Hugo's Alleged Fabrications of Names and Anachronisms

Abstract

For a long time now Hugo has been accused not only of ignorant, erroneous and careless use of Biblical and other names, but even of the outright invention of such names, if a rhyme or musical and rhythmical effect of his verse required so. Since Grillet theorized that Hugo made up the name Jerimadeth from the words je rime a dait, because he needed a name to rhyme with demandait ( Booz endormi, 11. 81-84) ,1 this and the fabrication of other names have been imputed to the poet and taken for granted. Scholars, be they hugophobes or hugoldtres, argued over the merit or beauty of Jerimadeth, but did not question the famous fabrication as a fact. P. Berret was the first to express the view that Hugo did not form the word in the crude or simple manner suggested by Grillet and that the poet probably found at least a similar name in one of the translations of the Bible which he used.2 M. Rat, in a more recent article, showed conclusively that Jerimadeth is not the poet's fabrication. After a close study of Hugo's Biblical poems I came to the conclusion that Jerimadeth is only one of many examples whereby Hugo has been falsely accused of using wrong, non-existent or badly mutilated names. My examination has convinced me that Hugo's Biblical erudition was much better founded, or at least used in a more responsible and scholarly manner, than