The Lais of Marie de France
by Marie de France · Lais
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 1160-1190
- Era
- Medieval
- Form
- Romance and tale
- Language
- French
- Length
- Short · 140 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Lais of Marie de France, translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith BusbyPenguin Classics, 1999Clear prose translations of all twelve lais with an introduction; the Norton edition by Dorothy Gilbert offers verse.
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Twelve short narrative poems in Anglo-Norman French, written by a woman who names herself Marie and probably lived at the court of Henry II of England. She says she is retelling stories she heard from Breton minstrels. The lais tell of lovers separated by jealous husbands, a knight who is a werewolf, a lady who keeps a nightingale, a fairy mistress who carries her lover off to Avalon, and children abandoned and recovered, in a world where love is tested by loyalty and discretion rather than by law.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Lais of Marie de France are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
