A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Lais are short (typically 600–1000 lines), rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-world Celtic motifs. This article is about the poetic technique For the form of ice see Rime ice. Chivalric order Chivalry is a term related to the Medieval institution of Knighthood. The word "lay" or “lai” is derived from the Celtic word laid, meaning "song". The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. [1]
The earliest Breton lais to survive in writing are probably The Lais of Marie de France, thought to have been composed in the 1170s by Marie de France, a French poet living in England in the late 12th and early 13th century. The Lais of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Poems in Anglo-Norman, generally focused on glorifying the concepts of Courtly love Marie de France ("Mary of France" was a Poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century From descriptions in Marie's lais, and in several anonymous Old French lais of the 13th century, we know of earlier lais of Celtic origin, perhaps more lyrical in style, sung by Breton minstrels. Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into minstrel was a medieval European Bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories about distant places or about real or imaginary historical events It is believed that these Breton lyric lais, none of which has survived, were introduced by a summary narrative setting the scene for a song, and that these summaries became the basis for the narrative lais.
The earliest written Breton lais were composed in a variety of Old French dialects, and some half dozen lais are known to have been composed in Middle English in the 13th and 14th centuries by various English authors. Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of
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Old French Lais
- The Lays of Marie de France — twelve canonical lais generally accepted as those of Marie de France. The Lais of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Poems in Anglo-Norman, generally focused on glorifying the concepts of Courtly love
- The so-called Anonymous Lais — eleven lais of disputed authorship. While these lais are occasionally interspersed with the Marian lais in Medieval manuscripts, scholars do not agree that these lais were actually written by Marie.
- 'The Lay of the Beach', one of around twenty Old French lais translated into Old Norwegian prose in the 13th century. Old Norwegian is a term used for the Old Norse language as spoken and written in Norway in the Middle Ages. This lai gives a detailed description of William the Conqueror's commissioning of what appears to be a lyric lai to commemorate a period spent at Barfleur. William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages
Middle English Lais
- 'Sir Orfeo', 'Sir Degaré', 'Sir Gowther', 'Emaré' and 'The Erle of Toulouse', all by anonymous authors
- 'Lay le Freine', a translation of Marie de France's 'Le Fresne'
- 'The Franklin's Tale' from the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Sir Orfeo is an anonymous Middle English narrative poem. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from the Sir Degaré (from Old English "Diggory", and is probably from French égaré > strayed lost) is an anonymous The Franklin's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse) Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. ('The Wife of Bath's Tale' is sometimes identified as a Breton lai, but in fact it contains none of the generally-agreed defining features of the genre. " The Wife of Bath's Tale " and its Prologue are among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales. )
- 'Sir Launfal', by Thomas Chestre (a retelling of an earlier Middle English lai, 'Landavale', itself a translation of Marie de France's 'Lanval')
External links
- The Lais of Marie de France, in Old French from the University of Manitoba
- Online verse translations by Judith P. Sir Launfal is a 1045-line Middle English romance or Breton lay written by Thomas Chestre dating from the late 14th century. Thomas Chestre is the writer of the 14th century Middle English romance Sir Launfal, based ultimately on Marie de France 's Lanval " Lanval " is one of the Lais of Marie de France. Written in Anglo-Norman, it tells the story of a knight at King Arthur 's The University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, is the largest university located in the province of Manitoba. Shoaf
- Many of the Anonymous Old French Lais with English translations from the University of Liverpool
- The Franklin's Tale at the Electronic Canterbury Tales
- The Middle English Lais at TEAMS Middle English Texts
Notes and references
- ^ Marie de France, "Les Lais de Marie de France", p. The University of Liverpool is a University in the city of Liverpool, England. 13, traduits et annotés par Harf-Lancner, L. , Livre de Poche 1990.
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