She is attended by her sympathetic niece and watched over by a feeble priest, so it is not difficult at first for her to conceal Guigemar in her quarters. The wife of a jealous lord, the lady of the ancient city is kept locked away from the rest of the world. The Lady of the Ancient Cityappears in Guigemar In the end, however, Guigemar must resort to force to regain the woman he loves. These events are prophesied by the beautiful talking deer that Guigemar mortally wounds, and his life continues to be influenced by supernatural events. This changes when he meets the lady who lives in the ancient city. Guigemar is a brave knight whose only flaw is that he does not show any interest in romance. She is not shy, however, about addressing the less seemly aspects of love and romance. Marie is courtly and formal when she speaks directly, a style suitable to the original audience, which would have been gentlemen and ladies at court. Originally, these passages addressing the audience directly were written in the same meter and rhyme scheme as the rest of the story and sung along, meshing seamlessly with the rest of the story. Marie also appears within the stories at times, making an aside to the audience about an event of special significance, or to emphasize the truth of a plot point, especially if it is one that might seem unbelievable. She acts primarily as the narrator in each lai, but also appears as herself at the beginning and end of each story to introduce the characters and afterwards to provide a moral or historical note. Her role is to present each lay to its courtly audience and provide context for the events described. Marie is the attributed author of the thirteen lays included in the collection.
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