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Glyn S. Burgess | 224 pages | 05 Jun 1990 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140445329 | English | London, United Kingdom SONG OF ROLAND Summary: One Of The Most Well Known French Epics

The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French literature and exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the to 16th centuries. The date of composition is put in the period between and an early version beginning around with additions and alterations made up until about The final text has about The Song of Roland, lines of poetry. The epic poem is the first [1] and, along with The Poem of the Cidone of the most outstanding examples of the chanson de gestea literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries and celebrated legendary deeds. Although set in the Carolingian eraThe Song of Roland was written much later. Some scholars estimate that the poem was written, possibly by a poet named Turold Turoldus in the manuscript itselfbetween approximately andand The Song of Roland of the alterations were performed by about Some favour an earlier dating, because it allows one to say that the narrative was inspired by the Castilian campaigns of the s, and that the poem went on to The Song of Roland a major influence in the First Crusade. Those who prefer a later dating do so based upon what they interpret as brief references made to events of the First Crusade. In the text, 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 . The name was commonly used by contemporary chroniclers to refer to the Latin The Song of Roland. The occurrence of this term cannot be interpreted as showing influence from the ; on the contrary, the way it is used, The Song of Roland simply to a Muslim land, indicates that the author was unacquainted with the Crusades, and that the term was in French before the Crusades was held to refer to the far side of the Mediterranean. The bulk of the poem is adjudged to date from before the Crusades which started inbut there are a few items where questions remain about these items being late additions shortly after the Crusades started. After two manuscripts were found in andthe Song of Roland became recognized as France's national epic when an edition was published in Certain lines of the Oxford manuscript end with the letters "AOI". The meaning of this word or annotation is unclear. Many scholars have hypothesized that the marking may have played a role in public performances of the text, such as indicating a place where a jongleur would change the The Song of Roland. An alternate hypothesis by Nathan Love is that AOI indicates locations where the scribe or copyist deviated from the primary manuscript. 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 The Song of Roland would have been performed orally, the transmission to manuscript resulted in greater cohesiveness across versions. Early editors of The Song of Rolandinformed in part by patriotic desires to produce a distinctly French epic, could thus overstate the textual cohesiveness of the Roland tradition. This point is expressed by Andrew Taylor, who notes, [8] "[T]he Roland song was, if not invented, at The Song of Roland 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, line poem as sung French epic". 's army The Song of Roland fighting the Muslims in Spain. They have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is Saragossaheld by the Muslim . Threatened by the might of Charlemagne's army of The Song of Roland, Marsile seeks advice from his wise man, Blancandrinwho counsels him to conciliate the Emperor, offering to surrender and giving hostages. Accordingly, Marsile sends out messengers to Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsile'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 Marsile's court. The protagonist RolandCharlemagne's nephew, nominates his stepfather as messenger. Ganelon, who fears being 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 France through the mountain passes. As Ganelon predicted, Roland leads the rear guard, with the wise and moderate and the fierce Archbishop Turpin. The Muslims ambush them at and the Christians are overwhelmed. Oliver pleads with Roland to blow his horn to call for help, but Roland tells him that blowing his horn in the middle of the battle would be an The Song of Roland of cowardice. If Roland continues to refuse, Oliver will not let Roland see his sister again whom Roland loves the most. However, Archbishop Turpin intervenes and tells them that the battle will be fatal for all of them and so instructs Roland to blow his horn oliphant the word is an old alternative to "elephant", and was used to refer to a hunting The Song of Roland made from an The Song of Roland tusk to call for help The Song of Roland the Frankish army. The Song of Roland emperor hears the call on their way to France. Charlemagne and his noblemen gallop back even though Count Ganelon tries to trick them. 