Tony Hunt 's "Vermeille Pume" o BETTER ILLUSTRATION of 's grant saveir is to be found in the NOxford Roland than his conduct whilst on the diplomatic mission to the court of Marsile. Saveir in this work denotes a quality of which the poet appears mistrustful. It is used three times of the pagans with fairiy clear negative connotations (see vv. 74, 369, 3279) and when it is used by Naimes it is qualified in such a way as to suggest that some ambiguity attaches to the term.1 Commenting on Ganelon's argument in favor of peace, Naimes warns: "Saveir i ad, mais qu'il seit entendud" (v. 234). Ganelon's treacherous negotiations with Marsile are introduced with a narratorial comment which may suggest habitual deviousness: Mais li quens Guenes se fut ben purpensét. Par grant saver cumencet a parler Cume celui ki ben faire le set. (vv. 425-7)2 During the journey to Marsile's court Ganelon has already plotted treachery with Blancandrin by capitalizing on Roland's reputation for bellicosity to present the idea that Roland represents the one serious obstacle to peace (Ganelon, of course, is unaware of the treacherous nature of the pagans' peace proposals). Ironically, the first treacherous step is taken in response to Blancandrin's raising of the issue of advice: Dist Blancandrins: 'Francs sunt mult gentilz home, Mult grant mal funt e [cil] duc e cil cunte A lur seignur ki tel cunseill li dunent, Lui e altrui travaillent e cunfundent.' (vv. 377-80) Ganelon is still smarting from Roland's suggestion, at the beginning of the Christian council-scene, that on an earlier occasion the assembly

1These instances are given insufficient attention in the otherwise admirable study by Gerard J. Brault, "Sapientia dans la Chanson de Roland," Société Rencesvals, Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference, Oxford 1970 (Salford, 1977), pp. 85- 104; cf. Theo Venckeleer, "Analyse syntagmatique et signification: caractères ou qualités objectives dans le Roland?" in et l'épopée romance: Actes du VIIe Congrès International de la Société Rencesvals, Liège, 28 août-4 septembre 1976, Les Congrès et Colloques de l'Université de Liège, vol. 76, t.II (Paris, 1978), p. 522. 2Quotations are taken from the edition of F. Whitehead (Oxford, 1962).

203 204 / Vol 7, No. 3 / Spring 1980

advised Charlemagne "alques de legerie" and were thereby responsible for the deaths of Basan and Basile which should be avenged.3 He is therefore particularly sensitive to Blancandrin's criticism of the advice which Charlemagne receives and anxiously hastens to indicate that it is Roland whose war policy constitutes bad advice. He here puts into effect the threat he made earlier in the presence of Roland: "En Sarraguce en irai a Marsilie; / Einz ifrai un poi de [le]gerie / Que jo n'esclairceste meie grant ire" (vv. 299-301). As Roland had accused him, inter alios, of rendering advice "alques de legerie," so Ganelon seeks to turn the accusation against him. He does this initially by relating a story concerning Roland which will illustrate his bellicosity and the foolhardiness of his advice. Guenes respunt: "Jo ne sai veirs nul hume, Ne mes Rollant ki uncore en avrat hunte. Er matin sedeit li emperere suz l'umbre, Vint i ses nies, out vestue sa brunie. E out predét dejuste Carcasonie; En sa main tint une vermeille pume, Tenez, bel sire,' dist Rollant a sun uncle, 'De trestuz reis vos present les curunes." Li soens orgoilz le devreit ben cunfundre, Kar chascun jur de mort s'abandunet. Seit ki l'ociet tute pais puis avriumes." (vv. 381-91) It might be readily assumed that this anecdote is designed to illustrate the pride which underlies Roland's bellicosity,4 but this interpretation has been vigorously contested by Professor Brault, who stresses that the context indicates that it is really designed to depict Roland as a "mauvais conseiller" in accordance with Blancandrin's belief that Charlemagne receives bad counsel in waging war.5 Referring to a sculpture on the south portal of Strasbourg cathedral, Professor Brault suggests that the apple is

