Tyolet is an anonymous Breton lai that takes place in the realm of King Arthur.
It tells the tale of a naïve young knight who wins the hand of a maiden after a magical adventure.
[1] The lai of Tyolet is contained in one existing manuscript: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, nouv.
[2] Tyolet tells the story of a young man who lives in the forest with his widowed mother.
The knight answers all of Tyolet's questions and tells him to return to his mother who will present him with his father's armor.
Many knights attempt this feat, but they are all stopped at a perilous river that they fear to cross in spite of the hound.
Back at court, the knights and the maiden are suspicious of the newcomer and wait a week for the hound to return.
When asked, the knight continues to declare that he is the rightful claimant, but he is eventually forced to reveal the truth when he admits that he did not kill the lions or cut off the stag's foot.
The poem can be broken down into the following sections: The beginning of this lai shares many elements with Chrétien de Troyes' Le Conte du Graal.
Tests to prove prowess and win a maiden's hand are also common in lais, such as Doon and Les Deux Amants.
The ability to summon an animal by whistling is a trait associated with the character Auberon in the medieval Huon de Bordeaux.