About The Song of Roland - Character List - Main Themes - Short Summary

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About The Song of Roland:

La Chanson de Roland, or The Song of Roland, is the oldest surviving French poem. It is also the oldest and greatest of the chansons de geste, medieval epic poems written in French. In old French, "geste" means a deed or action, often of heroic proportions. A hundred or so of these epic poems survive, dating from around the year 1100 to the late fourteenth century. In their time, they were exceedingly popular. 

Although we know neither the identity of The Song of Roland's composer nor the date of its composition, most scholars estimate that the poem was written between 1098-1100. This dating puts the poem's origin at the time of the First Crusade, and indeed the poem has been characterized by some scholars as "propaganda" to encourage Christians to take up arms against Islam. "Propaganda" here is a loose term, including a broad range of artistic creations that can intend to push listeners to action or simply paint certain policies or events from a specific perspective. What can be said for certain is that The Song of Roland seems animated by the spirit of the Crusades, a time when the medieval Catholic Church, at the height of its power, sought to expand Christendom into the Holy Land. 

The poem describes events happening several centuries earlier, during the reign of the mighty Christian warrior-king Charlemagne. The historical context of the poem therefore straddles several centuries, and to properly understand the poem we must bear in mind its rich historical background. 

The poem is a legendary account with some basis in reality: in 778, the rearguard of Charlemagne's army was slaughtered in the Roncesvalles (old French: Rencesvals) pass of the Pyrenees mountains. Accounts from this dark period of European history are always problematic, but the most reliable European account of the event comes from Einhard, Charlemagne's own biographer:

At a moment when Charlemagne's army was stretched out in a long column of march, as the nature of the local defiles forced it to be, these Basques [Wascones], who had set their ambush on the very top of one of the mountains, came rushing down on the last part of the baggage train and the troops who were marching in support of the rearguard and so protecting the army which had gone on ahead. The Basques forced them down into the valley beneath, joined battle with them and killed them to the last man. They then snatched up the baggage, and, protected as they were by the cover of darkness, which was just beginning to fall, scattered in all directions without losing a moment. In this feat the Basques were helped by the lightness of their arms and by the nature of the terrain in which the battle was fought. On the other hand, the heavy nature of their own equipment and the unevenness of the ground completely hampered the Franks in their resistance to the Basques. In this battle died Eggihard, who was in charge of the King's table, Ans helm, the Count of the palace, and Roland, Lord of the Breton Marches, along with a great number of others. What is more, this assault could not be avenged there and then, for, once it was over, the enemy dispersed in such a way that no one knew where or among which people they could be found. (Burgess, 9-10, translated from Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, or, The Life of Charlemagne)

Those familiar with the events of the poem will notice several divergences between the poem and history. For one thing, the adversaries of the poem are Saracens (called also in the poem "pagans"), not Basque natives. And while Einhard's account mentions Roland, the other chief characters of the poem are missing. According to Einhard, revenge was not possible, but in the poem Charlemagne seeks out an immediate and satisfying revenge that also completes his conquest of Spain.

The campaigns in Spain must be seen within the greater context of Charlemagne's life and times. Charlemagne lived during an era when the tide of Islam seemed unstoppable. Islam, a religion not yet three centuries old, had swept up the world of North Africa and the Middle East. These newly Moslem kingdoms were richer, stronger, and culturally and technologically well ahead of the kingdoms and tribes of Europe. Moslem Spain, to cite one example, was one of the most magnificent parts of Europe: Islam had brought the benefits of sophisticated culture, science, and institutions. 

Europe itself was not yet fully Christianized. In many places, particularly in the north, pagan and barbarian tribes still maintained strongholds. The Catholic Church seemed threatened on all sides. The Roman Empire had fallen several centuries before, and life had become less ordered, more dangerous, and far more difficult. Charlemagne was a devout Christian and a fierce warrior, who expanded his Frankish borders until he ruled a Christian empire including large areas of present-day Germany and France, as well as a foothold in Spain. The pope crowned him emperor in 800, recognizing him as a new ruler of the old Western Roman Empire.

The defeat at Roncesvalles forced Charlemagne to rethink his strategy in Spain; he became defensive, focusing on capturing and holding a few strategic areas to act as a buffer between his own empire and Moslem Spain. Eventually his vassals were able to conquer Barcelona in 803, which enabled him to maintain an area under Frankish control called the Spanish March.

