Verse Lais in the Prose Tristan. Performance in the Text and on the Page

Abstract

The Prose Tristan dating from the thirteenth century is known from more than eighty manuscripts and seven printed editions issued between 1489 and 1533. It is one of the earliest works to include lyric pieces within its vast structure, for Tristan himself was as famous for his musical talents as for his chivalric skills. Tristan composes and performs lais, singing and accompanying himself on the harp, while other protagonists exchange lais, riddles, and letters in verse. Created specifically for the prose romance, these lyric compositions display the author’s technical skill while offering unexpected variety within the text at critical moments of the story. Consisting of octosyllabic quatrains on a single rhyme that changes from stanza to stanza, the verse lais insert a pause into the long expanse of prose. While prefatory remarks signal their performance within the narrative, material elements of the sources-the layout, typography, rubrics, illustrations, and music-stage their performance on the page.