SOURCE: “The Prologue of Sir Orfeo,” Modern Language Notes, Vol. XXI, No. 2, February, 1906, pp. 46-50.

In the following essay, Foulet examines the prologue to Sir Orfeo, suggests its probable origin, and attempts to explain inconsistencies in the use of the word “lay” and “adventure.”

Sir Orfeo,¹ one of the most charming among the middle English romances, has received a good deal of attention at the hands of scholars: it has been conclusively shown that it is a translation from a now lost French original, and its points of contact with varied Celtic legends have been made the subject of careful study.² Its opening lines, however, which do not constitute a part of the tale itself, have been generally left out of account, except in so far as their probable source has been—with every reason—sought in the lais of Marie de France.³ Their purpose is to give...