explicit insistence on the Breton origin of these stories is
due to the widespread belief, corroborated by Marie de
France, that the professional storytellers of ancient Brit-
tany performed such pieces in front of courtly audi-
ences. None of the ancient Breton sources have survived,
probably because they belonged to the oral tradition.
Throughout the later Middle Ages, the Breton lai
enjoyed ongoing popularity among English audiences.
Thus, the anonymous authors of the Erle of Tolous and
Emaré identify their own narratives as “lays” in order to
emphasize their authority. In The CANTERBURY TALES,
GEOFFREY CHAUCER’s Franklin also narrates a Breton lai
(ll. 709–714); and in many ways, “The Clerk’s Tale”
recalls the tradition, too. Other well-known English
lays include Sir Dégaré, Sir Gowther, and Sir Cleges, all
ARTHURIAN LITERATURE.
Allusions to music, which constitutes an integral
part of the genre, appear frequently in medieval lais.
Hence, in Marie’s “Chevrefoil,” Tristan composes a lai
on his harp to commemorate his forbidden love for
Queen Iseult (ll. 111–113). The Middle English Freine
refers to similar performances of “layes that ben in
harping” (l. 3). Nowhere, however, is the theme of
music more central than in Sir Orfeo, which recasts the
classical legend of Orpheus and Euridyce within a
Celtic setting. Such allusions are not limited, however,
to French and English literature. In his German
romance Tristan, Gottfried von Strassburg describes
how the eponymous hero performs a “Breton lai” (l.
3557) in front of King Mark.
See also “FRANKLIN’S TALE, THE.”
FURTHER READING
Laskaya, Anne, and Eve Salisbury, eds. The Middle English
Breton Lays. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publi-
cations, 1995.
K. Sarah-Jane Murray
LAYAMON (late 12th century) In the opening
of The BRUT, Layamon names himself and says that he
is a priest. He gives his father’s name—Leouenathes—
and says he lived by a church on the bank of the Severn
in Areley near Redstone (now Stourport in Worcester-
shire) where he read the books that inspired him to
write the history of the English. He further claims to
have then traveled extensively. He concludes by asking
the reader to pray for his soul and those of his mother
and father.
Evidence points to the likelihood of Layamon hav-
ing been in holy orders. He was apparently well-edu-
cated, and in one manuscript he identifi es himself as a
priest, though in another he claims to live in a knight’s
household (possibly as a chaplain). As to his origins,
the manuscripts both suggest, through dialectal analy-
sis, composition in the Worcestershire area.
Layamon styles himself as a translator or compiler,
claiming three principal sources: Bede’s Historia Ecclesi-
astica, a book by Sts. Albin and Austin, and the ANGLO-
NORMAN ROMAN DE BRUT by the Jersey poet WACE. In
reality, he relies almost exclusively on Wace, and he
provides more than a simple translation: his Brut is more
than double the length of Roman de Brut.
FURTHER READING
Bryan, Elizabeth J. Collaborative Meaning in Medieval Scribal
Culture: The Otho Layamon. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press, 1999.
Given-Wilson, Chris. Chronicles: The Writing of History in
Medieval England. London and New York: Hambledon
and London, 2004.
Layamon. The Brut. Edited by W. R. J. Barron, and S. C.
Weinberg. New York: Longman Group, 1995.
David A. RobertsLEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN, THE GEOF-
FREY CHAUCER (ca. 1386–87) GEOFFREY CHAUCER’s
The Legend of Good Women is a collection of stories
about 10 “good women” (Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido,
Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucrece, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyl-
lis, and Hypermnestra) written by the narrator follow-
ing a DREAM VISION request by Alceste, the consort of
the God of Love. The Poem is composed in COUPLETs of
iambic pentameter (HEROIC COUPLETs). The prologue to
the Legend exists in two forms: the Bodlean Fairfax 16
MANUSCRIPT (called manuscript F) and Cambridge’s Gg
4.27 manuscript (called manuscript G). Scholars
regard these two versions as distinct: F is praised for its
warmth and G for its better structure. The legends
themselves are self-contained in that they are perfectly
comprehensible without having any prior knowledge
of the stories or contexts. While such a structureLEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN, THE 243