The Song of Roland

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 The poet who estimated by the scholars who
wrote “The Song of Roland” between approximately
10th and 11th century.
Turoldus

Epic – telling a story about a hero

or about exciting events or
adventures.
• Roland – the king’s nephew; his “right hand” and
renowned retainer; has a horn named Olifant
• Charlemagne –the king of France and the leader of crusades who
favored Roland; in French history, he was known as Charles the Great
• Ganelon – Roland’s stepfather who was the cause of destruction of
Roland’s army; conspires with the King Marsilla to destroy Roland
• Oliver – Roland’s best friend; brave but unlike Roland, he was prudent
but blunt in his manner and action
• King Marsilla – the king who did the conspiracy with Ganelon
• Alde – the love interest of Roland The epic
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 Important Details
• Charlemagne’s Army – The Army from France.
• Roncesvalles – The battle Field in the story.
• Olifant – A horn made from the tusk of the elephant.
distinctive blast can be recognized 30 leagues away
• Baligant – Marsilla’s ally from Babylon.
• Durendal- Roland’s Sword
• Angel Gabriel- appears before Rolando at critical
moment to warn and to advise
• Roldan- Spanish name of Roland
• Orland- Italian name of Roland.
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 3 Parts of the Epic
Roncesvalles
The – the pass The Reprisal
Treachery where – shows
the battle is Charlemagne’s
of Ganelon revenge
fought

Subject Matter:
 Customs, manners and attitudes of French  Feudal virtue of loyalty
at their day  Christian virtue of humility
 Feudal relationships and feudal loyalties  The Cross versus the Crescent
 The crusades and the infidel  The victory of the Cross over
 Warrior virtue of valor 5 the Crescent
 Conflicts:
 Between Christian truth and heathen error
 Between Ganelon and Roland as individuals
Symbolism:
Charlemagne – is a symbol of feudal system and his country
Ganelon – is a symbol of treachery and betrayal, envy and jealousy
Roland – is a symbol of private revenge and the public good which
treachery endangers; also a symbol of divine justice and bravery
Oliver – is asymbol of wisdom and prudence
The Cross- symbolizes Christianity
Crescent- symbolizes Muslim faith.
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 The Plot of the Epic

Charlemagne's army is fighting the Muslims in Spain.

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 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 Christianity8 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 stepfather Ganelon
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.
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As Ganelon predicted, Roland leads the rear
guard, with the wise and moderate Oliver
and the fierce Archbishop Turpin.
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 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.
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The Franks fight well, but are out numbered,
until almost all Roland's men are dead and he
knows that Charlemagne's army can no longer
save them.
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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.
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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
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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
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their dead.
Both sides fight valiantly - 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.
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 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
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kills Pinabel.
The Franks are convinced by this of Ganelon's villainy; wherefore he is
torn apart by galloping horses and
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thirty of his relatives are hanged.