dom and slaughter all its inhabitants who do not
renounce Christianity. The Saracens are reluctant to
kill Horn outright because of his fairness, so they set
him and his companions adrift at sea in a galley.
The boat fortuitously comes ashore in Westernesse
(probably the western coast of England), where Horn
and his companions are befriended by King Aylmar.
Rymenhild, the king’s daughter, falls in love with
Horn, but he, having kept the fact of his royal birth a
secret, declares himself too lowborn to wed her. How-
ever, he suggests that she persuade her father to knight
him and his companions, which would elevate his
social status and make him eligible to marry her. This
being accomplished, Rymenhild gives him a gold ring
that she says will protect his life. He then proves his
knighthood by single-handedly killing an invading
band of Saracens. However, Fikenhild, an evil com-
panion of Horn’s who is “the wurste moder child” (l.
652), deceives the king into thinking that Horn is plot-
ting to usurp his throne. Aylmar then angrily banishes
Horn, who asks Rymenhild to wait for him seven years
before he departs.
Horn then travels to Ireland, where, concealing his
identity again, he enters the service of King Thurston
and saves the kingdom from invading Saracens, slaying
the giant who had previously had killed his father. In
Horn’s absence, Rymenhild’s father arranges a marriage
between her and King Modi of Reynes. She sends a des-
perate plea for Horn to return by a messenger who,
after wandering from land to land, by chance encoun-
ters Horn and gives him the message. On his way back
to Rymenhild, however, the messenger is drowned in a
storm; Rymenhild fi nds his body and despairs.
In the meantime, Horn reveals his true identity to
King Thurston and enlists his aid in rescuing Rymen-
hild. Reaching Westernesse on the morning of the
wedding, Horn conceals his identity by exchanging
clothes with a palmer (pilgrim) and gains entry into
the hall. He gets the attention of Rymenhild, who does
not recognize him, by asking her for drink, mentioning
Horn’s name and throwing his ring into the drinking
horn. At fi rst he pretends Horn gave him the ring
before dying, but fi nally he reveals his true identity to
her. He and his companions then kill Modi and all of
his men.
Before wedding Rymenhild, however, Horn travels
back to Suddene and wins his rightful throne by defeat-
ing the Saracens. In his absence, the evil Fikenhild,
desiring to marry Rymenhild, carries her off to a castle
surrounded by water. Dreaming that Rymenhild is in
danger, Horn rushes back to Westernesse, where he
and his companions gain entry into the castle disguised
as minstrels. In the end, he kills Fikenhild and his men,
rewards his loyal friends, and marries Rymenhild.
King Horn is a coming-of-age story that, like most
other romances, follows the pattern of exile and return.
However, compared to later English romances, its
descriptions seem meager, characterizations are under-
developed, and chivalric and courtly themes are less
evident. Some critics have emphasized its affi nity with
folktales and pointed out folkloric motifs, such as the
disguises and portentous dreams, while others have
commented on its ballad-like features. While some
have observed that the Saracens probably represent
memories of the Viking incursions, at least one scholar
has suggested that the Saracen invasions, although his-
torically inaccurate, refl ect the actual social and politi-
cal tensions and fears of 13th-century England. The
poem contains archaic features in language and was
once commonly dated to around 1225. However,
Rosamund Allen has convincingly argued that it was
more probably composed in the 1270s, probably by an
author in the London area, and that the original audi-
ence may have been fi sh merchants, given the impor-
tance of fi sh and sea journeys in the poem.
See also BALLAD (FOLK BALLADS), CHIVALRY.
FURTHER READING
Allen, Rosamund, ed. King Horn: An Edition Based on Cam-
bridge University Library MS Gg. 4.27(2). New York and
London: Garland, 1984.
———. “The Date and Provenance of King Horn: Some
Interim Reassessments.” In Medieval English Studies Pre-
sented to George Kane, edited by Edward Donald Kennedy,
Ronald Waldron, and Joseph S. Wittig, 99–125. Wolfe-
boro, N.H.: Brewer, 1988.
Herzman, Ronald B., Graham Drake, and Eve Salisbury,
eds. Four Romances of England: King Horn, Havelok the
Dane, Bevis of Hampton, and Athelston. Kalamazoo, Mich.:
Medieval Institute, 1999.
Kelvin A. MasseyKING HORN 235