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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
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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.