Middle Ages Romances

Le Chevalier au Lion

Chretien de Troyes' Le Chevalier au Lion (The Knight of the Lion) tells the story of the lovelorn Arthurian knight Yvain, rather than Arthur and Guievere themselves. Thus, the tale of Yvain acts a powerful challenge to contemporary assumptions of about what constitutes a Middle Age Arthurian Romance. First of all, the tale does not revolve around the knightly, courtly conventions of Arthurian honor or loyalty to the king and his code of ethics at all, but around the personal struggles of one of Arthur's knights. Arthur's own tale is peripheral to the story and merely provides a 'frame' to the tale. Rather, Yvain's love for a woman, rather than his service to Arthur is the focus of the narration.

Pining for a love of his wife, the hero loses his mind and throws away his knightly life, taking to the woods. A...
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