Aucassin et Nicolette

One of the most delightful works of medieval fiction, this brief anonymous early 13th-c. tale is the unique instance of a chantefable, in which prose and assonanced verse are intermingled; it has been preserved in a single manuscript. Ostensibly a variation of the ‘roman idyllique’ such as Floire et Blanchefleur, the story recounts the forbidden love of Aucassin, son of a Christian count, for Nicolette, Saracen captive, and describes the perilous adventures the lovers undertake until their reunion and marriage. But the anonymous author's playful transformations of literary conventions are as remarkable as his style. We are treated to the sight of Aucassin refusing to fight until his father promises that he may hold Nicolette; to a scene where Nicolette bravely escapes from prison; to the courtly lovers’ comic attempts to converse with shepherds; to the couple's fantastic adventures in the upside-down world of Torelore, and so on. The romance's clever mix of styles, generic registers, gender roles, and social classes exemplifies even as it gently derides the sophistication of courtly fiction.

[Roberta Krueger]