possible allusion in Section 24 to the écu, a coin minted only after 1266, would produce a
later date and one that is not unsuited to the spirit of the text. The Picard dialectal features
in the late 13th-century manuscript seem to reflect the original area of composition. The
possible allusion in line 2 of Section 1 to an old man (viel antif, a disputed reading) has
been seen as relating to the author of the text. Whoever he was, the latter would have
been a sophisticated minstrel or more likely a cleric (cf. the distinction between
“handsome cler-ics” and “old priests” in Section 6).
The story is one of thwarted lovers who eventually live happily ever after. Aucassin,
son of the Count of Beaucaire, loves Nicolette, Saracen goddaughter of the viscount of
the town. Aucassin is rightly convinced that Nicolette is of noble birth, but his parents
make every effort to keep the lovers apart and finally both are imprisoned. Nicolette, who
is in many ways the dominant character in the relationship, escapes, and after Aucassin’s
release the lovers are reunited in a bower constructed by Nicolette. Attempting to leave
France by sea, they are driven by a storm to the curious land of Torelore, where
Aucassin, suddenly becoming more assertive, deals roughly with the king, who is lying in
childbed, and intervenes in a ritualistic war fought with a variety of soft foodstuffs. His
injection of violence proves successful but unpopular. The inhabitants, who, unlike
Aucassin’s parents, recognize Nicolette’s noble birth, want to throw him out and keep
Nicolette for the king’s son. The land of Torelore is then attacked by pirates, who place
Nicolette and Aucassin on different ships. A storm drives Nicolette’s ship to the “cité de
Cartage” (normally interpreted as Cartagena in Murcia province, Spain), where she
discovers that she is the long-lost daughter of the king. Aucassin’s ship takes him back to
Beaucaire, where he becomes count. The lovers are united and marry, once Nicolette,
disguised as a jongleur, discovers Aucassin’s whereabouts.
In recent years, it has frequently been maintained that the principal driving force of the
text is parody, directed against contemporary literary genres, such as the epic, the
romance, and the saint’s life. But it is rather the comic potential of these genres that
seems to be exploited, and throughout the text the author’s humor is the most distinctive
feature, not his attack on the works of other writers. A further dimension of the plot is the
twenty-year war between the Count of Beaucaire and the Count of Valence (occasionally
seen as a reflection of the Albigensian Crusade), and much of the early comedy centers
on Aucassin’s refusal to participate in his father’s war, then in his willingness to do so
provided he has a kiss from his beloved Nicolette. When he does fight, he puts an end to
the war in remarkably quick time, dragging his father’s enemy to him by the nose piece
of his helmet. But because of his father’s refusal to keep his side of the bargain, he soon
releases his captive. Other sources of comedy are scenes like Aucassin’s encounter with
Nicolette’s godfather, to whom he explains that he would prefer to live in Hell with
Nicolette than to spend his days in Paradise without her (Section 6); the meeting of
Nicolette and later Aucassin with a group of shepherds (18, 22); the lovers’ futile
conversation about the nature of true love, conducted through the crack in the wall of
Aucassin’s prison (14); Aucassin’s arrival at Nicolette’s bower with a dislocated shoulder
(24–26); his treatment of the King of Torelore, whom he calls the “son of a whore” (29–
30); and Nicolette’s search for Aucassin disguised as a jongleur. She sings to him of their
love without his ever realizing who she is (39).
If there is any deeper significance to the text, it lies in the author’s treatment of the
generation gap, in the comic exploitation of the futility of war, and in Aucassin’s failure
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