Extra Reading Notes: Emilian The Fool, Part A

Oranienbaum Palace. Photo by Ninaras. Source: Wikimedia

I am excited to use this story for my project! I think it is the perfect story that Eleanor of Aquitaine would enjoy if it was told from he perspective of the princess!

• This guy who is one of three brothers is left with their wives while the brothers are away
• This brother, Emilian, is a fool
• While getting water one day, a pike gives him the ability to do anything.
• The village turns against him when they see a cart moving without a horse or person pushing.
• The king intends on killing him
• doesn't do so because the princess is in love with him
• Has daughter and fool married, then put in a tub, has the tub enclosed by tar, and sent out to sea
• The fool saves them both
• Builds a beautiful palace for his wife just across from the king's

I'm thinking that for my project, the troubadour will be staying at the court of the king. The princess feels lost and alone. The king has been receiving complaints about a man who can perform witchcraft, and the villagers say he must be killed. The princess is fascinated by these stories, and the troubadour watches her fall in love with the fool when he comes to court. 

Emilian The Fool: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).