Marie de France

Japanese: マリー･ド･フランス（英語表記）Marie de France

A medieval French female poet active in the late 12th century. Her birth and death dates are unknown. As her name suggests, she was from the Île-de-France region. She is believed to have lived in England and was protected by the English court, but little is known about her life. Her first and most important work is the twelve short narrative poems "Lais" (c. 1170), which are said to have been based on oral poetry passed down among the Bretons. They are a collection of fantastic tales ranging from very short stories of 118 lines of eight-syllable verse to the longest, not exceeding 1,184 lines. Many of them depict the bond between a man and a woman that takes on the appearance of a fatalistic passionate love, using supernatural devices (magic boats and castles, elixir, fairies, werewolves, white deer, the afterlife, etc.) and a folktale/fairy tale atmosphere.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

12世紀後半に活躍した中世フランスの女流詩人。生没年不詳。名前が示すようにイル･ド･フランス地方の出身。イギリスに住みその宮廷の保護を受けたと推定されているが，生涯についてはほとんど知られていない。最初の，最も重要な作品はブルトン人の間に伝わる口承詩に取材したといわれる短編物語詩《レー》12編(1170ころ)である。8音綴詩句118行のごく短い物語から長いものでも1184行を超えない伝奇物語集。多くは宿命的情熱恋愛の様相を帯びた男女の結びつきを，超自然的道具立て(魔法の舟･城，秘薬，妖精，狼人間，白鹿，他界など)と民話的･妖精物語的雰囲気の中で描く。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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