The Song of Roland more or less ignores this history, depicting instead a Charlemagne capable of conquering all of Spain. The account is legend. Roland, instead of being "Lord of the Breton March," as detailed by Einhard, is a Frankish lord and Charlemagne's own nephew. The "treachery" of the Christian Basques becomes transformed into the trea chery of a single man, Ganelon, and the Basques themselves are replaced by Moslems, whom the poet calls Saracens or pagans. The battles are epic and grand, worthy of intervention by God himself, and historical ambiguities or defeats are ignored. 

The spirit is very much that of the Crusades, a period in which the Catholic Church had become strong and ambitious enough to mount a series of determined campaigns in the Holy Land. Centuries had passed since the time of Charlemagne, and if anything history had magnified his persona. He was one of the first great Christian kings, and his legacy was part of what later made the Crusades possible. The poem describes what was impossible for Charlemagne but what would be  possible during the Crusades: conquest of fabulously rich Moslem lands. In 1095, Pope Urban II gave a famous speech at the council of Clermont, exhorting all Christians to fight for the recapture of the land of Christ. Warriors who fought for the Holy Land would receive full penance. Archbishop Turpin, the fierce warrior-priest of the poem, reflects this new mentality. He blesses and gives penance to the Franks wholesale before the battle, and promises all that paradise awaits them. The poem also uses Charlemagne and the nobility of his persona, his supposed personal relationship with God, and his reception of divine messages from angels. The poet has no qualms about changing facts to fit in with the spirit of the new Holy Wars.

The Song of Roland consists of roughly 4000 lines of verse, divided into 298 poetic units called laisses. Laisses are irregular in length, from three or four lines to a few hundred, but in The Song of Roland they average under fourteen lines. The lines are mostly decasyllabic, and are connected by assonance (the last word contains a similar vowel sound but not necessarily a perfect rhyme) or by rhyme.

One of the poem's striking features is the use of parallel laisses, in which consecutive laisses echo slightly different versions of the same event. The term is not precise; its key characteristic is a slowing of the pace of narrative and a formula of repetition. We can see this technique at work in the scene where Oliver climbs the hill. Laisses 80 and 81 both start with Oliver at the top of a hill. In both laisses, he reports seeing a vast pagan host. Laisses 83-5 focus on Oliver's request that Roland blow his horn. The request is repeated and refused three times, in very similar terms. But the reader does not have the sense of three requests: rather, one feels that the poet is slowing down his pace and focusing on a single moment, that of Oliver's conversation with Roland, and offering three varying versions of it. The effect is something like a stutter, or a film sequence in slow motion, or, better yet, a film sequence cut so that the same event is seen multiple times from different angles. The consecutive laisses overlap, seeming to repeat partially, but not completely, the same description. The poet will use this technique to great effect during Roland's death scene. Time becomes suspended, and we focus, as if in a dream, on a single, powerful moment.

Another striking feature of the poem is its paratactic structure. Rather than connect sentences with conjunctions, the poet lays down lines one after the other with no connecting words. This kind of format is known as parataxis. Causality and connection between phrases are almost always implicit; this form runs throughout the poem. 

Like all epics that were orally recited, The Song of Roland has many formulaic phrases. These phrases were ready on hand to complete a line, and were easy to remember. They fulfill the requirements of the meter and give a pleasing repetition to the poem. The formulaic expression can either occupy the first half, or hemistich, of a line, or the second hemistich. The formulas are most present in the battle scenes, which are very ritualized. Examples are simple: "He spurs on his horse"; "He breaks his shield." The formulas do not occupy the whole line, however, and so monotony is prevented. 

The chansons de geste were written to be performed. AOI, repeated in the margins throughout the poem, remains a mystery, but many speculate that it indicates some instruction for the musical accompaniment or some move or cry by the jongleur, or performer. The AOI does seem to appear at key moments, or changes in mood, but theories about the exact purpose of the letters can only be speculation. 

The poem would not have necessarily been performed all at once; a skilled jongleur, depending on the occasion, might summarize preceding parts and than perform a small part of the poem. Readers should try to remember that on the page, a crucial part of the poem's art is missing. The Song of Roland was meant to be seen and heard, accompanied by music and in the context of social gatherings and celebration. 
 
 

ClassicNote on The Song of Roland 
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Character List:

The Song of Roland has dozens of characters, some of whom are killed almost immediately after their introduction. Here are all of the characters worth noting. 

