Magic And Fairies In Marie De France's 'Lanval'

As is custom with Marie De France, her lai “Lanval” presents the idea of a romance in which the power of fairies and/or magic is present and works to aid or hurt the romance in question. In the case of “Lanval” magic and fairies come to the aid of our protagonist Lanval, and ultimately lead to the formation of a romantic relationship in his life. However, Lanval faces a dilemma as he talks of his love to the fairy woman while rejecting the Queen’s love, and thus realizes he will never be able to see his beloved again, as she had told him never to speak of their romance or he would lose her. Luck turns in his favor though, as even after having spoken of their love, his beloved returns and they leave together. Many may speculate as to why Marie

wrote it so that her protagonist would still end up with his beloved after he had disobeyed her. It may then be seen that she wrote it this way to fit the format of a traditional medieval lai.
Something to note about lais, as we learned in class, is that some of the ideas presented are parallel to the ideas of a fairy tale. One of those similarities is that, similar to a fairy tale, a lai will put the hero through a test which then will lead to “a transgression by the hero” themselves (powerpoint). This transgression is then usually followed by “a reunion scene in which truth comes out, justice is done, and order is restored” (powerpoint). In the case of Lanval, he is ordered by his beloved to never speak of their love as he “would lose [her] forever if this love were to become known” (pp. 75). This order, then, would be seen by the reader as Lanval’s test. His transgression is then when he admits to the Queen, who is trying to receive his love, that he “[loves] and [is] loved by a lady who should be prized above all others [he knows]” (pp. 76). By admitting his love, he is going against his lover and thus comes to the realization that he will never see her again. He is then also faced with the trouble of having to go to trial to defend his actions against the Queen and avoid banishment from the kingdom or even death, as he had boasted how his beloved’s beauty and even her lowest servant’s beauty surpassed that of the Queen. The King tells Lanval that the only way he could be seen as innocent was if “he [could] provide proof” that his beloved was indeed more beautiful than the Queen and if she could make her presence known so that others could see her reported beauty. She showed up, thus inciting a reunion between her and Lanval. Her appearance there also leads to those in the King’s kingdom realizing that Lanval told the truth about his beloved, which in turn leads to his innocence being declared. Thus, justice for Lanval has been served. Order is then restored, as Lanval rides off with his love, and the kingdom can return to its previous state.
Thus, while Marie did not explain why she made it so Lanval could end up with the beautiful fairy-woman, she really did not need to. As long as one understands the paralells between a lai and a fairy tale, one can understand Marie’s narrative choices. Like those in a fairy tale, Lanval was put to a test, faced a transgression, the truth came out, and justice was served for him.