''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''
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 ...
'' based on the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
military leader
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 ...
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 ...
in 778 AD, during the reign of the
Carolingian king 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 ...
. It is the oldest surviving major work of
French literature
French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...
. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
and
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
literature from the 12th to 16th centuries.
The epic poem written in
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''
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 ...
'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in
Medieval Europe
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and celebrated legendary deeds. The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 AD and 1115 AD; an early version began around 1040 AD with additions and alterations made up until about 1115 AD. The final text contains about 4,000 lines of poetry.
Manuscripts and dating
![La_Chanson_de_Roland_-_MS_Oxford](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/La_Chanson_de_Roland_-_MS_Oxford.djvu)
Although set in the
Carolingian era
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lo ...
, ''The Song of Roland'' was written much later. There is a single extant manuscript of the ''Song of Roland'' in
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 ...
, held at the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. It dates between 1129 and 1165 and was written in
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
* Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
* Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
. And there are eight additional manuscripts and three fragments of other poems on the subject of Roland.
Scholars estimate that the poem was written between approximately 1040 and 1115 —possibly by a poet named ''Turold'' (''
Turoldus Turoldus or Turold is the name traditionally given to the author of the 11th-century French poem ''The Song of Roland''. Efforts to make a convincing further identification of the identity of Turoldus have failed. The Latin form ''Turoldus'' is equi ...
'' in the manuscript itself)— and that most of the alterations were completed by about 1098. Some favor the earlier dating, which allows that the narrative was inspired by the
Castilian campaigns of the 1030s and that the poem was established long enough to be a major influence in the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
, (1096–1099). Others favor a later dating based on their interpretations of brief references made to events of the First Crusade.
In the text, the term ''d'oltre mer'' (or ''l'oltremarin'') occurs three times in reference to named Muslims who came from ''oltre mer'' to fight in Spain and France. ''Oltre mer'', modern French
Outremer
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political int ...
(literally, "oversea, beyond sea, other side of the sea") is a native French term from the classical Latin roots ''ultra'' = "beyond" and ''mare'' = "sea". The name was commonly used by contemporary chroniclers to refer to the
Latin Levant.
The occurrence of ''d'oltre mer'' cannot reliably be interpreted as resulting from the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
. On the contrary, the way the term is used, referring simply to ''a Muslim land,'' indicates that the author was writing before the Crusades. And the term was circulating in French prior to the time of the Crusades —referring to the far, or eastern, end of the Mediterranean. The bulk of the poem itself dates from before the Crusades. Still, there are a few terms where questions remain about their being ''late'' to the poem, i.e., added shortly after the first Crusade started in 1096.
After two manuscripts were found in 1832 and 1835, the Song of Roland became recognized as France's
national epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with as ...
when an edition was published in 1837.
Critical opinions
Oral performance compared to manuscript versions
Scholarly consensus has long accepted that ''The Song of Roland'' differed in its presentation depending on whether transmission was
oral
The word oral may refer to:
Relating to the mouth
* Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid
**Oral administration of medicines
** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or or ...
or
textual
In literary theory, textuality comprises all of the attributes that distinguish the communicative content under analysis as an object of study. It is associated with structuralism and post-structuralism.
Explanation
Textuality is not just ab ...
; namely, although a number of different versions of the song—containing varying material and episodes—would have been performed orally, the
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
to manuscript resulted in greater cohesiveness across those versions.
Early editors of ''The Song of Roland'', informed in part by patriotic desires to produce a distinctly French epic, could thus overstate the textual cohesiveness of the Roland tradition. This point is expressed by Andrew Taylor, who notes, "
e Roland song was, if not invented, at the very least constructed. By supplying it with an appropriate epic title, isolating it from its original codicological context, and providing a general history of minstrel performance in which its pure origin could be located, the early editors presented a 4,002 line poem as sung French epic".
AOI
![La_Chanson_de_Roland_AOI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/La_Chanson_de_Roland_AOI.jpg)
Certain lines of the Oxford manuscript end with the letters "AOI". The meaning of this word or annotation is unclear. Many scholars have hypothesized that the marking may have played a role in public performances of the text, such as indicating a place where a ''
jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...
'' would change the tempo. Contrarily, Nathan Love believes that "AOI" marks locations where the scribe or copyist is signaling that he has deviated from the primary manuscript: ergo, the mark indicates the source is a ''non-performance'' manuscript.
