The Ring in Romance

IN the treasure house of Old Romance lie stored many charmed rings, the like of which are not to be found in any royal regalia.

First comes that tarnished favorite, that one has only to rub, and behold “ a genie of enormous stature and a most horrid countenance,” and the thrilling words are spoken : “ What dost thou command ? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, — as the slave of him who has the ring on his finger, — both I and the other slaves of the ring.” Another, that bears a close resemblance to Aladdin’s ring, is to be found in a fairy tale from Asia Minor. By the aid of the slave of this ring, the gardener’s son marries the princess, and provides himself with a ship, the hull of which is of gold, the mast silver, and the sails of brocade. A Jew magician obtains the ring by means of the ruse of offering to the princess some pretty red fishes, for which he will take no other payment than the old bronze ring which the captain of the golden ship has carelessly left behind him. Thereupon his fine ship is turned to black wood, and the crew and precious cargo to negroes and cats, till he once more regains the amulet.

In Scott’s Tales of the Crusaders, Saladin, in the character of the physician Adonbec, preserves the life of Richard Cœur de Lion by means of his talisman, the diamond which he wears in a ring, and on which his signet is engraved.

There is again the ring of which Chaucer told the tale. The knight that rides into the hall of Cambuscan, when the king is keeping his birthday feast, brings this ring as a gift to the “ faire Kynge’s daughter Canace ” from the king of Arabie and Ind.

Bearing on her hand this “ queinte ring,” Canace goes out at day dawning, and finds she can interpret the notes of love and dread from every feather-clad breast.

Even in the Talmudic legend the ring has its place. Solomon held his kingdom and exercised his wisdom only by virtue of a signet ring descended to him from Jared, the father of Enoch, concerning which traditions abound. In the legend, a demon named Sakhr becomes possessed of this by cunning, and rules the land in the shape of Solomon for forty days, altering the law to suit his pleasure. This was the judgment of God upon Solomon, inasmuch as one of his wives had been worshiping an idol in his palace, and he had not known it and constrained her. While the pretended king reigns in his stead, Solomon, in a form not his own, must wander through the land, seeking alms for the same number of days as the idol worship had continued in his house. When that time is accomplished Sakhr takes his flight ; and since he may himself no longer possess the signet, he throws it into the sea. It is then swallowed by a fish, which being caught and brought to the king’s table, the treasure is regained.

In Sir Thomas Malory’s Noble and Joyous History of King Arthur, Dame Lyones, the lady of the castle before which the great tournament is to be held, says to Sir Gareth of Orkney, who is desirous that none shall know who he is : “ Sir, I will lend you a ring, but I would pray you, as ye love me heartily, let me have it again when the tournament is done. For that ring increaseth my beauty much more than it is of itself. And this is the virtue of my ring : that is green it will turn it into red, and that is red it will turn into likeness of green, and that is blue it will turn to likeness of white, and that is white it will turn to likeness of blue, and so it will do all manner of colors. Also who that beareth my ring shall lose no blood, and for great love I will give you this ring.” By the might of this talisman does Gareth great deeds of valor that day, so that King Arthur is led to exclaim, " So God me help, that knight with the many colors is a good knight! ” But the dwarf of Gareth is jealous for his master to claim the renown of his own deeds, and begs the ring of him when he draws aside from the fray, “ that ye lose it not while ye drink.” And Gareth, eager to rejoin the tourney, is heedless of his loss till he finds himself recognized by the king and knights there assembled, and he bids the boy give him the ring that he may again hide his body withal.

Numerous, too, are the fabled rings that bear charms to resist all perils by land or sea. Notwithstanding a certain sameness in the central idea, each is a fresh testimony to the revolt of all times against the prosaic and circumscribed.

When Jason comes to Colchis to bring away the Golden Fleece that is guarded by the dragon with flaming nostrils, the king’s daughter, Medea, falls in love with the youth, and, being skilled in magic lore, gives him a ring possessing a charm against poison, fire, and steel. Armed with this, Jason overcomes the brazen bulls, and lulls to sleep the guardian dragon of the Fleece. Laurin, the king of the dwarfs, in the old tale, is protected by an enchanted ring, and lives safely in his rose garden, encircled by the silken thread that whosoever breaks must pay for his rashness with hand and foot. And fair Melusina leaves with her husband two rings, which so long as he has in his keeping he cannot be overcome in battle nor pleading, nor die by any weapon.

When Ogier the Dane slept in the fair country across the sea, whither the boat in which he had alone escaped from the wreck carried him, he felt

as William Morris has told the story. Then he who closed his eyes on a world that he had looked upon for more than the allotted span of man’s life wakes in the vigor of manhood. So he is crowned with Morgan le Fay in her wonderful pleasure house, and stays with her in the Isle of Avalon, forgetting all earthly things till another hundred years have passed, and Morgan reminds him that the glory of his renown will be fading from the minds of men. Soon after there appears at the French court a knight with young appearance and ancient dress. The secret of Ogier’s youth is discovered by one of the queen’s ladies, who slips the ring from his finger to her own, and immediately grows young again, while Ogier is an old, worn-out man. She is at once forced to restore the ring ; though one version has it that she is not content till she has employed thirty champions who all seek without avail to win the charm.

Ogier does great deeds, and at the end of a year is hailed as Charles of France, for it is the eve of his marriage with the queen. Then Morgan le Fay appears, and the memory returns to him of how he dwelt with her in Avalon, to the exclusion of all beside. They return to the Isle of Youth, never any more to know age or weariness.