Le Ditie de Jehanne d’Arc selected passage for reading:
XXIX
Par miracle fut envoiée
Et divine amonition,
De l’ange de Dieu convoiée
Au roy, pour sa provision.
Son fait n’est pas illusion,
Car bien a esté esprouvée
Par conseil (en conclusion,
A l’effect la chose est prouvée),
XXX
Et bien esté examinée
A, ains que l’on l’ait voulu croire,
Devant clers et sages menée
Pour ensercher se chose voire
Disoit, ainçois qu’il fust notoire
Que Dieu l’eust vers le roy tramise.
Mais on a trouvé en histoire
Qu’à ce faire elle estoit commise;
XXXI
Car Merlin et Sebile et Bede,
Plus de Vc ans a la virent
En esperit, et pour remede
En France en leurs escripz la mirent,
Et leur[s] prophecies en firent,
Disans qu’el pourteroit baniere
Es guerres françoises, et dirent
De son fait toute la maniere.
XXXII
Et sa belle vie, par foy,
Monstre qu’elle est de Dieu en grace;
Par quoy on adjouste plus foy
A son fait. Car, quoy qu’elle face,
Tousjours a Dieu devant la face,
Qu’elle appelle, sert et deprie
En fait, en dit; ne va en place
Où sa devotion detrie.
XXXIII
O! comment lors bien y paru
Quant le siege ert devant Orliens,
Où premier sa force apparu!
Onc miracle, si com je tiens,
Ne fut plus cler, car Dieu aux siens
Aida telement, qu’ennemis
Ne s’aiderent ne que mors chiens.
Là furent prins et à mort mis.
Explanation:
In general, I will tend to pronounce the Old French words in a manner more similar to Classical Latin than Modern French. I found in my research that many Modern French pronunciations where the graphemes are not vocalized as their corresponding phonemes did not emerge until between Middle French and Modern French, while Le Ditie de Jehanne d’Arc was written between Old French and Middle French.
I will pronounce all word-final “e” graphemes as the phoneme [ə]. I will also pronounce all consonants, including word-final consonants like “t” in “fut” and “n” in “Merlin.” “Ç” will be pronounced [s], as in Modern French. I will be pronouncing “é” (“e” with accent aigu/accent grave) as [e], like it is pronounced in Modern French. I could not find explanations on how this would have been pronounced in Old French, so I am assuming that where a word has “ée,” it would be pronounced [eə]. I am pronouncing “z” as [ts]. I am pronouncing any “e” that would be pronounced [ɑ̃] in Modern French as [e] in Old French.
As “Vc” in Stanza XXXI is translated into both Modern French and Modern English as “five hundred,” I will be reading it as “cinq cent” as in the Modern French version, and pronouncing it accordingly as [sɛ̃nk sɑ̃nt]. In the same stanza, the Old French version of the poem that I found reads, “leur[s].” I take this to mean that Pisan wrote “leur,” and it was translated into Modern French and Modern English as if it were written as “leurs.” I will be using what was likely Pisan’s “leur,” and pronouncing it as [lewr].
As many Old French diphthongs and triphthongs were transitioning from their Classical Latin pronunciations to their Modern French pronunciations, I researched their Old French pronunciation. I will be using pronunciations from the source below, as follows:
“eu” (not including as in “Dieu”) as [ew]
“au” as [aw]
“aux” as [awks]
oral “oi” as [ɔj]
nasal “oi” as [õj]
oral “ié” as [je]
nasal “ie” as [jẽ]
“ou” as [ɔw]
“ai” as [aj]
oral “ue” as [we]
nasal “ue” as [wẽ]
“ieu” as [jew]
oral “ei” as [ej]
nasal “ei” as [ẽj]
“Oy” is not listed in this table, as it was an irregular Old French spelling, I am treating it the same as the more common “oi” and pronouncing it as listed above. “Uoy” was an irregular spelling and is also not listed, so I am treating it as “uoi,” which I believe would be pronounced as [kɔwi]. I am mirroring Modern French and treating “oiée” as separate “oi” and “ée.”