Plot
From a historical perspective, the Song of Roland's account of the Battle of Roncesvalles is impossible. According to
Einhard
Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; la, E(g)inhardus; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita ...
's ''
Vita Karoli Magni
''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter long account starting with the full of the Mero ...
'', written in the late eighth century, the antagonists are Basques who were incited to attack Charlemagne's army to avenge the looting of Pamplona. The following is what is depicted in the poem itself, not subsequent historical accounts.
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 ...
's army is fighting
the Muslims in Spain. They have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is
Saragossa
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
, held by the Muslim
King Marsile
Marsile (variously spelled Marsilie, Marsilius, Marsilion, Marcilie, Marsille, Marsilies, Marsilun, or Marsiluns) is a character in the French heroic poem ''The Song of Roland''. He is the Muslim king of the Saracens and of Saragossa. He first appe ...
. Threatened by the might of Charlemagne's army of
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, Marsile seeks advice from his wise man,
Blancandrin In ''The Song of Roland'', Blancandrin is the instigator of the pagan plot against Roland and Charlemagne. He first appears in the final line of the second stanza of the poem as the only pagan who speaks to give King Marsile counsel, and is then d ...
, who counsels him to conciliate the Emperor, offering to surrender and giving hostages. Accordingly, Marsile sends out messengers to Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsile's conversion to Christianity if the Franks will go back to
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
.
Charlemagne and his men, tired of fighting, accept his peace offer and select a messenger to Marsile's court. The protagonist
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 ...
, Charlemagne's nephew, nominates his stepfather
Ganelon
In the Matter of France, Ganelon (, ) is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Saracens, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word ''inganno'', meaning fraud or deception.Boiardo, ''Orl ...
as messenger. Ganelon, who fears being murdered by the enemy and accuses Roland of intending this, takes revenge by informing the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
of a way to ambush the rear guard of Charlemagne's army, led by Roland, as the Franks re-enter Francia through the mountain passes.
As Ganelon predicted, Roland leads the rear guard, with the wise and moderate Oliver and the fierce
Archbishop Turpin. The Muslims ambush them at
Roncesvalles
Roncesvalles ( , ; eu, Orreaga ; an, Ronzesbals ; french: Roncevaux ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French bor ...
and the Christians are overwhelmed. Oliver pleads with Roland to blow his horn to call for help, but Roland tells him that blowing his horn in the middle of the battle would be an act of cowardice. If Roland continues to refuse, Oliver will not let Roland see his sister again whom Roland loves the most. However, Archbishop Turpin intervenes and tells them that the battle will be fatal for all of them and so instructs Roland to blow his horn
oliphant (the word is an old alternative to "elephant", and was used to refer to a hunting horn made from an elephant tusk) to call for help from the Frankish army. The emperor hears the call on their way to Francia. Charlemagne and his noblemen gallop back even though Count Ganelon tries to trick them.
The Franks fight well, but are outnumbered, until almost all Roland's men are dead and he knows that Charlemagne's army can no longer save them. Despite this, he blows his olifant to summon revenge, until his temples burst and he dies a martyr's death. Angels take his soul to Paradise.
When Charlemagne and his men reach the battlefield, they find the dead bodies of Roland's men, who have been utterly annihilated. They pursue the Muslims into the river
Ebro
, name_etymology =
, image = Zaragoza shel.JPG
, image_size =
, image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza
, map = SpainEbroBasin.png
, map_size =
, map_caption = The Ebro ...
, where the Muslims drown. Meanwhile,
Baligant, the powerful
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
of Babylon, has arrived in Spain to help Marsile. His army encounters that of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead. The Franks fight valiantly. When Charlemagne kills Baligant, the Muslim army scatters and flees, leaving the Franks to conquer Saragossa. With Marsile's wife
Bramimonde
Bramimonde is a character in ''The Song of Roland''. Bramimonde is the Queen of Zaragoza, wife of King Marsile and mother of Jurfaleu the Blond.
Bramimonde is introduced as an unwavering supporter of the Saracens, her husband and the betrayal of R ...
, Queen of Saragossa, Charlemagne and his men ride back to
Aix
Aix or AIX may refer to:
Computing
* AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems
*An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set
* Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point
Places Belgi ...
, their capital in Francia.