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 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, who have been utterly annihilated. They pursue the Muslims into the river Ebrowhere the Muslims drown. Meanwhile, Baligantthe powerful emir of Babylon, has arrived in Spain to help Marsile. His army encounters that of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead. The Franks fight valiantly. When Charlemagne kills , the Muslim army scatters and flees, leaving the Franks to conquer Saragossa. 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 The Song of Roland fate is initially swayed by this claim, partially out of fear of Ganelon's friend who threatens to fight anyone who judges Ganelon guilty, one man, Thierry, argues that because Roland was serving Charlemagne when Ganelon delivered his revenge on him, Ganelon's action constitutes a betrayal. Pinabel challenges Thierry to trial by combat. By divine intervention, Thierry kills Pinabel. By this the Franks are convinced of Ganelon's treason. Thus, he is torn apart by having four galloping horses tied one to each arm and leg and thirty of his relatives are hanged. converts to Christianity, her name changing to Juliana. While sleeping, Charlemagne is told by Gabriel to ride to help King Vivien and bemoans his life. The poem is written in stanzas of irregular length known as laisses. The lines are decasyllabic containing ten syllablesand each is divided by a strong caesura which generally falls after the fourth . 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 The Song of Roland therefore an assonalnot a rhyming stanza. On a narrative level, the Song of Roland features extensive use of repetition, parallelism, and thesis-antithesis pairs. Roland proposes Ganelon for the dangerous mission to Sarrogossa; Ganelon The Song of Roland Roland to man the rearguard. Charlemagne is contrasted with Baligant. The characters are presented through what they do, not through what they think The Song of Roland feel. The narrator gives few explanations for characters' behavior. The The Song of Roland are stereotypes defined by a few salient traits; for example, Roland is loyal and trusting while Ganelon, though brave, is traitorous and vindictive. The narrator is openly biased towards the Franks. His moral view is very black-and-white: the Franks are good, and the pagans are bad. 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 The Song of Roland light with each shot. According to the Song of The Song of Roland, the legendary sword called Durandal was first given to Charlemagne by an angel. It contained one tooth of Saint Peterblood of Saint Basilhair of Saint Denisand a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Maryand was supposedly the sharpest sword in all existence. In the story of the Song of Roland, the weapon is given to Roland, and he uses it to defend himself single-handedly against thousands of Muslim attackers. According to one 12th-century legend from the French town of RocamadourRoland threw the sword into a cliffside. Arounda version of the French poem was translated into the Middle High German Rolandslied by Konrad der Pfaffe [9] formerly thought to have been the author of The Song of Roland Kaiserchronik. 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 Ronsasvalswhich incorporates the later, southern aesthetic into the story. In published his epic Furiosowhich deals largely with characters first described in the Song of Roland. Joseph Haydn and Nunziano Porta's opera, Orlando Paladinothe most popular of Haydn's operas during his lifetime, is based loosely on The Song of Roland via Ariosto's version, as are and Grazio Braccioli 's opera and their earlier version. 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. 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 The Song of Roland the story tragedy, not just heroics". The names Roland and Orlando are cognates. This was then republished, in English, as Ronald and the Wizard Calico Luzzati's original verse story in Italian is about the plight of a beautiful maiden called Biancofiore — White Flower, or Blanchefleur — and her brave The Song of Roland, Captain Rinaldo, and Ricardo and his — the term used for Christian engaged in Crusades against the Saracens and Moors. With The Song of Roland assistance of the wicked and treacherous magician, Gano of Maganz, Biancofiore is stolen from her fortress castle, and taken to become the reluctant wife of the Sultan. The catalyst for victory is the good magician, Urlubulu, who lives in a lake, and flies through the air on the back of his magic blue bird. The English translators, using the original illustrations, and the basic rhyme patterns, slightly simplify the plot, changing the Christians-versus-Muslim-Moors conflict into a battle between good and bad magicians and between golden knights and green knights. The French traitor in The Song of Roland Song of Roland, who is actually Roland's cowardly step-father, is Ganelon — very likely the inspiration for Luzzati's traitor and wicked magician, Gano. Orlando The Song of Roland literally, Furious or Enraged The Song of Roland, or Rolandincludes Orlando's cousin, the Rinaldo, who, like Orlando, is also in love with , a pagan princess. Rinaldo is, of course, the Italian equivalent of Ronald. Flying through the air on the back of a magic bird is equivalent to flying on a magic . This work is more closely based on a screenplay written by Michael Eging insimply known as "Song of Roland" and first optioned to Alan Kaplan at Cine LA that same year. The book explores the untold story of how Roland finds himself at Ronceveaux, betrayed by Ganelon and facing the expansive Saragossan host. Introduced in this tale are additional characters that inject intrigue and danger to the story, including Charles oldest The Song of Roland, Pepin, Marsilion's treacherous son, Saleem, and the scheming Byzantine emissary, Honorius. Internet History Sourcebooks

The author of the chanson de Roland was possibly Turoldus, whose name was include at the very end of the epic. Whether he was the original composer of the epic or that he was the compiler of Digby manuscript, or a fictional author, is uncertain. The author of the chanson, clearly The Song of Roland out to immortalise the hero Roland and the so-called Twelve Peersin similar fashion that later medieval poets immortalise King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It was of Castel de Valfunde, who counsel Marsile with a plan to betray the offering peace to Charlemagne. Marsile would pretend to follow Charlemagne to Aix or Aix-la-Chapellethe capital of the Franks, to swear allegiance to Charlemagne and be baptised. With Charlemagne The Song of Roland at Aix, Marsile could try to reconquer the land and cities that The Song of Roland has won. Blancandrin said it was better for Marsile to break the last two promises and let the hostages die, then for Marsile to lose his entire kingdom. Blancandrin had even offered The Song of Roland own son as hostage. So Marsile sent Blancandrin as his The Song of Roland to Charlemagne, with treasures and the selected high-ranking hostages. Blancandrin brought before the Frankish king, the offer — hostages, treasure, and the promise of Marsile becoming vassal to Charlemagne. It was Roland who voiced his rejection of the Saracen proposal of peace, and his distrust for Marsile. The hero also reminded the assembly that Charlemagne had previously sent an embassy, Basan and Basile, to Marsile, but they were treacherously beheaded the two counts. If Marsile want peace and ask for mercy, then Charlemagne should magnanimously accept, especially if the Saracen king becomes a Christian and a vassal to Charlemagne. Roland then offer to go, but Oliver and the king, The Song of Roland his nomination as ambassador, since Roland was no diplomat, and was clearly hostile to the Saracens. Roland was most likely to offend the Saracen king. Archbishop Turpin also offered to go Marsile, but he was also rejected. Ganelon decided to go alone, since the Frank noblemen agree on his nomination; his kinsmen would have come with him. When Charlemagne gave his glove to Ganelon as the mark of his appointment, Ganelon rudely let the glove fall on the ground — which all members of the council saw as a bad omen. So Ganelon set out for Saragossa with Blancandrin. Marsile should pretend to follow Charlemagne to Aix, to accept baptism, and Spain would be divided in half: Roland would rule one half of the kingdom, while Marsile would rule the other. When Charlemagne would leave The Song of Roland France, Ganelon would arrange it so that Roland to accept the post of rearguard with the Twelve Peers and 20, men. Marsile should then gather half of his army to destroy Roland and his warriors in an ambush. Ganelon returned to Galne, a city which Roland had captured, and gave the news to Charlemagne, along with a false letter from the Saracen king that Marsile would follow Charlemagne to Aix, to be baptised and accept fief from Charlemagne. So, the king immediately ordered to break camp, and immediately prepare the withdrawal from Spain: to return home. Charlemagne was unaware that Marsile indeed The Song of Roland to follow the Frankish army, but with four hundred thousand armed Saracen warriors. On the night before Charlemagne was due to make a trek across the mountains of the Pyrenees, the king had a couple of unsettling dreams. They were actually visions of treachery from Ganelon and from Marsile. In the second vision, Charlemagne was in a chapel at Aix, where he was bitten by a wild boar, while a leopard attacked his body. A hunting dog came and bit off the boar ear, before fighting with the leopard. The vanguard is normally led by Roland, so he was angry that he must command the rearguard forces. Roland boasted that he needs no other than his eleven companions and his twenty thousand warriors that was already under his command. Twelve Peers. His