[Fr. shahnt-fah-bluh ] 
[-fah-bluh ] . | (in medieval French literature) a prose narrative interspersed with verse. |
chantefable
a medieval tale of adventure told in alternating sections of sung verse and recited prose. The word itself was used-and perhaps coined-by the anonymous author of the 13th-century French work Aucassin et Nicolette in its concluding lines: "No cantefable prent fin" ("Our chantefable is drawing to a close"). The work is the sole surviving example of the genre. The word is from the Old French (Picard dialect) cantefable, literally, "(it) sings (and it) narrates."
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