The Franks discover Ganelon's betrayal and keep him in chains until his trial, where Ganelon argues that his action was legitimate revenge, not treason. While the council of barons assembled to decide the traitor's fate is initially swayed by this claim, partially out of fear of Ganelon's friend Pinabel who threatens to fight anyone who judges Ganelon guilty, one man, Thierry, argues that because Roland was serving Charlemagne when Ganelon delivered his revenge on him, Ganelon's action constitutes a betrayal.
Pinabel challenges Thierry to
trial by combat
Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
. By divine intervention, Thierry kills Pinabel. By this the Franks are convinced of Ganelon's treason. Thus, he is torn apart by having four galloping horses tied one to each arm and leg and thirty of his relatives are hanged. Bramimonde converts to Christianity, her name changing to Juliana. While sleeping, Charlemagne is told by Gabriel to ride to help King Vivien and bemoans his life.
Form
The song is written in
stanza
In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...
s of irregular length known as
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. The lines are decasyllabic (containing ten syllables), and each is divided by a strong
caesura
image:Music-caesura.svg, 300px, An example of a caesura in modern western music notation
A caesura (, . caesuras or caesurae; Latin for "cutting"), also written cæsura and cesura, is a Metre (poetry), metrical pause or break in a Verse (poetry), ...
which generally falls after the fourth
syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
. The last stressed syllable of each line in a laisse has the same
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
sound as every other end-syllable in that laisse. The laisse is therefore an
assonal, not a
rhyming
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
stanza.
On a narrative level, the ''Song of Roland'' features extensive use of repetition, parallelism, and
thesis-antithesis pairs. Roland proposes Ganelon for the dangerous mission to Sarrogossa; Ganelon designates Roland to man the rearguard. Charlemagne is contrasted with Baligant.
[ Unlike later ]Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and Romantic literature
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, the poem focuses on action rather than introspection. The characters are presented through what they do, not through what they think or feel.
The narrator gives few explanations for characters' behaviour. The warriors are stereotypes defined by a few salient traits; for example, Roland is loyal and trusting while Ganelon, though brave, is traitorous and vindictive.
The story moves at a fast pace, occasionally slowing down and recounting the same scene up to three times but focusing on different details or taking a different perspective each time. The effect is similar to a film sequence shot at different angles so that new and more important details come to light with each shot.
Characters
Principal characters
* Baligant, emir of Babylon; Marsile enlists his help against Charlemagne.
*Blancandrin In ''The Song of Roland'', Blancandrin is the instigator of the pagan plot against Roland and Charlemagne. He first appears in the final line of the second stanza of the poem as the only pagan who speaks to give King Marsile counsel, and is then d ...
, wise pagan; suggests bribing Charlemagne out of Spain with hostages and gifts, and then suggests dishonouring a promise to allow Marsile's baptism.
*Bramimonde
Bramimonde is a character in ''The Song of Roland''. Bramimonde is the Queen of Zaragoza, wife of King Marsile and mother of Jurfaleu the Blond.
Bramimonde is introduced as an unwavering supporter of the Saracens, her husband and the betrayal of R ...
, Queen of Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
, King Marsile's wife; captured and converted by Charlemagne after the city falls.
*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 ...
, King of the Franks
The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who con ...
; his forces fight the Saracens in Spain.
*Ganelon
In the Matter of France, Ganelon (, ) is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Saracens, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word ''inganno'', meaning fraud or deception.Boiardo, ''Orl ...
, treacherous lord and Roland's stepfather who encourages Marsile to attack the French army.
*King Marsile
Marsile (variously spelled Marsilie, Marsilius, Marsilion, Marcilie, Marsille, Marsilies, Marsilun, or Marsiluns) is a character in the French heroic poem ''The Song of Roland''. He is the Muslim king of the Saracens and of Saragossa. He first appe ...
, Saracen king of Spain; Roland wounds him and he dies of his wound later.
*Naimon
Naimon, Duke of Bavaria, also called Naimes, Naime, Naymon, Namo, and Namus, is a character of the Matter of France stories concerning Charlemagne and his paladins, and appears in Old French ''chansons de geste'' (like ''The Song of Roland'') and I ...
, Charlemagne's trusted adviser.
* Oliver, Roland's friend; mortally wounded by Margarice. He represents wisdom.
*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 ...