3See Tony Hunt, "Character and Causality in the Oxford Roland" Medioevo Romanzo, 5 (1978), 3-33. 4T. A. Jenkins, La Chanson de Roland: Oxford Version, rev. ed. (Boston, 1965), p. xxv, considered that the anecdote reflected a joke by Roland, but cf. the doubts of M. Mancini, Società feudale e ideologia nel "Charroi de Nímes" (Firenze, 1972), p. 136. 5G.J. Brault, "Ganelon et Roland: deux anecdotes du traître concernant le héros," Romania, 92 (1971), 392-405. Hunt / Roland's "Vermeille Pume" 205 here a sign of temptation and compares vv. 387-8 with Matthew 4:8-9. According to this view, Ganelon depicts Roland as a tempter who, like the figure at Strasbourg, offers an apple and, like the Devil in the Gospel, refers to all the kingdoms of the world: "Roland, le brillant jeune homme, qui va de succès en succès, mène en réalité Charles et tous ses hommes au désastre aussi sûrement que le Tentateur qui offre sa pomme et tous les royaumes du monde."6 But there is nothing about the action in the poem which suggests temptation. Roland and Charlemagne seem to be at one. It is Roland's services rather than the idea of temptation which the poet stresses. Indeed, it is difficult to see what Roland can be tempting Charlemagne to do. If it is to continue the war, then that is entirely justified from the Christian point of view, and it is somewhat unlikely that the pagans would be impressed by Christian imagery concerning the temptation of Christ by the Devil. As we shall see, the vermeille pume is in fact particularly well chosen for its significance to the pagans. In relating the anecdote to Blancandrin, Ganelon's purpose is to show how Roland's bellicosity and desire for further conquests represent a threat to the conclusion of peace. Ganelon, unaware of the treacherous nature of the pagans' peace proposals, hopes both to take revenge on Roland and to secure peace. He refers unambiguously to Roland's orgoilz (v. 389)7 and to his custom of fearlessly exposing himself to death (v. 390). Roland is not portrayed by Ganelon as a tempter, but as Charlemagne's destre braz, a fearless conqueror who is a threat to the pagan peace proposals. The point is quickly taken by Blancandrin who replies, . . . Mult est pesmes Rollant, Ki tute gent voelt faire recreant E tutes teres met en chalengement. (vv. 392-4)

6Ibid., 398. 7See G. Gougenheim, "Orgueil et Fierté dans la Chanson de Roland," Mélanges Frappier, t. I (Geneva, 1970), pp. 365-373 and G.S. Burgess, "Orgueil and Fierté in Twelfth-Century French," Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, 89 (1973), 103-122. 206 Olifant / Volume 7, No. 3 / Spring 1980

Ganelon proceeds to emphasize Roland's popularity with "la franceise gent":8 Il l'aiment tant, ne li faldrunt nïent, Or e argent lur met tant en present, Muls e destrers e palies e guarnemenz. L'emperere meïsmes ad tut a sun talent, Cunquerrat li les teres d'ici qu'en orïent. (vv. 397-401) The picture presented here is not that of a tempter, but of a conqueror whose attention will inevitably turn to Spain, and Professor Brault's interpretation should not, I think, be retained.9 Even less convincing is the argument of Kathleen M. Capels.10 She suggests that Blancandrin, in claiming that Charlemagne's advisors "lui e altrui travaillent e cunfundent" (v. 380), administers an insult to Ganelon as a warrior, since the implication must be that the war policy is doomed to failure and that the pagans are bound to be victorious.11 For the second time feeling under attack as an advisor, Ganelon retaliates with another insult by making a symbol of the pagan kings out of a mere apple.12 He protects himself by delivering the insult obliquely, that is to say by attributing it to Roland, who is in any case a more influential figure in the Christian army. This interpretation suffers from manifest weaknesses. Given that the pagans are defeated, in the purely military sense (vv. 15ff.), and have sent peace proposals to Charlemagne (Ganelon

