| Category | Archetype, Key Term, Motif |
| Featured In | Medieval Romance: Magic and the Supernatural (YHU2309) |
Le Losengier, originating from French, refers to a typically older, envious person who betrays lovers in romance or troubadour poetry. They are “gossipmongers who destroy love and destroy relationships”1. Such characters are commonplace in medieval romance narratives — think of Melot and Marjodoc in Gottfried’s Tristan, or of various cronies and eunuchs in the Lais of Marie de France. Losengiers lurk in the shadows, invading the private space of others so they can report their findings to society. Through losengiers, binaries are highlighted: tensions between personal and private spaces, or even between the virtue of love and the vice of envy.
The losengier’s transgressions between the personal and the public space illuminate the tension between romantic relationships being secret or public. In medieval romance narratives, privacy from losengiers was important because of the belief that true love must be secret, between lovers only2. When losengiers spy on lovers, they typically report to someone who is intent on stopping the lovers. For instance, in Tristan, Melot’s gossip involves spreading “lies and stratagems round the lovers’ secret doings” (Strassburg, 230). Consequently, King Mark is wary of his nephew and wife, his increased suspicion creating an obstacle for the lovers. Losengiers are “annoyances, another hurdle to overcome in the adventure of love”; the consequences include societal isolation and even literal imprisonment in towers3. Another example would be in Yonec, where the jealous lord’s sister is charged with safeguarding his wife. The archetypal role of the old dame as losengier is expected; Muldumarec tells his lady (Gilbert, 101):
“The old dame will betray us, pry
night and day with her spying eye;
she will find out our love;
for sure she will tell all to the seigneur.”
The suffering that losengiers cause to the lovers is expected, representing a trial to test the worthiness of their love.
Another binary explored is that of the difference between our virtues and vices. A clear contrast between love and envy is delineated in most medieval romance narratives: love is good, envy undoubtedly bad. Yet, these two emotions are closely linked, both stemming from desire4. In Tristan, Marjodoc, loyal friend to Tristan and Isolde, upon discovering their affair, felt “hatred and anger, anger and hatred” (Strassburg, 220). Admiration is quickly turned into bitter jealousy; Majodoc is described as being easily “moved first by one passion, then by the other” (Strassburg, 220). As such, he reports to King Mark about his suspicions of the lovers’ affair, plotting their demise with Melot. Gottfried suggests that the intensity of our love could amplify how easily they devolve into the opposite of hurt and pain, especially as they are created out of the same emotion: desire. The fine line between courtly love and envious hatred is clearly highlighted.
Le Losengier is a recurring motif in medieval romance narratives, representing an antagonistic character that can cross the boundaries of private and public spheres to cause suffering and pain to the lovers. The motive of losengiers appears to stem from jealousy and envy, underscoring a parallel between the purity and innocence of love, suggesting these emotions are not so different after all.
FOOTNOTES
1Harkey, Hannah, “Quant Se Depart Li Jolis Tans: Betrayal In The Songs Of Medieval French Women” (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 696. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/696
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4“Is Envy OK? Is Love Laudable? What Medieval Texts Tell Us About….” https://artsci.wustl.edu/ampersand/envy-ok-love-laudable-what-medieval-texts-tell-us-about-emotions.
REFERENCES
“Is Envy OK? Is Love Laudable? What Medieval Texts Tell Us About ….” https://artsci.wustl.edu/ampersand/envy-ok-love-laudable-what-medieval-texts-tell-us-about-emotions.
Harkey, Hannah, “Quant Se Depart Li Jolis Tans: Betrayal In The Songs Of Medieval French Women” (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 696. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/696
Strassburg, Gottfried. Tristan with the ‘Tristran’ of Thomas. Penguin, 2004.
Marie de France: Poetry. Translated by Dorothy Gilbert. W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.
IMAGE CREDITS
Fig. 1: “Is Envy OK? Is Love Laudable? What Medieval Texts Tell Us About ….” https://artsci.wustl.edu/ampersand/envy-ok-love-laudable-what-medieval-texts-tell-us-about-emotions. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
Fig. 2: “How To Write A Medieval Romance – History Extra.” 24 Sep. 2021, https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/how-to-write-medieval-romance-plot-structure/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
CONTRIBUTED BY ASHLEY TAN (’25)