Renard: Chanteclere the Cock and his wife, Pinte the Hen

About the scene and clip:
In this scene, Chanteclere the Cock reproaches his wife, Pinte, for her silly fears, and he begins to nap. The performer imitates the Cock and the Hen. Imitation of animals is central to performance of the Renart stories and of many other medieval works.

About the work:
Le Roman de RenartThe Romance of Renard [or Reynard] the Fox-is the work of many poets, some known, some unknown, of the 12th and 13th centuries. It consists of different “branches,” which recount in octosyllabic rhymed couplets the adventures of Renard and his generally-violent tangles with Isengrin the Wolf, Tibert the Cat, Chanteclere the Cock, and numerous other birds and beasts. Tone and treatment vary, but parody and satire predominate. Many scenes mock feudal institutions, royal justice, religious practices, and courtly love, as well as literary genres such as the epic, romance, and saint’s life; obscenity is frequent. The Renard material apparently originated in France, and then traveled widely, finding receptive audiences in the Low Countries and elsewhere in Europe.

This story comes from Branch II–one of the earliest and most important branches–by Pierre de Saint-Cloud. This particular episode tells about Chanteclere the Cock and his wife, Pinte the Hen; Renart catches Chanteclere but is tricked into letting him go.

The website contains several clips from the Renart that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
While these stories are called a “roman,” that is a romance, Le Roman de Renart is primarily a loose compilation of related tales; these stories also partake of the mock-epic and of satire. Thus, they do not fit neatly into any genre classification.

The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Renard the Fox: The Misadventures of an Epic Hero, trans. Patricia Terry, Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1983, pp. 29ff. French: The Earliest Branches of the Roman de Renart, ed. Anthony Lodge and Kenneth Varty, New Alyth, Lochee Publications, 1989 (other French editions also exist).

About the performer/ensemble:
Alexander Sarian is a student in Educational Theatre at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education (spring 2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Hunchbacks: Inebriated minstrel starts telling the fabliau

About the scene and clip:
The performer, pretending to be somewhat drunk, begins to tell the fabliau of The Three Hunchbacks. Many scenes in medieval literature show enjoyment of inebriated characters or performers.

About the work:
The Three Hunchbacks is a comic tale about a man who marries off his daughter to a jealous hunchback–and about the wife’s clever stratagem to get rid of the bodies of three hunchbacked minstrels who suffocated in trunks in her chamber; her nasty husband is disposed of as well. The website contains several clips drawn from this fabliau, exemplifying some of the many ways in which this story can be performed.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Fabliaux Fair and Foul, trans. John Duval, Pegasus/ Medieval & Renaissance Texts, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 140-141. French: Fabliaux, ed. R.C. Johnston and D.D.R. Owen, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1965 (other French editions also exist).

About the performer/ensemble:
Andrew Porter is a Film and TV student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004); he videoed many scenes for this website.

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Rose: Lover enters Garden of Mirth

About the scene and clip:
The Lover is let into the Garden of Mirth by Idleness (Oiseuse), who describes her way of life to the Lover who cannot wait to join this beautiful life. As well as telling the story, the performer also acts out the roles of the Lover and Idleness, making modest but effective use of costume elements and props.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose is arguably the most influential French work of the Middle Ages. This work is a romance, composed in verse and treating of love. But it is a highly unusual romance in many regards. The Rose introduced into romance a set of major allegorical figures such as Love, Reason, and Danger; it established the popularity of the dream vision; and it launched a new fashion in pseudo-autobiographical narrative. The first 4000 lines (in octosyllabic rhymed couplets) were written by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230. This strongly lyrical part of the romance emphasizes the beauty of the Garden of Love, and the suffering by the Lover in his quest for love; Guillaume’s romance was left unfinished. Around 1280, Jean de Meun completed the work by adding close to 18,000 lines; his lengthy and learned text features speeches delivered by such characters as Reason, the Jealous Husband, the Old Woman, Nature, and Genius.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
Performance abridged from The Romance of the Rose, Harry W. Robbins trans., New York, Dutton, 1962, pp. 12-15. French edition: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, ed./[Modern French] trans. Armand Strubel, Paris, Lettres Gothiques, 1992.

About the performer/ensemble:
Gina Guadagnino graduated from New York University in May 2003 with a major in English; she minored in Medieval & Renaissance Studies and Irish Studies.

About the production:
This performance is one of a series done by Gina Guadagnino under the direction of Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz of New York University over the course of 2003 and 2004. The performance took place at an open class of “Acting Medieval Literature” held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Silence: Silence leads knights in battle

About the scene and clip:
Silence, a successful knight (though in fact a woman), leads the French knights into battle. The performer interacts with the students in the class, some of whom have been designated as “French.”

