The Middle English Breton Lays

by Anne Laskaya (Editor), Eve Salisbury (Editor), Various

This volume is the first to make the Middle English Breton lays available to teachers and students of the Middle Ages. Breton lays were produced by or after the fashion of Marie de France in the twelfth century and claim to be literary versions of lays sung by ancient Bretons to the accompaniment of the harp. The poems edited in this volume are considered distinctly English Breton lays because of their focus on the family values of late medieval England. With the volume's helpful glosses, notes, introductions, and appendices, the door is opened for students to study Middle English poetry and the medieval family alike.

Genres: Poetry, Medieval, Literature, Fiction, Classics

452 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, a collection of ME Breton Lays in one volume, not lumped in with other metrical romances. These are short, magical stories, centering on love, meant to be sung, claiming to be from Brittany. A lovely introduction to Middle English and romances. As usual, TEAMS scholarly work is above-par; the only thing wanting is the texts are heavy and cumbersome to tote around, though they are available online.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The primary source material is conveniently gathered and edited here, and I like the TEAMS series a lot for making Middle english sources accessible. This being said, the introductions to each text do feel a bit dated by this point in 2021.

[Karl Steel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good collection, although one that's been done before in various forms (see the volumes by Mills and Rumble). The TEAMS series is always to be commended for being inexpensive and for the straightforwardness of its notes and introduction. That said, I would have liked to see stronger gestures towards resistant readings of these tales, and all the TEAMS volumes could use even more apparatus, as they're going to see a lot of use in undergrad classrooms. Primarily, they need pronoun charts (as a work like Sir Gowther takes a lot of effort to navigate otherwise).

Orfeo is of course the star, with Gowther behind it, but I rec teaching Emare and Sir Cleges. The former is long, but it's easy (i.e., highly repetitive) Middle English, and the second is good for introducing students to genre (since it combines two--quasi-bourgeois advice literature and rolicking physical humor (is that a genre?)--strangely).

[Lulu]

Sir Orfeo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Lay le Freine; early 14th

Sir Degaré

Emaré

Sir Launfal

Sir Gowther

Erle of Tolous

Sir Cleges

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading these lays and the illuminative introductions to them. I almost didn't read the appendix material, but it was very fascinating to read the versions of Sir Laundeval next to one another. The introductions and endnotes heavily discuss subtle differences between iterations of each lay in different manuscripts, and seeing those differences' effects in their fullness in that one lay so clearly really helped to hit home the importance of similar subtle differences mentioned in the introductions to the rest of the lays in the volume.

[Gabe Lanciano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so much fun to read. the lays are short and accessible, makes for fun quick reads. the Middle English is subtly edited to make it slightly easier for the modem reader while keeping the meter and poetic verse intact. They have even included synonyms and definitions of the more archaic or extinct words and place them right beside the text so it won't even trip up your reading pace or disturb the cloud of the poetry.
I love this book, I only wish it wasn't made as a textbook.

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this copy 20 years ago, and it remains my preferred edition of the texts for use in class. The secondary sources obviously need updating, but the existing text notes remain worthwhile, enabling current students not only to understand but also to appreciate the artful design and rich rewards of these seemingly artless romances, all of which still have the capacity to entertain, provoke and occasionally outrage new readers.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too painful.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my High Medieval Literature class (Fall 2011). An excellent edition of lays in Middle-English, without translations. There are however footnotes.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Laskaya translation...LOVED it! If you are interested in short stories on chivalric and courtly love you will love this book. By the way, her translations are very clear.

[Por · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading it loud, even when totally butchering the old English pronunciation, makes it more entertaining