Torrent of Portingale: World of Coastlines
Torrent of Portingale features an expanded version of the narrative found in Sir Elgamour of Artois. In Torrent the setting is, as the title suggests, Portugal. The titular Torrent falls in love with the princess of Portugal, Desonell. Her father sets Torrent a series of increasingly impossible tasks featuring the defeat of giants and dragons. When Torrent is recuperating (in Norway) after completing his final challenge, Desonell gives birth to twin sons, and is subsequently set adrift with them in a rudderless boat by her vindictive (and jealous) father. When her boat comes ashore, the infants are abducted by wild animals, and end up raised by the Kings of Jerusalem and Greece. Desonell is taken in by the King of Nazareth. Torrent returns to Portugal, takes control from Desonell’s father, and then goes on Crusade in the Holy Land. After years of fighting, imprisonment, and tournaments in the Middle East, the family reunites, and Torrent and Desonell return home to Portugal to marry before Torrent claims the title of Holy Roman Emperor. The world of this romance consists primarily of coastlines and seaside ecotones – and it is from such environments that the following episodes are drawn.
Keywords: forest; coastline
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Citation
Middle English passages on this page have been quoted from:
Anonymous. 2017. Sir Torrent of Portingale, ed. James Wade. Medieval Institute Publications. Click here to access this edition.
All Modern English translations were done by the website author, with recourse to the Middle English Dictionary and glosses in the cited edition(s).
Possible Provenance:
The map of Great Britain above highlights the possible provenance(s) — that is, place(s) of composition — suggested by scholars for this romance. The numbered markers denote the areas depicted by 360-degree photos or videos I have included on this page, listed in the order that they appear in my discussions below.
In the map, click the box icon in the upper-lefthand corner to display the legend.
This map is based on information regarding provenance supplied in the cited edition(s) of this romance, along with the linguistic analysis found in: Purdie, Rhiannon. 2008. Anglicising Romance: Tail-Rhyme and Genre in Medieval English Literature D.S. Brewer.
Scene 1: Mudflats and a Tidal Island
Torrent went uppe ageyne
To the mount, ase I gan sayne,
The londs to se far and nere.
In the see a myle, hyme thought,
An hold wase rychyly wrowt,
In that lond wase not here perre.
The see wase ebbyd, I yow sey,
Torrent thether toke the way,
Werry all thow he were.
And ther he fownd ryche wayes,
Towrrs endentyd with presyos stonys,
Schynyng ase crystall clere.
The gattys of yron ther he fond,
Ther in Torrent gan wonde,
A nyghts rest there in he take (ll. 217-31)
…
“For sothe,” sche seyd, “I wot wher ys
The kyngs sone of Provense,
Fast put in hold
In a dongon that ys dym.
Fowyre good erylls sonnys be with hyme,
Ys fet in fere and fold.
The gyant wan theme in a tyde,
Ase they rane be the watyr syd,
And put them in preson cold.
In an yron cage he hathe them done (ll. 304-13).
Torrent went up again
To the mountain, as I began to say,
To see the lands far and near.
It seemed to him that in the sea, a mile out,
Was a richly wrought hold,
There was not its peer in the land.
The sea was ebbed, I tell you,
Torrent took the way there,
Wary although he was.
And there he found rich ways,
Towers mounted with precious stones,
Shining as clear as crystal.
The gates of iron he found there,
Therein [through them] Torrent began to travel,
A night’s rest he takes there.
…
“In truth,” she said, “I know where
The king of Provence’s son is,
Held fast in the hold
In a dungeon that is dim.
Four good earls’ sons are with him,
Are fettered together in prison.
The giant won them one time,
As they ran by the water side,
And put them in a cold prison.
In an iron cage he has put them.
Having just defeated his first giant, Torrent turns to exploring further the local landscape. From the vantage point of the mountain top where he first found his adversary asleep, Torrent observes the mudflats leading out to a tidal island. Using coastal knowledge familiar to denizens of the Northeastern English shoreline, he cautiously makes his way across the exposed seafloor to the island, and explores and rests there until the water recedes enough to expose the mudflat route once again. As I have argued elsewhere, the text caters especially to audiences familiar (even just via observation) with the estuarial and North Sea mudflats throughout Eastern England, particularly in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.
