The Lais of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative poems in Anglo-Norman, generally focused on glorifying the concepts of courtly love through the adventures of their main characters. Little is known of their author, Marie, but she is said to be born in France, which is how she is known, and lived in England when the lais were written in the late 12th century. Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... The Anglo-Norman language is the name given to the variety of Norman spoken by the Anglo-Normans, the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the conquest by William of Normandy in 1066. ... Court of Love in Provence in the 14th Century (after a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). ... Marie de France (Marie of France) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

Marie de France's lais, told in octosyllabic verse, are notable for their celebration of love, individuality of character, and vividness of description – hallmarks of the emerging literature of the times.

Five different manuscripts contain one or more of the lais, but only one – Harley 978, a thirteenth century manuscript housed in the British Library – preserves all twelve. That collection also includes a 56-line prologue in which Marie describes the impetus for her composition of the lais. A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... A prologue (Greek πρόλογος, from προ~, pro~ - fore~, and lógos, word), or rarely prolog, is a prefatory piece of writing, usually composed to introduce a drama. ...

Two of Marie's lais – Lanval, a very popular work that was adapted several times over the years (including the Middle English Sir Launfal), and Chevrefoil (The Honeysuckle), a short composition about Tristan and Iseult – mention King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Marie's lais were precursors to later works on the subject, and Marie was probably a contemporary of Chrétien de Troyes, another writer of Arthurian tales. Lanval is one of the Lais of Marie de France. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... Garrett, E. H (1853-1929), Sir Launfal Scorns a Beggar from: The Vision of Sir Launfal. ... Species Lonicera albiflora Lonicera arizonica Lonicera x bella Lonicera caerulea Lonicera canadensis Lonicera caprifolium Lonicera chrysantha Lonicera ciliosa Lonicera conjugialis Lonicera dioica Lonicera etrusca Lonicera flava Lonicera fragrantissima Lonicera x heckrottii Lonicera hirsuta Lonicera hispidula Lonicera interrupta Lonicera involucrata Lonicera japonica Lonicera korolkowii Lonicera maackii Lonicera x minutiflora Lonicera morrowii... The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield is one of the chivalrous mourners at the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I (died 1519), in Innsbruck King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship... The Knights of the Round Table were those men awarded the highest order of Chivalry at the Court of King Arthur in the literary cycle the Matter of Britain. ... Chrétien de Troyes wrote in Champagne, France, during the last half of the twelfth century. ...

The Lais

(This list follows the sequence of texts found in Harley 978.)

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lanval is one of the Lais of Marie de France. ...

See also

• Breton lai
• Anglo-Norman literature
• Medieval literature

A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. ... Anglo-Norman literature is literature composed in the Anglo-Norman language developed during the period 1066-1204 when the Duchy of Normandy and England were united in the Anglo-Norman realm. ... Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. ...

External links

• French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France by Marie de France, available freely at Project Gutenberg

Template:France-literature-stub Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...