8 h 15 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 15 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love offers escape from an unhappy life, but asks you to trust a stranger?
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France gathers short tales by Marie de France and others. Lovers enter guarded households, challenge marriages, and cross differences of rank. Knights face dangerous promises. Beneath the magic and courtly manners lie jealousy, loneliness, desire, and the need to trust.
In Guigemar, a knight with little interest in love encounters a wounded animal and a strange ship. His journey leads toward a woman isolated by marriage. In The Were-Wolf, a nobleman's secret changes how others can treat him. Both tales ask what loyalty means when appearances cannot be trusted.
What you’ll discover
- Love beyond guarded doors Enter households where desire challenges marriage, rank, and the arrangements that keep lovers apart.
- Guigemar's strange journey Follow a knight toward unfamiliar feelings through a wounded animal and a mysterious ship.
- The Were-Wolf's hidden life Meet a nobleman whose secret puts the meaning of loyalty under pressure.
- Magic with human stakes Discover enchantments that offer openings for escape, yet also give betrayal a new weapon.
- Brief tales, sharp feelings Explore stories linked to Brittany, each holding a single predicament and its emotional stakes in focus.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy fairy tales for adults, knights and ladies, Arthurian courts and secret love will love this collection. It suits those drawn to short tales with vivid images and touches of magic.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Marie saves the old songs from being forgotten
- A wounded knight drifts to a locked garden
- Short tales show love's cost in quick strokes
- Honor and love pull one good knight apart
- A fairy lover asks for silence and gets boasting
- Hidden natures test the people who love them
- Rings and silk carry lost families through time
- Devotion survives banishment, pilgrimage and separation
- Careless love and spoken secrets bring ruin
- Marie tells the tales in a plain fireside voice
Who’s who
- GugemarA Breton knight who feels no love until a wounded doe curses him, and a ship carries him to the lady who can heal him.
- EliducA loyal Breton knight, exiled by his king, who falls in love with a princess while his wife waits at home.
- GuillardunThe young princess who sends Eliduc a girdle and a ring and hopes to make him her husband.
- LaunfalA generous knight of Arthur's court, left poor and unrewarded, who is given a fairy lover on one strict condition.
- BisclavaretA noble baron who becomes a werewolf three days each week and trusts his wife with the secret.
- FreneA foundling left in an ash tree, raised in an abbey, who grows up gracious and wins the love of Lord Buron.
- MilonA famous Welsh knight who loves a baron's daughter and sends messages to her by a trained swan.
- The Chatelaine of VergiThe Duke's niece, who loves a knight in secret and signals him with her little dog.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Romances medievales franceses de los Lais de María de Francia
by María de Francia, traducido por Eugene Mason
A wounded knight drifts out to sea on a ship with no crew, and a lady in a locked garden waits.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEspañol
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if a white deer spoke to you in a human voice and told you that your wound can be healed only by a woman who will suffer for love of you? French Mediaeval Romances gathers the Lays of Marie de France, short stories first made in verse in the twelfth century and offered to a king.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Marie saves the old songs from being forgotten
Marie opens with a short prologue that gives her reason for writing. She believes that those who have the gift of graceful speech should not hide it, but let it shine.
She thinks of turning a fine story from Latin or Romance into the common tongue. But all such stories have already been written. So she remembers the Lays she has so often heard from minstrels. Her ancestors made them to keep alive the deeds of those who came before, and she does not want them to perish. She shapes them into rhyme, and the work often keeps her awake in bed. She offers the gift to a most noble and courteous king.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 5 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Marie de France. French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/french-mediaeval-romances-from-the-lays-of-marie-de-france.
Marie de France. (2026). French mediaeval romances from the lays of Marie de France. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/french-mediaeval-romances-from-the-lays-of-marie-de-france
Marie de France. French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/french-mediaeval-romances-from-the-lays-of-marie-de-france.
@book{mariedefrance2026french,
author = {Marie de France},
title = {French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/french-mediaeval-romances-from-the-lays-of-marie-de-france}
}
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What are the Lays of Marie de France about?
They are short tales of courtly love set in Brittany, Wales and Normandy. Knights and ladies meet fairies, speaking animals and magic ships, and their love is tested by jealousy, loyalty and the keeping of secrets.
What is a Breton lay?
A Breton lay is a short story based on a song the Bretons made to remember an adventure. Marie says she retells the Lays minstrels sang to her, and each tale ends by naming the song.
Which stories are in this collection?
It holds sixteen tales after a short prologue. They are Gugemar, the Dolorous Knight, Eliduc, the Nightingale, Launfal, the Two Lovers, the Werewolf, the Ash Tree, the Honeysuckle, Equitan, Milon, Yonec, the Thorn, Graelent, A Story from Across the Sea and the Chatelaine of Vergi.
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