CHARACTER SKETCHES OF MAUGIS D'AIGREMONT
Part One — adapted from Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology (1870)
In the romance of Maugis d'Aygremont et de Vivian son Frere, when Tapinel and the female slave had stolen the two children of Duke Bevis of Aygremont, the former sold to the wife of Sorgalant the child which he had taken, whose name was Eselarmonde, and who was about fifteen years of age, and was "plus belle et plus blanche qu'une fee." The slave having laid herself to rest under a white-thorn (aubespine), was devoured by a lion and a leopard, who killed one another in their dispute for the infant. "And the babe lay under the thorn, and cried loudly, during which it came to pass that Oriande la Fey, who abode at Rosefleur with four other fays, came straight to this thorn; for every time she passed by there she used to repose under that white-thorn. She got down, and hearing the child cry, she came that way and looked at him, and said, 'By the god in whom we believe, this child here is lying badly (mal gist), and this shall be his name;' and from that time be was always called Maugis."
Oriande la Fey and her damsels brought the child home. On examining him she found a precious ring that was in his ear, which told her that he was of noble lineage. She prayed for guidance about his origin, and then sent for her nephew Espiet. Espiet "was a dwarf, and was not more than three feet high, and had his hair yellow as fine gold, and looked like a child of seven years, but he was more than a hundred; and he was one of the falsest knaves in the world, and knew every kind of enchantment." Espiet informed her whose child this was; and Oriande, having prayed to our Lord to preserve the child, took him with her to her castle of Rosefleur, where she had him baptised and named Maugis. She and her damsels reared him with great tenderness; and when he was old enough she put him under the care of her brother Baudris, "who knew all the arts of magic and necromancy, and was of the age of a hundred years." Baudris taught what he knew to Maugis.
When Maugis was grown a man, the Fay Oriande clad him in arms. He became her ami, and she loved him "de si grand amour qu'elle doute fort qu'il ne se departe d'avecques elle."
Maugis shortly afterwards achieved his first adventure, in which he gained the enchanted horse Bayard on the isle of Boucaut. Of Bayard it is said, when Maugis spoke to him, "Bayard estoit feye, si entendoit aussi bien Maugis comme s'il (Bayard) eust parle."
On his return from the island, Maugis conquered and slew the Saracen admiral Anthenor, who had come to win the lands and castle of Oriande. From Anthenor he gained the sword Flamberge, which, together with Bayard, he afterwards gave to his cousin Renaud.
Part Two — My Character Sketch From The Four Sons of Aimon
Maugis is the first cousin of the Four Sons, and the son of Duke Benes of Aigremont. He's a good guy even though he dabbles in the arcane arts. Well, more than "dabbles". Maugis is the most famous enchanter of the Carolingian cycle and the star of his own Chanson de Geste, Maugis d'Aigremont et Vivien son Fr¨§re. Whenever you hear his name think of a younger and more active version of Merlin ¨C the model of a Fairy Knight as opposed to a Wise Old Wizard. That Bayard and Flamberge came from Maugis means something.
But Maugis has his limits too, and they're a key to understanding his role in The Four Sons of Aimon. As a knight of the realms both near and far he has special abilities, but also special duties that make it impossible to act as a leader of men. He can travel to on paths that others can not, but can only do it alone. He has friends that others lack, but they can only help him and no one else. He can't stay in one place for more than a few months, for outside oaths will claim his time. In The Four Sons of Aimon those powers are great, but the limits are a bitter fruit to swallow.
