Medieval LOLs: Dame Syrith

As discussed in the previous episode of Medieval LOLs, fabliaux had an enormous influence on Chaucer, but outside of his work, only one survives in Middle English. Dame Syrith, a story of lust, deception and a mustard-eating dog, is medieval humour at its silliest and most troubling. Mary and Irina explore the surprising representations of old women, magic and consent in fabliaux, the poem’s possible role as a pedagogical tool, and medieval audiences’ obsession with the procuress trope.
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Further reading
Irina Dumitrescu: Making My Moan
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n...
Tom Shippey: Women Beware Midwives
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v12/n...
Read Dame Syrith online:
d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/tex...
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It may be of interest that an earlier (presumably) version of the story exists in Petrus Alfonsi's Disciplina clericalis. (The version in the Gesta Romanorum, clearly based on the former, may be contemporary with the English fabliau.)