A long-standing literary mystery involving the Song of Wade has been addressed by researchers James Wade and Seb Falk. They reinterpret the surviving fragment of the lost Song as a chivalric romance rather than a tale involving supernatural beings. The breakthrough arises from correcting transcription errors in a sermon manuscript discovered by M.R. James. The scholars assert that the mention of characters like Hildebrand indicates a tradition rooted in medieval chivalry, reflecting human rivalries instead of monsters, fundamentally altering previous scholarly understanding.
'Thus they can say, with Wade: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.' Changing elves to wolves makes a massive difference,' Falk explained.
By correcting three key transcription errors—particularly a confusion between the letters 'y' and 'w'—the scholars transformed a confusing passage into something far more coherent.
The mention of Hildebrand, Wade's legendary father, further supports the theory that the Song of Wade was part of the medieval romance tradition, rather than a folkloric epic.
Wade and Falk now argue that a scribal error misled generations of scholars, shifting this legend away from monsters and giants into the human battles of chivalric rivals.
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