In class (Ancien Francais), we read Le Lai du Fresne by Marie de France. (We have since moved on from francien to anglo-norman (which is like francien, except everything is spelled differently).) K, who sits behind me, works at a bookstore; she came across a few copies of a compilation of Marie de France's Lais and her boss let her have them. She gave me a copy and I have been reading a bit here and there. There is a bit of commentary by the editors after each lai
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romantic love (i.e., courtly and/or chivalric) has a number of permutations and is frequently subverted during the medieval period. i advise you to stay away from the fabliaux, which are lewd in the extreme. even chretien de troyes' arthurian texts play with courtly codes ... but original courtly lyric involves a very chaste sort of love, in which the "unworthy" male writer writes poems for the unattainably lady of the court.
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