The legend of Doon is unique in terms of the old French epic: Doon is perhaps the only chanson de geste to survive not only in written Romance and Scandinavian versions, but as an oral tradition maintained until modern times (the nineteenth century Faeroese Olufas Kvad). In addition, the French Doon was not published until 1921, between the world wars, much later than the main corpus of French epic literature. For this reason, it was never commented by major epic critics. In fact, no extensive critical study of the legend exists to date.
This dissertation therefore represents the first such study of the legend of Doon de La Roche, analyzing the five extant versions: the French epic Doon de La Roche, the Spanish prose Enrrique, fi de Oliva, the Norse "Olif and Landres" in the Karlamagnussaga, the Icelandic Landresr(')imur and the Faeroese Olufas Kvad. The purpose of the dissertation is twofold: to study a legend heretofore virtually ignored by modern criticism and to propose a methodology for other studies of this kind, as relatively little criticism of international legends has been done.
The dissertation commences with an overview of the texts in question, including pertinent data about manuscripts, editions and criticism, plus a brief discussion of the content of these rare texts. Chapter two studies the French and Spanish versions of the legend with respect to structuring mechanisms operative in the narrative. The following chapter discusses generic modulations, specifically, the late medieval trend toward prosification and its effect on the legend. The fourth chapter explores the impact of history, literature and culture on the Romance legend. The final chapter deals with the three Northern versions (Norse, Icelandic and Faeroese) in their relationship to the legend as a whole. The conclusion defines the "core legend," or nucleus of material remaining constant throughout several centuries, which forms the basis of a story of timeless and international appeal.