To me, this story is about Lanval the outcast. He’s this loyal knight who is dissed by his fellow knights; he’s just as chivalrous as they are, so what’s the deal? Why can’t he be accepted? Arthur also doesn’t grant Lanval the land he’s promised, and loyalty goes both ways, right? He doesn’t fit into this society, so it only makes sense that is love is outside of that as well.
Even his beloved is described as an otherworldly creature, “The judges who saw her marveled at the sight; no one who looked as her was not warmed with joy” it sounds as though she's straight out of a fairytale. Often, a love so deep as this will always be at odds when it comes to society’s "standards". The world isn’t a place where a love like theirs can flourish, which is why it’s being kept a secret.
Even though there’s a happy ending, their love can’t even exist in the real world. The ugliness of this world is emphasized when Lanval’s love refuses to stay when offered Arthur’s best of the best. Their love can only flourish in Avalun, a beautiful island, far away from society.
I also really appreciated the reversed gender roles in this story!
I agree completely. I genuinely loved this kind of reverse role of Lanval being Cinderella and his new riches come from this amazing Queen. But I guess the story is kind of a way to poke fun at the fact that these sort of fantastical love affairs are far too distant from the real world. I also feel that the way in which they escape to Avalun is a testament to the sort of "freeing" feel that love gives. A "paradise" such as Avalun is what I imagine a honeymoon of sorts to be at, wanting to keep your lover to yourself while exploring places as beautiful as you view your partner. Maybe Lanval and Queen Semiramis are really better off in Avalun where people like Guinevere cannot taint their love.
ReplyDeleteGoing to be honest, I didn't even notice the gender role reversal going on, but now that you point it out, it's all I can see (and it's awesome). I think it probably says something that the main woman in this story (who ends up being Lanval's night in shining armor, so to speak) is a fantastical creature, as though the only world where a woman is allowed to have that kind of power is in one filled with magic. (Queen Semiramis has the ability to forgive and rescue Lanval, whereas Guinevere, a mortal woman, does neither). Or maybe I'm looking a little too far into it...
ReplyDeleteI suspect that all that is written in these stories is not merely satire for those living in that realm. The "Courtly Love", that we look at as satire, was in fact real, in so much as the pain of Lanval's "outcast" status is real.
ReplyDeleteWhile Lanval not being given his due from the King -- and therefore judged by his brethren of knights -- would not be a result of any particular "rules" of courtly, or even brotherly, love, but once he is set outside his peers and goes off alone in search of meaning and solace, his beloved's rules, a variation of the secretive nature true courting requires, certainly puts him in a predicament. And it is one that is as farsical as it is painful (and dangerous), reflecting the implausibility of living within those sorts of constraints for long without ones life drastically deteriorating. Therefore, on that front, one might say that it is pure satire, but I suspect there is, at least in part, some realty to this -- not only fiction.
I agree that actual true love, doesn't appear to necessarily have anything to do with the love that's been written about in these stories thus far. I buy that true love, like Lanval, appears to be an outcast.
I, like Ellie, hadn't noticed the gender reversal until reading your post. Lanval = Cinderella. Huh. So does that make Arthur his evil step-father? That would make for a strange but entertaining tale!
ReplyDeleteI was confused by the sudden power given to the main woman in Lanval's story. It seemed far-fetched, even for the medieval time period, to me. But, with the understanding that roles are reversed, it does make sense. Lanval as a powerless knight, dissed by his fellows and his king, while his lady is a creature of beauty, power, and elusive as hell.