Lanval by Marie de France

Lanval by Marie de France is a lay about a knight by the name of Lanval who falls in love with a mystery woman but is told to never speak of their love for if he does he will lose her forever. Lanval is a knight of King Arthur and has been put on trial for asking the Queen for an affair but when she said no he insulted her by bragging about his mystery woman who was said to be more beautiful but this is not true because it is the Queen who asked for the affair and got upset when he said no. In order to prove his innocence, he must show them the mystery woman and then he'd be free but if not he would no longer serve the King and would be banished. Right before he is sentenced the mystery woman appears and they leave together on her house into a "fair island far away".

Thesis Statement: True love is far more valuable, stronger, and should be fought for rather than fake love such as courtly love which is untruthful and ugly. We as humans should not settle for less when it comes to love and or use love as an excuse to one's actions.

"This man so filled with love for her, She gives him her love," (de France,4). This quote is from right after they had promised to love each other and give themselves to each other fully.

More information on Marie de France

Scholarly Sources

Lanval by Marie De France. Translated by Judith P. Shoaf, users.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/Marie/lanval.pdf. 

Damon, S. Foster. “Marie De France: Psychologist of Courtly Love.” PMLA, vol. 44, no. 4, 1929, pp. 968–996. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/457705.

Through this piece by Marie de France there are many argument made but one that stood out to be the most was her argument on love because it is very much present in today's time still. She does this through the two main relationships within the lay and that being Lanval's relationship with the mystery woman and the King and Queen's relationship.

"My lady: That job--don't doubt it, I wouldn't know how to go about it. But I do love--I alone love A lady who'd win the prize Over all women I've known of. And I'll tell you this, without disguise, Just because you need to know: Her serving maids, a poor or low One, even, the poorest in her train, Is better than you are, Lady Queen: In beauty of body and of face, In goodness and in well-bred grace," (de France, 9).

What is happening in the quote above is that the Queen had just finished asking Lanval for an affair and is upset that he said no and insults him which gets him angry and leads him to revealing his love whit the mystery woman who is more beautiful than the Queen. The part where he talks about how even the mystery woman's maids who could be the lowest of the low would still be better than the Queen because his own words get put to the test later on. When he is on trial, several of the mystery woman's maids show up and shock everyone with their beauty while claiming to be Lanval's lover but because Lanval's love for the mystery woman is so strong he denies their claims each time so that he can stay true to his woman. This is very important because is makes a statement against the idea of lying for love which is shown through the King and Queen when the Queen knew what she had done was wrong but still lied about it because she did not want to risk losing her "fake love" with the King.

Scholarly Sources

Root, Jerry. “Courtly Love and the Representation of Women in the ‘Lais’ of Marie De France and the ‘Coutumes De Beauvaisis’ of Philippe De Beaumanoir.” Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, vol. 57, no. 2, 2003, pp. 7–24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1348390.

Lanval by Marie De France. Translated by Judith P. Shoaf, users.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/Marie/lanval.pdf. 

Guy, Jack. “A Cornish Castle Has Recreated the Legendary Crossing of King Arthur's Father.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Aug. 2019, www.cnn.com/travel/article/tintagel-bridge-cornwall-scli-intl/index.html.

Lanval on Tumblr, www.tumblr.com/tagged/lanval.

Marie de France's stance on love is very clear in Lanval because in the end, Lanval and the mystery woman have true love that is pure have the happy ending while the King and Queen who have fake love suffer the consequences that come along with it such as embarrassment, hate, and distrust.

"Now listen to me! And all your barons whom here I see. O King, I have loved your vassal, This one, here! I mean Lanval. In your court he's accused of crime. I didn't want him to have a bad time For what he said; all along, You know, the Queen was in the wrong; He never asked anything of her; As for his boasting of his lover, If the law's satisfied by what you see, May your barons set him free," (de France, 17).

Within the quote above the mystery woman is speaking in front of the court after she made her appearance there to free Lanval. When she points out that the Queen was the one who was actually being untruthful she is revealing the flaw in the King and Queen's love. This is to show that the King is also in the wrong because he never questioned the Queen about her accusations against Lanval and whether or not they were true. Simply because she is his wife and they "love" each other he uses that an excuse to dismiss her wrongful actions.

Scholarly Sources

Pipkin, C.L. Love Without Mesure: Proverb Problems in the Lais of Marie de France. Neophilologus 103, 307–321 (2019). https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1007/s11061-019-09597-7

Lanval by Marie De France. Translated by Judith P. Shoaf, users.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/Marie/lanval.pdf. 

Root, Jerry. “Courtly Love and the Representation of Women in the ‘Lais’ of Marie De France and the ‘Coutumes De Beauvaisis’ of Philippe De Beaumanoir.” Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, vol. 57, no. 2, 2003, pp. 7–24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1348390.

"It is my friend! I don't care if my life should end, Or who kills me, if she has mercy; I'm healed again, when her I see," (de France, 16).

This is Lanval's response to when the mystery woman has finally arrived to the court and prove that she is real. Lanval's response shows how pure of a love he has for this mystery woman because he basically said that he could care less if he died just as long as he is forgiven by her for his mistake in telling about their love. I find this to be very important because in today's time most relationships end badly and only a few lucky ones end up in a happy relationship. I think this is mainly because we have a mind set of low expectations so we settle for something that doesn't make us happy. One example of this is when someone is in an abusive relationship and they forgive them because the abuser will say something like," I'm sorry, I won't ever hit you again, I love you. Okay?" Once we hear "I love you" we use that as an excuse to forgive them. Marie de France uses Lanval and the mystery woman as an example of what a good relationship with true love looks like and that it can be achieved if we really want it.

Image Citation

Prince, Nicole. “January 29, 2019 ‘Lanval’ by Marie De France.” British Literature, 2 Feb. 2019, nprince.home.blog/2019/01/29/january-29-2019-lanval/.

Scholarly Sources

“Love as a Cultural Wager.” The Medieval Risk-Reward Society: Courts, Adventure, and Love in the European Middle Ages, by Will Hasty, Ohio State University Press, COLUMBUS, 2016, pp. 161–204. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvf3w4b7.10.

Lanval by Marie De France. Translated by Judith P. Shoaf, users.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/Marie/lanval.pdf. 

Lanval on Tumblr, www.tumblr.com/tagged/lanval.