L’art de la laisse dans La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin de Cuvelier (xiv^e-xv^e siècle)

This paper analyzes the role of French epic stanzas known as laisses in La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin to determine the parts played by archaism and innovation in this late epic poem. The study reveals the structuring effect of the laisse, which retains its delimitative function but which is also part of larger narrative unities in the epic literature of the late Middle Ages.