The Lais of Marie de France

In Britain, a rich old man is married to a beautiful young woman. He keeps her locked in a tower under the watch of his old, widowed sister to ensure her fidelity. Seven years after the marriage, a hawk enters the lady’s room and turns into a knight named Muldumarec, who says he has desired her for a long time. The lady tells the Muldumarec that she will make him her lover as long as he believes in God. He proclaims that he does. He tells her that he will fly in and make love to her within the hour, but they must “observe moderation” so that they are not caught (88).

When the old man notices a change in the lady’s appearance and humor, he pretends to go away while charging his sister with spying on the lady. The sister then sees the lady with the knight, who enters and flies away in the guise of a hawk. When she reports the news to her brother, he puts iron spikes in the window so it will get caught and die. When the old man pretends to go hunting and the lady summons her lover, the bird gets caught on the spikes and says he is dying. However, he also prophesizes that the lady is pregnant with his son, Yonec, who will grow up into a worthy knight and avenge his father’s death.

The wounded bird then flees, and the lady follows him all the way to his chivalric realm. He implores her to leave, stating that it will be safe for her to return to her husband as long as she wears Muldumarec’s ring and protects his sword until his son, Yonec, claims them.

Years later, when Yonec is a young man, he accompanies the lady and his stepfather to an abbey during the feast of St. Aaron celebration, where people weep over a tomb. The tomb turns belongs to Muldumarec’s. The lady confesses to Yonec that the tomb houses his real father, whom his elderly stepfather unjustly killed. She swoons and dies over the tomb. Yonec uses his real father’s sword to cut off his stepfather’s head and is made lord of the abbey.