The book contains articles written at different times (starting from the 80s) on one topic - French medieval literature in all its multi-genre manifestation, and its connection with the culture of other countries and eras - ancient, Old English, Celtic and even Old Russian. Particular attention is paid to the problem of the development and transformation of traditional plots and motives at the time of their penetration into a foreign language environment or in the context of new cultural values. The book is the third volume of selected works by A. D. Mikhailov (see "From Francois Villon to Marcel Proust." T. I and T. II. M.: Languages ​ ​ of Slavic cultures, 2009, 2010). It was fully prepared for publication by the beginning of September 2009, but further work with the publishing house was interrupted by the sudden death of the author. In the archive of A. D. Mikhailov, a manuscript of an unfinished book was found about the problem of science fiction in the Middle Ages, on which he worked in recent years. - its first section was also included in the present edition ("The Fantastic Universe of Breton Le").