THE FRANKS:

Roland: Roland receives brief mention in Einhard's account of the massacre at Roncesvalles. The Song of Roland transforms him into an epic hero, a model of knighthood for the new era of the Crusades. Roland is hot-tempered and bold, which wins both criticism and praise from his friends. He is Charlemagne's nephew and right-hand man, and he has conquered vast lands for his liege lord. So important is he to Charlemagne's efforts that Ganelon promises the Saracens that Charlemagne will lose the will to fight if Roland dies. Roland also refuses, from the beginning, to negotiate with the Saracens. He sees the war against Islam as being a question of religious obligation. He is bold, but not prudent or wise. Arguably, his decision not to blow the oliphant early in the battle at Rencesvals leads to the deaths of twenty thousand men, among whom are the very dearest of his friends. And yet he is undeniably the poems most glamorous hero. His death scene is one of the most powerful and memorable scenes in French literature, and his soul is escorted to heaven by saints and angels. 

Charlemagne: Historically, Charlemagne (742?-814) was a Frankish king who defended Christendom and expanded its borders. In The Song of Roland he is made larger than life, a hale warrior more than two centuries old who wearily continues to battle against paganism. Some have argued that the poem should be called The Song of Charlemagne, as the second half of the poem is devoted to Charlemagne's revenge and the completion of his conquest of Spain. At times in the poem, Charlemagne is a combination of incredible majesty and touching vulnerability. He is arguably the most developed character of the poem, a man of unflagging faith and loyalty who nonetheless is weary of war and loss. 

Oliver: Roland's best friend and brother-in-law. Oliver is wise and prudent, less glamorous then Roland but far more intelligent. He and Roland argue angrily about Roland's command decisions at Rencesvals, and Oliver's advice probably would have saved the rearguard. But he dies reconciled to Roland and deeply mourned by his friend. 

Archbishop Turin: Archbishop Turin, clergyman and warrior, is one of the poem's most magnetic and charismatic figures. He grants penance to the troops wholesale before battle, and rallies their spirits at key points. He is also a fearless and powerful warrior, among the bravest and toughest in the whole rearguard. His personality and preaching reflect the new mentality of the Crusades, when the Church's orientation became militant. 

Ganelon: Roland's stepfather, and traitor. Ganelon has a deep resentment of Roland that is never completely explained in the poem. Certainly jealousy plays a factor, as we see that Charlemagne treasures Roland the twelve peers while considering Ganelon to be expendable. He conspires with the Saracens to kill Roland and the whole rearguard. He is also bribed for his treachery, which links him to Christianity's great traitor, Judas. At the end of the poem, he is put to trial and executed along with thirty of his kinsmen. 

Naimes: Duke Naimes, wise and prudent counselor of Charlemagne. Like the twelve peers, though not of their number, he is considered invaluable to the king. His prudence leads him into some bad decisions: he urges mercy for Marsile, and encourages diplomatic negotiations with the Saracens. He is cool-headed, but not cold: on witnessing the carnage at Rencesvals, he is collected enough to comfort Charlemagne and remind him of his duties. 

The rest of the twelve peers: Anseis, Berenger, Engeler, Gerin, Gerer, Gerard of Roussillon, Oton, Samson, Yvon, and Yvoire: The twelve peers are something like Charlemagne's round table. They are mentioned elsewhere in medieval lore, but the exact list of knights varies. They are brave and loyal to Charlemagne, as well as to each other. They stay with Roland for the dangerous position of rearguard. They fight spectacularly at Rencesvals, slaughtering their twelve Saracen counterparts, but by the end of the battle they are all killed. 

Gautier: Mighty knight, whose job in the rearguard is to patrol the peaks. He comes down from the peaks to report that all of his men are dead. He is one of the last three Franks left standing at Rencesvals.

Oger: Danish knight who fights bravely with Charlemagne to avenge Roland. He kills Amborre, bringing down the pennon and Muhammed's standard; at this point, Baligant begins to realize that his religion is false. 

Thierry: At Ganelon's trial, Thierry alone insists on Ganelon's guilt. Though physically unimposing, he agrees to battle Pinabel to settle the issue. 

Pinabel: Ganelon's kinsmen and skilled speaker. Large and powerful, he agrees to fight Thierry to settle the issue of Ganelon's guilt. 

Aude: Roland's wife and Oliver's sister. When she hears of Roland's death, she dies of grief. 
 

THE SARACENS:

Marsile: Moslem monarch of Spain, though in the poem his holdings have been diminished until only the city of Saragossa remains under Moslem control. With the help of his vassals, he hatches a plot to rid Spain of Charlemagne for good. He is not a strong man, and his defeats lead him into despair. He loses his hand to Roland. When Baligant, Marsile's liege lord and the emir of Babylone, is crushed by Charlemagne, Marsile dies of grief. 

