Breton Lai Character Types and Reader-Rules

For a useful collection of international folk tale motifs, including character and action types, see the Stith Thompsen Folk-Motif Index.  These characer/action combinations are based on Marie's "Le Fresne."

                                              *********************************************************** 

The Bad Parent/Authority Figure: proud, envious, fearful, greedy, cruel, or just plain "faerie."

The Displaced Child/Vassal: unexpected, illegitimate, unusually "gifted" (see "faerie" above), unusually generous/just/honorable.

The Challenger: a bad noble; a strange knight/lady; a monstrous being.

The Agents of Return: hermits; faeries; ladies beset by enemies; magic birthright tokens.

The Concerns: bastardy/illegitimacy, orphanhood, competition between siblings, humanity, noble ancestry, proper kinship/incest, parricide/matricide/parent-child power conflict, proper loyalty to lords and protection of vassals, justice.

The Narrative Moves (Subject Phrase→Verb Phrase)

• The parent/lord establishes a rule--is the rule bad?  Does the rule make sense?  Readers seek the rule logic.
  •  "Le Fresne": mother says women bear twins only if they have had sex with two men; mother bears twin girls and orders one "exposed" (killed), but a compassionate maid leaves her at a monastery.
• The child/vassal seeks to return--is the return linked to the rule or does it really depend on the child/vassal?  Readers want to predict the return.
  • "Le Fresne": the expelled child, Le Fresne, reveals her innate goodness and attracts the affection of a lord, Guron, whom she seeks to serve as his mistress.
• The challenger daunts the child/vassal--is the challenger really a return-agent or truly alien (monstrous, etc.)?  Readers want to know who to root for.
  •  "Le Fresne": Guron puts mistress Le Fresne aside to wed her sister, Le Codre, whose wedding bed Le Fresne decorates with her own embroidered gown, which her mother recognizes, admitting her parentage so that Guron can wed her (Le Codre being conveniently wed to "another lord").
• The rule is proved/disproved by the child's actions--does the resolution leave ethical/moral residues about its concerns, i.e., does it have a clear didactic "thesis" or is it a "debate"?  Readers engage or reject the ethos.
  •  "Le Fresne": noble blood may reveal true ancestry and right, but how can two competing noble children's claims be satisfied with limited resources?