CHAPTER X.
HUON OF BORDEAUX.
It is supposed that this _chanson de geste_ was first composed in the thirteenth century; but the version which has come down to us must have been written shortly before the discovery of printing.

Although this poem was deservedly a favorite composition during the middle ages, no manuscript copy of it now exists.

Such was the admiration that it excited that Lord Berners translated it into English under Henry VIII.

In modern times it has been the theme of Wieland's finest poem, and of one of Weber's operas, both of which works are known by the title of "Oberon." It is from this work that Shakespeare undoubtedly drew some of the principal characters for his "Midsummer-Night's Dream," where Oberon, king of the fairies, plays no unimportant part.
[Sidenote: Charlot slain by Huon.] The hero of this poem, Huon of Bordeaux, and his brother Girard, were on their way from Guienne to Paris to do homage to Charlemagne for their estates.

Charlot, the monarch's eldest son, who bears a very unenviable reputation in all the mediaeval poems, treacherously waylaid the brothers, intending to put them both to death.