The Moorish King and the Northern Princess: A Medieval(?) Ro

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Paulo Gomes Jardim

The Moorish King and the Northern Princess: A Medieval(?) Ro

Legg inn av Paulo Gomes Jardim » 12 okt 2004 22:47:28

This is a very old romanza, which my grand mother used to sing to my
mother at bed time, and then my mother to me when I was a child. I suppose
my grand mother got it from her mother too.
It tells about the well known legend which is used to explain the origin
of the almond trees in Portugal, but I've not seen it on this form
anywhere else. The music is undoubtly a romanza, I wonder if this has
passed by mouth since remote times.

The part of it which may be of some interest to this list is the Moorish
king wich married a Northern (European?) Princess. The moorish King was
probably one of the Caliphas or Emirs of Cordoba.

There it goes:

Era uma vez um rei Mouro
Senhor d'uma terra infinda
Mas cujo maior tesouro (owwayy)
Er'uma princesa linda

A princesa era do Norte
Do país da neve fria
E estava à beira da morte (owwayy)
Só porqu'a neve não via

Mandaram chamar os sábios
Melhor's que na terra havia
Mas o mal era de morte (owwayy)
....

Unfortunately my mother can't recall the final verses of the romanza,
which goes on in more 1 or 2 quadras telling how he surprised the princess
by planting Almond trees in the land and inviting her to go to the window
of the castle to see them. She was then cured instantaneosly from her
melancoly.

I wonder if the Northern princess could have been part of a treaty between
the Caliphate of Cordoba and some Eslavian tribe or kingdom of North
Europe. The Cordobans were said to be in very good relations with the
Eslavians, who made a great part of their army working as mercenaries,
something that seems a bit "unnatural" to me.

Paulo

--
" Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres." --
Horacio

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