Status Updates From Marie de France: Poetry

i can’t stop thinking about the fable where a beetle crawled into a man’s butt and into his guts and everyone thought he was pregnant

the “lais” are surprisingly fun! i also think that i figured out a term paper topic out of them 🤞🏻

Reading it for my “Women’s Writing in Medieval England” class!! Officially we “only” have to read p. 3-200 but I have a feeling I might write my term paper about Marie’s poetry so I may read the whole thing. :)

"Adventure" not only refers to the source of a tale, to the past from which the tale comes, and to the tale itself in its present form; "adventure" - from the Latin ad + venire - also relates prospectively to that which will come or happen. It carries the valence of an advent.

Noting for similarity with Inf.V:
Walking on, we came to a vale of great breadth and depth, but of infinite length; on the left it appeared full of dreadful flames, the other side was no less horrid for violent hail and cold show flying in all directions; both places were full of men's souls, which seemed by turns to be tossed from one side to the other, as it were by a violent storm...

We redeth oft, and findeth ywrite,
and this clerkes wele in wite,
layes that ben in harping,
ben yfounde of ferli thing:
sum bethe of wer and sum of wo,
and sum of joie and mirthe also,
and sum of trecherie and of gile.
of old aventours that fel while;
and sum of bourdes and ribaudy,
and many ther beth of fairy;
of al thinges that men seth,
mest o love, forsothe, thai beth...

I'm so dead...

The werewolves of the ecclesiastical courts and the Scriptures were manifestations of the Devil's power in human lives. But the werewolves of medieval narratives were victims of domestic plotting. It is puzzling change, although the anti-feminist bias of the period may be a factor in the shift.
I'm so far enjoying the added selection of the text, though the Middle English is killing me.

In Purgatory, I missed the things I love about Marie de France - there were no interesting female characters, there was very little interaction between people... I just couldn't feel the usual charm.
It's an interesting piece from scholarly point of view, but... not really in the things that interest me much. I might have like it better as a full version, but then maybe it would have made things worse.

So far my least favourite part, but definitely interesting (I wrote my thesis on Dante, so I'm enjoying the comparison...). I finished the torments, so I'm curious what'll come next.
The form of extract isn't working that well for me so far, but... it's fine.

I'm not really a fan of fables as a genre, but this was fun. Some of the stories were really interesting social commentaries and quite a lot of them focused on what we would call social justice. I'm really intrigued and I'll be probably look for a full version of those.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory is next!

A peasant once was lying down,
sleeping and snoozing in the sun.
Face down and naked he was curled,
his butt-hole open to the world.
A beetle crawled inside his butt,
waking him as it climbed his gut.
Sick, wretched, he sought a physician,
spoke to him of his condition.
The doctor said, "You're pregnant, man!"
🤨😆😂
Mediaeval version of fake news. (Fable 43)

Le Chaitivel or the troubles of polyamorous mediaeval woman.
Chevrefoil: yet another Tristram and Yseut fanfiction.
Eliduc: The wife is a saint. I have nothing more to say.

I'm so sorry to be done with these... fables are the next!

Laüstic: Never tell your husband that you prefer Nightingale's song to his snoring.
Milun: The mediaeval variation of online dating. The crucial question of this tale is: "What age do swans live to?"

Bisclavret: When your wife can't deal with the fact that you are a werewolf.
Lanval: When the lady saves her knight with her feminine qualities. (This one is my favourite so far.)
Les Deus Amanz: A variation on Romeo and Juliet. Wit added daddy issues.
Yönec: We don't stan abusive relationships in this house! (The logic of this one is a little bit ridiculous though...)

Guigemar: When you have no care for romance and everyone thinks you must be gay... turns out you are more of Sleeping Beauty!
Equitan: We all know this one. You are a king and want to sleep with your senechel's wife.
Le Fresne: When you invented a rumour that your neighbour was adulterous, because she gave birth to twins. And then you have twins yourself. (Of course you have to get rid of one!)