‘Huon of Bordeaux’

Abstract

The fifteenth-century prose romance Huon of Bordeaux owes its main interest to the hero’s friend, the dwarf-king Auberon or Oberon, who takes his name from the famous German dwarf Alberon. But, as Professor Roger Loomis has pointed out, he most likely sprang from the Welsh pigmy ruler Beli, and so bears a close relationship to other faëry kings, Pelles, Belinor, and Wauchier’s Petit Chevalier and Chrétien de Troyes’ Guivret. Like the others, Oberon has a family tie with the fabulous Morgain la Fée, but he claims a mortal father, Julius Caesar. His magic wares—a cup, an ivory horn, and a golden rod—were the customary gear of the dwarf king. Oberon’s gift of these articles to his mortal friend Huon and the latter’s daring use of them during his adventures keep the tale in the romance genre.