8Cf. D.A. Gajda, "Des jeux anthropologiques dans la Chanson de Roland," U[niversity of] S[outh] F[lorida] Language Quarterly, 10 (1971 -72), 19-26, who studies the appearance of potlach in the Roland and, discussing this scene, says "Ganelon voulant que Blancandrin comprenne combien Roland est orgueilleux, relate cet épisode. Les présents de Roland rendent Ganelon jaloux. Aussi pour se venger désire-t-il que le Sarrasin s'en prenne également à Roland" (p. 20). 9lt has been criticized, justly in my opinion, by Gerald A. Berlin in Olifant, 3, No. 2 (1975), 129-32. Professor Brault's tart rejoinder, ibid., 132-33 is unsatisfactory. 10Kathleen M. Capels, "The Apple Incident in Laisse XXIX of ," Romance Notes, 14 (1972-73), 599-605. 11"Blancandrins has hurt Ganelon's pride as a warrior by implying that the Franks are no good and would lose to the pagans" (p. 604). 12"Hinting that the Saracens are worth little by comparing their kings' crowns to an apple is a balm for Ganelon's wounded soldierly pride" (pp. 604-5) and "the attribution of the insult to Roland is a balm for his [=Ganelon's] wounded personal pride" (p. 605). Hunt / Roland's "Vermeille Pume" 207

is unaware of the treacherous nature of these), it is implausible to see in Blancandrin's criticism of the counsel given to the emperor an indication that the Christians are losing by it and ceding ground to the pagans. They clearly are not, and that is precisely what worries the pagans! Quite simply, the pagans fear Roland's continuing bellicosity. For Blancandrin to suggest that he speaks out of concern for the fate of the Christian forces would immediately arouse an embassy's suspicions about the bona fides of the pagans' peace proposals. Further, where is it implied that "de trestuz reis" is a reference to Saracen kings? How, therefore, is it insulting to Marsile? The vermeille pume is not presented as something worthless, and to suggest that it is rests on ignorance of the traditional symbolism of the apple.13 The symbolism of the apple is better understood by Raimund Rütten, but he goes too far in assimilating it to his eschatological interpretation of the poem: Die Kugel (hier ein Apfel) als hellenistisch-römisches Weltherrschafts- symbol, als globus imperialis und, im christlichen Bereich, als Heilsbringerattribut, ist ein kosmisches Symbol und muss folglich in Verbindung mit der Glanzsymbolik gesehen werden: Roland wird das "Heil" Karls und seiner "maisnee" bewahren und vermehren. Zugleich dürfte die Farbe Rot—die spärlichen Farbbezeichnungen im Rolandslied legen eine solche Vermutung nahe—ein Hinweis darauf sein, dass nur durch das Opfer der göttliche Auftrag an die Franken erfüllt wird.14 A more modest and equally viable interpretation would be to see in the vermeille pume a tribute offered by the emperor's "destre braz" to his lord. One might cite in this connection the account by John of Hildesheim of the gift of King Melchior to the Christ child:

13See M. Lugauer, Untersuchungen zur Symbolik des Apfels in der Antike, diss. Erlangen, 1967; A.R. Littlewood, "The Symbolism of the Apple in Greek and Roman Literature," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 72 (1968), 147-181; id., "From Hesiod to Seferis: the continuity of the tradition of the erotic symbolism of the apple in classical Greek, Roman, Byzantine and modern Greek literature," in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, ed. Temporini and Haase, to be published by De Gruyter, Berlin. I am extremely grateful to Professor Littlewood for the gift of offprints and for several important bibliographical references. 14R. Rütten, Symbol und Mythus im altfranzösischen Rolandslied (Braunschweig, 1970), p. 39. 208 Olifant / Volume 7, No. 3 / Spring 1980

Malchiar xxx denarios aureos et pomum aureum paruum sicud manu concludi potuit, optulit Jhesu . . . Pomum autem aureum quod Malchiar cum xxx denariis optulit, quondam fuit Allexandri magni et totaliter potuit manu concludi, mundum significans, quod ex minimis particulis tributorum omnium provinciarum conflari fecit, et ipsum semper manu portavit et velud sua potencia totum mundum manu conclusit; quod pomum in India remansit quando de Persyde reuersus fuit. Ipsius autem pomi rotunditas, que neque principium habet neque finem, significat illum qui universum mundum, celum videlicet et terram, sue potencie virtute circumdat.15 The significance is clear. Charlemagne is God's vicar on earth. The vermeille pume symbolizes "de trestuz reis les curunes"16 In John of Hildesheim the "common text" adds: Et ex illo tempore, crescente fide christiana et religione, primo in Oriente deinde per imperatores et post hec per reges peruenit in consuetudinem quod huiusmodi significationes imperatores et reges (terre) certis et specialibus temporibus in manibus utuntur pomis aureis in presentem diem.17 There is also a description of the famous statue of Justinian in the Santa Sophia at Constantinople: ceterum in hac ecclesia sancte Sophie magna stat columpna marmorea, supra qua m stetit ymago imperatoris equestris enea optime deaurata, et habet pomum aureum rotundum more imperiali in sinistra, sed Sarracenis rebellibus contra orientem quasi minans dextera.18 Commenting on the scene in the Roland, Karl-Bernhard Knappe rightly says "Im Hintergrund dieser Szene steht sicherlich der Reichsapfel" and adds "Die Herrschaftsdarbietung durch den hervorragenden Krieger ist auf dem Hintergrund des Herrscherauftrages

