Editing Harlequin (section)

==Origin of the name==
{{Further|Herla|Erlking|Alichino (devil)}}
The name Harlequin is taken from that of a mischievous "devil" or "demon" character in popular French [[Passion Play|Passion Plays]]. It originates with an [[Old French]] term ''herlequin'', ''hellequin'', first attested in the 11th century, by the chronicler [[Orderic Vitalis]], who recounts a story of a monk who was pursued by a troop of demons when wandering on the coast of [[Normandy]], France, at night.<ref name=OregliaCh4>Oreglia 1968, pp. 56–70.</ref><ref>Ecclesiastical History Book VIII Chapter 17</ref> These demons were led by a masked, club-wielding giant and they were known as ''familia herlequin'' (var. ''familia herlethingi''). This medieval French version of the Germanic [[Wild Hunt]], ''Mesnée d'Hellequin'', has been connected to the English figure of ''[[Herla|Herla cyning]]'' ('host-king'; German: ''Erlkönig'').<ref>Martin Rühlemann, ''Etymologie des wortes harlequin und verwandter wörter'' (1912).
See also Normand R. Cartier, ''Le Bossu désenchanté: Étude sur le Jeu da la Feuillée'', Librairie Droz, 1971,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=ERF5OUazvTUC&pg=PA132 p. 132] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521075523/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERF5OUazvTUC&pg=PA132#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=21 May 2024 }}.</ref> Hellequin was depicted as a black-faced emissary of the devil, roaming the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell. The physical appearance of Hellequin offers an explanation for the traditional colours of Harlequin's red-and-black mask.<ref name=Grantham>Grantham, B., ''Playing Commedia, A Training Guide to Commedia Techniques'', (Nick Hern Books) London, 2000</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society | publisher=University Of Chicago Press | author=Jean-Claude Schmitt | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-226-73888-8}}</ref> The name's origin could also be traced to a knight from the 9th century, Hellequin of Boulogne, who died fighting the Normans and originated a legend of devils.<ref name="1924-2007. 56">Oreglia 1968, p. 56.</ref> In Cantos XXI and XXII from [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' there is a devil by the name of Alichino.<ref name=OregliaCh4 /><ref name=":3" /> The similarities between the devil in Dante's ''Inferno'' and the Arlecchino are more than cosmetic. The prank-like antics of the devils in the aforementioned antics reflect some carnivalesque aspects.<ref name=":3" />

The first known appearance on stage of Hellequin is dated to 1262, the character of a masked and hooded devil in ''Jeu da la Feuillière'' by [[Adam de la Halle]], and it became a [[stock character]] in French passion plays.<ref>Lea 1934, p. 75.</ref>