Trot (lai)

"Trot" is an anonymous Breton lai. It tells the story of a knight who happens upon maidens riding through the forest, and from them, he learns the importance of love.

Composition and manuscripts

The actual date of composition could be as early as 1184, though it was most likely written between 1200-1220 [cite book
last = Tobin
first = Prudence O'Hara
title = Les lais anonymes des XIIe et XIIIe siècles
publisher = Librarie Droz
date = 1976
location = Geneva ]

The lai of "Trot" is contained one existing manuscript: MS Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, fr. 3516, f. 344v, col. 1 - 345v col. 4. This manuscript dates from 1267-1268. The text contains Picard influences. [cite book
last = Burgess
first = Glyn S.
coauthors = Leslie C. Brook
title = Three Old French Narrative Lays
publisher = Liverpool Online Series
date = 1999
location = Liverpool
pages = 98
isbn = 0953381609]

Plot summary

"Trot" tells the story of Lorois, a knight at the court of King Arthur. He lives in the castle of Morois, which can be identified with Moray in Scotland. One day, he leaves the castle to go deep into the forest, where he hopes to hear the song of the nightengale. There, he sees eighty beautiful young women and their lovers, elegantly dressed and riding leisurely through the forest. They are soon followed by another eighty women, their lovers, and their horses, talking and laughing. The third group of women, however, numbers one hundred. These women are alone, haggard, shabbily dressed, and "trotting" through the forest, sitting on saddles of straw. Lorois cannot be silent any more and must know the meaning of this procession. He talks to one of the unfortunate women who explains that the one hundred and sixty happy maidens were true in love and are being rewarded for "obeying love's commands." The one hundred miserable maidens never knew love and are now being punished. She tells Lorois to return to his castle and tell all the young women of their plight so that more do not make the same mistake.

Analysis and Significance

Title

The title comes from the Old French "trotter" (modern English "to trot"). A distinction is made in the text between the quicker, more uncomfortable trot experienced by the unhappy maidens, and the gentle ambling ("ambler") of the horses belonging to the happy maidens.

tructure

The poem can be broken down into the following sections:
# Prologue (vv. 1-4)
# Description of Lorois (vv. 5-24)
# Lorois goes to the forest (vv. 25-74)
# The happy maidens and their suitors (vv. 75-146)
# The unhappy maidens (vv. 147-208)
# Lorois and the one maiden (vv. 209-288)
# Lorois returns to court (vv. 289-302)
# Epilogue (vv. 303-304)

Allusions

The author of 'Trot' may have been influenced by Andreas Capellanus's 'De Amore', a 12th century treatise on the art of love. In Book 1, Chapter 6, Section E, a knight sees a vision of women on horseback, grouped by their respect of love. [Burgess 17]

ymbolism

The nightingale (which also figures prominently in Marie de France's lai Laüstic) represents love. The fact that Lorois goes out in search of the nightingale symbolizes his search for love. [Burgess 19]

Notes and references

ee also

*Breton lai
*Anglo-Norman literature
*Medieval literature
*Medieval French literature

External links

* [http://www.liv.ac.uk/soclas/los/narrativelays.pdf Trot] in English translation alongside Old French verse