Lecheor
Encyclopedia
'Lecheor' is a short, bawdy Breton lai
that tells the story a group of noble women who decide to write a lai about female genitalia.
. Since the text speaks of women poets, the poem could have been written by a woman.
The lai of Lecheor is contained in two existing manuscripts:
The Old French manuscript dates from the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century.
. It is at this festival that the men and women talk about all the courtly adventures from the past year and compose lais in remembrance of them. At this particular gathering, a group of women begin to discuss the reasons why the knights go off in search of adventure. and one woman offers a simple solution: the knight is interested in the woman's vagina
(Old French: con). The other ladies agree, and they compose a lai, which is well-received in the land.
Like Marie de France
's Chaitivel
or Eliduc
, the Lai of Lecheor has a primary title given by the author and a secondary title that appears in the text. While we would expect the title of the lai to be the "lai of the cunt
," the author states that "this is the lay of the Lecher. I do not wish to utter the true name in case I am reproached for it" ("c'est le lai du Lecheor; Ne voil pas dire le droit non, C'on nu me tor a mesprison"). In Old French, however, the author hides the true name of the lai with a play on words between on "con" and .
The text suggests another play on words between "con" ("cunt") and "conte" ("story" or "tale"), a pun
commonly used in medieval fabliau
x.
. Some scholars consider "Pantelion" as a corruption of "Pol-de-Léon
," saint from Brittany, which is the setting for this lay.
The Lai of Lecheor is not the only lai to feature women writing. Chaitivel
and Chevrefoil
by Marie de France also include instances of women composing lais.
. The reader can assume that the original lai of lecheor, if it even existed, would have explained more about the woman's reasoning than about the writing of the lai itself and its placement within a historical and social context.
Breton lai
A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short , rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-world Celtic motifs...
that tells the story a group of noble women who decide to write a lai about female genitalia.
Composition and manuscripts
The actual date of composition is estimated between the end of the twelfth to the beginning of the thirteenth centuries; and linguistic elements in the text indicate that the author may have come from Northern France or perhaps EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Since the text speaks of women poets, the poem could have been written by a woman.
The lai of Lecheor is contained in two existing manuscripts:
- MS Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 1104 (in Old FrenchOld FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
) - MS Uppsala, De la Gardie 4-7 (translation of the Old French into Old NorseOld NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
)
The Old French manuscript dates from the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century.
Plot summary
Lecheor tells the story of a group of women who are gathered together for the festival of Saint PantaleonSaint Pantaleon
Saint Pantaleon , counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletian persecution of 303 AD...
. It is at this festival that the men and women talk about all the courtly adventures from the past year and compose lais in remembrance of them. At this particular gathering, a group of women begin to discuss the reasons why the knights go off in search of adventure. and one woman offers a simple solution: the knight is interested in the woman's vagina
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
(Old French: con). The other ladies agree, and they compose a lai, which is well-received in the land.
Title
The Old French word "lecheor" survives in the modern English "lecher," though its original meaning encompassed "glutton," "debauched person," "the lover of a married woman," "trickster," and perhaps "minstrel."Like Marie de France
Marie de France
Marie de France was a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an undisclosed court, but was almost certainly at least known about at the royal court of King Henry II of England...
's Chaitivel
Chaitivel
"Chaitivel", also known as "Les Quatre Deuils" or "Le Malheureux" in modern French or "The Four Sorrows" in English, is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. Chaitivel is the tenth poem in the collection known as the Lais of Marie de France and is one of very few lais to contain...
or Eliduc
Eliduc
"Eliduc" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The twelfth and last poem in the collection known as The Lais of Marie de France, it appears in the manuscript Harley 978 at the British Library. Like the other poems in this collection, "Eliduc" is written in the Anglo-Norman dialect...
, the Lai of Lecheor has a primary title given by the author and a secondary title that appears in the text. While we would expect the title of the lai to be the "lai of the cunt
Cunt
Cunt is a vulgarism, primarily referring to the female genitalia, specifically the vulva, and including the cleft of Venus. The earliest citation of this usage in the 1972 Oxford English Dictionary, c 1230, refers to the London street known as Gropecunt Lane...
," the author states that "this is the lay of the Lecher. I do not wish to utter the true name in case I am reproached for it" ("c'est le lai du Lecheor; Ne voil pas dire le droit non, C'on nu me tor a mesprison"). In Old French, however, the author hides the true name of the lai with a play on words between on "con" and .
The text suggests another play on words between "con" ("cunt") and "conte" ("story" or "tale"), a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
commonly used in medieval fabliau
Fabliau
A fabliau is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between ca. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by an excessiveness of sexual and scatological obscenity. Several of them were reworked by Giovanni Boccaccio for the Decamerone and by Geoffrey Chaucer...
x.
Structure
The poem can be broken down into the following sections:- Description of the festival and lai-writing in general (vv. 1-36)
- Description of this year's festival (vv. 37-52)
- Proposal of the new lai (vv. 53-100)
- Reaction to the lai (vv. 101-120)
- Epilogue (vv. 121-122)
Allusions
The festival of Saint Pantelion was held on July 27. The fact that this bawdy lai is written on a Holy day can be considered ironyIrony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
. Some scholars consider "Pantelion" as a corruption of "Pol-de-Léon
Paul Aurelian
Paul Aurelian is a 6th century Welsh saint, who became one of the seven founder saints of Brittany....
," saint from Brittany, which is the setting for this lay.
The Lai of Lecheor is not the only lai to feature women writing. Chaitivel
Chaitivel
"Chaitivel", also known as "Les Quatre Deuils" or "Le Malheureux" in modern French or "The Four Sorrows" in English, is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. Chaitivel is the tenth poem in the collection known as the Lais of Marie de France and is one of very few lais to contain...
and Chevrefoil
Chevrefoil
"Chevrefoil" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The eleventh poem in the collection called The Lais of Marie de France, its subject is an episode from the romance of Tristan and Iseult. The title means "honeysuckle," a symbol of love in the poem...
by Marie de France also include instances of women composing lais.
Mise-en-abime
The fact that the lai of Lecheor is about the composition of the lai of Lecheor creates a mise-en-abimeMise en abyme
Mise en abyme is a term originally from the French and means "placed into abyss".The commonplace usage of this phrase is describing the visual experience of standing between two mirrors, seeing an infinite reproduction of one's image, but it has several other meanings in the realm of the creative...
. The reader can assume that the original lai of lecheor, if it even existed, would have explained more about the woman's reasoning than about the writing of the lai itself and its placement within a historical and social context.
See also
- Breton laiBreton laiA Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short , rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-world Celtic motifs...
- Anglo-Norman literatureAnglo-Norman literatureAnglo-Norman literature is literature composed in the Anglo-Norman language developed during the period 1066–1204 when the Duchy of Normandy and England were united in the Anglo-Norman realm.-Introduction:...
- Medieval literatureMedieval literatureMedieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages . The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works...
- Medieval French literatureMedieval French literatureMedieval French literature is, for the purpose of this article, literature written in Oïl languages during the period from the eleventh century to the end of the fifteenth century....
External links
- Lecheor in English translation alongside the Old French verse