French folklore encompasses the
fables,
folklore,
fairy tales
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
and
legends of the
French people.
In the Middle Ages
Occitan literature - were songs, poetry and literature in Occitan in what is nowadays the South of France that originated in the poetry of the 11th and 12th centuries, and inspired vernacular literature throughout medieval Europe. These early recorded songs, poetry and their highest development in the 12th century and includes the well known ''Songs of the Troubadours'':
Songs of the Troubadours
*
Songs of the Troubadour - The songs, poetry and narratives of the
troubadours, who were composers and performers during the High Middle Ages, flourished during the 11th century and spread throughout Europe from Southern France. Their songs dealt mainly with themes of
chivalry
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...
and
courtly love
Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...
. Several established categories of poetry and song were:
**
Canso or canson were songs concerning courtly love.
**
Sirventes songs covered war, politics, morality, satire, humor, and topics outside of love.
**
Tenso and
Partiment
The ''partimen'' (; ca, partiment ; also known as ''partia'' or ''joc partit'') is a cognate form of the French jeu-parti (plural ''jeux-partis''). It is a genre of Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania ...
is a dialog or debate between poets
**
Planh is a lament on a death.
**
Pastorela is a song trying to win the affections and love of a shepherdess.
**
Alba is complaint of lovers upon parting.
Songs of the Trouvère
Songs of the Trouvère are songs and poetry that stemmed from poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France.
Epic narratives
A second form of legend in France during the Middle Ages was
epic poetry, partly historical and partly legend with themes covering the formation of France, war, kingship, and important battles. This genre was known as
chansons de geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...
which is Old French for "songs of heroic deeds." It is also called the epics of the "Matter of France":
Matter of France
*
Chanson de geste:
Matter of France
The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chan ...
was part history and part legendary heroic epic tales of
Charlemagne and the history and founding of
France by the Franks. Some of the legendary and notable topics were:
**
Charlemagne, the
mythological king
**
Battle of Roncevaux Pass
**
Bayard - the legendary horse
**
Durandal - a magical sword
** ''
Song of Roland
''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...
'' (in French: ''Chanson de Roland'')
***Describes
Roland
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
- the chief
paladin of Charlemagne
** ''
Huon of Bordeaux
Huon of Bordeaux is the title character of a 13th-century French epic poem with romance elements.
''Huon of Bordeaux''
The poem tells of Huon, a knight who unwittingly kills Charlot, the son of Emperor Charlemagne. He is given a reprieve from ...
'' written circa 1215-1240
***Includes very early descriptions of:
Morgan le Fay, and son
Oberon
**
Renaud de Montauban - epic
hero
Animal fables, mock epics
Another folkloric medium in the Middle Ages were fables, mock epics and animal folk tales, notably:
*
Reynard Le Roman de Renart (circa 1175) by Perrout de Saint Cloude, a mock epic, the first known appearance of the following animals:
*
Reynard the fox in literature and folklore, an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
fables of a fox,
trickster
** Bruin the Bear
** Baldwin the Ass
** Tibert (Tybalt) the Cat
** Hirsent the She-wolf
Satirical tales by Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
, 1494–1553, wrote:
*
Gargantua and Pantagruel - the story of two giants
Fairy tales
French fairy tales are particularly known by their literary rather than their folk, oral variants. Perrault derived almost all his tales from folk sources, but rewrote them for the upper-class audience, removing rustic elements. The
précieuses rewrote them even more extensively for their own interests. Collection of folk tales as such only began about 1860, but was fruitful for the next decades.
[Paul Delarue, ''The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales'', p xi-xii, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956]
Fairy tales by Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...
(1628–1703) collected tales:
*
Bluebeard
*
Cinderella (in 1697)
*
Diamonds and Toads
*
Donkey Skin
*
Little Red Riding Hood (''Le Petit Chaperon Rouge'' in 1697)
*
Mother Goose Tales (''Contes de ma mère l'Oye'' in 1695)
*
Puss in Boots (in 1697)
Fairy tales by d'Aulnoy
Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy, 1650/1–1705, collected tales:
*From
Fairy Tales' (''Les Contes des Fees'') (1697)
**
Babiole
**
Cunning Cinders (''Finette Cendron'')
**
Graciosa and Percinet (''Gracieuse et Percinet'')
**
Princess Mayblossom (''La Princesse Printaniere'')
**
Princess Rosette (''La Princesse Rosette'')
**
The Bee and the Orange Tree (''L'Oranger et l'Abeille'')
**
The Benevolent Frog The Benevolent Frog or The Frog and the Lion Fairy is a French literary fairy tale, written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included the tale in ''The Orange Fairy Book'' with the title ''The Frog and the Lion Fairy''.
Synopsis
A king's capital w ...
or ''The Frog and the Lion Fairy'' (''La Grenouille bienfaisante'')
**
The Blue Bird (''L'Oiseau bleu'')
**
The Dolphin
**
The Fortunate One or ''Felicia and the Pot of Pinks'' (''Fortunée'')
**
The Imp Prince (''Le Prince Lutin'')
**
The Little Good Mouse (''La bonne petite souris'')
**
The Ram or ''The Wonderful Sheep'' (''Le Mouton'' )
**
The Story of Pretty Goldilocks or ''The Beauty with Golden Hair'' (''La Belle aux cheveux d'or'')
**
The Yellow Dwarf
The Yellow Dwarf (french: Le Nain jaune) is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Blue Fairy Book''.
