The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Volume 2 (of 2) And Lamme Goedzak, and their Adventures Heroical, Joyous and Glorious in the Land of Flanders and Elsewhere — A Reader’s Guide

Voice and the Weight of History

The narrative voice in this volume oscillates between two registers: the folkloric, where Ulenspiegel speaks in parables ('One day a Jew of Amsterdam summoned one of his enemies'), and the historical, which reports events with stark brevity. When Ulenspiegel tells Lamme about the Duke of Alba's summons, he frames it as a comic anecdote, but the narrator immediately undercuts the humor: 'And they did so, refusing to appear. Egmont and de Hoorn did not follow their example. And weakness in duty evokes the hour of God and fate.' This juxtaposition—a joke followed by a moral verdict—creates a rhythm of levity and gravity. The translator's choice to keep the present tense in historical passages ('At this time were beheaded…') lends a sense of immediacy, as if the reader stands among the crowd. The phrase 'the ashes beat upon my heart' recurs like a refrain, tying Ulenspiegel's personal quest to the larger martyrdom of Flanders.

Pace and the Werewolf Episode

The werewolf sequence in the dunes near Heyst exemplifies a deliberate change in narrative pace. Earlier chapters move quickly through political events; here, the story slows to a detailed, almost procedural account of Ulenspiegel's preparations. He forges an engine, speaks with the bailiff, and consults the curé, who warns: 'no man passes alone at night, by the dunes, on Saturday without being bitten.' The dialogue becomes measured, each exchange building tension. Ulenspiegel's repeated answer—'The ashes beat upon my heart'—functions as a rhythmic anchor, slowing the reader's progress through the scene. The description of the sea ('roaring like thunder, and the wind came from England whistling in the rigging of shipwrecked boats') expands the moment, contrasting with the terse execution reports earlier. This shift from historical summary to sensory immersion highlights de Coster's ability to modulate pace according to the episode's emotional stakes.

Recurring Motifs and Structural Echoes

Several motifs recur across the excerpts, creating structural echoes that bind the volume. The image of fire appears both in executions ('the Spanish troopers escorting them and carrying blazing torches burned their bodies') and in Ulenspiegel's forge work. The phrase 'the ashes beat upon my heart' links his father Claes's death (from Volume 1) to his present actions. The sea, described as 'boisterous' and 'tempestuous,' mirrors the political turmoil—'black clouds that pass so swift, be ye like Vengeance upon the heels of Murder.' Even the werewolf's howling in the graveyard echoes the 'cry terribly' of the executed lords. These repetitions give the narrative a poetic cohesion, suggesting that Ulenspiegel's personal vengeance is part of a larger, almost elemental cycle of oppression and resistance. The translator preserves these echoes through consistent diction, reinforcing the sense of a world where natural and political forces are intertwined.

Translators' Choices and Archaic Register

The translation by F. M. Atkinson and John Heron Lepper adopts a deliberately archaic English, with inversions ('Dost thou hear'), contractions ('thou'st'), and compound epithets ('well-sharpened cutlass'). This register distances the text from modern speech, aligning it with the folkloric tradition. However, the translators vary the formality: Ulenspiegel's dialogue is colloquial ('I am going to shoot sea-mews'), while the narrator uses Latinate constructions ('evokes the hour of God and fate'). The effect is a layered voice that shifts between the earthy and the elevated. Notably, the translators retain the French 'wacharm' (alarm) and 'weer-wolf' (werewolf), preserving local color. This choice may slow the reader but reinforces the setting's specificity. The archaism is not uniform—some passages read as straightforward prose—suggesting a deliberate strategy to mark moments of heightened drama or folk wisdom.

Readers should attend to the rhythm of de Coster's prose: the alternation between swift historical narration and lingering folkloric scenes. The werewolf episode, in particular, rewards close reading for its pacing and sensory detail. The translators' archaic English may require adjustment, but it underscores the text's roots in oral tradition. Consider how the repeated phrase 'the ashes beat upon my heart' functions as both a personal motto and a collective lament, linking Ulenspiegel's story to the wider suffering of Flanders.

I keep thinking about how The Legend of Ulenspiegel carries that ache of history—the ashes beating under the skin of a whole people. It reminded me, quietly, of the old English tales, where heroism is just stubbornness in the face of what’s lost. There’s a similar weight in Early English Hero Tales — Themes and Context, that same slow pulse of memory, like a hand held out across centuries.