For the purposes of the new edition, every poem has been assigned a unique short title. The original short titles, taken eclectically from a number of sources, are retained as alternative short titles.
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CSM Number : 108 |
Short name: |
Merlin and the Jew |
Alternative: |
Merlin debates with a Jewish sage |
Incipit: |
Dereit’ é de s’ end’ achar/ mal quen fillar perfia |
Refrain: |
Dereit’ é de s’ end’ achar/ mal quen fillar perfia/ contra Santa Maria. |
Summary of narrative |
Setting: |
unspecified |
Protagonist(s): |
Merlin and a Jewish sage |
Merlin and a Jewish sage were engaged in a debate. The Jew refuted the Incarnation and Merlin defended the doctrine. Merlin grew angry and prayed to the Virgin to reveal the truth. He asked her to cause the son of the Jew to be born with his head on backwards. When the child was born he was disfigured as Merlin had requested. The father tried to kill the baby. Merlin saved the child and used him to convert the Jews.
|
Metrical data |
Stanza: |
7 7 7 7 7 7 6' |
Refrain: |
7 6' 6' |
No. of Stanzas: |
10 |
Rhyme scheme: |
ABB | acacacb |
Zejel: |
Yes |
MS locations: |
T108, E108, ToAppendix 03 |
Poncelet reference |
None |
Keywords |
blasphemy, childbirth, children, conversion, debate, head (on backwards), incarnation, Jews |
Discography |
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem |
BITAGAP ID |
3825 |
Bibliography |
Antología Alfonso X |
Cantigas de Santa Maria do rei don Alfonso Alfonso X , o Sábio |
La música de las Cantigas de Santa María del rey Alfonso el Sabio. Facsímil, transcripción y estudio crítico vol. III Anglés, Higinio |
The Jew in the Cántigas of Alfonso X, el Sabio Bagby, Albert |
Gautier de Coinci est-il un compositeur? Billiet, Frédéric |
Heretics and Infidels: the Cantigas de Santa María as Ideological Instrument of Cultural Codfication Bollo Panadero, María Dolores |
’Textos de persecución’: formación ideológica y hegemonía en la literatura castellana de los siglos XII-XV Bollo Panadero, María Dolores |
A sorcerer defends the Virgin: Merlin in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Carpenter, Dwayne E. |
Un debate teológico según las miniaturas de la Cantiga de Santa María número 108 Corti, Francisco |
Mary and Merlin: An Unusual Alliance Davis, Jr, William Richard |
El trovador y la rosa: huellas de las ’chansons’ marianas. Gautier de Coincy en las Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X Disalvo, Santiago and Germán Rossi |
“Hermeneutics of the Cantigas: recovering notational sense”, Ferreira, Manuel Pedro |
Os xudeos nas Cantigas de Santa María Filgueira Valverde, José |
A corte poética de Afonso III o Bolonhês e a materia de Bretaña Gutiérrez García, Santiago |
A Literatura Artúrica en Galicia e Portugal na Idade Media Gutiérrez García, Santiago and Pilar Lorenzo Gradín |
Anti-Semitism in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Hatton, Vikki, and Angus MacKay |
Arquitectura civil española de los siglos I al XIII Lampérez y Romea, Vicente |
Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X el Sabio, rey de Castilla López Serrano, Matilde |
Notas sobre léxico gallego-portugués Lorenzo Vazquez, Ramón |
Merlim numa cantiga de Santa Maria Martins, Mário |
That French Enchanter in King Alfonso’s Court: Merlin in the 108th Cantiga de Santa Maria Miller, Barbara D. |
Women, Jews, and Muslims in the Texts of Reconquest Castile Mirrer, Louise |
Cantigas de Alfonso X, el Sabio Moreno Galván, José M. |
Art of Estrangement: Redefining Jews in Reconquest Spain Patton, Pamela A. |
’Iudeus sacer’: Life, Law, and Identity in the ’State of Exception’ Called ’Marian Miracle’ Prado-Vilar, Francisco |
De música y métrica gallegas Ribera y Tarragó, Julián |
La dialéctica texto-imagen. A propósito de la representación del judío en las Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X Rodríguez Barral, Paulino |
Alfonso X, el rey sabio ¿tolerante con la minoría judía? Una lectura emblemática de las Cantigas de Santa Maria Roitman, Gisela |
La materia de Bretaña en la poesía gallego-portuguesa Sharrer, Harvey L. |
Os judeus na Espanha do século XIII, segundo as Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X o Sábio Teensma, B. N. |