The Matter of France

In addition to the Chretien de Troyes romances listed under The Matter of Arthur, France had stories belong to The Matter of France as well as its own anthologies.

The Song of Roland

The original chansons de geste , the heroic song concerns the Charlegmagne's doomed battle at Roncesvaux.

Orlando Inamorato

I have the same problem with this as I had with the Chretien de Troyes material. Orlando is the Italian name for Roland, so technically I believe this is part of the Matter of France despite being clearly Italian. Again, people who actually know what they're talking about (look, my persona's from 11th Century Seville! I'll know what I'm talking about when I get to the Turkish, Persian, Al-Andalus sections *grin*) should feel free to send me corrections. Orlando Inamorato is a great source for stories. Think of it like a medieval comic book, full of swaggering heroes and beautiful but sinister ladies. *smile* And remember, as with most heroic epics, strength and intelligence seem to run in inverse proportion to each other. The above link takes you to the pages of Alessandro the Storyteller, a wonderful storyteller from my area who has made the Orlando cycle his life work. On the pages you can find the excerpts he has done of the Orlando tales, so these are in very tellable format. Here you can find where he's worked up stand-alone stories from the cycle, so you don't need to bother trying to figure out which ones work well on their own. There are also some other period tales.

Orlando Furioso

The continunation of the Orlando Inamorato cycle

Other French Sources

Reynard the Fox

A comical set of stories featuring the fox as the hero. Again, I couldn't find an online text, so the link takes you to Amazon.

The Lais of Marie de France

A twelfth century set of narratives by Marie de France appropriate to both French and English personae as it is thought she lived in the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II. My Master is particulary fond of Bisclavret because it is a period werewolf tale.

Marie also wrote or translated a collection of fables. I didn't see an online edition of the fables, but the above link takes you to a listing of bibliographic information for English editions of both the fables and St. Patrick's Purgatory, another work by her.

The Heptamaron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

Another collection of tales. This contains a brief essay on the novel's history. The translation is a trifle "forsoothy," but in a way which, personally, I felt was very readable and lent a taste of historical flavor rather than choking the tales.


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