''Galiens li Restorés'', or ''Galien le Restoré'' or ''Galien rhétoré'' (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, "Galien the Restored"), is an

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

'' which borrows heavily from

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric k ...

. Its composition dates anywhere from the end of the twelfth century to the middle of the fourteenth century.Hasenohr, 480. Five versions of the tale are extant, dating from the fifteenth century to the sixteenth century, one in verse and the others in prose. The story—which is closely linked to the earlier ''chansons de geste'' '' Pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' and ''

The Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...

'' (especially in the latter's rhymed version)—tells of the adventures of Galien, son of the hero

Olivier Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

and of Jacqueline, the daughter of the (fictional) emperor Hugon (Hue the Strong) of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. ''Galien'', with its voyages and romance elements, enjoyed a strong success in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance and largely eclipsed ''The Song of Roland'' in public taste.

Plot

Galien seeks out his father Olivier at the

Battle of Roncevaux Pass The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on th ...

, and helps

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

and

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

rout 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. Later, he saves his mother from treacherous uncles and becomes emperor of Constantinople.

Editions

Three of the extant versions of the tale (including the one in verse) are part of larger compilations entitled ''

Garin de Monglane Garin de Monglane is a fictional aristocrat who gives his name to the second cycle of Old French '' chansons de geste'', ''La Geste de Garin de Monglane''. His cycle tells stories of fiefless lads of noble birth who went off seeking land and adven ...

'' in which are grouped other works concerning the feats of the descendants of Garin (

Girart de Vienne ''Girart de Vienne'' is a late twelfth-century (c.1180Hasenohr, 547-548.) Old French ''chanson de geste'' by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube. The work tells the story of the sons of Garin de Monglane and their battles with the Emperor Charlemagne, and it ...

, Olivier, Galien, etc.). The verse version (the "Cheltenham manuscript") is in

alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Rom ...

s grouped in rhymed

laisse A laisse is a type of stanza, of varying length, found in medieval French literature, specifically medieval French epic poetry (the ''chanson de geste''), such as ''The Song of Roland''. In early works, each laisse was made up of (mono) assonanced ...

s; one of the two other compiled versions is in manuscript form, the other is in a printed edition (c.1502-11Tilly, 16, 20.). The remaining two versions of the tale have only the ''Galien'' tale; one of these is the printed edition of 1500, later reprinted with a different ending in 1525. Surviving editions:Dougherty, 298. *containing the cycle: ** the "Cheltenham manuscript" (in verse). ''La Geste de Montglane.'' Library of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

(

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

). Originally published by Edmund Stengel in 1890 (Marburg). ** ''Guérin de Montglave'' (sic), printed c.1502-1511. **Ms. 3351 of the

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (''Library of the Arsenal'', founded 1757) in Paris has been part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1934. History The collections of the library originated with the private library of Marc-René, 3rd ...

. *containing only ''Galiens'': ** ''Galien rhétoré'', printed in 1500. ** Ms. 1470 fr. of the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Notes

References

* Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age''. Collection: La Pochothèque. Paris: Fayard, 1992. *

Urban T. Holmes Jr. Urban Tigner Holmes Jr. (July 13, 1900 – May 12, 1972) was an American scholar focusing on medieval literature and romance philology. The son of Commander Urban T. Holmes, United States Navy, Holmes was born in Washington, D.C. In 1916, he enr ...

''A History of Old French Literature from the Origins to 1300''. New York: F.S. Crofts, 1938. * Authur Tilly. ''Studies in the French Renaissance''. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1968. * David M. Dougherty. "A New Critical Edition of Galiens li restorés" ''The French Review'', Vol. 41, No. 3 (Dec., 1967), pp. 298–303
JSTOR

External links

GoogleBooks
The Cheltenham manuscript. ''Le Galien de Cheltenham.'' David M. Dougherty, Eugene B. Barnes, eds. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:Galiens li Restores Chansons de geste Matter of France Works based on The Song of Roland Epic poems in French French poems Cultural depictions of Charlemagne