Sidenote: Definition.]

The definition of a _Chanson de Geste_ is as follows. It is a narrative
poem,