Blancandrin: Marsile's trusted and cunning advisor, a symmetric counterpart to Naimes. While Naime's is prudent and merciful, Blancandrin is treacherous and cunning. With Ganelon, he conspires to bring about Roland's death and the massacre of the rearguard. 

Baligant: Marsile's liege lord. Baligant is the incredibly powerful emir of Babylon, Charlemagne's symmetric counterpart. He is ferocious, noble, and brave. Like Charlemagne, he is ancient and convinced of his religion's rightness. He is slain by Charlemagne is single combat.

Aelroth: Marsile's hot-tempered nephew, Roland's counterpart. He leads the pagan twelve peers in the assault against the rearguard. Roland kills him at Rencesvals. 

Corsalis: One of the pagan twelve peers. In some ways, he is Archbishop Turin's counterpart. He is a sorcerer from Barbary, skilled in the black arts, and he is slain by the Archbishop 

Margariz: One of the pagan twelve. He nearly kills Oliver, but God's intervention protects the Christian knight. He is handsome and an excellent knight, an example of a noble pagan whose only fault is his false religion. 

Marganice: Marsile's uncle and commander of vast forces, including a fearsome contingent from Ethiopia. At Rencesvals, Marsile retreats but Marganice remains. He delivers a fatal blow to Oliver, but Oliver also manages to kill him. 

The rest of the Saracen twelve: Falsaron, Malprimis, the emir of Balaguer, an alcamor from Moriane, Rugis, Escremiz, Estorgans, Estramariz, and Chernubles.: Twelve lords selected to lead the assault on the rear guard. They are actually described in more depth than the Frankish twelve peers: the poet takes advantage of the opportunity to create a colorful cast of villains from exotic and sinister lands. Some, like Chernubles, seem like evil itself: he comes from a land of devils, where the sun has never touched. Others, like the emir of Balaguer, seem noble: "Had he been a Christian, he would have been a worthy baron" (l. 899). 

Jurfaleu: Marsile's son. He is killed by Roland. 

Bramimonde: Marsile's wife and the Queen of the Saracens in Spain. Charlemagne eventually takes her captive and brings her back to his capitol, Aix. At the end of the poem, she converts to Christianity.
 
 

ClassicNote on The Song of Roland
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Main Themes:

Good and Evil: The Song of Roland gives us Good  vs. Evil, pure and simple, Star Wars style. The  horror of war is not intensified by ambiguous  moral justifications, as in Homer's Iliad, nor  are heroes deterred by compassion for the enemy,  as in the Mahabharata. War is great, even  glamorous. The cost is heavy, but only for the  heroes. Villains deserve neither compassion nor  grief. The Franks represent pure Good; they are  moved by the will of God. The Saracens are evil,  and on dying their souls are dragged down to  hell by devils. Just like the Crusades, the war  in The Song of Roland is seen as a holy mission. 

Loyalty and Vassalage: Heroism in the poem is  based on feudal ideas. Even the pagans in the  poem can be considered heroic, when they are  evaluated in terms of loyalty and vassalage. The  feudal system linked lords and vassals with a  series of obligations and loyalties. A vassal  gave his total loyalty in exchange for  protection and vengeance should the vassal be  killed in service of his lord. In The Song of  Roland, vassalage is depicted as parallel to  Christianity. Roland's ultimate liege lord is  God, and it is in serving Charlemagne that  Roland fulfills his duties as a Christian. 

The Benevolent God: God is all-powerful. God is  all-good. These two statements are assumptions  for the medieval mind. Characters in The Song of  Roland assume that God will intervene in events;  it seems perfectly reasonable to believe, for  example, that deciding the verdict at Ganelon's  trial should be done by combat, because God will  supposedly aid the man in the right. 

And yet, paradoxically, evil things happen. The  poem manages to turn these events into part of  God's plan. See the analysis of the seventh  section of the poem for further discussion of  this topic.

The Will of God and Man's Place: God commands,  and Man acts. Although humans sometimes need  divine aid to carry out God's plans, much of the  hard work is left to men like Charlemagne. Faith  in an all-powerful and benevolent God does not  mean that we can be complacent. Part of God's  plan is to have men carry out his wishes for  him. God provides help, but it is in fighting  for good that man achieves new heights of  greatness. 

