ABSTRACT
The chivalric romances that abounded in Medieval Europe found new expression in the popular poetry of the Brazilian North East. Tales about the loyalty and bravery of knights, presented as the embodiment of the purest Christian values, are best represented by the many narrative poems dealing with the adventures of Charlemagne and his twelve peers. Oral versions of such ballads doubtless circulated in Brazil a couple of centuries before the fITst chapbooks on the subject were printed. As in the original romances, these poems extol the ideals of honour, gallantry and courtly love, and most have a strong moral content.
