Origin: Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry
Genre: Galician-Portuguese Lai (similar to the breton Lai)
Troubadour/minstrel: Anonymous

Performer: DOA
Album: "A Fronda dos Cervos" (2011)

The lai introduces the very common theme of abduction and captivity, whereas in the Galician-Portuguese composition it is exposed the reason for such occurrence. In this type of lais, the woman generally occupies a passive position, without great protagonism, but this choir of maidens who sing while wishing misfortune to Maroot, seems to be an exception to the case. However, even though the voice is female, the central figure in the composition is that of the abductor.

The king Maroot or Morholt (Diarmait Mac Murchada), is a literary character belonging to the Tristan Cycle who is said to reign in Ireland, where he would send the abducted maidens. In fact, in another piece such as "La suite du Merlin", there is a similar episode in which some maidens dance around a tree from which hangs a white shield without an insignia that they spit in turns while cursing Maroot, whom they want to make pay for all the shame and misdeeds committed.

In turn, there seems to exist a continuation of the "coutume de Logres" motif, which stated that if a knight found a maiden alone, he should let her go; however, if she was guarded by another knight, they could initiate a duel, in which the winner could seize the maiden at his own will. Thus, according to the Tristanian tradition, these maidens would serve as tribute to the kingdom of Ireland.

Also, there’s a reference to the fact that the abductor reacted in a vengeful way because it was a maiden under his father's custody who killed him. This feature is correlated with that of another character in the French-Arthurian novels: 'Breuse Sans Pitie' (Brown Knight Without Pity), who, due to his father's loss over a maiden, now wants to do harm to women. Furthermore, there is evidence that this particular novel was circulated throughout the Iberian Peninsula to corroborate with the vengeful nature of Maroot.

Source (online in portuguese; pp. 117-119): file:///C:/Users/HP%20X36/Dropbox%20(Old)/My%20PC%20(DESKTOP-7U3Q9KA)/Downloads/53243-156340-1-PB.pdf

About the song: [ Ссылка ]

Artwork: "Dancing maidens" by Leopold Franz Kowalski (unknown date)

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