Sir Orfeo is a Middle English narrative lay written by an anonymous author in the late 13th or early 14th century. It is a retelling of the story of the ancient Greek Prophet, Orpheus, and his brave quest to rescue his wife from the Fairy King.
The lay revolves around Sir Orfeo, King of England, in despair of the loss of his wife, Heurodis, after she is kidnapped by the Fairy King, lord of the Underworld. As such, Sir Orfeo, abandons his court and goes in search of his wife. He spends ten years in the forest looking for her, until one day he comes across the Fairy Kingdom and finds her in the castle. He is able to negotiate with the Fairy King and agrees to play music for the fairy King in exchange for Heurodis. The Fairy King agrees and allows him to leave with Heurodis, and they return to their court as King and Queen.
The main theme throughout this text is the theme of undying love. When Sir Orfeo, he loses himself. He cannot rule as King without his Queen by his side, so he leaves the Court in search of her. Despite living for years in the forest, he never once returns giving up. Indeed, he is eventually successful in finding and returning to the kingdom with his wife, suggesting that one never gives up in love.
The tale is based around the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and details the ability to move between the land of the living and the land of the dead, which is mainly derived from Celtic influences. In her essay Sparagmos: Orpheus Among the Christians, Patricia Vicari states that the life of Queen Heurodis is similar to the fates of other Celtic heroines.
The exact dating of the text is still in debate but three preserved manuscripts Auchinleck MS., Harley 3810, and Ashmole 61 have been preserved and date from the 13th to 15th century.
