It is the best-known love story among the French fabliau or fables. Written by an anoymous troubador of the thirteenth century, it tells in alternating prose and lyrics a story of True Love thwarted by a proud and cruel father.

Aucassin et Nicolette, early 13th-century French chantefable (a story told in alternating sections of verse and prose, the former sung, the latter recited). Aucassin, “endowed with all good qualities,” is the son of the Count of Beaucaire and falls in love with Nicolette, a captive Saracen turned Christian. The lovers are imprisoned but manage to escape and, after many vicissitudes (including flight, capture, and shipwreck), are able to marry.

Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.