Farringdon

Middle English Breton Lais

The Tale of Emaré

14th century, Middle English: British Library.

The king said laughingly to the boy: ‘Sweet son, what is your name?’

‘Lord,’ he said, ‘it is Segramour.’

Immediately, the king’s humour changed to one of great sadness, for this name reminded him of his dead son.

In due course, the queen, Egaré, gave birth to a healthy little boy bearing a distinctive and royal birthmark. The child was christened Segramour. Her husband's steward, Sir Cadore, wrote a letter bearing this good news and hurriedly gave it to an envoy to take to the king. The messenger set off at once and rested for the night at the residence of the king’s mother. Big mistake! He foolishly spent the night at her castle. ...

News, instead, is sent of the Queen's treachery. Lies are told about Egaré, duplicitous messages are exchanged, commands are falsely delivered. The Queen is put into a boat with her new-born son and set adrift without rudder or provisions.

Many years later...

The king said laughingly to the boy: ‘Sweet son, what is your name?’

‘Lord,’ he said, ‘it is Segramour.’

Immediately, the king’s humour changed to one of great sadness, for this name reminded him of his dead son. He began to cry, he was so upset. The tears streamed from his eyes and his heart broke once more as he remembered the dreadful events that had once taken place; how his wife and son had been set adrift in a rudderless boat and left at the mercy of the ocean. But despite this, he collected himself and found great pleasure in the child’s company. The king asked the merchant, Jurdan: 'Swete syr, ys thys thy sone?' The burgeys sayde, 'Yoo'

‘Sir, is this your son?’

‘Yes, it is’ replied the merchant.

Story fragment recounted from: Anne Laskaya and Eve Salisbury (Eds), 1995. The Middle English Breton Lays. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Western Michigan University for TEAMS. The Middle English text of EMARÉ from British Library MS Cotton Caligula A.ii.

See for yourself

Emaré – TEAMS Medieval text, Middle English with an introduction.

Breton lai – Wikipedia

Emaré – Wikipedia

Medieval Institute Publications – Anne Laskaya and Eve Salisbury (Eds), 1995. The Middle English Breton Lays. TEAMS Middle English texts

Concealed identity

Elizabeth Line

detail from pastal artwork
artwork, concealed creature behind lines, pencil drawing

Concealed identity: summary

Station location: explore the motifs

hawk in flight
     
     
     
Advanced Tips
Type Example Notes
Fuzzy kettle~ Contain terms that are close to the word kettle, such as cattle
Wild cat* Contain terms that begin with cat, such as category and the extact term cat itself
Exact-Single orange Contain the term orange
Exact-Phrase "dnn is awesome" Contain the exact phase dnn is awesome
OR orange bike Contain the term orange or bike, or both. OR, if used, must be in uppercase
orange OR bike
AND orange AND bike Contain both orange and bike. AND must be in uppercase
Combo (agile OR extreme) AND methodology Contain methodology and must also contain agile and/or extreme
Results per Page:
Limit the search results with the specified tags.
Limit the search results modified within the specified time.
Limit the search results from the specified source.
Search results must be an exact match for the keywords.
artwork, chalk pastel on paper, abstract