142

THE PAGEANTS

the time also indicate the astounding effect of the mechanical
dragons on the spectators, as they flew over their heads.60 Al-
though our Schembart dragon remains on his Holle, it is likely
that his wings moved realistically, as he threw up his head and
belched fire from his gullet.61
For the year 1493 the second Hblle appears in the MSS, in the
form of a castle (Fig. 34), described in our text on f. 421 as fol-
lows: "Vnd hetten ein Hoel das war ein groB SchloB, mit vier
Erckern, das wurdt hernach fur dem RathauB, von Jhnen gestiir-
met, und Letzlich verprennet/." The miniature shows us a simple
but solidly-built, double-storied tower with pink, windowed walls
and four blue turrets decorated with golden balls and red vanes;
this tower is set on the sleigh within low, blue and green, battle-
mented walls, in which are a number of windows and loopholes.
This drawing corresponds to the conventional figuration of a
castle of the time,62 except for two features: the red vanes on the
turrets, a characteristic emblem of the festival,63 and the stork
standing in the nest of green which decorates the topmost turret.
The symbolic bird of spring is colored naturalistically white and
black, with red beak and legs.64 The storming of this castle-pag-
eant by the Ldujer is pictured in MS No. 10, f. 219, with the
Ldufer both as defenders and attackers, and in MS No. 67, where
the assault is carried out by fools.
The castle, the symbol of feudal culture, was exploited as a
motif for every festive and allegorical purpose. Perhaps the real

of fire-spitting dragons are plentiful to the present day, cf. Withington, I, 205

(1572: "a Dragon flieng casting out huge flames & squibes”), 230 (1610), etc.

60 Cf. Welsford (Court Masque), pp. 68-9 (Lille, 1454). Hand-manipulated dragons
are illustrated in Brueghel's "La Kermesse de la St. Georges" (Rene van Bastelaer,
Peter Bruegel, op. cit., and in Alsloot's "Prozession der heil. Gudula auf dem
Marktplatz in Briissel," reproduced in Gregor, op. cit., Abb. p. 274.

-1 The dragon in the Norwich St. George-riding, as Chambers (Med. Stage), I,
223, reports on the basis of eighteenth-century accounts, "was carried by a man
concealed in its body. It was of basket-work and painted cloth, and could move
or spread its wings, and distend or contract its head."

62 Cf. Schramm, II, 372, 496, etc.; XIV, 610, 612, etc. (Sachsenchronik, 1492).

63 Cf. the streamers and vanes on English pageants, Chambers (Med. Stage), II,
356; a pageant in Norwich in 1565 was adorned with two large and eighty-three
small vanes, cf. ibid., p. 136.

64 The text of some MSS mentions this ornament, cf. MS No. 58 (Drescher, p. 9):
"und Oben ein Storchs Nest darauff." In MS No. 67 a witch with a broom takes
the place of the stork.