Without Further Ado

This chapter examines an anonymous medieval lai , “The Song of the Rake”, dating from the late twelfth or early thirteenth century. It revolves around an annual gathering in Brittany to which knights were invited to recapitulate their recent exploits. A jury of eight women had to choose the best account. At the festival of which the narrator speaks, the chairwoman of the jury unpredictably expresses doubts about these recurring procedures, highlighting sex, and nothing but sex, as the driving force behind the men’s rather stereotypical rants. “The Song of the Rake” cleverly genders the issue of chivalric gallantry, exemplifying the rational, sometimes parodic, spirit of Northern French culture’s treatment of amatory matters.