Lanval

After the Battle of Hastings (1066), descendants of Germanic adventurers, called Normans, took possession of England. They were an enormously adjustable group who had captured a large part of Northern France in the beginning of the 10th century, where they had adopted the French language and its Christian religion. Like barons who held land and castles, Norman bishops wielded both political and spiritual authority. In 1154, when Henry II became king, English monarchy's French territories (southwest France) were greatly expanded through his marriage to the divorced wife of Louis VII of France. During the reign of Henry II, his court was a center of writing and learning (poets, theologians, philosophers,and historians). Moreover, extraordinary opportunities for linguistic and societal conversions arrived in England with the presence of a French-speaking ruling class. In the course of the Anglo-Norman period, French literature dominated Western Europe (Greenblatt 8).

The twelfth-century author of Lanval used the signature Marie de France, which reveals only that her given name was Marie and she was born in France. She was very committed to writing and her works paint her as having been a highly educated, independent-thinking noblewoman who was proficient in Latin, English, and French, and who resided mainly in England. She wrote lays (narrative poem in verse) that incorporated secretiveness and the supernatural. Her tales most likely came from

oral sources and are premier examples of the genre that came to be known as the Breton lay. Furthermore, she dedicated her works to a “noble king” who is thought to be Henry II since his period of reign was from 1154-1189 (Greenblatt 98).

The plot of this poem begins with a not...

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...ais” and mentions that they were much loved and praised (Greenblatt 98). In addition, she is one of the Anglo-Norman pioneers of the writing style that eventually became known as romance (Greenblatt 8).

Of special interest to me on this piece by Marie de France are its vivid similarities to the romance and adventure novels I loved to read as a young adult. Therefore, other than the kingdom setting, I truly enjoyed this Anglo-Norman literature. Marie de France included all of the ingredients for a modern-day romance narration, except the period is medieval and not twenty-first century. The struggles within and the finish of the story fully evolve around the romantic love between Lanval and his magical mistress. Like a present-day love story, the narrative contained references to exquisite physical beauty, bravery, mystery, wealth, erotic liaisons, and fantasy.