Rediscovering Forgotten Fairy Tales: A Graphic Novel Adaptation of Lanval by Marie De France

When looking at the works of literature known in the popular cultural consensus as “fairy tales”, there is one author and body of work whose name and stories have not seemed to cross over from the world of academia to that of popular culture. Marie de France has been a staple of my undergraduate studies, with her lais coming up in multiple classes. Despite her writing being nearly a thousand years old, the stories that she tells- of love, hate, comedy and tragedy- have a timeless quality. However, there is very little in the way of adaptational material for the Lais of Marie de France, at least in the English speaking world. This is disappointing, as her works have the potential to speak to a modern audience- the story of Lanval, in particular, contains many story elements that are at once familiar yet unique to those familiar with similar works. In writing and illustrating a visual adaptation of this text, I hope to engage the imagination of modern readers while keeping true to the spirit of Marie de France’s original vision.