The MIDDLE ENGLISH Havelok (Incipit vita Havelok
quondam rex Angliae et Danemarchie) was probably composed sometime between 1275 and 1303,
during the reign of Edward I, although the precise
date is uncertain. The single extant copy of the ROMANCE is found in a collection of pious and didactic narratives (MS. Laud Misc. 108, Bodleian)
including The Life and Passion of Christ and The
Sayings of St. Bernard, and occurs in the last part of
the manuscript along with, among other works,
another early Middle English romance, KING
HORN. The romance of Havelok contains elements
of hagiography (or a SAINT’S LIFE), yet its primary
focus seems to be political and social and may, indeed, be connected with the reign and person of
Edward I. The romance may have been in origin
pro-Danish propaganda (there are two earlier
12th-century versions of the story: Geoffrey
Gaimer’s Anglo-Norman Estorie des engles, and the
Old French Lai d’Havelok), but the anonymous
poet seems more engaged with the narrative as a
mirror or handbook for princes in which ideal
kingship, lawful succession, law and order, and the
private and public aspects of the exemplary king
are canvassed.
After an invocation to Christ (ll. 15–22), the romance opens in England with an extended passage
of praise for the reign of King Aflelwolde, and goes
on to relate his impending death and the provisions he makes for his only child, a daughter
named Goldeboru. Aflelwolde leaves the care of his
daughter and heir to one of his barons, Godrich of
Cornwall, who promises to guard her and, when
the time comes, aid her in her succession to the
throne. Not unexpectedly Godrich reconsiders his
oath to the king and decides to supplant Goldeboru with his own children. The action then moves
to Denmark, where a parallel tale of treachery unfolds when the king of Denmark dies, leaving his
son and heir, Havelok, and his two daughters to the
care of his friend and noble, Godard. Godard immediately abrogates his oath to the king, imprisons
the children, and kills the two daughters. He
arranges for the death of Havelok, but this is fortuitously avoided when Grim, the man commissioned to undertake the murder, discovers the
kyne-mark on Havelok’s shoulder that reveals him
to be the divinely appointed heir to the throne.
Grim and his family escape with the child Havelok
to England where the two plots of lost inheritance
are joined together, literally: Goldeboru is forced
into marriage with Havelok, whom Godrich believes to be a commoner, and this marriage below
her state, or “disparagement,” legally discounting
her from succeeding to the throne. (The use of
“disparagement” is only one of many medieval legalisms with which this romance is informed).
Goldeboru’s despair about the marriage below
her rank is transformed when one night in bed, she
notes a light coming from Havelok’s mouth and
the kyne-mark—a birthmark attesting to royal descent (from OLD ENGLISH cynemearc)—on his
shoulder. She concludes that her “common” husband is, in fact, of royal birth, and her conclusion
is confirmed when an angel tells her that Havelok
will be king of England and Denmark. Havelok
awakes to tell her of a dream that has perplexed
him, which she interprets for him on the basis of
her own conjectures and the angel’s confirmation.
Goldeboru advises they set out for Denmark,
where Havelok is successful in regaining his
throne; after which they return to England and secure the English throne. The good are rewarded,
the bad are punished, and the romance ends with a
brief summary of wrongs put right and the conventional authorial request for a prayer to be said
for “hym that haueth the rym maked” (2999).
Havelok is both conventional and remarkable
as a medieval romance: the concern with lost inheritance; a hero who grows up in lowly circumstances but reveals himself (through his courtesy,
his beauty, or his treatment of others) to be more
than circumstances suggest; the quest for identity
and social status; all these themes are common to
medieval romance. Yet even while Havelok shares
many elements and motifs with other Middle English romances, the extent to which it is concerned
with politics and policy, kingship and commonwealth, rightful succession and just rule, is rare in
contemporary narratives and considerably heightened from its sources. Havelok is also extraordinarily realistic for a romance and its realism (in
addition to its emphasis on just rule) is one of the
primary sites for critical commentary concerning
its political significance. Variously called a romance of nation or a romance of kingship, most
recent critical commentary tends to focus on the
national, political, and judicial aspects of the romance. Critical readings also include explorations
of the popular hero as exemplary king, and the
ways in which the title (Vita Havelok) anticipates
the hagiographical elements in the romance and
Havelok’s status as a secular Christian hero.
Amusing and edifying, Havelok fulfills with a
flourish the medieval literary injunction to instruct and entertain.
Bibliography
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Elisa Narin van Court