But the choice between long and short lines is arbitrary, and the stanza division found in Child does not derive from the sources - b, c, d, epq, and f all print it without stanza divisions, and a not only lacks stanza divisions, it doesn't even have line breaks in the first portion. The "Gest" is usually written in short lines and with stanza division. 156 of Sands) - but this is because "Gamelyn" is printed in long lines, with each pair of lines rhyming, and is not divided into stanzas. If you see "Gamelyn" and the "Gest" on a printed page, they may at first glance appear rather different (see, e.g, the version of Gamelyn on p. For this, a comparison of the "romance" of Gamelyn and the so-called "ballad" we call the "Gest" is instructive. 49, looks at the first 15 stanzas of the "Gest," which provide a thumbnail description of Robin and declares, "The combination of a direct opening wtith characteristic description is not a ballad, but an epic construction."Īnd yet, these scholars do not take the next step and move the "Gest" to the romance category. 300, says, "Of Robin Hood and Adam Bell and many more, it is hard to say whether they are to be ranked with ballads or with romances." Clawson, p. 36, declares explicitly, "the Robin Hood ballads the features of the chanson de geste and the literary romance." CHEL1, p. In other words the contents as well as the form of the early Robin Hood ballads reveal the strong influence upon them of the conventions of late medieval English romance." 10 that 'the 'curteyse outlaw' of the Gest has many of the attributes of the well-born chivalric hero of medieval tradition. 8, say it is "not strictly a ballad in any conventional sense" and add on p. But the similarities of the "Gest" to the romances are strong and its similarity to the common ballads slight.
Of course, this mostly a matter of definition. As a result, it tends to be discussed among the ballads. NOTES : THE GEST: A ROMANCE AND ITS SOURCESĬhild included the "Gest" among the ballads. Entry continues in "A Gest of Robyn Hode" - Part 04 (File Number C117C) Gest of Robyn Hode, A - Part 03 Gest of Robyn Hode, A - Part 03 DESCRIPTION: Continuation of the notes to "A Gest of Robyn Hode".