Le Lai de Lanval

by Marie de France

Composé par Marie de France à la fin du xiie siècle, ce lai est un pur conte de fées. Son héros vit au temps mythique des chevaliers de la Table Ronde, à la cour du roi Arthur. Mais le roi l’a oublié dans ses largesses et il se trouve dans la misère. Il quitte les siens, en quête d’un autre monde plus favorable, et rencontre une femme mystérieuse, éblouissante de beauté, qui lui offre son amour et sa protection : « Lanval, mon ami, c’est pour vous que j’ai quitté ma terre, je suis venue de loin pour vous chercher. Si vous vous montrez valeureux et courtois, ni empereur, ni comte, ni roi ne pourront prétendre à votre bonheur car je vous aime plus que tout ! » Amoureux au premier regard, Lanval accepte toutes les propositions de la belle inconnue, qui ne sera jamais nommée. C’est une fée, qui offre au héros son amour et toutes les richesses du monde à une seule condition, qu’il accepte aussitôt : il devra toujours garder le secret sur leur union. Mais cet amour sera contrarié par la société humaine. Lanval et son amie ne trouveront le bonheur qu’au pays des fées, le monde rêvé où l’amour peut s’épanouir sans entraves.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, School, Fantasy, France, Read For School, Medieval

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Marie de France ("Mary of France", around 1135-1200) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. Virtually nothing is known of her early life, though she wrote a form of continental French[citation needed:] that was copied by Anglo-Norman scribes. Therefore, most of the manuscripts of her work bear Anglo-Norman traits. She also translated some Latin literature and produced an influential version of Aesop's Fables.

Reviews

[Savannah Cieslak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of my literature class in school. Thought this was a good introduction to early Romance as a whole. It was very reminiscent of some biblical writing. The one reminds me the most of is Joseph and the pharaoh‘s wife. But the MMC in this book completely adored his wife, and that was really cool to see an early works of fiction.

[Yvonne Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy.
I love Lanval.
I think this has been my favorite assigned reading ever.
Arthurian legends are my shit and this one read like a fairytale or myth and boy I'm just happy.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I led my Survey of British Lit class in a discussion of this short tale, I suggested a Freudian interpretation of the story; eyes got wide and the discussion got going.

Maybe that story of fairy love in the deep forest away from everyone is a different kind of fantasy!

Maybe the story is more than a humorous tale that involves switched gender roles, but that also gives insight into a woman's view of what a man wants.

Maybe it is a story that questions our fantasy views of love when they encounter the real world.

And, if the tale was told in the court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, maybe it is also a comment about a "house divided."

Next week we'll take a look at "The Wife of Bath's" tale as she answers, what is it a woman wants?

Who says this "old stuff" is boring?!

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Lais of Marie de France and this one is no exception.

[Esmay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just really love these lai's!! They are soo amazing! I just love the way they are old and I love the underlying sarcasm of them!

[Preston Scott Blakeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lanval’s mysterious Lady as the typological Blessed Virgin, Queen Guinevere as the cursed Eve and, perhaps in terms of structuralism, an insufficient mirroring of the Ideal Forms found in the codes of chivalric courtly love. There were feminists before there were feminists, as the Lady redeems Lanval from the chaos and corruption that haunts King Arthur’s court, reversing the damsel in distress trope before we knew anyone had the audacity to do so.

[✨faith✨trust✨pixiedust✨ Dead Account; Not Coming Back · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the English translation by Claire M Waters that can be found within this collection.

[Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh, ég vil lesa meira Arthurian dót. Elska það<3

[lauren :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was hoping for more drama but i did appreciate guinevere calling lanval a homo

[Pau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como nieve en rama!

[Dagogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guenièvre est une belle connasse.

[allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

rip queen guinevere you would’ve loved picture to burn (homophobic version)

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me lol

[shivani n · Rating 4 out of 5]

arthurian legends are fun!

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by the most awesome Marie de France in the 12th century, The Lay of Lanval takes us through the strange romance of an Arthurian Knight, Lanval, and a mysterious woman, presumably a faerie queen, on to his imprisonment for insulting Queen Guinevere, and to his eventual vindication.

Lanval is not favored by Arthur and the men may “feign the appearance of love” (24) but apparently they “would not have been at all disturbed” (26) “if something unpleasant happened to him” (25). He is a rich man from a foreign household who, since Arthur is not giving him gifts, is in rather dire straits. That is, until he begins an affair with a beautiful rich woman who provides him with more than he needs so long as he tells no one of their affair. If he speaks of their love, she will desert him forever.

