Marie de France: Lanval
Marie de France (12th Century)
Lay: a narrative poem with harp accompaniment to commemorate an adventure by a
knight or by lovers.
Marie appears to be the initiator of the lay as a narrative or short tale, a genre that
flourished between 1170 and 1250 alongside other short narrative types such as the
fabliau (ribald tale).
Setting: most lays were set in England and Brittany, the region in France and Normandy
inhabited by the Armorican Celts. (Armorica – "seaside" (Latin).
Marie’s Lays were probably meant to be accompanied by music, like epic poetry.
Subject of the Lays: love and adventure. They often incorporate magic and other marvels,
and the aim is more to entertain than to edify an audience.
Lanval:
As we saw in Beowulf, Hrothgar was the “ring-giver” for his circle of loyal
thanes, or knights. In Arthurian romance, Arthur holds the same position, doling out
wealth to his loyal knights. Thus the knight’s success in the world is determined by his
relationship with the king.
Lanval is a stranger in King Arthur’s court. At the beginning of the Lay, we see that he is
isolated from the king and the rest of the knights; Arthur has forgotten him, and the other
knights are jealous of his “valor, generosity, beauty and prowess,” and no one puts in a
good word for him to the king.
Lanval’s isolation sets him up for his encounter with the beautiful fairy who becomes his
lover, and the episode where the queen (probably Guinevere) offers herself to him.
Lanval’s lonely journey into the wilderness, away from court, leads to an encounter with
the fairy world, which is a realm inhabited by supernatural and legendary beings—a
world that can intrude on the everyday world without warning.
p. 1170
Arthur as “ring-giver”
1170-71
Lanval’s isolation
1171
Lanval comes into contact with the fairy world.
Why do you think the fairy queen chooses Lanval for her lover?
1172
The test of the lover: he must keep his love secret (he must pass the test of
worthiness).
Marie de France: Lanval
1172 cont.
Lanval’s generosity: he gives gifts, frees prisoners, clothes jongleurs,
performs many honorable acts (he shows that he is worthy of the
fairy queen’s love).
The fairy queen says that whenever Lanval wants to speak with her, she
will appear to him only.
Gawain convinces the other knights to include Lanval in their company.
1173
When Lanval seeks privacy to commune with his beloved, Arthur’s queen
(probably Guinevere) uses the opportunity to try to seduce him.
Lanval tells the queen that he is happily occupied with a beautiful lover,
and rejects her offer—in one act he angers Arthur’s queen and breaks his
promise to keep his lover a secret.
Guinevere reports to Arthur, accusing Lanval of trying to seduce her.
1174-75
Lanval is brought to trial on the charges the queen brought against him.
His acquittal rests on whether he told the truth: whether his lady and her
servants are worth more than the queen “in body, face and beauty, wisdom
and goodness” (1174).
The count of Cornwall states the case: “If he can provide proof and his
beloved comes forward, and if what he said to incur the queen’s
displeasure is true, then he will be pardoned, since he did not say it
to spite her” (1174).
1175
As the barons are about to pronounce their verdict, beautiful maidens
arrive, and their appearance seems to verify Lanval’s statement.
1176
Lanval’s beloved finally arrives, and he is acquitted. He and his beloved
then travel to Avalon, the enchanted island, presumably to live “happily
everafter.”