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Strengleikar
''Strengleikar'' (English: ''Stringed Instruments'') is a collection of twenty-one Old Norse prose tales based on the Old French '' Lais'' of Marie de France. It is one of the literary works commissioned by King Haakon IV of Norway (r. 1217-1263) for the Norwegian court, and is counted among the Old Norse Chivalric sagas. The collection is anonymous. It has been attributed to Brother Robert, a cleric who adapted several French works into Norse under Haakon, the best known of which is ''Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar'' (a Norse version of the Tristan and Iseult legend), but there is also reason to think that the collection may be a gathering of the work of several different translators. Unlike many medieval translations, the ''Strengleikar'' are generally extremely close in sense to the Old French originals; the text which differs most is ''Milun'', which is abridged to half its original length. Lais and their sources The ''Strengleikar'' comprise: * ''Forræða'' 'prologue' * ''B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecheor
'Lecheor' is a short, bawdy Breton lai that tells the story a group of noble women who decide to write a lai about female genitalia. Composition and manuscripts The actual date of composition is estimated between the end of the twelfth to the beginning of the thirteenth centuries; and linguistic elements in the text indicate that the author may have come from Northern France or perhaps England. Since the text speaks of women poets, the poem could have been written by a woman. The lai of ''Lecheor'' is contained in two existing manuscripts: * MS Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 1104 (in Old French) * MS Uppsala, De la Gardie 4-7 (translation of the Old French into Old Norse; only a brief, problematic fragment survives) The Old French manuscript dates from the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century. Plot summary ''Lecheor'' tells the story of a group of women who are gathered together for the festival of Saint Pantaleon. It is at this festival that the men and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graelent
''Graelent'' is an Old French Breton lai, named after Guiomar (Arthurian legend), its protagonist. It is one of the so-called :Anonymous lais, anonymous lais . Synopsis The plot is similar to that of Marie de France's lai of ''Lanval''. Guiomar (Arthurian legend), Graelent, a knight of Brittany, rebuffs amorous advances from the queen, who retaliates by manipulating the king against him. Graelent's wages are suspended, reducing him to poverty. Graelent dejectedly rides into the forest, and while tracking a white hind (''bisse blance'' v. 201; Modern French, Mod. Fr.: '), he stumbles upon a beautiful lady bathing in the fountain, attended by two maidens. Graelent sneaks up and clutches the articles of clothing she has disrobed upon a bush. The lady cries out his name, demanding their return. Graelent does not comply, and bargains for her to emerge from the fountain, and asks for her love. She is at first scornful at the suggestion, but Graelent rapes her, and she then decides to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brother Robert
Brother Robert was a cleric working in Norway who adapted several French literary works into Old Norse during the reign of King Haakon IV of Norway (1217–1263). The most important of these, ''Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar'', based on Thomas of Britain's ''Tristan'', is notable as the only example of Thomas' "courtly branch" of the Tristan and Iseult legend that has survived in its entirety. It was the earliest Scandinavian version of the story, and is thought to be the first Norwegian adaptation of an Old French work. Its success may have inspired the spate of translations during King Haakon's reign.Schach, ''The Saga of Tristram and Ísönd'', p. xiii. Robert's nationality is unknown, but his name and other circumstantial evidence suggests he was Anglo-Norman. As such he may have been connected to the Cistercian monasteries of Lyse Abbey or Hovedøya Abbey, which maintained close ties with England. Robert's name is connected to one other work with assurance, ''Elis saga'', an ada ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desiré
''Desiré'' (also ''Désiré'', ''Lai del Desire'') is an Old French Breton lai, named after its protagonist. It is one of the so-called Anonymous Lais. It is 'a fairy-mistress story set in Scotland'. Translated into Old Norse, the poem also became part of the ''Strengleikar'', and the translation is relevant to establishing the archetype of the French text. Manuscripts *P. Cologny-Gevève, Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Phillips 3713, f. 7v, col. 2--12v. col. 1. Anglo-Norman, thirteenth-century. *S. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 1104, f. 10v, col. 1--15v, col. 1. Francien, c. 1300. *N. Uppsala, De la Gardie, 4-7 Uppsala University Library, De la Gardie, 4-7, a thirteenth-century Norwegian manuscript, is 'our oldest and most important source of so-called "courtly literature" in Old Norse translation'.''Strengleikar: An Old Norse Translation of Twenty-one Old ..., pp. 37–48.Glyn S. Burgess, ''The Old French Narrative Lay: An Analytical Bibliography'' (Cambridge: Bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bisclavret
"Bisclavret" ("The Werewolf") is one of the twelve The Lais of Marie de France, Lais of Marie de France written in the 12th century. Originally written in French, it tells the story of a werewolf who is trapped in lupine form by the treachery of his wife. The tale shares a common ancestry with the comparable ''Melion, Lay of Melion'', and is probably referenced in Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' with the tale of Sir Marrok, who has a similar story. Background Marie de France claimed that she translated this lay, as well as the other eleven she wrote, from the Breton language, in which she claimed to have heard them performed. There have been many translations of her work into the English language, the translation noted below was done by Eugene Mason. Synopsis Bisclavret, a baron in Brittany who is well loved by the king, vanishes every week for three full days. No one in his household, not even his wife, knows where he goes. His wife finally begs him to tell her his secr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tristan And Iseult
Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illicit love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult. It depicts Tristan's mission to escort Iseult from Ireland to marry his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. On the journey, Tristan and Iseult ingest a love potion, instigating a forbidden love affair between them. The story has had a lasting impact on Western culture. Its different versions exist in many European texts in various languages from the Middle Ages. The earliest instances take two primary forms: the courtly and common branches. The former begins with the 12th-century poems of Thomas of Britain and Béroul, while the latter reflects a now-lost original version. A subsequent version emerged in the 13th century in the wake of the greatly expanded Prose ''Tris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lais Of Marie De France
The ''lais'' of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Breton lais by the poet Marie de France. They are written in Anglo-Norman and were probably composed in the late 12th century, most likely between 1155-1170. The short, narrative poems generally focus on glorifying the concept of courtly love by the adventures of their main characters. Marie's lais are thought to form the basis for what would eventually become the genre known as the Breton lais. Despite her stature in Anglo-Norman literature and medieval French literature generally, little is known of Marie herself, but it is thought that she was born in France and wrote in England. Literary character Marie de France's lais, told in octosyllables or eight-syllable verse, are notable for their celebration of love, individuality of character, and vividness of description, hallmarks of the emerging literature of the times. Five different manuscripts contain one or more of the lais, but only one, Harley 978, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chivalric Sagas
The ''riddarasögur'' (literally 'sagas of knights', also known in English as 'chivalric sagas', 'romance-sagas', 'knights' sagas', 'sagas of chivalry') are Norse prose sagas of the romance genre. Starting in the thirteenth century with Norse translations of French '' chansons de geste'' and Latin romances and histories, the genre expanded in Iceland to indigenous creations in a similar style. While the ''riddarasögur'' were widely read in Iceland for many centuries they have traditionally been regarded as popular literature inferior in artistic quality to the Icelanders' sagas and other indigenous genres. Receiving little attention from scholars of Old Norse literature, many remain untranslated. The production of chivalric sagas in Scandinavia was focused on Norway in the thirteenth century and then Iceland in the fourteenth. Vernacular Danish and Swedish romances came to prominence rather later and were generally in verse; the most famous of these are the Eufemiavisorna, them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lanval
''Lanval'' is one of the Lais of Marie de France. Written in Anglo-Norman, it tells the story of Lanval, a knight at King Arthur's court, who is overlooked by the king, wooed by a fairy lady, given all manner of gifts by her, and subsequently refuses the advances of Queen Guinevere. The plot is complicated by Lanval's promise not to reveal the identity of his mistress, which he breaks when Guinevere accuses him of having "no desire for women". Before Arthur, Guinevere accuses Lanval of shaming her, and Arthur, in an extended judicial scene, demands that he reveal his mistress. Despite the broken promise, the fairy lover eventually appears to justify Lanval, and to take him with her to Avalon. The tale was popular, and was adapted into English as ''Sir Landevale'', ''Sir Launfal'', and ''Sir Lambewell''. Plot Lanval, a knight in King Arthur's court, envied for "his valor, his generosity, his beauty, his prowess", is forgotten from being invited to a banquet where the King distribut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chevrefoil
"Chevrefoil" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The eleventh poem in the collection called ''The Lais of Marie de France'', its subject is an episode from the romance of Tristan and Iseult. The title means "honeysuckle," a symbol of love in the poem. "Chevrefoil" consists of 118 lines and survives in two manuscripts, Harley 978 or MS H, which contains all the ''Lais'', and in Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 1104, or MS S. Summary The lai begins with a statement that others have sung it previously, and that the author has seen it in written form. The story tells of the love between the knight Tristan and his uncle's wife Iseult, which, according to Marie, was so pure that it eventually caused their deaths on the same day. Tristan has been exiled from Cornwall by his uncle Mark for his adulterous transgressions, and is forced to return to his homeland in South Wales. After pining away for a year, Tristan hears news that Mark is planning a great feast for P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliduc
"Eliduc" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The twelfth and last poem in the collection known as ''The Lais of Marie de France'', it appears in the manuscript Harley 978 at the British Library. Like the other poems in this collection, "Eliduc" is written in the Anglo-Norman dialect of Old French, in couplets of eight syllables in length. At 1184 lines, it is the longest of the lais attributed to Marie de France. The text of the lai notes that its correct title should be ''Guildeluec and Guilliadon'', but the name ''Eliduc'' has stuck. Plot summary "Eliduc" tells the story of a knight named Eliduc who lives in Brittany. Because he is very loyal to the king, Eliduc is given many gifts and responsibilities. Jealous of the preferential treatment Eliduc receives at court, some of the other knights slander him to the king. The king banishes Eliduc from his presence with no explanation. Disappointed, Eliduc decides to leave Brittany and go to Logres (Great Britain) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
