Valentine and Orson
Valentine and Orson,the subject of an early French romance. Bellisant, sister of King Pepin, is married to Alexander, emperor of Constantinople. The archpriest treacherously accuses Bellisant to her husband and she is banished. A bear carries away one of her children (Orson), who is reared as a wild man. The other (Valentine) is found by Pepin and brought up as a knight. Valentine meets Orson, conquers him, brings him to the court, and tames him. Numerous adventures follow, the principal of which is the imprisonment of Valentine and Orson and their mother Bellisant in the castle of Clerimond, sister of the giant Ferragus, and their rescue by Pacolet, the dwarf messenger of Ferragus, who has a little magic horse of wood which conveys him instantly wherever he wishes.
The story appeared in English about 1510 translated by Henry Watson as the ‘History of two Valyannte Brethren, Valentyne and Orson’. A ballad in Percy's ...
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