Travellers from Strange Lands: Supernatural Spouses in the Legend of the Swan Knight in La gran conquista de Ultramar

Abstract

La gran conquista de Ultramar incorporates among its materials the legend of the Swan Knight, which is inserted to exalt —through a fantastic and illustrious genealogy— the figure of Godfrey of Bouillon. In this narration, the stories of Isonberta and the Caballero del Cisne present a series of peculiarities that allow us to assimilate both characters to the folkloric figure of the supernatural wife or husband (married to a human being, in this case, to conceive an exceptional lineage). My purpose will be to call attention upon those peculiarities and analyze the way in which the Castilian text assimilates, re-elaborates or departs from the traditional folkloric motif, through which procedures it does so in each case and with what effects.