, the hero of the ''Song''; nephew of Charlemagne; leads the rear guard of the French forces; bursts his temples by blowing his olifant-horn, wounds from which he eventually dies facing the enemy's land.
* Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims
The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ...
, represents the force of the Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
.
Secondary characters
*Aude
Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...
, the fiancée of Roland and Oliver's sister
* Basan, Frankish baron, murdered while serving as Ambassador of Marsile.
*Bérengier, one of the twelve paladins killed by Marsile's troops; kills Estramarin; killed by Grandoyne.
*Besgun, chief cook of Charlemagne's army; guards Ganelon after Ganelon's treachery is discovered.
* Geboin, guards the Frankish dead; becomes leader of Charlemagne's 2nd column.
* Godefroy, standard bearer of Charlemagne; brother of Thierry, Charlemagne's defender against Pinabel.
* Grandoyne, fighter on Marsile's side; son of the Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
n King Capuel; kills Gerin, Gerier, Berenger, Guy St. Antoine, and Duke Astorge; killed by Roland.
* Hamon, joint Commander of Charlemagne's Eighth Division.
* Lorant, Frankish commander of one of the first divisions against Baligant; killed by Baligant.
* Milon, guards the Frankish dead while Charlemagne pursues the Saracen forces.
* Ogier, a Dane who leads the third column in Charlemagne's army against Baligant's forces.
*Othon, guards the Frankish dead while Charlemagne pursues the Saracen forces.
*Pinabel Pinabel, also known as Pinabello, is one of Charlemagne's vassals in ''The Song of Roland'', ''Orlando furioso'', and other works within the corpus of writings known as the Matter of France. Pinabel is the nephew and friend of the knight Ganelon. D ...
, fights for Ganelon in the judicial combat.
*Thierry, fights for Charlemagne in the judicial combat.
Durandal
According to the Song of Roland, the legendary sword called Durandal
Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. It is also said to have belonged to young Charlemagne at one point, and, passing through Sa ...
was first given to 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 ...
by an angel. It contained one tooth of Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
, blood of Saint Basil
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...
, hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, and was supposedly the sharpest sword in all existence. In the story of the Song of Roland, the weapon is given to Roland, and he uses it to defend himself single-handedly against thousands of Muslim attackers. According to one 12th-century legend from the French town of Rocamadour
Rocamadour (; ''Rocamador'' in Occitan) is a commune in the Lot department in Southwestern France. It lies in the former province of Quercy.
Rocamadour has attracted visitors for its setting in a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogn ...
, Roland threw the sword into a cliffside. A replication of the legendary sword can be found there, embedded into the cliff-face next to the town's sanctuary.
Historical adaptations
A Latin poem, '' Carmen de Prodicione Guenonis'', was composed around 1120, and a Latin prose version, '' Historia Caroli Magni'' (often known as "The Pseudo-Turpin") even earlier. Around 1170, a version of the French poem was translated into the Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
''Rolandslied'' by Konrad der Pfaffe Konrad der Pfaffe (Conrad the Priest) was a German Catholic epic poet of the twelfth century, author of the ''Rolandslied'', a German version of the famous French ''Chanson de Roland''.
We know almost nothing concerning his life. In the epilogue o ...
[Brault, Gerard J., ''Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition: Introduction and Commentary'', Penn State Press, 2010]
(formerly thought to have been the author of the Kaiserchronik
The ''Kaiserchronik'' (''Imperial Chronicle'') is a 12th-century chronicle written in 17,283 lines of Middle High German verse. It runs from Julius Caesar to Conrad III, and seeks to give a complete account of the history of Roman and German emp ...
). In his translation Konrad replaces French topics with generically Christian ones. The work was translated into Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...
in the 13th century.
It was also rendered into Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
verse in the 14th- or 15th-century poem of ''Ronsasvals'', which incorporates the later, southern aesthetic into the story. An Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
version of the ''Song of Roland'' exists as ''Karlamagnús saga
The ''Karlamagnús saga'', ''Karlamagnussaga'' or ''Karlamagnus-saga'' (" saga of Charlemagne") was a late-thirteenth-century Norse prose compilation and adaptation, made for Haakon V of Norway, of the Old French '' chansons de geste'' of the Ma ...
'', and a translation into the artificial literary language of Franco-Venetian is also known; such translations contributed to the awareness of the story in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. In 1516 Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...
published his epic ''Orlando Furioso
''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was no ...
