The wise man also tells the king that this woman is the former wife of the missing baron. He attacks her, tearing off her nose.Ī wise man points out that the wolf had never acted so before and that this woman was the wife of the knight whom Bisclavret had recently attacked. When he sees his former wife, nobody can restrain Bisclavret. Bisclavret's wife learns of the king's arrival and takes many gifts for him. Soon after, the king visits the area where the baron used to live and brings the werewolf along with him. Because he never acted so violently before, everybody in the court thinks the knight must somehow have wronged the wolf. The king calls to Bisclavret and threatens him with his staff. As soon as he sees him, Bisclavret attacks the man. The knight who had married Bisclavret's wife is invited to the castle for a celebration along with all the other barons. The king takes Bisclavret, still in wolf form, back to the castle to live with him. This behavior so astounds the king that he has his companions drive back the dogs and everyone marvels at the wolf's nobility and gentleness. As soon as he sees him, Bisclavret runs to the king to beg for mercy by taking the king's stirrup and kissing his foot and leg. The baron's people search for him but finally relent, feeling that their absentee ruler has left for good.Ī year later, the king goes hunting and his dogs corner Bisclavret, now fixed in wolf form. When her husband fails to return, she marries the knight. The following week, the baron's wife sends the knight to steal her husband's clothing. She conspires with a knight who has loved her for a long time. She does not want to "lie beside him any more". The baron's wife is so shocked by this news that she tries to think of ways she can escape her husband. He also says that while in werewolf form he needs to hide his clothing in a safe place so he can return to human form.
His wife finally begs him to tell her his secret and he explains that he is a werewolf.
No one in his household, not even his wife, knows where he goes. Synopsis īisclavret, a baron in Brittany who is well loved by the king, vanishes every week for three full days. There have been many translations of her work into the English language, the translation noted below was done by Eugene Mason. Marie de France claimed that she translated this lay, as well as the other eleven she wrote, from the Breton language, in which she claimed to have heard them performed. The tale shares a common ancestry with the comparable Lay of Melion, and is probably referenced in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur with the tale of Sir Marrok, who has a similar story. Originally written in French, it tells the story of a werewolf who is trapped in lupine form by the treachery of his wife. " Bisclavret" ("The Werewolf") is one of the twelve Lais of Marie de France written in the 12th century. Marie de France from an illuminated manuscript
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