Yonec

Yonec is the story of a rich old man who has a vast inheritance, and takes a much younger, beautiful wife to produce an heir. Because of her beauty, he has his wife locked away and guarded by his widowed sister. She is held there for seven years, although they have no children, and is so unhappy she begins to lose her beauty and starts wishing for death. The hawk that flies into her bedroom window when she is left alone, and still locked in this room, is an example of the supernatural nature of medieval romance. The hawk turned handsome knight confesses his love for the beautiful woman but claims he could not shoe until she had wished for him. The knight offers to prove his belief in God, possibly seen as a chivalrous attempt, and takes the shape of the woman and pretends to be sick. The concept of the knight changing into the body of the woman is another characteristic of the supernatural aspects of medieval romance. The knights feigns sickness so well, a chaplain is brought in to give communion and speak prayers for her (him). After the plan succeeds, the knight and the beautiful woman enjoy "a nice time in bed." This time period looked down upon sexual relations amongst those who were not married. The old, widowed sister witnesses the "exchanges" amongst the knight and the beautiful woman, and relays this back to the lord, who makes traps with sharp razors to kill the hawk on his next visit. The hawk is ripped fatally by the razors, and before he leaves he claims she is pregnant with their child which will be born a valiant boy, named Yonec, who will avenge their loss by killing the old husband. The knight leaves, with the beautiful lady following his trail of blood, and they are reunited at the palace in the knight's quarters. He urges her to flee because she would have been blamed for his death. The knight passes her a sword that is to be given to their son to slay the old man. The lai ends in death, much like Marie de France's other lais do, but in this one the woman is not proytrayed to have been disloyal (even though she was) because she was so unhappy. The lord was causing the beautiful lady sadness therefore he was seen as the enemy rather than the people actually causing trouble (the beautiful lady and the knight).