'', which deals largely with characters first described in the ''Song of Roland''.
There is also Faroese adoption of this ballad named "Runtsivalstríðið" (Battle of Roncevaux), and a Norwegian version called "Rolandskvadet". The ballad is one of many sung during the Faroese folkdance tradition of chain dancing.
Modern adaptations
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
and Nunziato Porta's opera, ''Orlando Paladino
''Orlando paladino'' (English: ''The Paladin Orlando''), Hob. 28/11, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn which was first performed at Eszterháza on 6 December 1782. The libretto by is based on another libretto, ''Le pazzie d'Orlando'', ...
'' (1782), the most popular of Haydn's operas during his lifetime, is based loosely on ''The Song of Roland'' via Ariosto's version, as are Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
and Grazio Braccioli
Grazio Braccioli (1682–1752) was an Italian jurist, poet and librettist. Born in Ferrara, he wrote 9 libretti for operas produced at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice between 1711 and 1715. Among them were the libretti for Vivaldi's '' Orlando fu ...
's 1727 opera and their earlier 1714 version.
The ''Chanson de Roland'' has an important place in the background of Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's ''The Confidential Agent
''The Confidential Agent'' (1939) is a thriller novel by British author Graham Greene. Fuelled by Benzedrine, Greene wrote it in six weeks. To avoid distraction, he rented a room in Bloomsbury from a landlady who lived in a flat below him. He use ...
'', published in 1939. The book's protagonist had been a Medieval scholar specialising in this work, until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
forced him to become a soldier and secret agent. Throughout the book, he repeatedly compares himself and other characters with the characters of "Roland". Particularly, the book includes a full two pages of specific commentary, which is relevant to its 20th-century plot line: "Oliver, when he saw the Saracens coming, urged Roland to blow his horn and fetch back Charlemagne – but Roland wouldn't blow. A big brave fool. In war one always chooses the wrong hero. Oliver should have been the hero of that song, instead of being given second place with the blood-thirsty Bishop Turpin.(...) In the Oxford version Oliver is reconciled in the end, he gives Roland his death-blow by accident, his eyes blinded by wounds. utthe story had been tidied up. In truth, Oliver strikes his friend down in full knowledge – because of what he has done to his men, all the wasted lives. Oliver dies hating the man he loves – the big boasting courageous fool who was more concerned with his own glory than with the victory of his faith. This makes the story tragedy, not just heroics".
It is also adapted by Stephen King, in the ''Dark Tower'' series in which Roland Deschain wishes to save the Dark Tower from the Crimson King, itself inspired by Robert Browning's Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a narrative poem by English author Robert Browning, written on January 2, 1852, and first published in 1855 in the collection titled '' Men and Women''. The poem is often noted for its dark and atm ...
.
''The Song of Roland'' is part of the Matter of France
The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chan ...
(the Continental counterpart to the Arthurian legendarium known as the Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It ...
), and related to ''Orlando Furioso''. The names Roland and Orlando are cognates.
Emanuele Luzzati's animated short film, ''I paladini di Francia'', together with ''Giulio Gianini'', in 1960, was turned into the children's picture-story book, with verse narrative, ''I Paladini de Francia ovvero il tradimento di Gano di Maganz'', which translates literally as "The Paladins of France or the treachery of Ganelon of Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
" (Ugo Mursia Editore, 1962). This was then republished, in English, as ''Ronald and the Wizard Calico'' (1969). The Picture Lion paperback edition (William Collins, London, 1973) is a paperback imprint of the Hutchinson Junior Books edition (1969), which credits the English translation to Hutchinson Junior Books.
Luzzati's original verse story in Italian is about the plight of a beautiful maiden called Biancofiore – White Flower, or Blanchefleur – and her brave hero, Captain Rinaldo, and Ricardo and his paladins – the term used for Christian knights engaged in Crusades against the Saracens and Moors. Battling with these good people are the wicked Moors – North African Muslims and Arabs – and their Sultan, in Jerusalem. With the assistance of the wicked and treacherous magician, Gano of Maganz, Biancofiore is stolen from her fortress castle, and taken to become the reluctant wife of the Sultan. The catalyst for victory is the good magician, Urlubulu, who lives in a lake, and flies through the air on the back of his magic blue bird. The English translators, using the original illustrations, and the basic rhyme patterns, slightly simplify the plot, changing the Christians-versus-Muslim-Moors conflict into a battle between good and bad magicians and between golden knights and green knights. The French traitor in The Song of Roland, who is actually Roland's cowardly step-father, is Ganelon – very likely the inspiration for Luzzati's traitor and wicked magician, Gano. Orlando Furioso (literally, Furious or Enraged Orlando, or Roland), includes Orlando's cousin, the paladin Rinaldo, who, like Orlando, is also in love with Angelica, a pagan princess. Rinaldo is, of course, the Italian equivalent of Ronald. Flying through the air on the back of a magic bird is equivalent to flying on a magic hippogriff
The hippogriff, or sometimes spelled hippogryph ( el, Ἱππόγρυπας), is a legendary creature with the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse.
