SOURCE: "Mythic Parody in Jean Bodel's Jeu de Saint Nicolas," in Romance Notes, Vol. XXII, No. 1, Fall, 1981, pp. 119-23.

In the following essay, Dane centers on the function of Auberon, a pagan messenger, and concludes that in Jeu de Saint Nicolas, Bodel is parodying the "structure of an aetiological myth."

In Jean Bodel's Jeu de Saint Nicolas (1200), a mysterious pagan messenger named Auberon functions as a link between the various stage loci of the play—the pagan court, the land outrerner of the pagan allies, and the tavern.¹ Early in the play Auberon is given the mission of going to the pagan land outremer and summoning the King's allies to war against invading Christians. Despite the urgency of this message, Auberon stops off at the tavern, drinks and dices with Cliquet (one of the thieves who will eventually steal the King's treasure), then proceeds on his way (lines...