Blide was hi ende onververt. Emoties in de Oudfranse Fergus en de Middelnederlandse Ferguut.

Abstract

In the early thirteenth century, Guillaume le Clerc wrote a story in which a farmer's son called Fergus leaves his parents to become a knight at King Arthur's court. The young man starts a quest and roams around the country for years, but in the end finds his beloved Galiene and becomes a king. The story of Fergus is later adapted by an unknown Middle Dutch poet, to the story that is known as Ferguut.

With there being two versions of the same story - one in Old French, one in Middle Dutch - there's a chance to compare and contrast two very similar texts, that were created in different locations and in different languages.

In this thesis, one specific aspect is compared: the use of emotions in the texts. The hero goes through many and adventure which evoke emotional reactions from him and the other characters, from dedications of love to battles to fulfil a quest. It is possible that, although the storylines are mostly the same, there are differences in the occurrence of emotions in the two texts. The question this thesis seeks to answer is: to which extent and in what way do the function and meaning of emotions differ in the Old French Fergus and the Middle Dutch Ferguut?