Marie de France- 'Lais' Flashcards
GUIGEMAR- sense of love being a wound
la dame l’a si nafré,/tut a sun païs ublié
GUIGEMAR- idea of it being natural for an old man to become jealous
car ceo purporte la nature/que tuit il vieil seient gelus
GUIGEMAR- Guigemar’s fault/flaw
De tant i out mespris nature/que unc de nule amur n’out cure
GUIGEMAR- marvellous nature of love
dunt tuit cil s’esmerveillerunt,/ki aiment e amé avrunt/u ki puis amerunt aprés
GUIGEMAR- where Guigemar is wounded
Guigemar fiert en tel maniere/en la quisse
GUIGEMAR- emphasis on the natural, the way to the ship
un vert chemin
GUIGEMAR- supernatural nature of the ship
n’i out cheville ne closture
GUIGEMAR- impossible to enter the woman’s tower except by water, Guigemar has the one thing needed
nuls n’i pout eissir ne entrer,/se ceo ne fust od un batel
GUIGEMAR- throws Ovid into the fire (he teaches to fight against love)
le livre Ovide, u il enseigne/comment chascuns s’amur estreigne/en un fu ardent le getout
GUIGEMAR- love as torture
ceo fet amurs ki la destreint
GUIGEMAR- love as a natural sickness
ceo est uns mals ki lunges tient,/pur ceo que de nature vient.
GUIGEMAR- lady gives Guigemar permission to love anyone who can untie the knot in his shirt
cungié vus doins, u que ceo seit,/d’amer cele kil desfera/e ki despleier le savra.
GUIGEMAR- the woman can suddenly escape her prison with no trouble
unques nul ne la desturba.
GUIGEMAR- Guigemar says all women look the same, can’t recognise his true love
femmes se resemblent assez.
YONEC- woman so oppressed that she can’t speak without the permission of her husband
mes ja la dame n’i parlast,/se la vieille nel commandast
YONEC- narrow window, difficult to get through
parmi une estreite fenestre
YONEC- says if he proves he believes in god then their love will be possible
s’en Deu creïst e issi fust/que lur amurs estre peüst
YONEC- escape via the window, emphasises the unlikeliness of it
Ele le siut a mult halz criz./Par une fenestre s’en ist;/c’est merveille qu’el ne s’ocist
YONEC- gives her a magical ring that prevents her husband from remembering what happened
li chevaliers l’aseüra/un anelet li a baillié…a sun seigneur n’en memberra/de nule rien ki faite seit.
ÄUSTIC- captures the nightingale
Jeo ai l’äustic engignié,/pour quei vus avez tant veillé
ÄUSTIC- wraps the nightingale up in the silk cloth embroidered with her story
En une piece de samit,/a or brusdé e tut escrit,/a l’oiselet envolupé.
ÄUSTIC- he keeps the nightingale wrapped round his neck, ‘and now we recount the story that could stay hidden for so long’
puis fist la chasse enseeler,/tuz jurs l’a faite od lui porter./Cela aventure fu cuntee,/ne pot estre lunges celee.
CHIEVREFUEIL- love so strong they died the same day
de lur amur ki tant fu fine,/dunt il ourent meinte dolur,/puis en mururent en un jur.
CHIEVREFEUIL- when she sees the branch, of course she will recognise it
de sun ami bien conuistra/le baston quant el le verra
CHIEVREFEUIL- compares them both to the honeysuckle that wraps itself around the branch of hazel
d’els deus fu il tut altresi/cume del chievrefeuil esteit/ki a la coldre se perneit
CHIEVREFEUIL- the queen asks Tristan to write a lai about it
Tristram ki bien saveit harper,/en aveit fet un nuvel lai.
CHIEVREFEUIL- tells us that she has now written down the lai, it is all true
Dit vus en ai la verité/del lai que j’ai ici cunté
ROBERT S.STURGES, ‘MEDIEVAL INTERPRETATION’: interpretation
‘in any love-relationship presented in the lais the lover is always an interpreter…to love, for Marie de France, is to interpret the signs and texts that identify the beloved.’
MIRANDA GRIFFIN, ‘GENDER AND AUTHOIRITY IN THE MEDIEVAL FRENCH LAI’ : physical details, suspension of disbelief
‘It is futile to worry about the physical details…when such a window exists purely within the discursive limits of the lai.’
MATILDA TOMARYN BRUCKNER, ‘SHAPING ROMANCE’: about Guigemar’s comment on women looking the same
‘an accurate description of the textual world in which he lives’
MATILDA TOMARYN BRUCKNER, ‘SHAPING ROMANCE’: link between the lais and human experience, truth
‘The tales may indeed be fictional, but the hypothesis of their truth functions as a link between the lai and human experience.’
