Anonymous, Sir Launfal

Olivia Colquitt (University of Liverpool)

Ed. by Sarah Peverley, University of Liverpool
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1375

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

Sir Launfal is a Middle English romance composed by Thomas Chestre at the end of the fourteenth century. The narrative is classed as a Breton lai on account of its concise rhyming form, Fairyworld motifs, and literary sources. It is written in a dialect typical of South-East England and survives in one early fifteenth-century manuscript: British Library, MS Cotton Caligula A. II. This volume contains thirty-eight items, including ten Middle English romances, one of which is another late fourteenth-century lai, Emaré.

Plot Summary

The narrative begins in the mythic past of Arthur’s England and introduces its eponymous protagonist, Launfal, a young knight of the Round …

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3632 words

Citation: Colquitt, Olivia. "Sir Launfal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38750, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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