''Elie de Saint Gille'' (''Élie de Saint-Gilles'' in modern editions; ''Elie'' and ''Elye'' in the manuscript; ''Elye of Saint-Gilles'' in the Hartman and Malicote translation) is a 12th-century ''chanson de geste''.
on ''Archives de littérature du moyen âge''. Laurent Brun, last updated April 26, 2009.''Elie de Saint Gilles''
on ''Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français''. Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. It is preserved in a single manuscript,

BnF Français 25516 BnF Français 25516 is a late-13th centuryOn Gallica, under 'detailed information', the manuscript date is given as 1275-90. Se'i' tabon left-hand side. illuminated manuscript held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Content The quarto man ...

. With ''

Aiol and Mirabel ''Aiol and Mirabel'' is an Old French chanson de geste. Originating probably in the late twelfth century, the oldest copy in Old French dates from circa 1280.''Bibliothèque nationale de France'', archives et manuscrits, Français 25516consult on ...

'', it forms the 'small cycle of ''Saint-Gilles. The ''Saint Gille'' referred to is

Saint-Gilles, Gard Saint-Gilles (; Provençal: ''Sant Geli''; en, St. Giles) or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is the second most populous commune in the Nîmes metropolitan area. History The abbey of Saint-Gilles ...

, wrongly referred to in the poem as being in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

.Gaston Raynaud, ''Elie de Saint Gille''. 1879. Pages XVII-XIX. Available online via Wikisource.

Plot

Miniature and rubric from Elie de Saint-Gilles, ms

Elie's father, Julien, reproaches him for not having left him to enter the service of

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

. Julien challenges him to show his prowess by attacking a quintain. Elie accepts, but promises leave. After Elie masterfully defeats the quintain, Julien wants to make him master of his lands. Elie refuses and leaves. On his travels, he meets a badly injured knight who has been a victim of the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s. Elie promises to avenge him and to go to the aid of the Christian knights (one of whom is William of Orange). He kills seven Saracens, but is unable to free the prisoners before being chased away by the Saracen king Malpriant. The prisoners are freed by some peasants. William, upon learning Elie's parentage, goes to Saint-Gilles to seek help. Elie has been captured by Malpriant and the Saracen king Macabré. However, Elie escapes on Malpriant's horse. After three days without food, Elie comes across four robbers preparing to eat in the forest. Elie kills two of them as a third one runs off. The fourth one, Galopin (a dwarf), begs for mercy. At this point, they are attacked by three Saracens. Galopin kills two of them as the third one runs off to Sorbrie where Macabré is. An injured Elie is taken to a tower where Rosamund, the daughter of Macabrés after him. Macabré received Lubien, an elderly Saracen king, who challenges him to a duel for his kingdom and his daughter's hand. Rosamund produces Elie to take her father's place in the duel. Elie is the victor and kills Rosamund's brother Caifas who insulted him. After killing Macabré's son, Elie is forced to take refuge in a tower until king Louis and his company arrive. Galopin kills Macabré and they return to France. They return to France where Elie wishes to marry Rosamund (who has been baptized) but the arch-bishop refuses. Instead he marries Avisse and Rosamund marries Galopin{{citation needed, date=September 2019. A plot summary, in French, was first given by Paulin Paris in 1852,''Histoire littéraire de la France'', tome XXII
pages 416-24
1852. Available online via archive.org. followed by a shorter one by Gaston Raynaud in 1879.Raynaud 1879. Pages III-X. Gaston Paris considered that the final quarter was not part of the original poem, but was a poorly composed, hasty addition to the original.Malicote, Sandra C. O.
''Visual and verbal allusion: disputatio and the poetics of Elie de Saint-Gille and Aiol''
Romania, 124, 2006, p. 79. Available online via persee.fr.

Notes

Chansons de geste Old French texts