Category Archives: French, Old

Equitan

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
This clip gives the entire lai of Equitan in Old French. The performer acts as narrator and also impersonates the characters. Note: You may need to use speakers for this clip.

About the work:
Marie de France, a major literary figure from the Middle Ages, is one of the few women writers of the period whose work has survived. Little is known of her, except that she was almost certainly of the nobility. She wrote in England apparently in the 1160s and ‘70s; her work is in French (or “Anglo-Norman”: the French language as spoken and written in medieval England). She wrote lais—a dozen short narrative poems with Breton roots, composed in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, and bearing on love in its many forms. The lais circulated separately, and also together in a volume that she dedicated to King Henry (probably English King Henry II). She also wrote Espurgatoire seint Patriz (St. Patrick’s Purgatory), about a pilgrimage down to the afterlife, based on Latin sources; and Fables, also based largely on Latin sources. She is now widely believed also to have been the author of the Anglo-NormanVie seinte Audree (Life of Saint Audrey).

The Lai of the Equitan is one of Marie de France’s Lais. It tells of the adulterous love affair between Equitan, the king, and the wife of one of his vassals. The two lovers decide to kill the lady’s husband so they can marry—but they are the ones who end up dying.

About the genre:
A narrative lai is a short poetic tale composed in verse, which claims to tell the story of how a musical lai from ancient Brittany came to be written. The 12th-century Anglo-Norman woman poet Marie de France is the best known author of narrative lais in French, and may be one of the creators of the genre.

About the edition/translation:
The Old French edition used here comes from Karl Warnke’s 1900 edition of MS Harley 978, as translated and annotated by Laurence Harf-Lancner, Lais de Marie de France, Paris, Livre de Poche, 1990.  Available translations are: The Lais of Marie de France, trans. Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante, Durham, NC, Labyrinth, 1982; and one on-line by Judith Shoaf, at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Marie/equitan.pdf

About the performer/ensemble:
Tamara Caudill is an independent scholar from Winchester, Kentucky.  She holds a Masters degree in French Literature from the University of Kentucky.

About the production:
This performance took place at the International Medieval Conference at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in May 2011. It was videoed at the conference.

Rose: Images on wall; Lover enters Garden of Mirth

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
A group performs the opening scenes of the Romance of the Rose: they act out the allegorical figures on the wall and the Lover’s entry into the Garden of Mirth, where he meets the beautiful people in it.

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.

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 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:
Performance abridged and slightly amended from The Romance of the Rose, Harry W. Robbins trans., New York, Dutton, 1962, pp. 3ff. 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:
Samantha Able and Selina Fonseca are students in the Stonestreet Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012). Katie Henry is a student in Dramatic Writing in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012). William Hutto is a student in the Meisner Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012).  Ben Radding is a Journalism and Comparative Literature student in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2012). Abigail Wahl is a student in the Stella Adler Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and in Medieval and Renaissance Literature in the College of Arts and Science (2013). Katherine Tsamparlis is a student in Comparative Literature and History in the College of Arts and Science (2012).

Rhymed Roland: Aude and Charlemagne mourn together (in Old French)

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
Using a modest costume element and recorded music, the solo artist performs in Old French one of the scenes that show how different the Rhymed Roland is from the most famous version of the Roland story, The Song of Roland. In this scene, Charlemagne holds Aude in his arms. Her heart trembles, her eyes become cloudy, her forehead is pale; she faints. Then she cries out to the Emperor to show her the bodies of her bold brother, Oliver, and of Roland, who had promised to marry her. She tells Charlemagne that she will go away together with her “ami” and her brother who has suffered. Charlemagne says to her, “Beautiful one, they have forgotten me and you!”

About the work:
The story of Roland was famous throughout the Middle Ages. The earliest surviving version, generally titled La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) is one of the great masterpieces of French medieval literature; it dates apparently from the late 11th century and is preserved in a famous manuscript now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This classic version is composed in laisses (or stanzas) of variable length with ten-syllable lines in assonance (the final vowel is the same within each laisse). Epics like the Roland were originally sung by jongleurs, often with vielle accompaniment. The Roland tells of the Emperor Charlemagne’s great struggle to conquer Spain from the Muslim Infidels. It recounts the betrayal of the French by the traitor, Ganelon, resulting in a great battle at Roncevaux. There, the French rearguard, led by Roland, defeats the Moors, but all the great French knights—the twelve peers—die. Charlemagne avenges the peers in two great battles, and Ganelon is punished. At the end, Charlemagne is called by the angel Gabriel to a new mission.

Such are the classic plot of this work, and the traditional French epic form. But there were many other, somewhat different, versions of the Roland story, some of which survive. One of them is the so-called Roland rimé, or Rhymed Roland. This poem (in two surviving manuscripts) apparently dates from the second half of the 12th century. It is composed in rhymed laisses, rather than in assonanced lines. One of the great innovations of this poem is the vastly amplified and dramatic role it gives to Aude, Roland’s fiancée, who barely appeared in the Song of Roland.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which 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:
La Chanson de Roland/The Song of Roland: The French Corpus, gen. ed. Joseph J. Duggan, Turnhout, Belgium, Brepols Publishers, 2005; vol. II: The Châteauroux-Venice 7 Version, ed. Joseph J. Duggan, ll. 7170ff; p. 414.

About the performer/ensemble:
Elizabeth Sprague is a student in Dramatic Literature and in Journalism in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2005).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in fall 2005. Nitzan Rotschild was the videographer.

Lancelot: Queen Guinevere repents of her cruelty; Lancelot attempts suicide

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The Queen, thinking that Lancelot has died, repents of her cruelty toward him. Then Lancelot, thinking that the Queen is dead, tries to kill himself in despair. The storyteller performs all the roles, in Old French.

About the work:
Lancelot is one of the five surviving romances by the great narrative poet Chrétien de Troyes; it is centrally concerned with the love affair between Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, and Lancelot, one of the knights of the Round Table. This unfinished romance contains many adventures of Lancelot and Gawain as they attempt to rescue Guinevere, who has been carried off by the evil Meleagant.

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:
Abridged from Le Chevalier de la charrette, ed. Charles Méla, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/Livre de Poche, 1994, pp. 624ff. English translation: Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1990.

About the performer/ensemble:
Michael Abourizk is a student in Dramatic Literature and Theatre History, with a minor in French, in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Silence: Minstrels

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
This pair of clips tells of the vielle-playing minstrels in Silence. In the first clip, we hear about the minstrels who entertain at noble courts; in the second clip, Silence has become a minstrel. Zaerr performs the story in Old French while playing the vielle.

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, ll. 2759ff, pp. 128ff; ll. 3233, pp. 152ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Linda Marie Zaerr is Professor of English at Boise State University (2007) and a professional performer of medieval literature who has performed widely at scholarly conferences and given many concerts. In her performances she narrates, acts, sings, and plays the vielle.

About the production:
Linda Marie Zaerr had these two scenes videoed and contributed them to the website. We wish to express our gratitude for this valuable contribution.