Murphysboro Centuries, 13th sacred

National Epics

Starting in the 13th century certain stories became very famous and widely accepted in various countries - often and these stories or ‘epics’ were seen as having to do with the beginning of these various nations

Anglo-Saxon - Beowulf

Germany - Nibelungenlied (behind it is the story of the massacre of some Burgundian Germans by the Huns, Rome’s allies, in the 5th century)

Spain - Poema del Cid

France - The Song of Roland (a story about the heroism of one of Charlemagne’s captains)

England - King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (reflecting various stories about Artorius Ambrosius, a Roman-British general in the late 5th century)