GUILLAUME D'ORANGE,
popularly known as "short-nose," because he had lost part of his nose in battle, a semi-legend ary, semi-historical character, who gives the title to a large cycle of legends of the chivalric and troubadour class which cluster round the Orange family. He is also known as Guil laume Pierabrace and Saint Guillaume de Gel lone. The extensive cycle of chansons de geste of which he is the dominant figure consist of 18 distinct branches, comprising in all about 120,000 verses. These dvisions are as follows, according to their poetical titles: (1) 'Garin de
(2)
de
(3) 'Ai men de Narbonne' ; (4) 'Enfanc:. Guillaume' ; (5)
Other Orange Stories existed in the Mid dle Ages, probably in considerable numbers, since various of the incidents forming the bases of the Guillaume d'Orange titles given above, are treated in different ways in other Ian pages which, we know, habitually borrowed from the French throughout this period. Of these the most noted is the unfinished or mutilated poem, 'Guillaume d'Orange,' written in German by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Ac cording to this poem, Guillaume, the eldest of the sons of Aimeri, Count of Narbonne, eloped with the handsome young wife of Tybald, King of Arabia, and took her into the dominions of the French Icing, Tybald followed him with an immense host. Guillaume gathered together an army of 20,000 and faced the forces near Or ange. The battle that followed was fierce; and no quarter was asked or given ofi either side.
Defeated and most of his most trusty warriors slain, Guillaume fled to his castle, a very strongly-fortified place near Kiburg. Followed there by Tybald, he fled to the court of the French king, who had married one of his sis ters. There he obtained a second army through the influence of his sister, the queen, and his father, who was at the court. Accompanied by the latter he set out for Klbttrg once more, where he arrived just in time to prevent its falling into the hands of Tybald after a long siege and stout resistance. Pursuing the re treating Saracens, who had taken to flight on his approach, Guillaume came up with them on the seashore, where a second terrific battle re sulted in the complete destruction of the enemy and the death of Tybald.
Among the various other versions of this story is one by the troubadour Bertrand, which bears the title 'Diane et which also varies much from the versions given above. That these Guillaume d'Orange poems are older than the form in which they have come down to us seems more than probable, and that they must have had a powerful influence on the times in which they were popular seems cer tain. They are therefore of special interest as constituting one of the original foundations of French literature. They are also of special historical and antiquarian value owing to the vivid and truthful pictures they contain of the times in which they were composed and their reflection of those of an earlier age. Their relation to the knightly and chivalric romances is also an interesting subject which has not received all the attention it apparently deserves.