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    "title": "HROLFR KRAKI",
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    "verified_text": "hrolfr kraki, perhaps the most famous of the danish kings of the heroic age. in _beowulf_, where he is called hrothwulf, he is represented as reigning over denmark in conjunction with his uncle hrothgar, one of the three sons of an earlier king called healfdene. in the old norse sagas hrolfe is the son of helgi (halga), the son of halfdan (healfdene). he is represented as a wealthy and peace-loving monarch similar to hrothgar in _beowulf_, but the latter (hroarr, or roe) is quite overshadowed by his nephew in the northern authorities. the chief incidents in hrolfr's career are the visit which he paid to the swedish king aethils (beowulf's eadgils), of which several different explanations are given, and the war, in which he eventually lost his life, against his brother-in-law hiorvarethr. the name kraki (pole-ladder) is said to have been given to him on account of his great height by a young knight named voggr, whom he handsomely rewarded and who eventually avenged his death on hiorvarethr. there is no reason to doubt that hrolfr was an historical person and that he reigned in denmark during the early years of the 6th century, but the statement found in all the sagas that he was the stepson of aethils seems hardly compatible with the evidence of _beowulf_, which is a much earlier authority. see saxo grammaticus, _gesta danorum_, pp. 52-68, ed. a. holder (strassburg, 1886); and a. olrik, _danmarks hettedigtning_ (copenhagen, 1903). hrosvitha (frequently roswitha, and properly hrotsuit), early medieval dramatist and chronicler, occupies a very notable position in the history of modern european literature. her endeavours formed part of the literary activity by which the age of the emperor otto the great sought to emulate that of charles the great. the famous nun of gandersheim has occasionally been confounded with her namesake, a learned abbess of the same convent, who must have died at least half a century earlier. the younger hrosvitha was born in all probability about the year 935; and, if the statement be correct that she sang the praises of the three ottos, she must have lived to near the close of the century. some time before the year 959 she entered the benedictine nunnery of gandersheim, a foundation which was confined to ladies of german birth, and was highly favoured by the saxon dynasty. in 959 gerberga, daughter of duke henry of bavaria and niece of the emperor otto i., was consecrated abbess of gandersheim; and the earlier literary efforts of the youthful hrosvitha (whose own connexion with the royal family appears to be an unauthenticated tradition) were encouraged by the still more youthful abbess, and by a nun of the name of richarda. the literary works of hrosvitha, all of which were as a matter of course in latin, divide themselves into three groups. of these the first and least important comprises eight narrative religious poems, in leonine hexameters or distichs. their subjects are the nativity of the virgin (from the apocryphal gospel of st james, the brother of our lord), the ascension and a series of legends of saints (gandolph, pelagius, theophilus, basil, denis, agnes). like these narrative poems, the dramas to which above all hrosvitha owes her fame seem to have been designed for reading aloud or recitation by sisters of the convent. for though there are indications that the idea of their representation was at least present to the mind of the authoress, the fact of such a representation appears to be an unwarrantable assumption. the comedies of hrosvitha are six in number, being doubtless in this respect also intended to recall their nominal model, the comedies of terence. they were devised on the simple principle that the world, the flesh and the devil should not have all the good plays to themselves. the experiment upon which the young christian dramatist ventured was accordingly, although not absolutely novel, audacious enough. in form the dramas of \"the strong voice of gandersheim,\" as hrosvitha (possibly alluding to a supposed etymology of her name) calls herself, are by no means terentian. they are written in prose, with an element of something like rhythm, and an occasional admixture of rhyme. in their themes, and in the treatment of these, they are what they were intended to be, the direct opposites of the lightsome adapter of menander. they are founded upon legends of the saints, selected with a view to a glorification of religion in its supremest efforts and most transcendental aspects. the emperor constantine's daughter, for example, constantia, gives her hand in marriage to _gallicanus_, just before he starts on a scythian campaign, though she has already taken a vow of perpetual maidenhood. in the hour of battle he is himself converted, and, having on his return like his virgin bride chosen the more blessed unmarried state, dies as