It was invented by Ludovico Ariosto in his ''Orlando Furioso'', at the beginning o ...
.
It appears in the 1994 video game Marathon, by Bungie, in the 13th level. Durandal is also the name of the main antagonist of the game.
On July 22, 2017, Michael Eging and Steve Arnold released a novel, ''The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland'', inspired by the ''La Chanson de Roland''. This work is more closely based on a screenplay written by Michael Eging in 2008, simply known as "Song of Roland" and first optioned to Alan Kaplan at Cine LA that same year. The book explores the untold story of how Roland finds himself at Ronceveaux, betrayed by Ganelon and facing the expansive Saragossan host. Primary characters in the novel include Charles (Charlemagne), Ganelon, Bishop Turpin, Oliver, Aude, Marsilion, Blancandarin and others recognizable from the poem. Introduced in this tale are additional characters that inject intrigue and danger to the story, including Charles oldest son, Pepin, Marsilion's treacherous son, Saleem, and the scheming Byzantine emissary, Honorius. The cover artwork was hand painted by Jordan Raskin. The authors determined when writing both the screenplay and the novel to remain in the world created by the poem; thus, Charles remains an older man near the end of his long reign rather than in 778 when the attack on the rearguard actually occurred. Further, this novel bookends the story with William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
's use of the poem as a motivator for Norman forces prior to the Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
in 1066.
In 2019, German folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
band dArtagnan released Chanson de Roland, a modern adaptation of the Song of Roland. It has garnered over 1.8 million views on YouTube.
See also
* Roland's Breach
Roland's Breach (french: La Brèche de Roland; es, La Brecha de Rolando; an, La Breca de Roldán; eu, Errolanen Arraila; ca, La Bretxa de Rotllà) is the name of a natural gap, 40 m across and 100 m high, at an elevation of 2804&nb ...
* Matter of France
The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chan ...
* ''Herzog Ernst
''Herzog Ernst'' is a German Epic poetry, epic from the early high Middle Ages (c. 1180), first written down by an anonymous author from the Rhine River, Rhine region.
Story
The main theme of the story is an argument between a Bavarian duke (Her ...
''
* Lamprecht
Notes
Further reading
* Brault, Gerard J. ''Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition: Introduction and Commentary'' (Penn State Press, 2010).
* DiVanna, Isabel N. "Politicizing national literature: the scholarly debate around La chanson de Roland in the nineteenth century." ''Historical Research'' 84.223 (2011): 109–134.
* Jones, George Fenwick. ''The ethos of the song of Roland'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1963).
* Vance, Eugene. ''Reading the Song of Roland'' (1970).
External links
* (English translation of Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff
Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff (25 September 1889 – 28 February 1930) was a Scottish people, Scottish writer and translator, most famous for his English translation of most of Marcel Proust's , which he published under the Shakespearean tit ...
)
*
*
''La Chanson de Roland''
(Old French)
The Romance of the Middle Ages: ''The Song of Roland''
discussion of Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Digby 23, audio clip, and discussion of the manuscript's provenance.
MS Digby 23b
Digital facsimile of the earliest manuscript of the ''Chanson de Roland''.
MS Digby 23
Catalogue record in Medieval Manuscripts of Oxford Libraries
Audio clips of a reading of ''The Song of Roland'' in Old French
* BBC Radi
In Our Time
podcast.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song Of Roland
1040s books
11th-century poems
Songs about soldiers
Songs about military officers
Chansons de geste
Matter of France
French folklore
French literature
French poems
Epic poems in French
Anglo-Norman literature
Works of unknown authorship
Cultural depictions of Charlemagne