Synopsis
A widowed queen spoiled her only daughter, who was so beautiful that kings vied for th ...
(''Le Nain jaune'')
**
The White Doe or ''The Doe in the Woods'' (''La Biche au bois'')
*From 'New Tales, or Fairies in Fashion'' (''Contes Nouveaux ou Les Fees a la Mode'') (1698)
**
Belle-Belle (''Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné'')
**
Green Serpent (''Serpentin vert'')
**
Puddocky or ''
The White Cat'' (''La Chatte Blanche'')
**
The Golden Branch (''Le Rameau d'Or'')
**
The Pigeon and the Dove (''Le Pigeon et la Colombe'')
**
Prince Marcassin
"The Pig King" or "King Pig" (''Il re porco'') is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in his ''The Facetious Nights of Straparola''. Madame d'Aulnoy wrote a French, also literary, variant, titled Prince Marcassi ...
(''Le Prince Marcassin'')
**
Princess Belle-Etoile (''La Princesse Belle-Étoile'')
Fairy tales by Souvestre
Émile Souvestre (1806–1854) collected tales:
*
The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok
Other fairy tales
*
Beauty and the Beast - first published version by
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, 1740.
*
The Enchanted Apple Tree
*
The Goblin Pony
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
- translated in ''Grey Fairy Book'' by
Andrew Lang, 1900.
*
Quackling or ''Drakestail'' (''Bout-d’-Canard'') - original in ''Affenschwanz et Cetera'', by Charles Marelle 1888, translated in ''Red Fairy Book'' by Andrew Lang, 189
*
The Wizard King - original in ''Les Fees Illustres'', translated in ''Yellow Fairy Book'' by Andrew Lang, 1894.
Legends of people
*
Lancelot-Grail (''Prose Lancelot'')
*
The Account of Nicolas Flamel
Legendary creatures
*
Beast of Gévaudan
The Beast of Gévaudan (french: La Bête du Gévaudan, ; oc, La Bèstia de Gavaudan) is the historic name associated with a man-eating animal or animals that terrorised the former province of Gévaudan (consisting of the modern-day department of ...
*
Brownie of the Lake
*
Cheval Gauvin (horse)
*
Cheval Mallet
The Cheval Mallet (or Malet, meaning Mallet Horse) describes a fabulous and evil horse mentioned in folklore around the French Vendée, Édouard Brasey, ''La petite encyclopédie du merveilleux'', Le pré aux clercs, Paris, 2008, p.254-255 Poit ...
- A fabulous and evil horse that appears at night and tempts exhausted travelers into riding it, only to take off with the rider never to be seen again.
*
Dahu
The dahu is a legendary creature that resembles a mountain goat and is well known in France and francophone regions of Switzerland and Italy, including the Aosta Valley. The dahu, a quadrupedal mammal, may have been inspired by the chamois, a sm ...
*
Dames Blanches, type of female spirit
*
European dragon
*
Fae - aka Fae, Fée, the origin of the word ''Fairy''
*
Gap of Goeblin - is a "goblin hole", the legend that surrounds a hole and tunnel in
Mortain, France.
*
Gargouille
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
- A legendary dragon
*
Gargoyle - A beast
*
Goblins
*
Lutins - A type of hobgoblin
*
Matagot A matagot or mandagot is, in oral traditions of southern France, a spirit in the form of an animal, frequently a black cat, though rat, fox, dog, or cow types are also said to exist.
Matagots are generally evil, but some may prove helpful, like th ...
- A spirit in the form of an animal, usually a cat
*
Melusine - A feminine spirit of fresh waters
*
Morgan le Fay (''Morgue le Faye'') - In the early ''Legends of Charlemagne'', she is most famous for her association with
Ogier the Dane, whom she takes to her mystical island palace to be her lover. In
Huon de Bordeaux, Morgan le Fay and
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
are the parents of Oberon.
*
Oberon - King of the Fairies. In the early ''Legends of Charlemagne'',
Huon de Bordeaux he is the son of Morgan le Faye and Julius Caesar.
*
Reynard - A trickster fox. See also Animal fables, mock epics.
*
Tarasque - A legendary dragon
*
Werewolf
*
Woodwose
The wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose is a mythical figure that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to '' Silvanus'', the Roman god of the woodl ...
(aka ''Homme Sauvage,'', ''Wadwasa'' and ''Wild Man'')
Other folklore
*
Bear games
Bear games is a category of board games of which many have historical roots in the Roman Empire. They were played in parts of the Empire as far away as Turkey and France and are still played today, especially in Italy. All of the games are two-pl ...
*
La Femme Aux Serpents
* Follet
*
Feulates
*
King Ursus
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...
*
Marianne - a national emblem of France
*
Rayarcus
*
Rogero
*
Les Tribulations de l’Ours Martin
*
Wild Hunt
See also
*
French mythology
References
Bibliography
* Bonner, Anthony, ed. ''Songs of the Troubadours.'' New York: Schocken Books, 1972.
''Legends and Romances of Brittany'' by Lewis Spence 1917French Folk Tales
(en)
{{Europe topic, Folklore of
Folklore