who die brings to mind the visual image of the danse
macabre, in which Death leads or hauls people away
from their earthly life; the personal and universal in
the poem remind the speaker and the reader that death
comes for all. The enumeration of social ranks who
pass away is reminiscent of other medieval poems in
which people of all stations meet Death, and the roll of
24 poets asks where they have gone, to which the
poem gives the conventional answer.
For all its dwelling on mutability and death, “Lament
for the Makaris” has a delightfully human tone, and
many scholars consider this complex metric medita-
tion Dunbar’s fi nest piece of poetry.
FURTHER READING
Conlee, William W., ed. William Dunbar: The Complete Works.
Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004.
Drexler, R. D. “Dunbar’s ‘Lament for the Makaris’ and the
Dance of Death.” Studies in Scottish Literature 13 (1978):
144–158.
Kinghorn, A. M. “Death and the Makaris: Timor Mortis in
Scottish Poetry to 1600.” English Studies 60 (1979): 2–13.
Scott, Tom. Dunbar: A Critical Exposition of the Poems. New
York: Barnes and Noble, 1966.
Karen Rae Keck
LANGLAND, WILLIAM (ca. 1332–ca. 1400)
The only biographical details that exist about William
Langland have been gleaned from two versions of PIERS
PLOWMAN. Born near the Welsh border, Langland may
have been educated at Great Malvern Priory. He appar-
ently took minor orders but was never ordained, leav-
ing him free to marry. In London, he worked as a clerk,
singing masses and copying documents, and also wrote
the popular alliterative poem, Piers Plowman, an exten-
sive, allegorical social SATIRE, which was revised a num-
ber of times.
See also ALLEGORY, ALLITERATION.
“LANVAL” MARIE DE FRANCE (ca. 1165) “Lanval”
is the fi fth lai (LAY) of MARIE DE FRANCE’s collection, Les
Lais. It consists of 646 lines of Old French and is signifi -
cant because it is the source for the 538-line Middle Eng-
lish poem “Sir Landevale,” which, in turn, provides the
basis for THOMAS CHESTRE’s 14th-century SIR LAUNFAL.
Marie’s “Lanval” contributes to the rich corpus of
medieval ARTHURIAN LITERATURE. The poet claims to
present the story “just as it happens.” ARTHUR and his
court are at Carlisle because of a war with the Scots
and Picts. Arthur is presented as a “worthy and courtly
king” (l. 6), who distributes presents, women, and land
to his followers. The phrase “women [or wives] and
lands” (femmes et tere, l. 17), equating women with
property, refl ects the common view of noble women
during the 12th century: They are commodities used
to strengthen feudal or business ties, who must pro-
duce male heirs for their husbands.
Amid all the gift-giving, Arthur forgets to reward one
of his knights, Lanval, the hero of Marie’s tale. He has
served the king well and has many noble qualities:
“valour, generosity, beauty, and prowess” (l. 21–22).
These qualities are envied, so none will speak for him.
Envy is a common theme in the Lais, as well as a personal
concern of Marie’s: elsewhere, she states that she has
been the victim of envy. Marie and Lanval share another
connection as well: They are both strangers in a foreign
land. In his loneliness, Lanval wanders away from the
court and into the wilderness. As he takes his ease, “dis-
consolate because of his troubles” (l. 51), two beautiful
maidens approach him. They are messengers who have
come to bring him to their mistress. He follows them to
her richly decorated tent. This sumptuous richness pres-
ents a striking contrast to Lanval’s relative poverty.
The maiden inside the tent is extraordinarily beauti-
ful, and Marie compares her to the lily and the rose—
two fl owers that invoke love and purity. Wearing only a
shift, she is lying on a bed. The maiden calls Lanval to
her and declares that she has come in search of him, for
she loves him “above all else” (l. 116). Lanval admires
her beauty. In true OVID-like fashion, “Love’s spark
pricked him” (l. 118), and he offers his service to her,
pledging himself to her in the manner of a FEUDAL OATH,
saying, “I shall do as you bid” (l. 127). She, in her turn,
grants him “her love and her body” and “a boon that
henceforth he could wish for nothing which he could
not have” (ll. 133, 135–137). The maiden only has one
condition: Lanval must swear to tell no one of their
love. If he does, she will vanish, and he will never have
her again. He eagerly agrees, and the two lovers spend
the afternoon together. She clothes him richly, and
when Lanval returns to Arthur’s court, he shares his
newfound wealth with others, entertaining many240 LANGLAND, WILLIAM