History Literature / Bisclavret

* WonderfulWerewolf: The UrExample, as "Bisclavret" is a heroic and noble individual even as a wolf [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness (except towards]] his wife and her lover, the two two people who got him [[ShapeshifterModeLock trapped in animal form]])

* WonderfulWerewolf: The UrExample, as "Bisclavret" is a heroic and noble individual even as a wolf [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness(except towards]] his wife and her lover, the two two people who got him [[ShapeshifterModeLock trapped in animal form]])

!!Tropes included

* LamarckWasRight: Bisclavret tears off her nose in the attack. Her children are born without noses.

* NobleWolf: Bisclavret is this in his wolf form.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: They're in their right mind even in wolf form. Or at least Bisclavret himself is; the opening of the tale suggests he may be atypical. Also, his clothes seem to be the TransformationTrinket, as he must remove them to transform and regain them to turn back.
** The poem opens by talking about werewolves, noting that they are called ''garwalf'' in Norman but ''bisclavret'' in Breton. The implication may be that there are two different kinds of werewolf, the [[SavageWolf vicious]] ''garwalf'' and the [[NobleWolf tame]] ''bisclavret.''
** The term ''garwalf'' or however it's spelled (see below) seems to have evolved into the later French ''garou'' which came to mean a werebeast in general, with "werewolf" specifically being ''loup-garou'' which is thus redundant.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The king.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: Bisclavret

* StandardRoyalCourt: The king's.

** The term ''garwalf'' or however it's spelled (see below) seems to have evolved into the later French ''garou'' which came to mean werebeasts in general, with werewolves specifically being ''loup-garou'' which is thus redundant.

** The poem opens by talking about werewolves, noting that they are called ''garwal'' in Norman but ''bisclavret'' in Breton. The implication may be that there are two different kinds of werewolf, the [[SavageWolf vicious]] ''garwal'' and the [[NobleWolf tame]] ''bisclavret.''

For unknown reasons, Bisclavret must transform into a wolf every week. His wife steals his clothing, without which he can't change back. One day, the king his friend goes hunting in the woods. Bisclavret jumps at him and paws his foot like a petitioner, and the king, impressed, grants the wolf his life. Bisclavret goes with the hunting party and stays at court. Everyone is so impressed by his nobility and gentleness that when his wife and her new husband appear at court, and he attacks them, the king concludes that they must have wronged the wolf and imprisons them until they confess. With his clothing back, Bisclavret can return to human form.

* HoYay: Bisclavret's behavior as a wolf indicates that he's ''very'' close to the king, and the two of them engage in some pretty intensive kissing at the end of the story (in the king's bedroom, no less). Overlaps with ValuesDissonance, as medieval culture was less uneasy than modern Western culture about physical affection between men, and bedrooms were a more public space (at least for royalty). On the other hand, relationships between feudal lords and their retainers were often imagined in terms analogous to marriage, and some scholars of the period think that the homoerotic component was just an accepted part of the culture (although actual sex between men, or women, was officially frowned upon).

''Bisclavret'' is a 12th century Anglo-Norman ''lai'' by Marie de France.

* NoNameGiven: Everyone in the story, except Bisclavret, which is treated as the character's name but, since the opening establishes that it's Breton for "werewolf," is really more of a descriptor.

* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing: He has to take it off to change.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: They're in their right mind even in wolf form. Or at least Bisclavret himself is; the opening of the tale suggests he may be atypical.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: They're in their right mind even in wolf form.

'''''Bisclavret''''' is a 12th century Anglo-Norman ''lai'' by Marie de France.

* MakeTheDogTestify: The wolf must have ''some'' reason to attack them.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The king
* StandardRoyalCourt: The king's

'''''Bisclavret''''' is a 12th century Anglo-Norman ''lai'' by Marie de France's ''lai''.