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''The Song of Roland'' ('''''La Chanson de Roland''''') is the oldest major work of French Literature . It exists in many different manuscripts, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th and 13th Centuries . The best and oldest of these manuscripts is the one held in Oxford , which contains a text of some 4004 lines (although this number may vary according to the editor). The dialect of this manuscript is Anglo-Norman , which indicates that the poem might have originated in northern France . Many critics, however, including the influential Joseph Bédier have held that the poem was composed in the south. The story told by the poem is based on historical events surrounding the Battle Of Roncevaux Pass on August 15 , 778 , in which the rearguard of Charlemagne 's retreating Franks was attacked by Basques , the motive for whose attack is unknown. In the ensuing battle the Franks were slaughtered to a man, including Roland , Prefect of the Marches of Brittany . Although it is very difficult to determine the exact period during which the story of Roland was formed into the ''Song of Roland'', there is no doubt that it occurred long after the events on which it was based. Hence, the poem does not recount an accurate history. Roland becomes, in the poem, the nephew of Charlemagne, the Basques become Saracen s, and Charlemagne, rather than marching north to subdue the Saxons , returns to Spain and avenges the deaths of his knights. As remarked above, the dating of the poem is uncertain, as is its authorship. Some say that the Turoldus named in the final line is the author, others say Taillefer , the minstrel of William The Bastard composed the poem, while the majority hold that the poem's author is unknown. The dating of the poem is even more diffcult. SYNOPSIS Charlemagne and his army have been fighting for seven years in Spain. that if Charlemagne returns home to Aix-la-Chapelle , Marsilion will soon follow and convert to Christianity. The Christian lords enter into a discussion on how to respond to Marsile's offer. Roland distrusts Marsilion, but Ganelon , Naimon and most of the others are in favour of taking the chance that he is sincere. Charlemagne agrees, but there is still the difficulty of finding an ambassador who will bear the message to Marsile. Charlemagne is reluctant to choose a valued knight, since Marsile murdered the last ambassadors that had been sent. Accordingly, Charlemagne rejects the offers of Roland and Turpin to carry the message and decrees that none of the Twelve Peers will be sent. Roland recommends that Ganelon be the one to undertake the embassy to Marsilion. Ganelon construes this as an insult, threatens Roland and then, while travelling in company with Blancandrin to Zaragoza, plots revenge. In Zaragoza, Ganelon tells Marsilion that Charlemagne's agreement is contingent upon two conditions. Firstly, Marsile will only be allowed to keep half of Spain, while the rest must go to Roland. Secondly, Marsile's uncle must be among the hostages offered as guarantees of good faith. After threatening to kill Ganelon, Marsile is advised by Blancandrin that the Frank is willing to betray Roland and the Twelve Peers. Marsilion offers Ganelon friendship and gifts of great wealth, and Ganelon promises to ensure that Roland and the Twelve Peers of France will be placed in the rearguard of the army rather than with the main body of Charlemagne's forces. This will enable Marsile, who has not the forces to defeat the Franks outright, to kill the twelve champions of France, without whom Ganelon says the French will be unwilling to wage war. After Ganelon fulfills his side of the bargain, Roland, with Oliver and the other Twelve Peers, takes charge of the 20,000 strong rear-guard of the Frankish army. An army of Saracens, 100,000 strong, led by the nephew of Marsile and 11 other Saracen champions, is seen to be approaching the rear guard. Roland's friend Oliver advises him to blow his horn Olifant to summon the rest of the army, but Roland's code of honour obliges him to fight despite being outnumbered. The battle that follows is comprised of two parts. The initial onslaught of Saracens is repelled by the Franks, but only 300 Frankish knights, including Roland and most of the Twelve Peers, survive. The Saracens attack a second time, with Marsile himself leading a host of 300,000 warriors. It soon becomes clear that the Franks will lose. At the advice of Archbishop Turpin, Roland blows his horn -- not in the expectation of rescue, but hoping that Charles will return to bury their bodies and revenge their martyrdom. When only Roland, Turpin and Gualter de Hum are still alive, Roland slices off the right hand of Marsile. Marsile flees from the field and is followed by those of his men that still survive. Roland and Turpin are the only warriors still standing on the field of battle, and are as such victorious. Nevertheless, Turpin has been wounded in many places by Saracen projectiles and is bleeding to death as he administers the last rites to his fellow soldiers. Roland himself, while unharmed by any weapon, has blown his horn so hard that 'the temple of his head' is ruptured, and he is bleeding to death. After Turpin dies, Roland climbs to the top of a hill looking south into Spain. He cracks his Olifant bludgeoning a pagan to death who tries to steal his sword, then tries to break his sword on a rock: the sword does not break. Roland dies under a tree, facing south holding his sword Durendal and his Olifant. Charlemagne meanwhile has been riding back from France with all possible speed and has arrested Ganelon for his treachery. When he arrives at the battlefield in ns, Germans , Normans , Bretons , Flemings , and Burgundians to destroy the Muslim army, led by Baligant . The Christians destroy the Muslims army, and Charlemagne defeats Baligant in personal combat. The Christian army swarms into Sarragossa: the idols and artifacts of sorcery in the , and his relatives are hung by their necks. Queen Bramimond is baptized, and Charlemagne is finally satisfied. While he is sleeping, an angel comes to Charles and instructs him to provide succour to the city of Imphe, under attack from Pagans. Charles weeps, and tears his white beard, crying that his life is miserable. THE POEM The ''Song of Roland'' was, as one might say, an open source poem, and the different manuscripts differ dramatically. Hence, when we ask for a date of composition, we are asking for the date of the poem's 'core'. This is virtually impossible, since any single line that is datable could be a later alteration: the addition of fresh references to a previously well-developed poem. Since such additions were commonplace for such poems, we are left with the general estimate that the poem was written, more or less, between 1040 and 1115, and most of the alterations were performed by about 1098. Some favour an earlier dating, because it allows one to say that the poem was inspired by the Castilian campaigns of the 1030's, 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 the brief references made in the poem to events of the First Crusade. The poem is written in Stanza s of irregular length known as Laisse s. The lines are of Pentameter , and 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 Rhyming stanza. CHARACTERS This is a list of some of the principal characters in ''The Song of Roland''.
ADAPTATIONS Around 1170 , the French poem was translated into the Middle German '' Rolandslied '' by Konrad Der Pfaffe (possible author also of the Kaiserchronik ). In his translation Konrad replaces French topics with generically Christian ones. The story of Roland was also rendered into Occitan verse in the 14th or 15th century poem of '' Ronsasvals '', which incorporates the later, southern aesthetic into the story. A Norse version of the ''Song of Roland'' exists as '' Karlamagnús 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 described first in the ''Song of Roland''. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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