genlied_ at their head, the Arthurian stories transformed, of
which in different ways _Tristan_ and _Parzival_, but especially the
latter, are the chief, and the Minnesong,--these are the great
contributions of Germany during the period, and they are great indeed.

[Footnote 123: On this see the last passage, except the conclusion on
_Reynard the Fox_, of Carlyle's Essay on "Early German Literature"
noted above. Of the great romances, as distinguished from the
_Nibelungen_, Carlyle did not know much, and he was not quite in
sympathy either with their writers or with the Minnesingers proper.
But the life-philosopher of _Reynard_ and the _Renner_ attracted
him.]

CHAPTER VII.

THE 'FOX,' THE 'ROSE,' AND THE MINOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF FRANCE.

THE PREDOMINANCE OF FRANCE. THE RISE OF ALLEGORY. LYRIC. THE
"ROMANCE" AND THE "PASTOURELLE." THE "FABLIAUX." THEIR
ORIGIN. THEIR LICENCE. THEIR WIT. DEFINITION AND SUBJECTS.
EFFECT OF THE "FABLIAUX" ON LANGUAGE. AND ON NARRATIVE.
CONDITIONS OF "FABLIAU"-WRITING. THE APPEARANCE OF IRONY.
FABLES PROPER. 'REYNARD THE FOX.' ORDER OF TEXTS. PLACE OF
ORIGIN. THE FRENCH FORM. ITS COMPLICATIONS. UNITY OF SPIRIT.
THE RISE OF ALLEGORY. THE SATIRE OF 'RENART.' THE FOX
HIMSELF. HIS CIRCLE. THE BURIAL OF RENART. THE 'ROMANCE OF
THE ROSE.' WILLIAM OF LORRIS AND JEAN DE MEUNG. THE FIRST
PART. ITS CAPITAL VALUE. THE ROSE-GARDEN. "DANGER."
"REASON." "SHAME" AND "SCANDAL." THE LATER POEM.
"FALSE-SEEMING." CONTRAST OF THE PARTS. VALUE OF BOTH, AND
CHARM OF THE FIRST. MARIE DE FRANCE AND RUTEBOEUF. DRAMA.
ADAM DE LA HALLE. "ROBIN ET MARION." THE "JEU DE LA
FEUILLIE." COMPARISON OF THEM. EARLY FRENCH PROSE. LAWS AND
SERMONS. VILLEHARDOUIN. WILLIAM OF TYRE. JOINVILLE. FICTION.
'AUCASSIN ET NICOLETTE.'

[Sidenote: _The predominance of France._]

The contributions of France to European literature mentioned in the
three chapters (II.-IV.) which deal with the three main sections of
Romance, great as we have seen them to be, by no means exhausted the
debt which literature owes to her during this period. It is indeed not
a little curious that the productions of this time, long almost
totally ignored in France itself, and even now rather grudgingly
acknowledged there, are the only periodic set of productions that
justify the claim, so often advanced by Frenchmen, that their country
is at the head of the litera