The two paired images here lack mountain viewpoints (as does much of the Eastern English shoreline) but demonstrate the striking environmental context of mudflats. Specifically, these pictures present the shoreline on both sides of the Humber Estuary.
This image shows the photographer standing a few hundred feet out on the exposed mudflats of the Humber Estuary at low tide. The boardwalk of the town of Cleethorpes is visible behind the photographer.
First, from Cleethorpes at low tide, the estuarial mudflats stretch from the town’s beachside boardwalk out towards Spurn Point, the tidal island headland that separates the estuary from the North Sea. Of course, this picture depicts one already in the process of travelling across the flats: their scale dwarfs the town and photographer, stretching to a barely-visible horizon (the Spurn itself). The vulnerability of the traveler is evident here: the speed at which the water can come rushing back makes this a dangerous traversal. Torrent’s “wariness” is thus well warranted.
This photograph shows an elevated vantage near one of the thinnest parts of the Spurn, with beaches visible to both sides and a thin road running down the length of the Spurn.
The second image shows the view from the thin neck of Spurn Point. The remains of a pier stretch out into the North Sea from one beach, while only a few dozen feet away sea grass springs from the mudflats in the Humber. Across the estuary, barely visible on the horizon, is the coastline that stretches to Grimsby. Just to the north of this vantage (the direction at the center of the initial perspective when the image loads) is the lower path of beach where the Spurn is cut off from the mainland by storm surges and especially high tides.
This video shows two nineteenth lighthouses, seen from the Humber Estuary mudflats at low tide. Note that the photographer walks in the second half of the video, which results in a moving camera.
This video, meanwhile, depicts the concrete wall and two lighthouses perched on the edge of the exposed Humber Estuary mudflats. Located near the end of Spurn Point, this video again finds the photographer dwarfed by the scale of the exposed mud; and the human buildings of the Spurn, evoking a hint of the fortification Torrent sees and seeks to plunder, are themselves rendered tiny in the face of the estuary. The overwhelming size of the environment here is perhaps the most important take-away: for this is a moment where the romance acknowledges the broader world that provides dangers exponentially beyond even the greatest of giants.
Scene 2: Damage to Coastal Settlement
“Dere God,” sayd Torrant thane,
“Where schall I fynd that lothly man?”
Ther they answerd hym ageyne:
“In a castyll besyd the see,
Slongus, soo hyght hee,
Many a man had he slayne.
We wot will where he doth ly:
Before the cyté of Hongryé;
He will not thus gone,
Tyll he have the ryche kyng
To hys presone for to bryngg,
To be lord of hymeself alone.”
Tho wold he no lenger abyd,
But to the sytte gan he ryde,
As fast as he myght fare.
Here barys fell and broke downe,
And the gatts of gret renowne,
Stondyng all baree.
Men of armys stond hyme ageyne,
Mo than fyfty had he slayne
With gryme woundds and sare.
When Torrent of hym had a syght,
Thowe Desonell be nevyr so bryght,
He will rewe hym hys chafer (ll. 963-86).
“Dear God,” said Torrent then,
“Where can I find that loathly man?”
There they answered him again:
“In a castle beside the sea,
Slongus, so he is called,
Many men has he slain.
We know well where he does lie:
Before the city of Hungary;
He will not go from there
Until he has the rich king
To bring to his prison,
To be the lord, himself, alone.”
Then he would no longer abide,
But to the city he began to ride,
As fast as he might go.
Here barriers fell and broke down,
And the gates of great renown,
Standing all bare.
Men of arms stood against him [i.e., the giant],
More than fifty he had slain
With grim and sore wounds.
When Torrent had a sight of him,
Though Desonell was never so bright,
He will rue his exchange [with that giant].
Torrent here arrives at the “city of Hungary,” where yet another giant, Slongus, ravages coastal settlements from his “castle beside the sea.” As I have noted, this scene presents the giant’s path of destruction in a manner akin to the aftermath of a great flood (a not uncommon occurrence at the onset of the Little Ice Age especially): the “barriers” along the coast next to the city have all been broken down, the gates have been flung open and stripped bare, and the bodies of the dead and injured knights are spread across Torrent’s line of view.