nephew, Aelroth, boastfully wants to face Roland himself. Eleven other volunteered to fight against the Twelve Peers. Each one hollowly boasting that he would be the one to kill Roland. And The Song of Roland all marched towards Rencesvals. Roland ordered Count Gautier to guard the defiles and passes of Rencesvals with a thousand Frank warriors. But even here, Gautier would face strong opposition from King Almari of Belferne. When the Franks heard the arrival of their enemies, The Song of Roland went to investigate on the hilltop and saw the Saracens vastly outnumbered them. Oliver returned to Roland with the news that they could not possibly win with only 20, knights; his advice was that Roland should sound the horn, so Charlemagne reinforced them. Roland called for the Franks to be armed and ready to fight the The Song of Roland army. As the two sides charged into one another, Aelroth boasted that they will destroy Charlemagne and his kingdom. Corsablix met his end at Archbishop Turpin. Gerin killed Malprimis, while his companion account for the emir. That was how powerful Roland was. Because around this time, Marsile had joined in the fray. Realising that even outnumbered, the Franks had slaughtered a hundred thousand of his men. Climborin was among the Saracen nobles who greeted Ganelon in friendship; he killed Engeler. Anesis had fallen to an African named Malquiant, son of Malcuid, but Turpin took his revenge upon Malquiant. It was Roland who stopped Grandonie, just like he did against Cherubles earlier. This time, it was Oliver who said it would not be honourable now that that tide has shifted. Twice more, Roland said he should sound the horn, but Oliver argued against it. Archbishop Turpin told the two friends to cease arguing with one another. Although, Turpin agreed that calling for aid from Charlemagne would be too late in arriving to help them, but at least Charlemagne could avenge their death. So with this advice, Roland blew his Oliphant, which Charlemagne could be heard 30 leagues away from the battlefield. The king exclaimed that the rearguard must be in battle, but Ganelon dismissed that there were no battle. But Naimes and other members of Charlemagne heard it too when Roland blew the horn a second time, and still Ganelon persisted that Roland and the rearguard was in no trouble, and they should ride on towards Aix. Charlemagne immediately ordered his army to turn back to Spain, hoping that he would save what left of the rearguard force. Charlemagne also The Song of Roland the immediate arrest of his treacherous brother-in-law. Roland, Oliver and the archbishop returned to battle. This caused both anguish and anger The Song of Roland Roland. He rode in and attacked Marsile. Wounded, Marsile fled from the battlefield, which caused a major number of Saracens to abandon the battle like cowards. Marganice could still victory can be won, so when he saw the opportunity, he ran his through Oliver at the back. Despite this mortal wound, Oliver killed Marganice with his sword, Halteclere, and still he continued to fight while can still stand, killing more Saracens. Oliver finally feeling his death approaching, dismounted his horse, and confessed his sins, before his heart failed him. When he regained his sense, Gautier had come down from the defiles and heights of Rencesvals, having lost all his men in his command. But Gautier, the archbishop and Roland were the only ones still left alive. But Gautier fell when he came under the volley of javelins. Turpin also received a mortal wound, pierced by four spears, but still the archbishop fought on. Roland blew his horn again; and this attempt caused the The Song of Roland to almost faint from The Song of Roland pain. But Charlemagne could barely hear the sound of the Oliphant, and the Franks blew their own bugles in answer. Fearing of facing Charlemagne, the Saracens attacked Roland and Turpin. Roland lost his horse, . Though, his shield was in tattered and his hauberk was rent in many places, none of the blows could cut or pierce him. This caused the Saracens to panic and flee from the two implacable warriors. Roland then began searching for all of his Peers, and laid The Song of Roland around the archbishop. The grief caused Roland to faint again. Roland regained his sense, only to find the archbishop dead with his entrails spilled on the ground near the water. Roland also felt that he was dying too because blowing the Oliphant had caused internal bleeding inside of his head. He moved towards a tree where he found 4 blocks of large marble, and where Roland fainted again. The hero was unaware that one of the Saracens was feigning death. This pagan thought the paladin was dead, and attempted to take from Roland. At this point, Roland was jolted to his sense, and sensing a cowering thief, swung the Oliphant against the pagan. The Song of Roland times he beat his The Song of Roland against the stone, but it would neither break nor shatter. At this point, the hero