''La Mule sans frein'' (English: ''The Mule Without a Bridle'') or ''La Demoiselle à la mule'' (English: ''The Damsel with the Mule'') is a short
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
dating from the late 12th century or early 13th century. It comprises 1,136 lines in
octosyllabic The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie de ...
couplets, written in
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
. Its author names himself as Païen de Maisières, but critics disagree as to whether this was his real name or a pseudonym. ''La Mule'' is an
Arthurian romance
The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Western ...
relating the adventures, first of
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay ( cy, Cai, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; la, Caius; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. ...
, then of Sir
Gawain
Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...
, in attempting to restore to its rightful owner a stolen bridle. It is notable for its early use of the "
beheading game
The beheading game is a literary trope found in Irish mythology and medieval chivalric romance. The trope consists of a stranger who arrives at a royal court and challenges a hero to an exchange of blows: the hero may decapitate the stranger, b ...
" theme, which later reappeared in the
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
romance ''
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of f ...
''. It is sometimes seen as a skit or burlesque on earlier romances, especially those of
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
, but it has also been suggested that it might have been written by Chrétien himself.
Synopsis
A damsel arrives at the court of
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
on a mule that has no bridle. This, she says, has been taken from her, and she asks for a knight to retrieve it for her. If any knight succeeds she will be happy again, and will give herself to him.
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay ( cy, Cai, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; la, Caius; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. ...
undertakes the quest and is taken by the mule through a forest where he is terrified by lions, tigers and leopards, but they kneel in honour of the mule and let Kay pass. He passes first a foul valley full of serpents, scorpions and fire-breathing beasts, and then a wintry plain. After pausing at a beautiful spring to recover his spirits he reaches a very narrow bridge over a river, but he is too scared to cross this, and so returns shamefaced to Arthur's court. Sir
Gawain
Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...
volunteers to take up the quest, the lady kisses him, and he sets off, encountering the same perils as Kay had done and surmounting them all. He reaches a rapidly revolving castle surrounded by stakes in the ground, on all but one of which is a human head. Gawain urges the mule on and manages to enter the castle with no injury except to the mule's tail, part of which is chopped off. He meets a black and hairy churl, who proposes that Gawain should
chop off his head, and that he, the churl, should in turn chop off Gawain's head the next day. Gawain agrees, and beheads the churl. When he presents himself the next day the churl spares him for his sportsmanlike behaviour. He then has to kill two lions, a knight, and two dragons, and is finally received by a lady, the original damsel's sister, who offers him herself and one of her thirty-nine castles. Gawain refuses, instead accepting the purloined bridle. He leaves the castle, encounters local people who rejoice at having been saved by Gawain from the lions, and returns to Arthur's court, where he returns the bridle to its owner.
Manuscript
''La Mule sans frein'' survives in only one manuscript,
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
Burgerbibliothek MS 354, which dates from the third quarter of the 13th century. The manuscript also preserves more than 70 other literary works, including ''Le Chevalier à l'épée'', ''Le Lai du Mantel'', ''Le Folie Tristan de Berne'', ''
Le Roman des sept sages de Rome'' and
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
' ''
Perceval
Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the ...
''.
Date and authorship
It is generally agreed that ''La Mule sans frein'' was written in the late 12th century or the early 13th. The poet wrote in
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
in the
Francien
Francien is a 19th-century term in linguistics that was applied to the French dialect that was spoken in the Île-de-France region (with Paris at its centre) before the establishment of the French language as a standard language."Ce terme est un ...
dialect native to the
Île-de-France
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 = +01:00
, timezone1_DST = CEST
, utc_offset1_DST = +02:00
, blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product
, blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st
, bla ...
, or perhaps in the very similar Western
Champenois dialect. He names himself in the poem itself as Païen de Maisières, but scholars are divided as to how this name is to be understood, some maintaining that it can be taken at face value while others argue that it is a pseudonym. If fictitious, it may be a play on the name of the 12th-century romancer Chrétien de Troyes: ''Chrétien'' means 'Christian' and ''Païen'' 'pagan', while
Troyes
Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...
and Maisières are both places in southern Champagne; moreover ''maisières'' means 'ruins' (such as, perhaps, those of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
). The literary historian D. D. R. Owen tentatively suggested that the author of both ''La Mule sans frein'' and ''Le Chevalier à l'épée'' might have been Chrétien de Troyes himself. Other scholars have tended to be sceptical of this theory, though there is some support for the idea that these two romances are the work of the same man, whatever his name.