This image shows a jumbled pile of white stones, mixed concrete, and other rubble stretching from the Spurn’s sandy dunes to the North Sea, which features the decaying remains of an old pier.
This paired image focuses on the view of human industry undone, charting the effects of storm surges and regular tides on the Atlantic shoreline of Spurn Point. A pile of rubble, including strikingly white stones amidst twisted metal bars, concrete, and brick, tumbles down towards the sea, where a line of weathered posts marks the shoreline. The remains of a destroyed pier trace a line down below the oncoming waves. The vignette presented embodies the continued destructive power of the sea, and again the vulnerability of human bodies and buildings along its edge – and, per the eroding wall of sand and grass behind the photographer, the vulnerability of the coastal landscape itself. Intriguingly, if one magnifies the sea horizon many times over, the faint shapes of enormous windmills can be seen rising from the waves. On the one hand, these green-energy edifices seek to harness the active environment to human ends in a less disruptive way than burning fossil fuels. Yet the great demand for electricity that their presence attests points back again to the amplified destructive force of global climate change – and the particular effects of rising water levels and stormy seas on exposed coastlines
Scene 3: Desonell’s Wild Shore
The wynd rose ayen the nyght,
From lond it blew that lady bryght
Uppon the see so grene.
Wyndes and weders have her drevyn,
That in a forest be they revyn,
There wyld bestis were.
The see was eb, and went her froo,
And lefte her and her children two
Alone withoute fere.
Her one child woke and began to wepe,
The lady awoke oute of her slepe
And said, “Be still my dere,
Jesu Cryst hath sent us lond;
Yf there be any Cryston man nere hond,
We shall have som socoure here.”
The carefull lady was full blith,
Up to lond she went swith,
As fast as ever she myght.
Tho the day began to spryng,
Foules arose and mery gan syng
Delicious notys on hight.
To a mowntayn went the lady free,
Sone was she warr of a cité,
With towrus feyre and bryght.
Therefore, i-wys, she was full fayn,
She sett her down, as I herd sayn,
Her two children for to dight.
Uppon the low the lady found,
An erber wrought with mannus hond,
With herbis that were good (ll. 1842-71).
…
Up she rose ageyn the rough,
With sorofull hert and care inough,
Carefull of blood and bone . . . . (ll. 1881-3).
…
This lady walkyd all alone
Amonge wyld bestis meny one,
Ne wanted she no woo.
Anon the day began to spryng,
And the foules gan to syng,
With blis on every bowghe.
“Byrdus and bestis aye woo ye be.
Alone ye have lefte me,
My children ye slough.” . . . .
As she walkid than alone,
She sye lordis on huntyng gone,
Nere hem she yode full sone.
This carfull lady cried faste,
Than she herd this hornes blaste,
By the yatis gone . . . .
But into a wildernes,
Amongst beests that wyld was,
For drede the shold be slone.
Till it were under of the day,
She went in that wilsom way,
Into a lond playn.
The kyng of Nazareth huntid there,
Among the herts that gentill were,
Thereof she was full fayn . . . . (ll. 2013-36).
The wind rose to meet the night,
From land it blew that bright lady
Upon the sea so green.
Winds and weathers have driven her,
That in a forest they landed,
Where wild beasts were.
The sea ebbed, and went from her,
And left her and her two children
Alone without companion.
Her one child woke and began to weep,
The lady awoke out of her sleep
And said, “Be still my dear,
Jesus Christ has sent us to land:
If there may be any Christian man near at hand,
We shall have some succor here.”
The anxious lady was fully joyful,
Up onto the land she quickly went,
As fast as she was able.
Then the day began to spring [forth],
Birds arose and began to sing merrily
[with] delicious notes promptly.
To a mountain went the noble lady,
[and] soon she was aware of a city,
With towers fair and bright.
Therefore, indeed, she was very glad,
She set down, as I heard tell,
Her two children to prepare [herself].
Upon the hill the lady found,
An arbor wrought by man’s hand,
With herbs that were good.
…
Up she rose against the rough [landscape],
With sorrowful heart and care enough,
Despairing of blood and bone …
…
This lady walked all alone
Among the wild beasts, many a one,
And she wanted for [i.e., lacked] no woe.
Eventually the day began to spring [forth],
And the birds began to sing
With bliss, on every bough.
