Eglamour of Artoys, Sir
An English magic legend of medieval French origin. The
story tells of the winning of Christabell by Eglamour. Christabells
father agrees to their union if Eglamour will fulfill three
tasks. He must conquer the giant Sir Maroke, bring from a distant
land the head of an enormous boar, and kill a powerful
dragon that has been devastating the country around Rome. In
these adventures he is successful, but is kept in Rome by illness.
In the meantime, Christabell has given birth to a son and is
banished by her angry father. Her son is stolen from her by a
griffin and taken to Israel, where he is adopted by the king and
named Degrabell.
Many years afterward, Eglamour and Degrabell meet in a
tournament for the hand of Christabell. Eglamour is successful,
and eventually their identities are revealed. Eglamour and Christabell
are married and return to their native country with
their son.
Versions of this legend survived in the English ballad of Sir
Lionel (Child No. 18) and in modern times in the American
ballad Old Bangham. It has been suggested that the conquest
of the giant boar has an ancient origin in the Hindu myth of
Lord Vishnu in the form of the gigantic boar Vahara, who created
the mighty Himalayan mountain range in his battle with
a demon
