Now, in the first place, this argument, if well founded, would bring the origin of chivalry down to a period pos terior to the Crusades ; for till they took place, it is hardly to be supposed that a word borrowed from those, against whom the Christians were engaged, would be employed. In illustration of this remark, it may be ob served, that after the Crusades, the phrase feu Sarrazio nois was in general use, to express any sharp engage ment ; and allusions to the Saracens became very com mon in the romances of that period.
In the second place, Sarazino was by no means a com mon name for the image on which the knights broke their lances ; nor were images of met. commonly used for this purpose, (if we may credit the testimony of Matthew Paris), in the early days of chivalry ; for that author informs us, that the image of a p..wock, the bird served up at the most solemn feasts of chivalry, and by NVIliCh the most sacred vows were taken, was employed on this occasion.
But lastly, even if wc grant that the wooden image was generally called Sarazino, this by no means proves the position of Warburton : it is certainly much more natural to suppose, that the name of that enemy against whom the knights in real warfare were to be employed, was given to the wooden image out of contempt or detesta tion, than that it was thus bestowed, because the institu tion of chivalry was borrowed from the Saracens.
The traces of the eastern origin of chivalry, besides being derived directly from Arabia and Persia, are sup posed to be found in the early periods of Spanish histo ry, immediately after the conquest of that country by the Saracens. But these traces are very indistinct and fee ble. The Moriscoes, or song romances of Spain, bear but a faint resemblance to the romances of chivalry : the Fiestas de las Canas may be compared with more propriety to the Gothic tournaments ; but the resem blance is not such as would justify the inference, that the latter was derived from the former.
After all, however, the points of resemblance between the chivalry of the East and the West are very few, and consist in circumstances of the smallest importance, and of the least characteristic peculiarity. A fondness for feats of arms, and amusements which discovered and gratified that fondness, may be traced in the history and romances of the East ; but the master spirit of European chivalry, the point of honour, courtesy of manners, and, above all, attentive and respectful gallantry, must not be sought for among the eastern nations.
If we examine the mariners and customs of the Scan dinavian nations, in order to ascertain what traces and resemblances of chivalry they afford, we shall discover many more of its peculiar features, than the manners and customs of the eastern nations presented. The age at
which the Scandinavian youth became their own mas ters, and authorised to engage in war, and the manner in which this ceremony was performed, coincide with the institutions of chivalry. At the age of fifteen, they were presented with a sword, a buckler, and a lance, and from that period they became members of the state. The he roes of chivalry gave names to their swords ;—this, too, was done by the ancient Scandinavian heroes. The fol lowing passage, from the Edda, proves that the amuse ments of the Scandinavians were of the same warlike character as those in which the knights of chivalry en gaged: " But tell me, how clo the heroes divert them selves when they are not drinking ? Every day," replies Liar, " as soon as they have drest themselves, they take their arms, and, entering the lists, light till they cut one another in pieces." And Isidore, in his Chronicle, says, that, in his time, " the Goths were extremely fond of fighting, of handling their arms, and throwing their darts ; and that it was their daily practice to divert themselves with mock-fighting." But as the grand characteristics of chivalry were the points of honour and gallantry united to war, it is ne cessary to attend to these features in the Scandinavian tribes. Among them, nothing was deemed so insulting as to call a man " Hiding," or infamous ; " for he who had received so deep a stain, without endeavouring to wash it out with the blood of his adversary, would have lest much more than the life he was so desirous to save. Banished by public indignation from the society of men, degraded from his quality of citizen, and scarcely' regard edas a human creature, lie had nothing left for it, but a shameful and insecure flight :" (Mallet, i. 219.) That feeling of honour, which renders life but a secondary ob ject, by making character dearer than life, which marked the age of chivalry, and which has descended from it to modern times, is here strongly and justly painted, as forming a leading and conspicuous feature in the man ners and principles of the Scandinavians. Nor were the women less sensible of the value and importance of ho nour than the men ; they were early and regularly taught to despise such as spent Own' lives in idleness and ob ;—to prize and reward the valiant, and to shun the cowardly. Such also were the ladies in the age of chivalry.