Lanval Summary PDF

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A summary of the lais "Lanval" by Marie de France....

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Monday, May 3, y

Lanval by Marie de France Summary - Lanval is a knight in King Arthur’s court, was overlooked by King Arthur when he forgot to invite him to a banquet where gifts were distributed

- Lanval, upset by this, rides his horse into the woods to be alone - As he sits alone by a stream, two beautiful maidens approach him and ask him to follow them to meet their mistress, a fairy

- He agrees and follows them to her tent - The faery is a beautiful woman wearing an elegant (and somewhat revealing) gown, her tent is extremely ornate as well

- She says that she has been looking for him and, if she finds him worthy, he will be granted great happiness

- Lanval is completely struck by her beauty and says he is willing to do anything she asks of him

- She decides he is worthy and they sleep together - The fairy mistress blesses Lanval saying that the more richly he spends, the more gold and silver he will have

- She asks him to promise to keep their new relationship a secret, he agrees and returns to the court

- When Lanval returns home, he gives his fellow men many gifts, he and his fairy mistress continue to meet

- At a gathering, Lanval sits alone, missing his fairy mistress - Queen Guinevere approaches and flirts with Lanval, she tries to get him to sleep with her

- He refuses and she accuses him of homosexuality - He protests these accusations in anger, saying that he has a relationship with his fairy mistress and even her handmaidens are more beautiful than Queen Guinevere 1

Monday, May 3, y

- The queen runs off to her chamber and cries to King Arthur, telling him that Lanval was hitting on her and then told her his lover was more beautiful than her because she rejected him (a complete lie, yikes)

- Lanval realizes that he has both revealed his relationship, breaking his promise, AND greatly insulted the queen (double yikes)

- King Arthur storms in and demands to put Lanval on trial for his actions - They decide that if his lady arrives, then he must have been telling the truth

- Lanval has been calling for his lady, but she has not appeared, so he becomes very sullen and depressed, hating himself for breaking his promise with her

- The other knights believe Lanval’s version of what happened, but they are afraid to oppose the king, so they agree to a trial

- As the trial is about to proceed, his lady’s handmaidens burst in two by two, then finally his lady arrives

- The fairy mistress is radiant, with long, curly, blonde locks and a gorgeous white gown, riding a white horse

- She testifies for him and King Arthur lets Lanval live - She takes Lanval upon her horse and they ride off to live happily ever after

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