SOURCE: “The Literary Background of the Chantefable,” in Speculum, Vol. 1, No. 2, April, 1926, pp. 157-69.

In the essay below, Reinhard asserts that the form of Aucassin et Nicolette did not originate with the work, but is indebted to the traditions readily available to the author—that is, to the literary traditions of Greece and Rome.

The new edition of Aucassin et Nicolette by Mario Roques¹ once more offers occasion for the discussion of its peculiar literary form, that of alternate prose and verse. In his Introduction, Roques briefly discusses “cette forme originale et unique dans la littérature du moyen âge,”² and after rejecting the various definitions of Aucassin as a “roman,”a “conte,” a “nouvelle,” a “fabliau,” and a “récit,” he arrives at the conclusion that it is a “mime.”³ If a technical name must be found for the type of literature which Aucassin represents, why not...