Lanval

 Throughout the story Lanval, the reader is taken on an emotional rollercoaster. Lanval is described as “being brave and generous, for his beauty and his prowess”. Along with his beauty and strength, Lnval is also described as being one of the king's best knights. With this background knowledge you would think that Lanval was a well liked member of the court, however, the knights all envied him and the girls were never enough.

As the story continues, Lanval meets the lady of his dreams after he went for a ride on his horse. Soon this woman that he quickly met has become the woman of his dreams, the kind of girl he has been searching for. The lady of his dreams would give him everything he ever wanted as she described, “The more he spends, in buying bold, The more he'll have of silver and gold”, as long as her identity will remain a secret. 

 As this seems like an easy task, Lanval agrees to the circumstances and goes on his way. When he arrives back at home, the Queen, Guinnere tries to get Lanval alone. WHen Lanval refuses to be with her Guinnere gets insulted- causing Lanval to tell the story of his secret lover, breaking his promise to her. The queen then turns around, humiliated and begins to say that Lanval forced himself onto her, angering the king. 

Lanval in defense must plead his case and have a witness, however, he knows his lady will not come since he broke his promise to her. While Lanval begins to lose faith, his lady returns and claims, “O King, I have loved your vassal, This one, here! I mean Lanval.”, expressing her love for him. At the end of the story the two of them ride off together and are never seen again.

I found the story of Lanval to be quite interesting in the fact that I have never heard a story of a similar theme. As a reader, Lanval teaches us what it means to be truly honest to yourself and others while not worrying about the repercussions. Looking back on the story, Lanval could have made his life easier by being with the queen, however that would mean not staying true to his character. I think there is a lot to learn from Lanvals honesty, nobility, and grace.