Unfortunately, Queen Guinevere takes a liking to Lanval and propositions him. He rejects her, and instead of taking it like a lady, Guinevere shockingly insults Lanval, insinuating that he is gay, a “base coward”, and a “lousy cripple”, who is so horrid that God may abandon Arthur because he associates with Lanval (280-286). Lanval loses it and tells Guinevere that he is in love with a woman whose servants are “better than [Guinevere] / in body, face, and beauty” (300-301). The queen, royally ticked off (pun intended) tells Arthur that Lanval tried to seduce her and when she rejected him he “insulted and offended her” (319).

Arthur has Lanval arrested for his offense against Guinevere. Knowing he broke his promise to his mistress and that, true to her word, she will no longer be with him, Lanval does not care about the charges against him: “they could have killed him, for all he cared” (358). Lanval denies the charges against him, saying that he did not proposition the queen and that, while he did say his love was more beautiful, he was speaking the truth in that matter. Arthur puts Lanval on trial, and the court begs Lanval to bring forth his lady love as if he can prove she is more beauteous than Guinevere, then he will have spoken the truth and be vindicated. He, of course, can't get in touch with his mistress since he broke the rules and told someone about her. Eventually she does show up, and as everyone can see she's like the cat's meow and hotter than hot, Lanval is set free. He rides off into the sunset with his love.

I find the relationship between Lanval and the mystery woman fascinating. This woman seems to be the one in control of the relationship. She approaches Lanval, she sets the terms of their relationship, she’s the one with the money. She is, in effect, Lanval’s sugar momma. Now the poem states that “she was completely at his command” (218), but I can’t quite figure out how that is so. While she does ‘make herself available’ to him sexually, I’m inclined to believe that their sexual relationship is not only to her liking, but her idea in the first place.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of this weeks assignments for my Brit Lit class. Not a story/verse I would have normally read but it was really enjoyable. It is another story to add to the Arthurian legends, the story of the knight Lanval and the Fairie he fell in love with. Listed as a romance from the time it was published, it still fits with how we define the genre today. If you enjoy stories of Arthur and his Knights or want to see how Romances started I suggest checking this out. Originally written in French, it has been translated many times.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie De France, I have a crush on you woman. Lanval is a magical piece of work, it seems that I will be writing on Lanval in my thesis, mostly to discuss the fae interactions within the text. If you like short, fun and repetitive stories (as many Arthurian legends were) you will enjoy this.

[Amaranta · Rating 5 out of 5]

i dont know if this is my favorite assigned readings for my med lit class but it was interesting, and who are you Marie de France 👀

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for EH203 @ JSU.

[Laia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not la reina pensant que el Lanval era homosexual 😣

[jiawen · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for Hl1002, quite a big fan of this (especially when compared to the old english stuff). it's not something i feel i need to reread again, but i enjoyed the role reversal of the damsel in distress + the plot as a whole

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the queen being homophobic ✋️😔

[Hope Tull · Rating 2 out of 5]

British Classics Lit class

[Charisma (charismatic_bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book for my Brit Lit class. This one was easier to follow and had a pretty good story arc!

[Dr. Sionainn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea why this is one of Marie de France's most famous lais. It's just...ok? I'd read Guigemar or Bisclavret, which are still so textually rich.

[ece ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

She ate with the fairy and the badass Guinevere I must say.

[avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this for my brit lit class and omg so good

[Emily Conn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was like a fairytale

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been interested in the enigmatic Marie de France. We don't exactly know who she was, though it is possible that she was a bastard daughter of Geoffrey le Bel, and therefore half-sister to Henry II of England. I like to think she was, though I feel if she was an illegitimate sibling of Henry's we would have more evidence for it.

I'm really not sure how this poem is supposed to be read. The first time I read it, I thought Lanval was fabricating the fact that he already had a lover to punish the queen for accusing him of being gay for not continuing their affair. Furthermore, that the maidens that enter the court at the end was a complete coincidence and Lanval had really never seen them before in his life. I mean, this reading of the text isn't impossible but it's highly unlikely. Certainly makes for a more comedic poem though.

[Sarah Schulz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lanval by Marie de France is probably one of my favorite stories. The story depicts chivalric romance as well as courtly love. Lanval meets a supernatural fairy queen and, as a knight typically does, has sex with her. He is told to tell no one of their romance, but alas, he is human and eventually lets it slip and is dragged away to court for insulting Queen Guinevere. From the writer's perspective, I think Marie de France wanted to show that not all knightly tales were about heroism and quests. Her story was simply of a knight smitten by the love of a supernatural fairy queen and what he would do for love.