Marie de France Seven of Her Lays Done Into English

Today, much of the life of Marie de France is shrouded in mystery. Scholars have very little information on the woman behind countless medieval poems, lays and songs. Even her real name remains unknown to scholars. Nevertheless, we do know that Marie de France lived at the end of the 12th century and was commissioned to write for a royal court (probably the court of Henry II of England). She lived in both England and France and wrote in Anglo-Norman, a dialect that was spoken in Northern France. Marie de France's poetry and lays deal with themes of love, eroticism, the knightly code and good and evil. She is most famous for her works Lais of Marie de France, her translation of Aesop's Fables and various other collections of poetry. This handsome book contains a selection of Marie de France's lays, including "Guigemar," "The Ash Tree," "Two Lovers" and more.