The Lais of Marie de France

#12booksof2022 April

This little Penguin edition, a spontaneous library checkout, might be a favorite book for 2022.

(Caught up now)

Andrew65

Lcsmcat Sometimes the best finds are spontaneous library check-outs! 1y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat so true. They can feel very freeing somehow, being new, and returnable. (ok, i mean emotionally. Obviously they are literally free…☺️) 1y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke 😂 1y

36 likes3 comments

Graywacke

The Lais of Marie de France | Marie

pick

I finished this three weeks ago but neglected to post here. Written in verse for Henry II of England in 1170*, when the English nobility spoke Old French. Knights and damsels and tragic love. And first person commentary by our mystery poet. Fun stuff.

(*maybe)

GingerAntics That sounds truly intriguing. 2y

Graywacke @GingerAntics I thought it was. The penguin edition is a quick easy charming read…if you‘re interested. I used a library copy. 2y

GingerAntics @Graywacke I‘m looking for this now. Thanks for the translation suggestion. 2y

43 likes3 comments

Graywacke

The Lais of Marie de France | Marie

The cat and I are checking out this 12th-century French poet (who was apparently writing for a Plantagenet king of England).

jewright How do you pick your books? You always read interesting and different ones. 2y

Graywacke @jewright funny you ask on this one, an unplanned book. Within all the chatter about Groff‘s Matrix (which I haven‘t read), is this source material. On LibraryThing someone said, forget Groff, read the Lais. So I became curious and, requesting other library books, looked this up. And the library provided. But - I largely have my year, 2022, overly planned out with set themes. 🙂 2y

52 likes2 comments

pigiann

Lais | Maria (di Francia.)

Dal Lais Chevrefoil (Il caprifoglio)

pigiann

Lais | Maria (di Francia.)

"Tut ot descovert le costé,
Le vis, le col e la peitrine :
Plus ert blanche que flur d'espine !"

Bookwomble

The Lais of Marie de France | Marie

"Amongst the tales I tell you once again, I would not forget the Lay of the Were-Wolf. Such beasts as he are known in every land. Bisclavaret he is named in Brittany; whilst the Norman calls him Garwal.
It is a certain thing, and within the knowledge of all, that many a christened man has suffered this change, and run wild in the woods as a Were-Wolf. The Were-Wolf is a fearsome beast. He lurks within the thick forest, mad & horrible to see."??

Bookwomble "The Lay of the Were-Wolf", a 12th century tale by Marie de France, is a typical folkloric story of an unfaithful wife who cajoles her husband's secret, & then betrays him with it. In this case the secret is that her husband, Bisclavaret, spends half his life as a ravening werewolf. There's a variety of Jungian archetypes to be disinterred from the story, but I'm too full of the first of the year's mince pies to get more than a vague impression ? 3y

16 likes1 comment

Bookwomble

The Lais of Marie de France | Marie

pick

Set mainly in northern France, but with forays into the England and Wales of King Arthur, there are a lot of folklore motifs: the fair maiden sequestered in a tower, to be freed by her gallant lover; mistaken identities; the fairy lady whose love will be lost if she is spoken of; noble children abandoned at birth, fostered by peasants, who inevitably return to claim their inheritance, and so on. 👇🏻👇🏻

Bookwomble There are also Arthurian motifs: the Ship of Solomon; the knight wounded in the "thigh"; swords of destiny; beautiful fairy ladies visiting the court.

I particularly enjoyed "The Lay of the Were-Wolf", which if it did not influence later French tradition, is certainly representative of that country's fascination with this fearful monster. Interesting, then, that this werewolf is a rather sympathetic and noble character. 6y

15 likes1 comment

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