It is generally agreed by scholars that sir orfeo is the english version of a lost french lai, the lay dorphee. A dozen or so examples of the breton lays survive in english, the best known examples being sir orfeo, havelok the dane, sir launfal, and chaucers franklins. Fairies and the fairy world in middle english literature. Dating from the end of the thirteenth century, when imitation, not originality, was the rule in english writing, the romance or lay of sir orfeo is not more remarkable for its grace and beauty than for the freedom with which it handles the classic mythology. Well known from 0 to 1500 and current even later, sir orfeo is not the greatest middle english narrative poem, but it nevertheless exhibits great craftsmanship. Sir orfeo, a middle english lay apparently based on a lost french. Clearly, this was a popular narrative, and its easy to see why. Middle english poetry in modern verse by joseph glaser. Representations of the self in the middle english breton lays. Breton lay epic allegory play windowpane is the livestreaming social network that turns your phone into a live broadcast camera for streaming to friends, family, followers, or everyone. In order to prepare readers for the third chapter about the middle english poem sir orfeo, i devote the. The middle english breton lays and the mists of origin springerlink. Breton lay boyd major reference works wiley online.
The breton lais generally r etain the themes of longer chivalric poemstales of adventure and noble love often colored by the supernaturalbut their overall. The otherworld and its spectacle in sir orfeo limina. Sir orfeo is a subtle work, as just the examination of a few lines that is, 267280 shows how they are interwoven with the structure and themes of other parts of the text. A breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval french and english romance literature.
An exploration of the semantic and cultural fields behind the term breton suggests that the modern word celtic corresponds better to what is implied by the expression breton lay. In its day, it was probably performed orally to music as well as read. The steward he sat him down at the board, with many a noble knight and lord, all kinds of music had they, i trow, of trumpet and tabour, and harp enow, in the hall was no lack of melody sir orfeo hearkened silently and till all had done he held him still then he took and tempered his harp with skill. The otherworld and its spectacle in sir orfeo blythe hsingwen tsai national chung cheng university, taiwan in the middle english breton lay, sir orfeo c. This rich and lively anthology offers a broad selection of middle english poetry from about 1200 to 1500 c. Sir orfeo is a magical confection, a medieval resetting of the classic tale of orpheus and euridyce as the quest of king orfeo to reclaim his wife lady heurodis from the realm of the king of faery. The ultimate source of the poem is evidently the story of orpheus. The breton lays are short narrative poems, related to romances, fabliaux, and folktales. When she awakes, she begins to scream and claw her face. In her analysis, there is no such subcategory as middle english breton lays, but instead short romances that occasionally resort to the procedures of the breton lai, among which she mentions sir orfeo and sir launfal.
The tale of sir orfeo or sir orpheus occurs in a manuscript written in about. There are three breton lays in the famous auchinleck manuscript national library of scotland advocates ms 19. Sir orfeo by j r r tolkien famous poems, famous poets. This is absolutely clear after reading sir orfeo because of the rhythm and rhyme of the lines and stanzas. After an introduction on the breton lay, the poem introduces sir orfeo, an english king who is also a skilled harpist.
Through the lookingglass, with a harp, in her book, there and back again. Identifies celtic folktales and mythic symbols which reside in orfeo and which have parallels in other texts. Orpheo regis, or orfeo pe kyng, or just orfeo after pe kyng. Sir orfeo and english identity by dominique battles scholars have long noted how the abduction of queen heurodis in the middle english sir orfeo is as much, if not more, a political crime as a personal one, and how the loss of heurodis very quickly turns into the loss of a kingdom. They took their harp withouten fail, made them a lay, and named the tale. Chaucer calls his franklins tale a breton lay but it is a very unusual example of the genre. It is at this endpoint my paper begins, as an attempt not at critical explication of the poem. The theme of musical power is borrowed from the ancient story of orpheus, creating a fantasy tale or, breton lay, for the modern audience of the middle ages. Orfeos harp is central to sir orfeo as a literary text.
Sir orfeo was probably written in the late th or early 14th century in the westminstermiddlesex area. A catalogue of episodes, objects, and characters sir orfeo shares with other texts stemming from celtic materials. Compared with chaucers literary figures, the characters in the breton lays are not even actually types. Familiarising sir orfeo, an essay by robert sanderson, traces the historical path of the orpheus myth from antiquity to the middle ages and explores breton lyric lays and the interlacing of the classical story with the celtic theme of the fairyrealm under the hill. The story is preserved in three middle english manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, based on a lost breton lyric lay, and in the shetlandic folkballad king orfeo. Be it at court, in a family or simply a married couple, the harmonious unity of a social group depends on the loyalty of its members to its. Full text of sir orfeo see other formats stop early journal content on jstor, free to anyone in the world this article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in the world by jstor. The middle english breton lays and the mists of origin. Sophister module description template 202021 surviving. The otherworld and its spectacle in sir orfeo academia. A valuable basic student edition illustrating the variety of subjects and narrative modes that engaged medieval storytellers and their audiences. Breton lay boyd major reference works wiley online library. Middle english poetry in modern verse by glaser, joseph ebook. Sir orfeo, a reimagining of the classical myth of orpheus and eurydice in which abduction and madness mask deeper anxieties about royal authority and the fear of military invasion.
