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"Milun" is a
Breton lai
A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short (typically 600–1000 lines), rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-wor ...
by the medieval poet
Marie de France
Marie de France (floruit, fl. 1160–1215) was a poet, likely born in France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court of Kin ...
, (
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
1160 to 1215). ''Milun'' is the ninth lai in the collection known as the ''
Lais of Marie de France
The ''lais'' of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Breton lais by the poet Marie de France. They are written in Anglo-Norman and were probably composed in the late 12th century, most likely between 1155-1170. The short, narr ...
''. Like the other lais (lays) in this collection, ''Milun'' is written in the
Anglo-Norman dialect of
, in couplets of eight syllable">couplet">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
, in couplets of eight syllables in length.
Plot summary
Milun, a knight without equal who lives in southern Wales, falls in love with a beautiful noblewoman (a baron's daughter). They begin a secret affair and soon conceive a child. The noblewoman fears for her reputation because they are not married. She is able to hide the pregnancy. Once the child is born, she has him sent away to her sister in
Northumbria
Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland.
The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
along with precious silk, a ring, and a letter.
Not knowing her love for Milun, the woman's father marries her off to another man. Unwilling to break contact, however, Milun sends messages to his lover by sending a swan with letters hidden in its feathers. This continues for many years, while their son grows up in the home of his aunt.
The young man grows into a powerful knight, whose renown spreads throughout the kingdom, and one day he decides to attend a tournament at the
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France.
The island lies approximately off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is i ...
. Hearing tales of this valiant knight, Milun also decides to attend the tournament, completely unaware that it is his son. Eventually, the father and son meet in battle, where the son is victorious. He knocks off Milun's helmet, and realizing that he is fighting an older gentleman, he approaches him to pay his respects. However, as he gets closer, Milun recognizes the ring on the young man's finger and realizes that this is his long-lost son.
The two share a tearful reunion, and Milun tells his son the entire story of his conception. The young man determines that his only course of action is to return to his mother and kill her husband so that his parents can be reunited. They return to Wales, and when they arrive, they are greeted by a messenger who tells them that the lady's husband has died. Thanks to this coincidence, Milun marries his lady.
Analysis and significance
* This tale's theme of father and son combat is shared by many other stories, one of which being the anonymous lai ''
Doon''.
* The swan is associated with Marie de France. The publication of the International Marie de France Society is named ''Le Cygne'', which is French for "swan".
* The Lai of Milun focuses on the birth of an illegitimate child, much like the
Lai of Yonec.
* Bloch points out other elements such as imposition of a father's unhappy marital choice, the lady confined to a castle, the hiding of an illicit passion.
* Some critics have suggested feminist readings of Marie de France's work, including the lai of Milun.
See also
*
Anglo-Norman literature
Anglo-Norman literature is literature composed in the Anglo-Norman language and developed during the period of 1066–1204, as the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of England were united in the Anglo-Norman realm.
Introduction
The Norman langu ...
*
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
*
Medieval French literature
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
*
Courtly love
Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies b ...
References
*Bloch, R. H. (2003). ''The anonymous Marie de France''. University of Chicago Press.
{{Reflist
External links
Milun text in Old French
Anglo-Norman literature
French poems
Lais of Marie de France