The ''lais'' of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative

Breton lai A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short (typically 600–1000 lines), rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-w ...

s by the poet

Marie de France Marie de France (fl. 1160 to 1215) was a poet, possibly born in what is now France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court o ...

. They are written in

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

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 Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language ** Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1 ...

and

medieval French literature Medieval French literature is, for the purpose of this article, Medieval literature written in Oïl languages (particularly Old French and early Middle French) during the period from the eleventh century to the end of the fifteenth century. The ...

generally, little is known of Marie herself, but it is thought that she was born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and wrote in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Literary character

Marie de France's lais, told in octosyllables or eight-

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

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 13th-century manuscript housed in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, preserves all twelve. It has been suggested that if the author had indeed arranged the ''Lais'' as presented in Harley 978, she may have chosen this overall structure to contrast the positive and negative actions that can result from love. Ferrante, Joan M. "A New History of French Literature," p. 53, Edited by Denis Hollier. Harvard University Press, 1994 In this manuscript, the odd lais ("

Guigemar "Guigemar" is a Breton lai, a type of narrative poem, written by Marie de France during the 12th century. The poem belongs to the collection known as ''The Lais of Marie de France''. Like the other lais in the collection, ''Guigemar'' is written in ...

", " Le Fresne", etc.) praise the characters who express love for other people. By comparison, the even lais, such as " Equitan", "

Bisclavret "Bisclavret" ("The Werewolf") is one of the twelve 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 c ...

" and so on, warn how love that is limited to oneself can lead to misfortune. The Harley 978 manuscript also includes a 56-line

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

in which Marie describes the impetus for her composition of the lais. In the prologue, Marie writes that she was inspired by the example of the ancient

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

and

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

to create something that would be both entertaining and morally instructive. She also states her desire to preserve for posterity the tales that she has heard. Two of Marie's lais, " Lanval," a very popular work that was adapted several times over the years (including 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 ...

Sir Launfal ''Sir Launfal'' is a 1045-line Middle English romance or Breton lay written by Thomas Chestre dating from the late 14th century. It is based primarily on the 538-line Middle English poem ''Sir Landevale'', which in turn was based on Marie de Franc ...

'') and "

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 ...

" ("The

Honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...

"), a short composition about

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 illic ...

, mention King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Marie's lais were precursors to later works on the subject, and she was probably a contemporary of Chrétien de Troyes, another writer of Arthurian tales.

Influence

Marie's ''lais'' were among the first works translated into

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

, in which they (and a number of other ''lais'') are known as the ''

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) ...

''.Strengleikar: An Old Norse Translation of Twenty-one Old French Lais, ed. and trans. by Robert Cook and Mattias Tveitane, Norrøne tekster, 3 (Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1979).

Lais

(This list follows the sequence of texts found in Harley 978.) *''

'' *'' Equitan'' *'' Le Fresne'' ('The Ash Tree') *''

'' ('The Werewolf') *'' Lanval'' *'' Les Deux Amants'' ('The Two Lovers') *''

Yonec "Yonec" is one of the ''The Lais of Marie de France, Lais of Marie de France'', written in the twelfth century by the French poet known only as Marie de France. ''Yonec'' is a Breton lai, a type of narrative poem. The poem is written in the Anglo-No ...

'' *''

Laüstic "Laüstic", also known as "Le Rossignol", "Le Laustic", "Laostic", and "Aüstic", is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The title comes from the Breton word for "nightingale" (''eostig''), a symbolic figure in the poem.Marie de Franc ...

'' ('The Nightingale') *''

Milun "Milun" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France, ( fl. 1160 to 1215). ''Milun'' is the ninth lai in the collection known as the ''Lais of Marie de France''. Like the other lais (lays) in this collection, ''Milun'' is written in the Ang ...

'' *'' Chaitivel'' ('The Unhappy One') *''

'' ('The Honeysuckle') *''

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 colle ...

Notes and references

External links

* The Lais of Marie de France in Old French from Wikisource * *
The Lais of Marie de France: a verse translation
' trans. by Judith P. Shoaf (Gainesville, FL: University of Floria, 1991-96) *
The Lays of Marie de France
', trans. by David R. Slavitt (Edmonton: AU Press, 2013) * *
The International Marie de France Society

L'Amour et les amoureux dans les lais de Marie de France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lais of Marie de France, The 12th-century books Anglo-Norman literature Arthurian literature in French French poems Works by Marie de France

Literary character

Influence

Lais

See also

Notes and references

External links