It has the brevity that characterizes the breton lai. Sir launfal is a 1045line middle english romance or breton lay written by thomas chestre dating from the late 14th century. The breton lais generally r etain the themes of longer chivalric poemstales. Compare and contrast the roles of supernatural elements in both poems and how notions of courtly love affect the way the interference of the supernatural is.
The cock and the fox, a beast fable by robert henryson. It is commonly supposed that the breton lays, in both old french of the 12th century and middle english of the 14th century, were based on songs originally sung by breton minstrels. Identifying the breton lays in middle english as a coherent corpus is a. Originally composed in anglon orman, these relatively brief poems ostensibly originated in the oral legends of b rittany. The label is awkward because it may seem to suggest that the poems are consistently derived from or inspired by breton or old french sources and thus. As its title suggests, the poem is an english adaptation and reworking of the popular orpheus myth, the most famous. Sir launfal academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. It retells the story of orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from. It is preserved in three manuscripts that i will discuss later. This is the adventure of the rich and noble knight sir launfal, even as the breton lay recounts it. This orfeo, he was king with crown, a mighty lord of high renown, a stalwart man, and hardy too, courteous. It retells the story of orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from the fairy king. Ill as a story which has been accorded something of the treatment appro priate to a breton lay sir orfeo combines the usual themes of romantic.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Thematic structure and symbolic motif in the middle english. Middle english breton lai the tale of sir orfeo the tale of sir orfeo or sir orpheus occurs in a manuscript written in about 3040 in a london scriptorium and known famously as the auchinleck manuscript, in which is also found the tale of sir degare. It now lies in the national library of scotland as manuscript advocates 1921. By elizabeth c dearnley, on 30 october 20 click on the map for fullsized version ive been continuing to experiment with ways of visualising the breton lai metadata ive been collecting, and the latest visualisation ive created is a map of breton lai motifs. The poem ends by noting performance and composition, and by giving itself a name. Loyalty and treason in some middle english breton lays. His father from king pluto came, his mother from juno, king of fame, who once of old as gods were named for mighty deeds they did and claimed. The actual word lai derives from a german word meaning melody.
Lais are short typically 600 lines, rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairyworld celtic motifs. In sir orfeo, heurodis under her ympetree literally grafts, or plugs, this world onto the realm of fairy. Moreover, i provide parallels with sir orfeo and talk about the other world as it is described in irish legends and medieval romances. Sir orfeo, sir degare, lay le freine, the franklins tale, sir launfal, the earl of toulouse, emare, and sir gowther. The valiant and courteous king, arthur, was sojourning at carduel, because of the picts and the scots who had greatly destroyed the land, for they were in the kingdom. The story of sir orfeo presents the format of breton lai very well. Sir orfeo and english identity by dominique battles scholars have long noted how the abduction of queen heurodis in the middle english sir orfeo is as much, if not more, a political crime as a personal one, and how the loss of heurodis very quickly turns into the loss. Anngroong tlg sir orfeo translated by sos bagramyan. Middle english breton lays often depict a feudal world that rests on mutual trust and fealty between a lord and his vassals, and in which love relations are conceived in terms of a covenant that binds the knight to his beloved, whether mortal or fairy. The book concludes with substantial excerpts from longer narratives such as piers plowman and confessio amantis. Thematic structure and symbolic motif in the middle. Sir orfeo also contains a rash promise but, instead of a rock banishing celtic magician, sir orfeo includes supernatural fairies. Eadie, a suggestion as to the origin of the steward in the middle english sir orfeo, trivium 7 1972, 5460. Orfeos harp assuages his grief, tames beasts and birds, wins him back his wife, and restores his kingdom.
Sir orfeo is an anonymous middle english breton lai dating from the late th or early 14th century. Perhaps the most prominent symbol in sir orfeo, a middle english breton lay written by an unknown author in a dialect from the westminstermiddlesex area in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, is. Middle english poetry in modern verse joseph glaser. Breton lays in english, as the production of lai le freine nimev 38691, sir landeval nimev 3203, sir orfeo nimev 3868, and sir degare nimev 1895 well attests marvin 865. Leeds studies in english school of english university of leeds. The steward is a high court official from the nobility, but in the conventions of medieval romance, he is often evil. One day in may, his wife herodis falls asleep under a grafted tree in their orchard. After orfeo has a dream in which his wife, heurodis, is abducted by the fairy king, he takes every precaution to. Middle english poetry in modern verse by glaser, joseph. The analysis focuses first on the fairies of the text and their monstrous characteristics. This website examines a passage from the middle english breton lay sir orfeo, both as a work of literature and as a physical text sir orfeos harp. The text sir orfeo, an edition in middle english by. Sir orfeo was a king of old, in england lordship high did hold. Middle english poetry in modern verse joseph glaser download.