# Epigraph II explained — Domnei

> Chapter companion for Domnei by James Branch Cabell.

## What happens

This epigraph introduces the concept of 'domnei,' a term from the Troubadours that encapsulates the complex system of opinions, ideas, affections, and habits that drove a knight to devote himself to a lady, striving to prove his love and merit hers in return.

## Themes in this chapter

### Woman-Worship and Domnei

The epigraph directly defines 'domnei' as the chivalric code of devotion and service to a lady, central to the theme of woman-worship.

## Key lines

> The complication of opinions and ideas, of affections and habits, which prompted the chevalier to devote himself to the service of a lady, and by which he strove to prove to her his love, and to merit hers in return, was expressed, in the language of the Troubadours, by a single word, by the word domnei, a derivation of domna , which may be regarded as an alteration of the Latin domina , lady, mistress.

The intricate mix of beliefs, emotions, and behaviors that led a knight to dedicate himself to a lady, seeking to demonstrate his love and earn hers, was summed up by the Troubadours in one word: 'domnei,' from 'domna' (lady), itself derived from the Latin 'domina.'

_This paraphrase clarifies the definition and etymology of 'domnei' as presented in the epigraph._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/domnei_se/chapters/epigraph-ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/domnei_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/domnei_se/chapters