Lai: (plural lais, also spelled lay) A short narrative or lyrical poem, usually in octosyllabic couplets, intended to be sung. Helen Cooper called the genre the 'mini-Romance' since the typical theme and content deals with courtly love and the other concerns of medieval romance. Unlike the medieval romance, however, the lais are not designed in an episodic manner, i.e., they are not meant to be told in a series of short tales that can be combined and stacked in a single sequential narrative. The main traits individual lais have in common with each other is a particular geographic origin and self-identification as being a lai. Geographically, they are based on older Celtic legends imported to northwestern France by the Bretons. The oldest narrative lais, usually referred to as the contes or les lais de Marie de France, were composed by an Anglo-Norman woman named Marie. (In spite of her common scholarly epithet, she appears to have lived in England.) Her exact identity is a matter of much scholarly discussion. The oldest Old French lais outside of Provençal were written by Gautier de Dargiès (early 1200s). The term 'Breton lay' was applied to English poems in the 1300s that were set in Brittany and were similar to those of Marie de France. A dozen or so examples of the Breton lays survive in English, the best known examples being Sir Orfeo, Havelok the Dane, Sir Launfal, and Chaucer's 'Franklin's Tale' and 'Wife of Bath's Tale.' In the last 400 years, poets have used the term lay more generally as a loose term for any historical ballad or any narrative poem focusing on adventure and the supernatural. See also Bretons, romance, and courtly love.

 

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