praised the sword, and listed some The Song of Roland that make up his sword hilt. Now that he felt death approaching, he confessed his sins, and began praying to God for salvation and to the archangels Michael and Gabriel to guide him. Seeing that all The Song of Roland to destroy the Durendal to no avail, he decided to hide it under his body, as he sat against the pine tree, facing the direction of his enemies in Spain. And then, he died. Related Information. Naimes noticed a great deal of dust rising, and rightly assuming that the Saracens were fleeing from Rencesvals. Setting some guards to watch over The Song of Roland bodies, Charlemagne set out in pursuit of the enemies. It seemed that God was extending his hand to help Charlemagne, by causing the sun to stop, before it could The Song of Roland, so the Franks could catch the Saracens. The Saracens seeing the Frankish army, they panic, and tried to reach Saragossa. Most these routed enemies were driven into the river Ebro, where they drowned. Some stood their ground before the river, and were annihilated. Since it was now dark, Charlemagne decided to set up camp at The Song of Roland Tenebros, letting his men and horses to rest. Charlemagne must concentrate in capturing Saragossa and put his treacherous brother-in-law on trial. Marsile who fled after receiving his wound — a missing hand, managed to escape the disaster that befell those men that had died at Val Tenebros and the Ebro River. Song of Roland: Summary | SparkNotes

It is The Song of Roland the oldest and greatest of the chansons de geste, medieval epic poems written in French. In , "geste" means a deed or action, often of heroic proportions. A hundred or so of these epic poems survive, dating from around the year 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 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 The Song of Roland up arms against Islam. 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 , at the height of its power, sought to expand Christendom into the Holy Land. The poem describes events happening several centuries earlier, during the The Song of Roland 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: inthe 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 The Song of Roland in a long column of march, as the nature The Song of Roland 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 Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland 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 of the King's table, Anshelm, the Count of the palace, and Roland, Lord of the The Song of Roland 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. Those familiar with The Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland during an era when the tide of Islam seemed unstoppable. Islam, The Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland of Europe. Moslem Spain, to cite one The Song of Roland, 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 inrecognizing 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 inwhich 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 The Song of Roland Frankish lord and Charlemagne's own nephew. The "treachery" of the Christian The Song of Roland becomes transformed into the The Song of Roland of a single man, Ganelonand 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 The Song of Roland 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. InPope 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. The Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland changing facts to fit in with the spirit of the new Holy The Song of Roland. The Song of Roland consists of roughly lines of verse, divided into poetic units called laisses. Laisses are irregular in length, from three or four lines The Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland 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 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 The Song of Roland 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 The Song of Roland, 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 The Song of Roland the battle The Song of Roland, which are very ritualized. Examples are simple: "He spurs on his horse"; "He breaks his shield. 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 Song of Roland context of social gatherings and celebration. 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 In the th line in the Death of Roland, why the figure of speech that was used is Personification?? Who was Lazarous? Song of Roland study guide contains literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Song of Roland literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Song of Roland. Remember me. Forgot your password? Buy Study Guide. Can you quote the personification? Study Guide for Song of Roland Song of Roland study guide contains literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Essays for Song of Roland Song of Roland literature essays are academic essays for citation.