15The Three Kings of Cologne. An Early English Translation of the Historia Trium Regum by John of Hildesheim, ed. C. Horstmann, Early English Text Society O.S. 85 (London, 1886), p. 239. l6On the globe as a symbol of dominion in numismatic representations of divine election, see J. Rufus Fears, Princeps a Diis electus: The Divine Election of the Emperor as a Political Concept at Rome (Rome, 1977), passim. 17Loc. cit. 18Fears, pp. 273-4. Hunt / Roland's "Vermeille Pume" 209 zum bellum justum zu sehen, der bereits augustinisch ist."19 There remains the objection, however, that the reference in the Roland is not to a golden apple or orb, but to a vermeille pume, and this is where we may introduce a new interpretation of its significance. In a little-known essay, in a book which is all but inaccessible, R.M. Dawkins examined the symbolism of the red apple.20 He refers to the legend of the Red Apple amongst the Turks, involving an ancient prophecy that the Emperor would take Kyzyl Alma (the Red Apple) and that seven years thereafter, if the Turks did not defend themselves bravely, the Christians would overcome them, and that in any case they should be overcome by the Christians by the twelfth year. The prophecy was framed to allow various interpretations so as to maintain Turkish vigilance against the Christians, but the Red Apple was normally identified with Rome (sometimes also with Constantinople). The early symbolism of the Red Apple is world dominion and Dawkins himself instances the passage from the Roland as corroboration. In fact, the prophecy of the Red Apple had already been treated by F.W. Hasluck21 who shows that it was published by a Hungarian, Georgewičz, in 1545 in transliterated Turkish with a Latin translation and commentary. Initially the Red Apple symbolized the conquest of Constantinople and of Justinian's empire, but a century after the fall of Constantinople it was identified with several goals of Ottoman arms, including Rome. Hasluck thinks it likely that the Red Apple was understood as a paraphrase for malum punicum or pomegranate, and

19 Karl-Bernhard Knappe, Repräsentation und Herrschaftszeichen: Zur Herrscher- darstellung in der vorhöfîschen Epik. Münchener Beiträge zur Mediävistik und Renaissance-Forschung 17 (Munich, 1974), pp. 178-79. On the history of the Reichsapfel see Percy Schramm, Sphaira, Globus, Reichsapfel (Stuttgart, 1958) and A.R. Little- wood, "The Symbolism of the Apple in Byzantine Literature," Jahrbuch der österreich- ischen Byzantinistik, 23 (1974), esp. pp. 55-57. 20R.M. Dawkins, "The Red Apple", in 'Eπιτύµβιον Xρηστου Tσουντα [In Memoriam Christos Tsountas] (Athens, 1941), pp. 401-406. 21F.W. Hasluck, Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, ed. M.M. Hasluck (repr. of 1929 ed., New York, 1973), vol. II, ch. lviii [=pp. 736-40], "The Prophecy of the Red Apple." This account first appeared in The Annual of the British School at Athens, 22 (1916-18), 171-74. See also E. Rossi, "La leggenda turco-bizantina del Pomo Rosso," Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici 5 (1939), 542-553, who studies the fortune of the motif since Georgewičz. 210 Olifant / Volume 7, No. 3 / Spring 1980 since the Arabic for pomegranate is rumman, the connection with Rome was easily reinforced.22 In a useful summary of the position, A.R. Little- wood writes: A Byzantine tradition (later affecting Western Europe) associates the apple through isomorphy with the world, and thus with imperial power over the world. Dependent on this Greek tradition is a Turkish proverb dating from the time of the Ottoman Empire: "Our Emperor will come; he will take the Kingdom of the Infidels; he will take the Red Apple..." This Red Apple was usually believed to be Rome, as in the customary toast of the agha of the Janissaries or the accession of a new sultan; "We shall see each other again at the Red Apple", a reminder of their desire for dominion over Western Christendom.23 It should be noted that the episode of the vermeille pume is related after the war in Spain has been going on for seven years. According to Dawkin's translation of the prophecy of the Turks, their emperor will seize the Red Apple and "after seven years if the sword of the Infidel be not drawn, he will be their master; he will take his pleasure; he will plant vines; he will fence gardens (?); he will beget sons and daughters." This is therefore a symbolic moment in the fortunes of the Saracens. Roland is a dangerous obstacle to the Christians' peace on which, in an analogous manner to the Turks in the prophecy, the pagans rely. If the Christians mount a massive assault now, the pagans will be defeated. Before 1453 the Red Apple indicated, in all probability, Constantinople. By relating, or possibly even inventing, the anecdote about the vermeille pume Ganelon is cunningly playing on the fears and aspirations of the Infidel. There remains the question of how the poet or else a redactor of the Chanson de Roland was familiar with the motif of the Red Apple. The answer may lie in events taking place in the Near East during the last third of the eleventh century which have already been connected with the Roland by Joseph Duggan.24 We are dealing with the conquests of the

