This text has two aims: to introduce readers to Old French storytelling and the culture from which it arose and, secondly, to suggest a way out of the impasse apparent in criticism of Aucassin et Nicolete . Each chapter begins with an English version of a section of the Old French text. This is followed by an analysis of the corresponding passage of the original text using the English version as a point of reference. Many of the text’s poetic structures survive translation and it is in these that the discussion finds its point of departure.