Orfeo is an admirer of music, and his Kingdom is said to be full of “everi
gode harpour” (line 27) of which he places “miche honour” (line 28).
Orfeo’s own skill on the harp lies in the fact that there is said to be: “A
better harpour in no plas” (line 33) and even has his skill compared to
“Paradis” (line 37). The effect of this sustained discussion of music and
harping is intentional. Music is not only a symbol of harmony in Sir Orfeo
it is also symbolic of culture and art (Longsworth, 1982 p.5). In fact,
when Orfeo leaves his Kingdom, he takes only his “[s]chert” and “harp”
with him. When he returns, he has a “berd” grown to his “girdel-stede”
and his “harp”. The former being a symbol of change and growth, the
latter being a symbol of continuity (Longsworth, 1982). During his exile,
Orfeo’s skill with his instrument is demonstrated as he manages to tame
the “wilde bestes” (line 273) to “here his harping a-fine” (line 277). It must
be noted, that when the Fairies’ hunting parties are spied by Orfeo, they
are not devoid of music themselves, if we use music to be a metaphor
for culture, then the Fairies are demonstrated to be a somewhat cultured
group, too. They are said to bring the “dim cri and bloweing [of horns]”
(line 285) to their hunting parties, and when Heurodis is eventually
spotted by Orfeo, it is to the music of: “[t]abours and trunpes” (line 301).
The music may be less technical than in Orfeo’s own Kingdom (there are
no harps amongst the Fairies), but the Fairie Kingdom is not devoid of
culture completely. Despite being alien, and existing as a juxtaposition
to the ‘order’ and ‘opulence’ of Orfeo’s own Kingdom, there is clearly a
sophistication that exists within it.
However, when we see Orfeo enter the Fairie World (as a minstrel), we
are met with a world devoid of music – there is no “bloweing” or “[t]abouts
and tunpes” to be heard. Could it be that the Fairies have learnt to imitate
human ‘culture’, and only use music in the human world? This kind of
antithesis, is where the beauty in Sir Orfeo lies. For example, there are
only two mentions of “Paradis” in the whole poem: the first to refer to
Orfeo’s Kingdom, the second to refer to the Otherworld courtyard. The
Fairie Kingdom’s “Paradis” clearly possesses art, as is demonstrated in
the Fairie King’s castle of “gold y-arched riche” (line 362) and “precious
stones” (line 366). Yet, there is also suffering, and ghoulish bodies in
states of near death, and a full ten lines are dedicated to describing
the grotesque states that people are found in: “thought dede, and nare
nought” (line 390). There are said to be bodies “withouten hade”, “sum
non armes nade”, “wounde”, “y-bounde”, and “astrangled”. The use of
listing is again deployed here with “And sum” repeated seven times in
75