February's book: The lais of Marie de France

This month, we’ll be reading the lais of Marie de France, a collection of twelve short narrative poems written by the first known female poet in French literature. Composed in the 12th century, the lais (also spelled lays) tell tales of chivalry, knightly adventures, and courtly love, inspired by minstrel stories Marie de France heard at court.

Written in the Anglo-Norman dialect of Old French, her lais were highly influential in shaping the Breton lai tradition, a genre of rhyming medieval romance that spread through both France and England. They were also among the earliest works to be translated into Old Norse.

While the original lais were written in eight-syllable rhyming verse, the version we’ll be reading is a prose translation.

We will be sending out one poem every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in February, starting with introductions and “The Lay of Gugemar” on Monday the 3rd and finishing with “The Lay of Yonec” on Friday the 28th. Check it out each day on this site, or subscribe to the book club to get each chapter sent to your email inbox!

The text is provided by Standard Ebooks. If you want to read ahead or download the book to your ereader, there are multiple formats available on Standard Ebooks’ page for the collection. We are not affiliated with the organization, but they have put a significant amount of effort into making public domain works accessible to everyone. Go ahead and check them out.

If you prefer audiobooks, listen along with an audio version from LibriVox and listen along. Or, if you like the feel of paper while you’re reading, support your local independent book store by buying a copy from Bookshop.org or take it out from your local library.

For more information on Marie de France and Breton lais, check out the book’s page on Wikipedia.

Thanks for joining the book club, and we hope you enjoy the lais of Marie de France this month!