The Date and Composition of Bisclavret
- written sometime in the last half
of the 12th century, before 1190 (not long before Gerald of Wales)
- written in French by Marie de
France
- included with 11 other lais
by the same author in British Library, MS Harley 978
- supposedly a written version of
an oral composition performed in Breton, a Celtic language closely related
to Welsh and Cornish
Themes in Bisclavret
- outward appearance vs. inner self
- the human vs. the bestial (the nature of humanity)
- the normalilty of the marvelous, i.e., the supernatural is made "natural"
- the nature of love and loyalty
- the reversal of common notions of what is "safe" and what is "dangerous"
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