I do not say that a love like this--so spiritual and so aloof--will
ever be possible to men. It did not suffice even to Dante, for all
his tremendous moral muscle. Human love must always and inevitably be
founded on a physical basis. But the burning drop of idealism that
Dante contributed to the passion of the Middle Ages has made possible
the love of which we now and again catch a glimpse in the union of
select natures. And that the seed of such flowering may be carried
about the world is one of the fairest hopes and possibilities of the
human race.

EUGENE MASON.

The originals of these narratives are to be found in Roquefort's
edition of the Poésies de Marie de France; in a volume of the
Nouvelles Françoises en Prose, edited by Moland and D'Héricault; and
in M. Gaston Raynaud's text of La Chatelaine de Vergi.




CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION

I. PROLOGUE BY WAY OF DEDICATION

II. THE LAY OF GUGEMAR

III. THE LAY OF THE DOLOROUS KNIGHT