The Home of the Beves Saga

Abstract

The question of the original home of the Beves saga has often been discussed, but no satisfactory conclusion has been reached. The conjectures regarding it have been various, but as yet unconvincing.Amaury Duval 1 places the scene of the story in France at Antonne, but without giving definite grounds for this supposition. Turnbull 2 and Kölbing3 both adopt this view without argument. Pio Rajna4 was the first to suggest a Germanic home for the saga, locating Hanstone (Hamtoun) on the continent near the French border of Germany. The arguments given are unimportant, but this view of the origin has been accepted by Gaston Paris,5 although he takes exception to Rajna's wildest suppositions as to the name Hanstone. Albert Stimming6 has exposed the weakness of Rajna's reasoning, but even he leaves the question still unsettled. Later in his introduction, he gives impartially the arguments in favor of French as well as those in favor of Germanic origin, but does not regard them as sufficient ground for forming an opinion. These comprise the conjectures thus far advanced, and all are weakly supported and inconclusive.