THE LAYS OF MARIE DE FRANCE
Translated by Edward J. Gallagher
Read by Georgina Sutton, David Rintoul
5 hours and 6 minutes
The 12 Lays of Marie de France offer one of the most striking collections of short narrative poems of the 12th century – two centuries before Chaucer. Written in Anglo-French, they contain beguiling and entertaining stories of love and romance, of chivalry and adventure with, sometimes, even a magical twist. They are especially unique in early literature by being ascribed to a female poet, Marie de France: in the very first Lay – Guigemar – is the introductory line: ‘Hear my Lords, what Marie says, who does not wish to be forgotten in her time.’ Continue Reading →