a christian martyr in exile. the three holy maidens, agape, chionia and irene, are preserved by a humorous miracle from the evil designs of _dulcitius_, to offer up their pure lives as a sacrifice under diocletian's persecutions. _callimachus_, who has romeo-like carried his earthly passion for the saintly drusiana into her tomb, and among its horrors has met with his own death, is by the mediation of st john raised with her from the dead to a christian life. all these themes are treated with both spirit and skill, often with instinctive knowledge of dramatic effect--often with genuine touches of pathos and undeniable felicities of expression. in _dulcitius_ there is also an element of comedy, or rather of farce. how far hrosvitha's comedies were an isolated phenomenon of their age in germany must remain undecided; in the general history of the drama they form the visible bridge between the few earlier attempts at utilizing the forms of the classical drama for christian purposes and the miracle plays. they are in any case the productions of genius; nor has hrosvitha missed the usual tribute of the supposition that shakespeare has borrowed from her writings. the third and last group of the writings of hrosvitha is that of her versified historical chronicles. at the request of the abbess gerberga, she composed her _carmen de gestis oddonis_, an epic attempting in some degree to follow the great roman model. it was completed by the year 968, and presented by the authoress to both the old emperor and his son (then already crowned as) otto ii. this poem so closely adheres to the materials supplied to the authoress by members of the imperial family that, notwithstanding its courtly omissions, it is regarded as an historical authority. unfortunately only half of it remains; the part treating of the period from 953 to 962 is lost with the exception of a few fragments, and the period from 962 to 967 is summarized only. subsequently, in a poem (of 837 hexameters) _de primordiis et fundatoribus coenobii gandersheimensis_, hrosvitha narrated the beginnings of her own convent, and its history up to the year 919. the munich ms., which contains all the works enumerated above except the _chronicle of gandersheim_, was edited by the great vienna humanist, conrad celtes, in 1501. the edition of celtes was published at nuremberg, with eight wood-cuts by albrecht durer. it was re-edited by h. l. schurzfleisch and published at wittenberg in 1707. the comedies have been edited and translated into german by j. bendixen (lubeck, 1857), and into french by c. magnin (paris, 1845), whose introduction gives a full account of the authoress and her works. see also her _poesies latines_, with a translation into french verse by v. retif de la bretonne (paris, 1854). a copious analysis of her plays will be found in klein, _geschichte des dramas_, iii. 665-754. see also w. creizenach, _geschichte des neueren dramas_, i. 17 sqq. (halle, 1893), and a. w. ward, _history of english dramatic literature_, i. 6 sqq. (cambridge, 1899). gustav freytag wrote a dissertation, _de rosuitha poetria_ (breslau, 1839), to qualify himself as an academical teacher, which, as he records (_erinnerungen aus meinem leben_, leipzig, 1887, p. 1839), showed \"how impossible it was to the german, a thousand years since, to compose dramatically\"; and at the beginning of albert cohn's _shakespeare in germany_ (berlin, 1865) shakespearean parallels are suggested to certain passages in hrosvitha's dramas. her two chronicles in verse were edited by z. h. pertz in the _monumenta germaniae_, iv. 306-335 (hanover, 1841). see also j. p. migne, _patrologiae curs. compl._ (paris, 1853, vol. 137). the _carmen_ was included by leibnitz in his _scriptores rer. brunsvic._ (hanover, 1707-1711). for other early editions of these see a. potthast, _bibliotheca historica medii aevi_ (supplement, berlin, 1862-1868); and for an appreciation of them see wattenbach, _geschichtsquellen_, pp. 214-216, and giesebrecht, _deutsche kaiserzeit_, i. 780, who mentions a german translation by pfund (1860). there is a complete edition of the works of hrosvitha by k. a. barack (nurnberg, 1858). j. aschbach (1867) attempted to prove that celtes had forged the productions which he published under the name of hrosvitha, but he was refuted by r. kopke (berlin, 1869). anatole france, _la vie litteraire_ (3^eme serie, paris, 1891), cited by creienach, mentions a curious recent experiment, the performance of hrosvitha's comedies in the theatre des marionettes at paris. (a. w. w.) hsuan tsang (hiouen thsang, hiwen t'sang, yuan tsang, yuan-chwang), the most eminent representative of a remarkable and valuable branch of chinese literature, consisting of the narratives of chinese buddhists who travelled to india, whilst their religion flourished there, with the view of visiting the sites consecrated by the history of sakya muni, of studying at the great convents which then existed in india, and of collecting books, relics and