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Alienation and the Otherworld in Lanval, Yonec, and Guigemar By Frederick Hodgson * Much of the critical attention devoted to the dais of Marie de France has been directed toward tracing the origin of the motifs which constitute their framework. By determining the nature of the tradition which inspired Marie, source eritics have hoped to measure her originality, her role in the creation of one of the richest of medieval genres. Since the results of such historical investigation have been ambiguous, critics like Emmanuel Mickel have recently focused on a more internal examination of the ais in a sourch for theit common themes, But even this intrinsic analysis, when confronted with the numerous motifs from Celtic folklore which consistently buttress the action of the Jas, either fails to assimilate these elements or dismisses them as superfluous structural devices. Such is the conclusion of Mickel in his article “A Reconsideration of the Lait of Marie de France” when he writes: “... the Celtic folklore motifs, often connected with the magical element, have yielded little help in making an over-all interpretation, The tracing of various motifs and their elucidation in terms of Celtic lore have not provided the key, but have added only another source of difficulty for one who tries (o assimilate the action of the ais and the motifs." It is my purpose to demonstrate, through an internal analysis of the role of the Celtic Otherworld in the dais of Lanval, Yonec, and Guigemar, the crucial importance of the memveilleux celtique in the evolution of Marie's art. Through these /ais can be traced an evolving relationship between the social reality which initially confronts the characters and the Celtic Otherworld which offers itself as an alternative. Marie profits from the readily available Otherworld of Celtic mythology because it lends itself so well to a portrait of an alienated character who must transcend the social circumstances of his malaise in order to love. 
