La Damigella di Scalot

Last updated

La Damigella di Scalot is a thirteenth-century Italian romance novellina, i.e. a very short story, included in the collection Il Novellino: Le ciento novelle antike (Novellino. The hundred ancient tales) as the 82nd tale. [1] [2] It tells the story of the unrequited love of the titular Lady of Scalot for Sir Lancelot and the subsequent death of the lady by lovesickness.

The character of the Lady of Scalot is based on the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat. British Romantic poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a poem on the same topic titled "The Lady of Shalott", a lyrical ballad which sets the story on an island in the river "flowing down to Camelot". It adds the element of a mysterious curse by fear of which she never leaves her fortress and passes the time by weaving a tapestry of "shadows" seen through her mirror.

The original story from Il Novellino, translated in English

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred, Lord Tennyson</span> British Poet Laureate (1809–1892)

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain some of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although described by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

<i>Idylls of the King</i> Cycle of twelve narrative poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Idylls of the King, published between 1859 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred de Musset</span> French writer (1810–1857)

Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. Along with his poetry, he is known for writing the autobiographical novel La Confession d'un enfant du siècle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masuccio Salernitano</span> 15th-century Italian writer

Masuccio Salernitano (1410–1475), born Tommaso Guardati, was an Italian poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lady of Shalott</span> 1832 Victorian ballad by Alfred Tennyson

"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text Donna di Scalotta, the poem tells the tragic story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from Camelot. Tennyson wrote two versions of the poem, one published in 1832, of 20 stanzas, the other in 1842, of 19 stanzas, and returned to the story in "Lancelot and Elaine". The vivid medieval romanticism and enigmatic symbolism of "The Lady of Shalott" inspired many painters, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers, as well as other authors and artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine of Astolat</span> Figure in Arthurian legend

Elaine of Astolat, also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appear in Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 book Le Morte d'Arthur, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's mid-19th-century Idylls of the King, and Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott". She should not be confused with Elaine of Corbenic, the mother of Galahad by Lancelot.

The Three Welsh Romances are three Middle Welsh tales associated with the Mabinogion. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. The Romances survive in the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest, both from the 14th century, though the material is at least as old as Chrétien.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Clara Vere de Vere</span> Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"Lady Clara Vere de Vere" is an English poem written by Alfred Tennyson, part of his collected Poems published in 1842. The poem is about a lady in a family of aristocrats, and includes numerous references to nobility, such as to earls or coats of arms. One such line from the poem goes, "Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman blood." This line gave the title to the film Kind Hearts and Coronets. Lewis Carroll's poem "Echoes" is based on "Lady Clare Vere de Vere".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astolat</span>

Astolat is a legendary castle and town of Great Britain named in Arthurian legends. It is the home of Elaine, "the lily maid of Astolat", as well of her father Sir Bernard and her brothers Lavaine and Tirre. It is known as Shalott in many modern cultural references, derived from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott". In the Lancelot-Grail it was said to be upstream of Camelot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)</span> 1854 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" is an 1854 narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. He wrote the original version on 2 December 1854, and it was published on 9 December 1854 in The Examiner. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom at the time. The poem was subsequently revised and expanded for inclusion in Maud and Other Poems (1855).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynette and Lyonesse</span>

In some versions of Arthurian legend, Lynette is a haughty noble lady who travels to King Arthur's court seeking help for her beautiful sister Lyonesse, whose lands are besieged by the Red Knight. The young Gareth picks up the quest, eventually marrying Lyonesse, while Lynette becomes the lady of his brother Gaheris.

<i>The Lady of Shalott</i> (painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Lady of Shalott is a painting of 1888 by the English painter John William Waterhouse. It is a representation of the ending of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1832 poem of the same name. Waterhouse painted three versions of this character, in 1888, 1894 and 1915. It is one of his most famous works, which adopted much of the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though Waterhouse was painting several decades after the Brotherhood split up during his early childhood.

<i>The Princess</i> (Tennyson poem) 1847 narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson

The Princess is a serio-comic blank verse narrative poem, written by Alfred Tennyson, published in 1847. Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1850 to 1892 and remains one of the most popular English poets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana (poem)</span> Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"Mariana" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published in 1830. The poem follows a common theme in much of Tennyson's work—that of despondent isolation. The subject of "Mariana" is a woman who continuously laments her lack of connection with society. The isolation defines her existence, and her longing for a connection leaves her wishing for death at the end of every stanza. The premise of "Mariana" originates in William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, but the poem ends before Mariana's lover returns. Tennyson's version was adapted by others, including John Everett Millais and Elizabeth Gaskell, for use in their own works. The poem was well received by critics, and it is described by critics as an example of Tennyson's skill at poetry.

<i>The Lotos-Eaters</i> Poem by Lord Tennyson

The Lotos-Eaters is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, published in Tennyson's 1832 poetry collection. It was inspired by his trip to Spain with his close friend Arthur Hallam, where they visited the Pyrenees mountains. The poem describes a group of mariners who, upon eating the lotos, are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world. The title and concept derives from the lotus-eaters in Greek mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Day-Dream</span> 1842 poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"The Day-Dream" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson that was published in 1842. It was an expanded version of his 1830 poem "The Sleeping Beauty". It was further altered in 1848 for a dramatic performance for a private gathering with Tennyson starring as the Prince. "The Day-Dream" discusses the nature of sleeping and of dreaming, especially in relation to individuals that would want to escape from reality. The poem also compares the act of poetry with dreaming and asserts that the two are the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marino Moretti</span>

Marino Moretti was an Italian poet and author.

<i>I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott</i> Painting by John William Waterhouse

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1915. It is the third painting by Waterhouse that depicts a scene from the Tennyson poem, "The Lady of Shalott". The title of the painting is a quotation from the last two lines in the fourth and final verse of the second part of Tennyson's poem:

<i>Il Novellino</i> Anonymous medieval collection of Italian short stories

Il Novellino, also known as Le cento novelle antiche, is an anonymous medieval collection of short stories written in the Tuscan vernacular between 1280 and 1300. It was first published in 1525 by Carlo Gualteruzzi, a friend of Pietro Bembo.

<i>Lady Clare</i> Poem by Alfred Tennyson

Lady Clare is a narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1842.

References

  1. Il Novellino: Le ciento novelle antike
  2. Alfred Tennyson (30 September 2006). The Early Poems. Echo Library. p. 91. ISBN   978-1-4068-0844-5 . Retrieved 13 December 2012.