THE SCENE: When a seasoned old knight is unseated at a tournament, he knows that there is only one person who could have done it: his long-lost son. And then they immediately begin plotting together.
THE TEXT: He saw beneath his vizor his beard and hoary white hair and was greatly distressed at the fall. He took the horse by the reins and presented it to him, saying: “Lord, mount your horse. I am most disturbed and saddened that I have committed such an outrageous act against a man of your age.” Milun jumped up. He was very pleased by what had happened. He recognized the ring on his opponent’s finger when he returned his horse to him. He addressed the young man. “Freind,” he said, “listen to me! For the love of Almighty God, tell me your father’s name. What is your name? Who is your mother? I wish to know the whole truth.”
The other replied: “I shall tell you as much as I know about my father. I think he was born in Wales and that his name is Milun. He loved the daughter of a wealthy man and I was conceived in secret, then sent to Northumbria and brought up and educated there. One of my aunts raised me. She kept me with her a long time, gave me a horse and arms, and sent me to this land, where I have been a for a long time.
When Milun heard him speak thus, he could listen no more. He quickly leaped forward and seized him by the skirt of his hauberk. “Oh God,” he said, “now my life is whole again. In truth, friend, you are my son. It was in search of you that I left my country this year.” When the other heard this, he dismounted and kissed his father tenderly. Form the joy on their faces and the words they spoke the onlookers wept for joy and emotion.
Milun told his son about his love for his mother and how her father had given her to a nobleman from the region and how he had continued to love her and she him wholeheartedly. The son replied: “In truth, father, I shall bring you and my mother together. I shall kill her husband and marry her to you.”
– Milun, Marie de France, 12th Century AD
