SOURCE: "Havelok the Dane: A Thirteenth-Century Handbook for Princes," Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies, Vol. LI, No. 4, October, 1976, pp. 602-23.

In the following essay, Staines contends that Havelok the Dane is primarily an idealized biography of a ruler perfectly embodying the best kingly characteristics, and that the author's political motive in writing the tale was to advise the king of the wishes of his subjects.

The thirteenth-century English romance of Havelok the Dane is unique among the medieval accounts of Havelok's career because it is more than a retelling of Havelok's life. Whereas many romances rework traditional material to offer yet another episodic narration, the English romancer turns to the Havelok story because it offers interesting parallels to the contemporary political situation which he can develop in the course of his narration. Two earlier versions of the story, the account in Gaimar's L'Estoire des Engleis and the...