When comparing our first three lais written by Marie de France, it is easy to observe the similarities between Equitan and Bisclavret and observe the differences between Bisclavret and Le Fresne. "Bisclavret" means "garwolf", which is a savage beast of the woods known for eating men and wreaking evil.
In Bisclavret, a knight marries his beautiful wife and while all seems well, the knight's wife loses her husband every week and demands answers to explain his absences. The demands of his wife place great stress on the knight, who is scared of revealing that in his free moments, the knight prefers to turn into Bisclavret. The knight's wife becomes scared & frustrated that the knight does not trust her and does not wish to share a bed with the knight anymore. The wife demands to know where the knight keeps his clothes, which foreshadows events to come.
In one of the knight's extended absences as Bisclavret, the wife sends for another long admiring knight as she is craving love and affection, resulting in their engagement. To seal the marriage deal with her new fiance, the wife sends her fiance to steal Bisclavret's clothes at the old chapel where he stores them.
Bisclavret was thought to be forgotten until the King went hunting in the land of Bisclavret. In a plea of mercy by Bisclavret, the King calls off his hunt and Bisclavret follows the King to his castle. Despite his animalistic tendencies, Bisclavret followed the King around his kingdom as he loved the King.
During one of the King's parties attended by Bisclavret's former wife and her new husband, Bisclavret twice attacked the wife's new husband.
Following the party and attacks, Bisclavret's former wife visits the King, where her nose is bitten off in an attack by Bisclavret. The King chalks the attack up to a grudge held by Bisclavret against his former wife and her new husband. In order to get to the bottom of the Grudge, the King sends for the new knight and tortures both the knight and his new wife. The wife admits to her affair with her new husband during her marriage to Bisclavret. The King request that Bisclavret's stolen clothes be located and restored to Bisclavret's possession, which Bisclavret's former wife wholeheartedly disagrees with.
A wise man tells the King to place Bisclavret with his clothes in the King's room and wait. Bisclavret is no more and the knight's existence is restored to the joy of the King. The knight's former wife and her new knightly husband are expelled from the King's kingdom for betraying her first husband. The wife and her second husband have children that are born without noses.
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