Analogues
The early-13th century romance ''
Diu Crône
''Diu Crône'' ( en, The Crown) is a Middle High German poem of about 30,000 lines treating of King Arthur and the Matter of Britain, dating from around the 1220s and attributed to the epic poet Heinrich von dem Türlin. Little is known of the ...
'' by the Austrian poet Heinrich von dem Türlin includes in one of its episodes an independent, and rather fuller, version of the entire story of ''La Mule sans frain''. Extensive borrowings from ''La Mule'' have also been traced in ''Hunbaut'' and ''Le Chevalier aux deux épées'', both 13th-century French romances.
There are points of similarity with various romances of Chrétien de Troyes. His ''
Yvain
Sir Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, wherein he is often the son of King Urien ...
'' includes the motif of a horse being cut in half by a falling portcullis, paralleling the mule's tail being cut off in ''La Mule sans frein'', and there are features in common between ''Yvain'', ''Diu Crône'', and the passages dealing with the bridle in ''La Mule'' that suggest a common source. Sir Kay's failure to achieve his quest has its counterpart in Chrétien's ''Yvain'', ''
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
'', ''
Erec and Enide
, original_title_lang = fro
, translator =
, written = c. 1170
, country =
, language = Old French
, subject = Arthurian legend
, genre = Chivalric romance
, form ...
'' and ''Perceval'', and also in the anonymous ''
La Vengeance Raguidel
''La Vengeance Raguidel'' is a 13th-century La vengeance Raguidel', ''Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français''. Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities poem written in Old French. It is widely, although not universally, attributed t ...
''. It was also suggested by D. D. R. Owen and R. C. Johnston, in their edition of ''La Mule'', that ''La Mules prologue was modelled on that of ''Erec and Enide'', though Johnston later changed his mind on this.
At least two themes in ''La Mule'' are of Celtic origin. The revolving fortress can be found in the ancient Irish stories ''
The Voyage of Máel Dúin
''The Voyage of Máel Dúin'' (Old Irish: ''Immram Maele Dúin'') is the tale of a sea voyage written in Old Irish around the end of the 1st millennium AD. The protagonist is Máel Dúin, the son of Ailill Edge-of-Battle, whose murder provides ...
'' and ''
Bricriu's Feast
''Fled Bricrenn'' (Old Irish "Bricriu's Feast") is a story from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Bricriu, an inveterate troublemaker, invites the nobles of the Ulaid to a feast at his new '' bruiden'' (hostel, banquet hall) at Dún Rudraige ...
'', and later reappears in various romances of the
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
. The beheading game, played in ''La Mule'' by Gawain and the churl, also appears in ''Bricriu's Feast'', and later in the
First Continuation to Chrétien's ''Perceval'' and in ''
Perlesvaus
''Perlesvaus'', also called ''Li Hauz Livres du Graal'' (''The High Book of the Grail''), is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century. It purports to be a continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' unfinished ''Perc ...
''. Most famously, the beheading game provides the framework for the 14th-century
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
romance ''
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of f ...
''. D. D. R. Owen argued that its author, the
Gawain Poet
The "Gawain Poet" (), or less commonly the "Pearl Poet",Andrew, M. "Theories of Authorship" (1997) in Brewer (ed). ''A Companion to the Gawain-poet'', Boydell & Brewer, p.23 (''fl.'' late 14th century) is the name given to the author of ''Sir ...
, drew directly and in detail on ''La Mule'' and ''Le Chevalier à l'épée'' for this element of his story, though one scholar has commented on this theory that "one piece of rather flimsy evidence is used to support another, with the result that the whole edifice is kept upright by a combination of hope and ingenuity".
Editions
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Translations
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Notes
Footnotes
References
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External links
The 1911 edition by Boleslas Orłowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mule sans frein, La
12th-century poems
13th-century poems
Arthurian literature in French
Fictional mules
French poems
Medieval French romances
Works of uncertain authorship