other sacred objects. the importance of these writings as throwing light on the geography and history of india and adjoining countries, during a very dark period, is great, and they have been the subject of elaborate commentaries by modern students. several chinese memoirs of this kind appear to have perished; and especially to be regretted is a great collection of the works of travellers to india, religious and secular, in sixty books, with forty more of maps and illustrations, published at the expense of the emperor kao-tsung of the t'ang dynasty, a.d. 666, with a preface from the imperial hand. we will mention the clerical travellers of this description who are known to us by name. 1. _shi-tao-'an_ (d. 385) wrote a work on his travels to the \"western lands\" (an expression applying often to india), which is supposed to be lost. 2. _fa-hien_ travelled to india in 399, and returned by sea in 414. his work, called _fo-kwo-ki, or memoirs on the buddha realms_, has been translated by abel-remusat and landresse, and again into english by the rev. s. beale; mr laidlay of calcutta also published a translation from the french, with interesting notes. 3. _hwai seng_ and _sung-yun_, monks, travelled to india to collect books and reliques, 518-521. their short narrative has been translated by karl fried. neumann, and also by mr beale (along with fa-hien). 4. _hsuan tsang_, the subject of this notice. in relation to his travels there are two chinese works, both of which have been translated with an immense appliance of labour and learning by m. stanislas julien, viz. (a) the _ta-t'ang-si-yu-ki, or memoirs on western countries issued by the t'ang dynasty_, which was compiled under the traveller's own supervision, by order of the great emperor tai-tsung; and (b) a _biography of hsuan tsang_ by two of his contemporaries. 5. _the itinerary of fifty-six religious travellers_, compiled and published under imperial authority, 730. 6. _the itinerary of khi-nie_, who travelled (964-976) at the head of a large body of monks to collect books, &c. neither of the last two has been translated. hsuan tsang was born in the district of keu-shi, near honan-fu, about 605, a period at which buddhism appears to have had a powerful influence upon a large body of educated chinese. from childhood grave and studious, he was taken in charge by an elder brother who had adopted the monastic life, in a convent at the royal city of loyang in honan. hsuan tsang soon followed his brother's example. for some years he travelled over china, teaching and learning, and eventually settled for a time at the capital chang-gan (now si-gan-fu in shensi), where his fame for learning became great. the desire which he entertained to visit india, in order to penetrate all the doctrines of the buddhist philosophy, and to perfect the collections of indian books which existed in china, grew irresistible, and in august 629 he started upon his solitary journey, eluding with difficulty the strict prohibition which was in force against crossing the frontier. the \"master of the law,\" as his biographers call him, plunged alone into the terrible desert of the gobi, then known as the sha-mo or \"sand river,\" between kwa-chow and igu (now hami or kamil). at long intervals he found help from the small garrisons of the towers that dotted the desert track. very striking is the description, like that given six centuries later by marco polo, of the quasi-supernatural horrors that beset the lonely traveller in the wilderness--the visions of armies and banners; and the manner in which they are dissipated singularly recalls passages in bunyan's _pilgrim's progress_. after great suffering hsuan tsang reached igu, the seat of a turkish principality, and pursued his way along the southern foot of the t'ian-shan, which he crossed by a glacier pass (vividly described) in the longitude of lake issyk-kul. in the valley of the talas river he encounters the great khan of the turks on a hunting party,--a rencontre which it is interesting to compare with the visit of zemarchus to the great khan dizabul, sixty years before, in the same region. passing by the present tashkend, and by samarkand, then inhabited by fire worshippers, he reached the basin of the upper oxus, which had recently been the seat of the powerful dominion of the haiathelah, ephthalites or white huns, known in earlier days to the greeks as _tochari_, and to hsuan tsang (by the same name) as _tuholo_ or tukhara. his account of the many small states into which the tukhara empire had broken up is of great interest, as many of them are identical in name and topography with the high valley states and districts on the upper oxus, which are at this day the object of so much geographical and political interest. passing by bamian, where he speaks of the great idols still so famous, he crosses hindu-kush, and descends the valley of the kabul river to nagarahara, the site of which, still known as nagara, adjoining jalalabad, has been explored by mr