Four lais of Marie de France: An octosyllabic verse translation with analysis

All that can be said with certainty about Marie de France is that everything is uncertain. The scribes of the Middle Ages with their illuminated manuscripts have left us very little by which we might know more about her across an interval of eight hundred years. However, there remain to us three works from the twelfth century in which an author is identified by the name "Marie." These three works are a collection of fables, sometimes called an Ysopet, a religious story titled L'Espurgatoire de Saint Patrice, and a collection of twelve lais. Four of these twelve lais form the subject of this work for the purpose of a new poetic translation.; It has been almost twenty years since the publication in print form of the most recent English translation of the complete lais. It was prepared by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby and titled The Lais of Marie de France, originally published in 1986. However, their excellent prose translation lacks the poetry of Marie's original lais which were written in verse of rhymed octosyllabic couplets. This work presents the importance of there being a new translation in accordance with Marie's original verse form, as well as the actual verse translations in rhymed octosyllabic couplets of four of Marie's lais. Those lais are: "Chievrefoil," "Laustic," "Deus Amanz," and "Bisclavret."; This work contains, in addition to the translation proper, a background of the author and her works and their importance. This is followed by a presentation of the importance of a more recent translation, one which adheres to Marie's own verse form. There is an analysis of the methodology used in accomplishing the translations, including a discussion of specific problems encountered and how they were resolved.