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 181ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Corey Pierno is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Silence: Queen tries to seduce Silence

About the scene and clip:
Eufeme, the Queen of England, is in love with Silence–disguised as a man–and tries to seduce “him.” Silence attempts to ignore her.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 181ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sarah Wheeler and Sean Russell are both Drama students in the Atlantic Acting School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Silence: Nature creates Silence

About the scene and clip:
Nature talks about her art, and creates Silence from her best mold, one that she has been saving up and has never used before. A student desk serves as a prop: Nature’s coffer. A hood is a simple costume.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 89ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sean Russell is a Drama student in the Atlantic Acting School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004)

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Silence: Friendship and honor

About the scene and clip:
In this scene, the Count of Clermont talks about friendship and honor. This speech takes places during the debate in the French court over the letter–signed by the King of England but actually written by the evil Queen, Eufeme–asking that the King of France have Silence put to death. The count is represented by the performer as an elderly man.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 225ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Julian Jarrell is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Nibelungenlied: Opening lines; group dance

About the scene and clip:
The performer sings the opening lines of The Nibelungenlied, which introduce the themes of the work and the central female character of Kriemhild; he sings and reads the text, accompanying himself on an Irish harp and using appropriate music from the medieval period. The clip then briefly shows a group dancing a medieval round-dance step in a garden, while the performer plays the melody of the epic on the hurdy-gurdy. The Nibelungenlied is sung here to a melody called the “Hildebrandston,” known to be very close to the original melody of the epic. It is not certain if the Nibelungenlied was ever used for dancing, but on the Faroe Islands (between Scotland and Iceland), in a practice dating back many centuries, Nibelungen ballads are still today both sung and danced; those dances inspired this performance.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor/ trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003. The most accessible English edition is the prose translation by A.T. Hatto, The Nibelungenlied, Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth/Middlesex, 1969. Poetic translations of this work also exist; the attractive poetic translation by George Henry Needler is currently (October 2004) available on-line: http://gutenberg.teleglobe.net/etext05/niebn10h.htm

About the performer/ensemble:
Eberhard Kummer, a professional musician and a retired lawyer from Vienna, has been performing works of the German Middle Ages for many years, accompanying himself on the harp, hurdy-gurdy and other instruments. The dancers are Prof. Ulrich Müller of the University of Salzburg, who arranged for Kummer’s performance in New York, and members of the audience.

About the production:
This clip comes from a performance of Middle High German works by Eberhard Kummer at New York University in May 2004. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV at the New York University Deutsches Haus and in its garden. This production was made in cooperation with the “Interdisciplinary Center for Medieval Studies” at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Titurel: Hurdy-gurdy; an episode

About the scene and clip:
The performer demonstrates the hurdy-gurdy; he then sings, from Wolfram von Eschenbach’s fragmentary work Titurel, the episode where the hero Schionatulander tries to catch his beloved Sigune’s hunting dog, which has run away in the forest, with its jeweled collar and leash. The performer uses a melody originally transmitted with one of the manuscripts of the work.

About the work:
In Titurel, a work that exists only in two fragments, Wolfram tells episodes of the story of Sigune, the great grand-daughter of Titurel, the elderly Lord of the Grail, and her love for Schionatulander. (Wolfram had developed this story and many of the characters in more detail in his Parzival. A later poet called Albrecht completed the work at great length in his Jüngerer Titurel). Titurel is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets, with long lines of variable length and stress. A melody is transmitted with one manuscript of this work, which is quite unusual.

About the genre:
This work partakes of both epic and romance, often being termed a “courtly epic,” but drawing heavily on traditions of Arthurian romance.

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel and the Songs, ed./trans. Marion E. Gibbs and Sidney M. Johnson, New York, Garland, 1988, pp. 38-41.

About the performer/ensemble:
Eberhard Kummer, a professional musician and a retired lawyer from Vienna, has been performing works of the German Middle Ages for many years, accompanying himself on the harp, hurdy-gurdy and other instruments.

About the production:
This clip comes from a performance of Middle High German works by Eberhard Kummer at New York University in May 2004. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV at the New York University Deutsches Haus and in its garden. This production was made in cooperation with the “Interdisciplinary Center for Medieval Studies” at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Silence: Merlin’s laughter

About the scene and clip:
This clip shows part of the long scene of Merlin’s laughter: he laughs, in a disturbing way, at situations that do not seem comic to others. The single performer tells the story and imitates all the different voices and characters. Modest props are used: a banana in a shoe is the treasure hidden underground.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 297ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Andrew Elliott is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).