from a longer source. Though there are several allusions to the greater Tristan and Iseult cycle, such as Tintagel and the character Brangaine, Marie is unique in placing Tristan's homeland in South Wales, rather than Cornwall or the fictitious Lyonesse. A testament to Marie's popularity appears in Gerbert's Continuation to Chrétien de Troyes's unfinished romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail, which contains an episode in which a disguised Tristan plays the lay of "Chevrefoil" to his unsuspecting lover at a tournament. "Chevrefoil" is one of Marie's several lais concerning an adulterous love. It is also one of several which deal with the sexual frustration suffered by a young woman who has been married to an older man. Like other lais, prominence is given to the analysis of the characters' emotions and to the contrast between the ideals of love and the needs of reality. It has been speculated that Marie arranged her poems as they appear in MS H in order to pair a short, tragic poem with a longer one on the power of love and the importance of fidelity. If this is true, "Chevrefoil" may be paired with "Eliduc," the final poem in the collection. One of the most discussed features of the lai is the hazel branch Tristan leaves for Iseult. The poet indicates that Tristan carves his name on the branch; it is unclear if he also leaves a fuller message. In any case Iseult interprets it correctly. Glyn Burgess suggests the branch is merely a signal Tristan has already told Iseult about in an earlier message; the poet indicates that Iseult would be on the lookout for the branch, "for this had all happened before". Others have read the poem as indicating that Tristan has left a longer message, perhaps lines 77–78, or the entirety of lines 61–78. In such a case the message may have been transcribed in notches on the branch, perhaps in the ogham alphabet, or in a fashion similar to the tally stick. Like the other Lais, "Chevrefoil" was adapted into other languages. It was translated as "Geitarlauf" in the Old Norse version of Marie's Lais known as Strengleikar, perhaps written by Brother Robert. Notes References Burgess, Glyn S. The Lais of Marie de France. Athens. The University of Georgia Press, 1987. Chrétien de Troyes; Bryant, Nigel (translator) (1996). Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. .