"Chaitivel", also known as "Les Quatre Deuils" or "Le Malheureux" in modern French or "The Four Sorrows" in English, 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-worl ...

by the medieval poet

Marie de France Marie de France (fl. 1160 to 1215) was a poet, possibly born in what is now 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 o ...

. ''Chaitivel'' is the tenth poem 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 ...

'' and is one of very few lais to contain alternate titles. Like the other poems in this collection, ''Chaitivel'' is written in the Anglo-Norman dialect of

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...

, in couplets of eight syllables in length.

Synopsis

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

, lives an exceedingly beautiful lady, who is loved by four knights. Because they are equally chivalrous, she cannot decide which one she prefers and decides to love them all at the same time. When a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

is announced at Nantes, shortly after

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, competitors come from all over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, including the four knights. In the tournament, three of the knights are killed and one is severely injured in the thigh. The lady builds a tomb and enshrines the dead; and then she ensures that the remaining knight receives the best medical care possible, though his injury has caused him to be impotent. While the lady frequently visits the knight, she continues to think of the three others who died. One night after dinner, the lady tells the knight that she will compose a lai in honor of her four lovers and name it "The Four Sorrows". The knight objects, however, stating that she should name it "The Unfortunate One" ("Chaitivel"). He explains that he has suffered the most: every day he must watch his beloved come and go, and yet he can never make love to her. The lady agrees and names the lai ''Chaitivel''.

External links

Chaitivel text
in

. 12th-century poems French poems Lais of Marie de France

Synopsis

See also

External links