Langland’s French Song

This article looks at what scholars have long called the popular French song at the end of Langland’s prologue. In light of the forms of variation that occur through the versions and in different manuscripts, it argues that the song is not a record of an actual popular song, but a synthetic everysong, a song designed to merely sound like any popular song. The essay ends by considering what Langland’s creation of a fake French song can tell us about the limits of source study, Langland’s view on popular French literature, and Langland’s understanding of the relationship between literature and labour.