w. simpson. travelling thence to peshawar (_purushapura_), the capital of gandhara, he made a digression, through the now inaccessible valley of swat and the dard states, to the upper indus, returning to peshawar, and then crossing the indus (_sintu_) into the decayed kingdom of _taxila_ (ta-cha-si-lo, takshasila), then subject to kashmir. in the latter valley he spent two whole years (631-633) studying in the convents, and visiting the many monuments of his faith. in his further travels he visited mathura (_mot'ulo_, muttra), whence he turned north to thanesar and the upper jumna and ganges, returning south down the valley of the latter to kanyakubja or kanauj, then one of the great capitals of india. the pilgrim next entered on a circuit of the most famous sites of buddhist and of ancient indian history, such as ajodhya, prayaga (allahabad), kausambhi, sravasti, kapilavastu, the birth-place of sakya, kusinagara, his death-place, pataliputra (patna, the _palibothra_ of the greeks), gaya, rajagriha and nalanda, the most famous and learned monastery and college in india, adorned by the gifts of successive kings, of the splendour of which he gives a vivid description, and of which traces have recently been recovered. there he again spent nearly two years in mastering sanskrit and the depths of buddhist philosophy. again, proceeding down the banks of the ganges, he diverged eastward to kamarupa (assam), and then passed by the great ports of tamralipti (tamluk, the misplaced _tamalitis_ of ptolemy), and through orissa to kanchipara (conjeeveram), about 640. thence he went northward across the carnatic and maharashtra to barakacheva (broach of our day, _barygaza_ of the greeks). after this he visited malwa, cutch, surashtra (peninsular gujarat, _syrastrene_ of the greeks), sind, multan and ghazni, whence he rejoined his former course in the basin of the kabul river. this time, however, he crosses pamir, of which he gives a remarkable account, and passes by kashgar, khotan (_kustana_), and the vicinity of lop-nor across the desert to kwa-chow, whence he had made his venturous and lonely plunge into the waste fifteen years before. he carried with him great collections of books, precious images and reliques, and was received (april 645) with public and imperial enthusiasm. the emperor t'ai-tsung desired him to commit his journey to writing, and also that he should abandon the eremitic rule and serve the state. this last he declined, and devoted himself to the compilation of his narrative and the translation of the books he had brought with him from india. the former was completed a.d. 648. in 664 hsuan tsang died in a convent at chang-gan. some things in the history of his last days, and in the indications of beatitude recorded, strongly recall the parallel history of the saints of the roman calendar. but on the other hand we find the chinese saint, on the approach of death, causing one of his disciples to frame a catalogue of his good works, of the books that he had translated or caused to be transcribed, of the sacred pictures executed at his cost, of the alms that he had given, of the living creatures that he had ransomed from death. \"when kia-shang had ended writing this list, the master ordered him to read it aloud. after hearing it the devotees clasped their hands, and showered their felicitations on him.\" thus the \"well-done, good and faithful\" comes from the servant himself in self-applause. the book of the biography, by the disciples hwai-li and yen-t'sung, as rendered with judicious omissions by stan. julien, is exceedingly interesting; its chinese style receives high praise from the translator, who says he has often had to regret his inability to reproduce its grace, elegance and vivacity. authorities.--_fo-koue-ki_, trad. du chinois, par abel-remusat, revu et complete par klaproth et landresse (paris, 1836); _h. de la vie de hiouen-thsang, &c._, trad. du chinois par stanislas julien (paris, 1853); _memoires sur les contrees occidentales ..._ trad. du chinois en francais (par le meme) (2 vols., paris, 1857-1858); _memoire analytique_, &c., attached to the last work, by l. vivien de st martin; \"attempt to identify some of the places mentioned in the itinerary of hiuan thsang,\" by major wm. anderson, c.b., in _journ. as. soc. bengal_, vol. xvi. pt. 2, p. 1183 (the enunciation of a singularly perverse theory); \"verification of the itinerary of hwan thsang, &c.,\" by captain alex. cunningham, bengal engineers, ibid. vol. xvii. pt. 1, p. 476; _travels of fah-hian and sung-yan, buddhist pilgrims, &c._, by sam. beal (1869); _the ancient geography of india_, by major-general alex. cunningham, r.e. (1871); \"notes on hwen thsang's account of the principalities of tokharistan,\" by colonel h. yule, c.b., in _journ. roy. as. soc._, new ser., vol. vi. p. 82; \"on hiouen thsang's journey from patna to ballabhi,\" by james fergusson, d.c.l., ibid. p. 213. (h. y.; r. k. d.)",
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