The Song of Roland (French: La Chanson de Roland) is a heroic poem

based on the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. It

is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various
manuscript versions which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in
the 12th to 14th centuries. The date of composition is put in the period
between 1040 and 1115: an early version beginning around 1040 with
additions and alterations made up until about 1115. The final text has about
4,000 lines of poetry. The epic poem is the first and with The Poem of the
Cid one of the most outstanding examples of the chanson de geste, a literary
form that flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries and celebrated the
legendary deeds.
Contents
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1 Manuscripts and Dating
2 Critical opinions
o 2.1 Oral performance of the Song compared to manuscript versions
3 Plot
4 Form
5 Characters
o 5.1 Principal characters
o 5.2 Secondary characters
6 Adaptations
7 Modern adaptations
8 See also
9 Notes
10 External links
Manuscripts and Dating[edit]
There are nine extant manuscripts of the Song of Roland in Old French. The
oldest of these manuscripts is held at the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This
copy dates between 1129 and 1165 and was written in Anglo-Norman.
[1]

Scholars estimate that the poem was written, possibly by a poet
named Turold, between approximately 1040 and 1115, and most of the
alterations were performed by about 1098. Some favor an earlier dating,
because it allows one to say that the poem was inspired by
the Castilian campaigns of the 1030s, and that the poem went on to be a
major influence in the First Crusade. Those who prefer a later dating do so on
grounds of what they interpret as brief references made in the poem to events
of the First Crusade.
In the poem, the term d'oltre mer or l'oltremarin comes up three times in
reference to named Muslims who came from oltre mer to fight in Spain and
France. Oltre mer, modern French Outremer, 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
the Crusaders for Palestine. The occurrence of this term in the poem cannot
be interpreted as showing influence from the Crusades in the poem; on the
contrary, the way it is used in the poem, in which it is simply a Muslim land,
indicates that the author of the poem was unacquainted with the Crusades,
and that the term was in French before the Crusades began meaning the far
side of the Mediterranean Sea. The bulk of the poem is adjudged to date from
before the Crusades (which started in 1098), but there are a few items where
questions remain about these items being late additions shortly after the
Crusades started.
Critical opinions[edit]
Oral performance of the Song compared to manuscript versions[edit]
Scholarly consensus has long accepted that the Song of Roland differed in its
presentation depending on oral or textual transmission; namely, although a
number of different versions of the song containing varying material and
episodes would have been performed orally, the transmission to manuscript
resulted in greater cohesiveness across 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 clearly expressed by
Andrew Taylor, who notes,
[2]
"[T]he 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".
Plot[edit]

The death of Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux, from an illuminated manuscript c.1455
1460.
Charlemagne's army is fighting the Muslims in Spain. The last city standing
is Saragossa, held by the Muslim king Marsilla. Threatened by the might of
Charlemagne's army of Franks, Marsilla sends out messengers to
Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsilla's conversion to Christianity if
the Franks will go back to France. Charlemagne and his men, tired of fighting,
accept his peace offer and select a messenger to Marsilla's court. Protagonist
Roland nominates his stepfatherGanelon as messenger. Ganelon, who fears
to be murdered by the enemy and accuses Roland of intending this, takes
revenge by informing the Saracens of a way to ambush the rear guard of
Charlemagne's army, led by Roland, as the Franks re-enter Spain 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, and the Christians are overwhelmed. Oliver asks Roland to
blow his olifant to call for help from the Frankish army; but Roland proudly
refuses to do so. 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, and pursue the Muslims into the river Ebro, where
they drown. Meanwhile Baligant, the powerful emir of Babylon, has arrived in
Spain to help Marsilla, and his army encounters that of Charlemagne at
Roncesvalles, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead. Both
sides fight valiantly; but when Charlemagne kills Baligant, the Muslim army
scatters and flees, and the Franks conquer Saragossa. With Marsilla's wife
Bramimonde, Charlemagne and his men ride back to Aix, their capital in
France.
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, one man, Thierry, argues that, because Roland was
serving Charlemagne when Ganelon delivered his revenge on him, Ganelon's
action constitutes a betrayal. Ganelon's friend Pinabel challenges Thierry
to trial by combat, in which, by divine intervention, Thierry kills Pinabel. The
Franks are convinced by this of Ganelon's villainy; wherefore he is torn apart
by galloping horses and thirty of his relatives are hanged.
Form[edit]

