Sex, the Church, and the Medieval Reader

Analyzing the interaction between sex, the Church, and the medieval reader, this chapter by Adrian Tudor highlights the conflicts and sense of “marginality” that underpin the message of conversion in the Vie des Pères. The study demonstrates that sex is a motif rather than a lesson in itself: characters from many backgrounds can shape their own identity or have their identity shaped by a third party, overcoming the pitfalls of carnal sin in the process. The characters’ eventual conversion comes less often through divine intervention than through human agency: their spiritual transformation—to be imitated by the medieval reader when positive—arises generally from compassion rather than compunction. By creating a world where, under the right circumstances, sex and salvation can coexist, the Vie des Pères invites the audience to reassess their own conduct.

Roland’s Confession and the Rhetorical Construction of the Other Within

The chapter focuses on Roland’s confession scenes in the Oxford Roland, the Châteauroux version of the epic, and the vernacular translation of the Pseudo-Turpin chronicle. Viewing the scenes through a rhetorical lens, the chapter examines the ways in which each uses ethos, pathos, and logos to create a relationship between interiority and the audience. In the Oxford Roland, Roland creates a self of memories and evokes audience empathy as he offers a lesson on how to die as a warrior. Shifts in the Châteauroux version direct the message to the common man who must think about heaven and hell as much as to a warrior audience. The Pseudo-Turpin reveals an emphasis on salvation theology and a confession of faith in the presence of a witness to position Roland in a place of common humanity, as a soul in need of a proper death.

Melly and Merlin

Studying BnF fr. 24432 and focusing particularly on Jehan de Saint Quentin’s Merlin Mellot, James Simpson uncovers the uncertain space where marginalized individuals belong—or half-belong—to a community. It demonstrates that voice is a living presence in Merlin Mellot, highlighting also the influence of epic on this version of the tale. With an emphasis on collections of small objects and the role of exchange, the chapter uncovers the tensions created between faith communities by differing material and spiritual values. Voice is suggestive or directive, whispering or booming, and central to the narratives examined here to a startling degree. In the end, the “little voices” in the manuscript speak to the construction of identities.

Ami et Amile and Jean-Luc Nancy

Noting that many important characters in chansons de geste are internal “outsiders” even as the genre displays a strong collectivist element, this chapter turns to Jean-Luc Nancy’s work to study both how it enhances our understanding of the heroes in Ami et Amile and the ways in which chanson de geste adds a new layer to Nancy’s analysis of community. The chapter demonstrates that reading Ami et Amile through the lens of Nancy’s concepts of “l’être-en-commun” and “la communauté”—rendered here as “communialty”—reveals the tensions rather than the harmony in the friendship between the titular characters. In the tale, the acts of each man, which could highlight sameness, instead testify to singularity and its associated ethical obligations. In the end, reading Nancy’s work and chanson de geste together teases out their nuances, allowing a deeper appreciation for both.

Inside Out and Outside In

This chapter examines questions of gender as it analyzes the complicated range of ways in which Rainouart and Orable/Guibourc evoke the Other in the chansons de geste of the Cycle de Guillaume. The chapter notes that ambiguity surrounds the characters’ Otherness, as they are noble Saracens who convert to Christianity, thus positioning themselves simultaneously inside and outside of certain groups. Their constant shifts from outsider to insider and back again raise questions about how we are to understand an epic “center,” particularly when Rainouart and Guibourc are portrayed more favorably than Louis and Blanchefleur—the Frankish king and queen. The chapter concludes that in these rich, complex texts, the Other is never inherently lesser, even while being appropriated, assimilated, or feared.

The Medieval Moi Multiple

This chapter by Douglas Kelly on the medieval moi examines the relation between personification of named entities and narrative in several representative medieval works by authors including Chrétien de Troyes, Raoul de Houdenc, Huon de Mery, Guillaume de Lorris, François Villon, Jean Froissart, Guillaume de Machaut, and Christine de Pizan. This relation reveals ways in which human diversity emerges from interiorizing the personifications’ names, including the names’ semantic range, and narrative. This moi multiple reveals self-knowledge. In the late Middle Ages personification gives way to exemplification.

The Devil Inside

This chapter argues that the founding of the Arthurian world rests on otherness thanks to the role of Merlin, a character simultaneously good and bad. Examining works spanning the centuries from Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace to the late thirteenth-century Claris et Laris, the study traces the tale of Merlin’s origins along with the story of Arthur’s conception. Whether the texts treat the material directly or indirectly through allusions, they all elicit questions concerning the relationship between history and fable, truth and lies. While early works privilege the historical aspects, Robert de Boron blurs the boundary between fiction and history, and Claris et Laris abandons claims to historical truth and chooses to underscore fiction instead. Ultimately, the chapter concludes, the genre of romance resides on the permeable boundary between history and fiction.

Huon de Bordeaux

In this chapter William Burgwinkle studies the ways in which Huon de Bordeaux—itself a hybrid text that mixes elements of chansons de geste and romance—blurs boundaries and raises questions about geographical, cultural, philosophical, and religious differences. Analyzing Huon’s interactions with Auberon and the world that he inhabits, the chapter demonstrates that cultures may take on the customs of others and thus become “other” themselves. Burgwinkle argues that Huon is a tale that, in Roger Kennedy’s terms, “dreams history” by imagining Carolingian revenge and the return of Islamic lands to Christians. In the end, however, the West’s victories are hollow. The text presents itself as a middle ground that mediates difference, yet the extremes that it depicts are less distinct than they appear.

Ringing True

Chapter 4 by Kristin Burr examines the ways in which the hero and heroine make themselves “other” within the courtly system in Gerbert de Montreuil’s Le Roman de la Violette. Initially forced into the role of outsider as they face reversals in fortune, both characters then consciously adopt the role, resisting attempts to categorize them easily. They transform their identities through stories that others impose upon them and the tales that they tell about themselves, inviting the audience to question assumptions concerning chivalry, love, the qualities of a courtly lady, and gender stereotypes. Focusing on episodes that center on a ring, the chapter points to the gap between words and acts and argues for nuancing the understanding of activity and passivity in the tale. It demonstrates that the object plays a key role in establishing identity and reintegrating the couple fully into the courtly world.

“Je vueil ung livre commencier”

Studying Othon de Grandson’s dream garden in dialogue with Guillaume de Lorris’s Roman de la Rose, Jane Taylor, in this chapter, argues that the inhabitants of Othon’s garden serve a very different purpose than Guillaume’s allegories. With Othon’s dreaming “I” indistinguishable from his writing “I,” his encounters in the dream garden offer him the chance to interact with his own potential selves. Instead of fragmented qualities of the dreamer (as is the case in the Rose), here the characters in the garden represent projections of who the dreamer could be. The chapter contends that, thanks to the Rose’s influence, Othon’s choice to humanize the garden’s inhabitants renders them strange to the audience. With Othon’s series of potential selves, the “pseudo-autobiography” is an act of self-scrutiny as the poet tries to experience his self as “othered.”