22He also points out that in the seventeenth century Evliya Efendi implies that the Spanish Infidels took possession of the Red Apple, and this may have also suggested a link with Granada. 23A.R. Littlewood, "The Apple in the Sexual Imagery of Kazantzakis: A Study in the Continuity of a Greek Tradition," Neo-Hellenika, 3 (1978) [37-33], 52. 24Joseph J. Duggan, "The Generation of the Episode of , Charlemagne's Dream and the Normans at Mantzikert," Romance Philology, 30 (1976), 59-82. Hunt / Roland's "Vermeille Pume" 211 Seljuk Turks and the defeat of the Byzantine Emperor Romanus Diogenes at the Battle of Mantzikert on August 19, 1071, the most disastrous humiliation that the Eastern Empire had yet suffered.25 The forces of the Byzantine Emperor contained many Normans, including Robert Crispin, and reports of the battle quickly reached the West. The account of the confict between the Seljuk Turks and the Eastern Empire given by William of Tyre was extremely influential. For him the direct result of Mantzikert was the Saracen capture of Jerusalem which led to Pope Urban's crusade call. Professor Duggan sees in these momentous menaces from the East the inspiration of the Baligant episode which offered poetic compensation in its depiction of the Christian Emperor's defeat of the Emperor of Islam.26 The Turkish threat to Byzantium, culminating in the Battle of Mantzikert, may also have inspired the introduction of the vermeille pume by which Ganelon plays on the anxieties of the Saracens about their hold on Byzantium and evokes the image of Roland as the protector of Constantinople and avenger of the Christians. We do not, of course, know when and where the motif of the Red Apple originated with the sense it bears in the Turkish prophecy recorded by Georgewičz. It makes such good sense in the present context, however, that we may well feel that Hasluck and Dawkins were right to cite the Roland as evidence of its antiquity. Tony Hunt Saint Andrews, Scotland

25See Claude Cahen, "La campagne de Mantzikert d'après les sources musulmanes," Byzantion, 9 (1934), 613-42. 26"The idea of a second Battle of Roncevaux, this one cataclysmic and decisive, was suggested to some poet by Charlemagne's third premonitory dream. The nature of that battle was furnished by tales heard from Normans returning to Western Europe from their Byzantine service in the last three decades of the eleventh century" (art. cit., p. 82). A rather different link with Byzantium was posited by Henri Grégoire and Raoul De Keyser, "La Chanson de Roland'et Byzance ou de l'utilité du grec pour les romanistes," Byzantion, 14 (1939), 265-316 who saw in the Roland a reflection of the campaigns of Robert Guiscard and Bohemond in Epirus in 1081-85 and identified the figure of Baligant with George Palaeologus. Cf. the discussion by A. Roncaglia, "Gli studi del Grégoire e 1'ambiente storico della Chanson de Roland," Cultura Neolatina, 6/7 (1946-47), 99-122.