Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/427

 The Origin of the German Carnival Comedy 423 custom is still observed in England on Shrove Tuesday. 181 The flagellation of the priest on Palm Sunday recorded from the sixteenth century by Naogeorgus 182 was a survival of this ancient folk-rite, which together with the contests between the repre- sentatives of Summer and Winter is chiefly responsible for the countless blows given and received in the German Carnival farces. The ritual combat between the two champions sometimes became in modern survivals a dialogue in verse, as is still found in some parts of Bavaria. 183 The custom in this form gave rise to the rich literature of debates which the Middle Ages produced in Europe. The poetical tournaments, such as the tenso of the Provence and the Sangerkrieg in Germany may likewise be attributed to the influence of this practice. The contest between the representatives of Summer and Winter may also take the form of a trial, in which a judge pro- nounces the sentence of death over the champion of Winter. The custom in this form accounts for the court-proceeding as a part of the ceremony of beheading the straw-man in Germany and France, 184 and for the presence of a judge and (somewhat less commonly) of an executioner in a number of mummers' plays in Germany and England. 185 The prevalence of the court- trial in the Carnival plays may also be traced back to this custom. In the ritual battle between the good and the evil spirit the good spirit is not always the victor. In a great number of instances he is, indeed, slain by his antagonist, is laid in the ground or sent out upon the waters with great lamentations, descends into Hades, and on the third day rises again to a new life. Often he also brings back either his mother or bride, in which Ancient pagan and modern Christian Symbolism 21 (1875), pp. 6lsq. In some parts of Europe the females among the animals, and the women of the household were whipped with birch switches on Halloween eve to insure good health, easy childbirth and healthy offspring; cf. Wall, op, tit., pp. 83, 130, 569. Hallo- ween is a survival of the Feast of the Lupercalia, which was celebrated in February. 181 Cf. Chambers, op. tit., i. 157. 182 Supra, 41n73. 183 Cf. Frazer, op. tit., iv. 255n. . 209sq., 226sq., 232. id., iv. 219, 120, 210.