Editing Medieval dance (section)

====Chretien de Troyes====
[[File:Meister des Rosenromans 001.jpg|thumb|From a manuscript of the ''[[Roman de la rose]]'', c. 1430.]]

Some of the earliest mentions of the carol occur in the works of the French poet [[Chrétien de Troyes]] in his series of [[Arthurian romance]]s. In the wedding scene in [[Erec and Enide]] (about 1170)

{{Poem quote|Puceles carolent et dancent,
Trestuit de joie feire tancent

Maidens performed rounds and other dances, each trying to outdo the other in showing their joy<ref>English translation from {{cite book|title=Chrétien de Troyes – Arthurian Romances (translated by Carleton W. Carroll)|location=London|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]|year=1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/62 62]|isbn=0-14-044521-8|url=https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/62}}</ref>
|lines 2047–2048<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506194033/http://www.uhb.fr/alc/medieval/Erec3.htm |archive-date=2008-05-06|url=http://www.uhb.fr/alc/medieval/Erec3.htm|title=Erec et Enide, éd. Foerster, v. 1845–2924|publisher=Université Rennes 2 Haute Bretagne Centre d'Études des Textes Médiévaux|access-date=2009-02-24}}</ref>
}}

In [[The Knight of the Cart]] (probably late 1170s) at a meadow where there are knights and ladies, various games are played while:

{{Poem quote|
{{lang|fro|Li autre, qui iluec estoient,}}
{{lang|fro|Redemenoient lor anfances,}}
{{lang|fro|Baules et queroles et dance;}}
{{lang|fro|Et chantent et tunbent et saillent}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~lancelot/L-3U.html|title=Manuscript U|publisher=Princeton University |access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref>

[S]ome others were playing at childhood games – rounds, dances and reels, singing, tumbling, and leaping"<ref>English translation from {{cite book|title=Chrétien de Troyes – Arthurian Romances (translated by William W. Kibler)|location=London|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]|year=1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/228 228]|isbn=0-14-044521-8|url=https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/228}}</ref>
|lines 1656–1659}}

In what is probably Chretien's last work, [[Perceval, the Story of the Grail]], probably written 1181–1191, we find:

<blockquote>Men and women danced rounds through every street and square<ref>English translation from {{cite book|title=Chrétien de Troyes – Arthurian Romances (translated by William W. Kibler)|location=London|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]|year=1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/415 415]|isbn=0-14-044521-8|url=https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/415}}</ref></blockquote>

and later at a court setting:

<blockquote>The queen ... had all her maidens join hands together to dance and begin the merry-making. In his honour they began their singing, dances, and rounds<ref>English translation from {{cite book|title=Chrétien de Troyes – Arthurian Romances (translated by William W. Kibler)|location=London|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]|year=1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/491 491]|isbn=0-14-044521-8|url=https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chr/page/491}}</ref></blockquote>