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Amadis of Gaul
The hero of a romance in prose of the same title, originally
written in Portuguese in four books. These four were translated into
Spanish by Montalvo, who added a fifth. Subsequent romancers added the
exploits and adventures of other knights, so as to swell the romance to
fourteen books. The French version is much larger still, one containing
twenty-four books, and another running through seven volumes. The
original author was Vasco de Lobeira, of Oporto, who died 1403.
The hero, called the “Lion-knight,” from the device on his
shield, and “Beltenebros” (darkly beautiful), from his personal
appearance, was a love-child of Perion, King of Gaul, and Elizena,
Princess of Brittany. He is represented as a poet and musician, a
linguist and a gallant, a knight-errant and a king, the very model of
chivalry.
Other names by which Amadis was called were the Lovely Obscure, the Knight of the Burning Sword, the Knight of the Dwarf, etc. Bernardo, in 1560, wrote “Amadigi di Gaula.”
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Amadis of Gaul from Infoplease:
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