SOURCE: "Structure and Characterisation in Havelok the Dane," Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies, Vol. XLIV, No. 2, April, 1969, pp. 247-57.

In the following essay, Weiss credits Havelok the Dane with subtle structure and strong characterizations of not only its hero, but also its villains and minor characters.

There are three principal versions of the tale of Havelok extant: the "Haveloc episode" in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis,¹ the Lai d'Haveloc,² and the romance of Havelok the Dane.³ Of the three, the English poem is the longest and the most literary treatment. It is possible that its author knew the Anglo-Norman accounts and may have taken ideas from them, but he chose to impose a far more formal and complex pattern on a story which in their hands had stayed relatively short and simple.⁴

The tale of Havelok shows the union of a Danish prince, whose kingdom is usurped by...