“Birds and beasts, you are always a sorrow.
Alone you have left me,
My children you slew.” …
As the walked then, alone,
She saw lords gone hunting,
Near them she went very quickly.
This sorrowful lady cried loudly,
Then she heard the horns’ blast,
[And] By the gates [she is] gone …
But [off she ran] into a wilderness,
Among the beasts that were wild,
For fear that [s]he should be slain.
Until it was the middle of the day,
She went on that wild way,
Into a plain [i.e., flat] land.
The King of Nazareth hunted there,
Among the harts [i.e., deer] that were gentle,
Thereof she was very glad …
This scene focuses on Desonell, Torrent’s lover, who has been abandoned at sea by her jealous father. With her are her twin infant sons, who during the excerpted part of this passage are abducted by a griffin and a leopard (ergo she finds herself alone and grieving in the later lines). This episode is markedly longer than those usually included in this project, but I want to highlight its detailed linking of affect to land- and soundscape description. Moreover, Desonell here becomes the momentary protagonist: the narrative relays and explores the environment through her observations, actions, and feelings. It also provides a laundry list of different topographical features characteristic of c. 1400 Middle English romances: a low-tide beach gives way to coastal forest and a mountain vantage, from which Desonell is able to observe a city complete with towers. Once alone, she wanders lonely through the “wilderness,” encountering and fleeing from one hunting party before emerging onto a “plain” and meeting “the Kying of Nazareth,” who will take her in. Sea wind and crying infants give way to birdsong and hunters’ horns as Desonell moves between environments, with her internal emotional state regularly expressed through her own vocalized prayers and mourning. She even draws explicit attention to the disjunct between the birdsong and her own feelings when the second day ashore dawns, wishing “woe” upon the “birds and beasts,” since they “have left [her] alone” and “slain [her] children” (or so she thinks, at least).
This environmental space is a composite: not based on any one real-world location, it draws together all sorts of topographical and ecological features to create its own world in miniature. As such, a near endless stream of images and recordings could be paired with it, each highlighting in turn a different aspect of the environment. I would encourage the user to scroll back over all of the previously provided images for this romance, and consider how each might help to accentuate a particular detail from this scene.
This video depicts a path in the Southery Wood in Lincolnshire on a sunny day. Its soundscape predominately features various bird calls.
Recorded in Southery Wood, Lincolnshire (a spot fairly consistently afforested since the romance’s composition), this video features a soundscape of birdsong and wind in the trees that highlights the aural environment within which Desonell repeatedly finds herself – and that she finds to conflict with her own emotional environment. The vegetation also serves to cut off the sight line in most directions, emphasizing the photographer as separate from human community while also potentially concealing other people close at hand – though more often other hikers, bikers, or drivers than the romance’s hunting parties. Indeed, the village of Bardney lies just beyond the forest’s bounds, while it is bisected and bordered by numerous roadways. Southery Wood, notably, lies roughly twenty miles inland from the North Sea; as such, I have also included some coastal images in the next tab.
This photograph shows a sandy expanse of beach backed by cliffs along the shore of Cayton Bay.
Finally, from further north along the Atlantic shoreline than the probable provenance of Torrent – though certainly within its possible area of circulation – the image of Cayton Beach features the tiny outline of Scarborough Castle on the promontory visible to the north (the initial perspective when the image loads), and the faint grey mark of the city surrounding it. illustrates the type of coastal settlement that the original audience may have pictured Desonell observing in the distance. The human traffic in these shots is, finally, useful to keep in mind: for although Desonell’s family has been shattered, the natural world does not long shelter her from other people, while the landscape itself – e.g., the arbor – has been shaped by human hands, for human ends. Desonell is an outsider to the human community, and sets herself at odds with the more-than-human animals she encounters: but ultimately, her affective experience is shaped and defined by the environments she travels through and carefully observes. Below, I have included (from the possible area of provenance for this romance) a video that shows the shoreline of Tetney Marshes, near where the North Sea meets the Humber – looking toward Spurn Point. The sound and palpable force of the sea wind helps to complete the affective portrait of the coastal environment.
This video shows the wind blowing in from the ocean over Tetney Marshes, along the coastline with the Humber Estuary and North Sea (and thus facing out towards Spurn Point).