Book description
Marie de France (fl. late twelfth century) is the earliest known French
woman poet and her lais - stories in verse based on Breton tales of
chivalry and romance - are among the finest of the genre. Recounting the
trials and tribulations of lovers, the lais inhabit a powerfully
realized world where very real human protagonists act out their lives
against fairy-tale elements of magical beings, potions and beasts. De
France takes a subtle and complex view of courtly love, whether telling
the story of the knight who betrays his fairy mistress or describing the
noblewoman who embroiders her sad tale on the shroud for a nightingale
killed by a jealous and suspicious husband.
Glyn S. Burgess is currently Professor of French and Head of
Department at the University of Liverpool. He has translated 'The Song
of Roland' for Penguin Classics and he has published widely on
12th-century courtly literature.
Keith Busby is George Lynn Cross Research Professor of French and
Director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the
University of Oklahoma.