Duty: Closely connected to the themes of  vassalage and the will of God and man's place,  duty is one of the key values of the poem. It is  for duty, not love of war, that Charlemagne  continues to battle against the forces of Islam.  It is out of a sense of duty that Roland fights  to the death at Rencesvals. Duty causes  Charlemagne to avenge Roland's death. In the  poem, duty is often linked to love. The bonds  between Charlemagne and Roland, or between  Roland and his men, are marked by deep respect  and affection. Duty arises spontaneously from  this love, or should, just as unquestioning duty  follows naturally from the sublime love of God.
 
 

ClassicNote on The Song of Roland
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Short Summary:

For seven years, the valiant Christian king Charlemagne has made war against the Saracens in Spain. Only one Moslem stronghold remains, the city of Saragossa, under the rule of King Marsile and Queen Bramimonde. Marsile, certain that defeat is inevitable, hatches a plot to rid Spain of Charlemagne. He will promise to be Charlemagne's vassal and a Christian convert in exchange for Charlemagne's departure. But once Charlemagne is back in France, Marsile will renege on his promises. Charlemagne and his vassals, weary of the long war, receive Marsile's messengers and try to choose an envoy to negotiate at Marsile's court on Charlemagne's behalf.

Roland, a courageous knight and Charlemagne's right-hand man, nominates his stepfather, Ganelon. Ganelon is enraged, thinking that Roland has nominated him for this dangerous mission in an attempt to be rid of him for good. Ganelon has long been jealous of Roland, and on his diplomatic mission he plots with the pagans, telling them that they could ambush Charlemagne's rearguard as Charlemagne leaves Spain. Roland will undoubtedly lead the rearguard, and Ganelon promises that with Roland dead Charlemagne will lose the will to fight. 

After Ganelon returns with assurances of Marsile's good faith, Roland, as he predicted, ends up leading the rearguard. The twelve peers, Charlemagne's greatest and most beloved vassals, go with him. Among them is Oliver, a wise and prudent man and Roland's best friend. Also in the rearguard is the fiery Archbishop Turin, a clergymen who also is a great warrior. At the pass of Rencesvals, the twenty thousand Christians of the rearguard are ambushed by a vastly superior force, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Oliver counsels Roland to blow his oliphant horn, to call back Charlemagne's main force, but Roland refuses. The Franks fight valiantly, but in the end they are killed to the man. Roland blows his oliphant so that Charlemagne will return and avenge them. His temples burst from the force required, and he dies soon afterward. He dies facing the enemy's land, and his soul is escorted to heaven by saints and angels.

Charlemagne arrives, and he and his men are overwhelmed with grief at the sight of the massacre. He pursues the pagan force, aided by a miracle of God: the sun is held in place in the sky, so that the enemy will not have cover of night. The Franks push the Saracens into the river Ebro, where those who are not chopped to pieces are drowned. 

Marsile has escaped and returned to Saragossa, where the remaining Saracens are plunged into despair by their losses. But Baligant, the incredibly powerful emir of Babylon, has arrived to help his vassal. The emir goes to Rencesvals, where the Franks are mourning and burying their dead. There is a terrible battle, climaxing with a one-on-one clash between Baligant and Charlemagne. With a touch of divine aid, Charlemagne slays Baligant, and the Saracens retreat. The Franks take Saragossa, where the destroy all Jewish and Moslem religious items and force the conversion of everyone in the city, with the exception of Queen Bramimonde. Charlemagne wants her to come to Christ of her own accord. With her captive, the Franks return to their capitol, Aix.

Ganelon is put on trial for treason. Pinabel, Ganelon's kinsman and a gifted speaker, nearly sways the jury to let Ganelon go. But Thierry, a brave but physically unimposing knight, says that Ganelon's revenge should not have been taken against a man in Charlemagne's serve: that constitutes treason. To decide the matter, Pinabel and Thierry fight. Though Pinabel is by far the stronger man, God intervenes and Thierry triumphs. The Franks draw and quarter Ganelon (tie each limb to one of four horses running in opposite directions, which tears the victim to pieces). They also hang thirty of his kinsmen. 

Charlemagne announces to all that Bramimonde has decided to become a Christian. Her baptism is celebrated, and all seems well. 

But that night, the angel Gabriel comes to Charlemagne in a dream, and tells him that he must depart for a new war against the pagans. Weary and weeping, but fully obedient to God, Charlemagne prepares for yet another bloody war.

Eddie Borey, author of ClassicNote. Completed on June 10, 2001, copyright held by GradeSaver.

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