Charlemagne finds Roland dead (14th-century miniature)
The poem is written in stanzas of irregular length known as laisses. The lines
are decasyllabic (containing ten syllables), and each is divided by a
strong caesura which generally falls after the fourth syllable. The last stressed
syllable of each line in a laisse has the same vowel sound as every other end-
syllable in that laisse. The laisse is therefore an assonal, not a rhymingstanza.
On a narrative level, the Song of Roland features extensive use of repetition,
parallelism, and thesis-antithesis pairs. Unlike
later Renaissance and Romantic literature, the poem focuses on action rather
than introspection.
The author gives few explanations for characters' behavior. 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[edit]
Principal characters[edit]
Baligant, emir of Babylon; Marsile enlists his help against Charlemagne.
Blancandrin, wise pagan; suggests bribing Charlemagne out of Spain with
hostages and gifts, and then suggests dishonouring a promise to allow
Marsile's baptism
Bramimonde, Queen of Saragossa; captured and converted by
Charlemagne after the city falls
Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor; his forces fight the Saracens in
Spain.
Ganelon, treacherous lord and Roland's stepfather who encourages
Marsile to attack the French
King Marsile, Saracen king of Spain; Roland wounds him and he dies of
his wound later.
Naimon, Charlemagne's trusted adviser.
Oliver, Roland's friend; mortally wounded by Margarice. He represents
wisdom.
Roland, 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, represents the force of the Church.
Secondary characters[edit]
Aude, the fiance of Roland and Oliver's sister
Basan, French baron, murdered while serving as Ambassador of Marsile.
Brengier, one of the twelve paladins killed by Marsiles troops; kills
Estramarin; killed by Grandoyne.
Besgun, chief cook of Charlemagne's army; guards Ganelon after
Ganelon's treachery is discovered.
Geboin, guards the French dead; becomes leader of Charlemagne's 2nd
column.
Godefroy, standard bearer of Charlemagne; brother of Thierry,
Charlemagnes defender against Pinabel.
Grandoyne, fighter on Marsiles side; son of the Cappadocian King Capuel;
kills Gerin, Gerier, Berenger, Guy St. Antoine, and Duke Astorge; killed by
Roland.
Hamon, joint Commander of Charlemagne's Eighth Division.
Lorant, French commander of one of the first divisions against Baligant;
killed by Baligant.
Milon, guards the French 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 French dead while Charlemagne pursues the Saracen
forces.
Pinabel, fights for Ganelon in the judicial combat.
Thierry, fights for Charlemagne in the judicial combat.
Adaptations[edit]
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 Rolandslied by Konrad der
Pfaffe (possible author also of theKaiserchronik). In his translation Konrad
replaces French topics with generically Christian ones. The work was
translated into Middle Dutch in the 13th century. It was also rendered
into Occitan verse in the 14th- or 15th-century poem of Ronsasvals, which
incorporates the later, southern aesthetic into the story. An Old Norseversion
of the Song of Roland exists as Karlamagns saga, 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. In 1516 Ludovico
Ariosto published his epic Orlando Furioso, which deals largely with
characters first described in the Song of Roland.
There is also Faroese adoption of this ballad named "Runtsivalstri" (Battle
of Roncevaux).
[3]
The ballad is one of many sung during the Faroese folkdance
tradition of chain dancing.
Modern adaptations[edit]
The Chanson de Roland has an important place in the background of Graham
Greene's The Confidential Agent. The book's protagonist had been a Medieval
scholar specialising in this work, until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil
War 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. [But] the 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".
[4]