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The Structure of the Hero in the Chanson De Roland: Heroic Being

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The Structure of the Hero in the Chanson De Roland: Heroic Being Patricia Harris Stablein The Structure of the Hero in the Chanson de Roland: Heroic Being and Becoming Although structuralist critics usually treat the hero as only one element of epic structure, I propose to show that, in the Chanson de Roland at least, the complex form of the hero displays a structural identity with that of the entire epic.1 When the relationship of the components of the heroic unit changes, the structure of the whole epic changes.2 The title of this article then stresses the dynamic quality of the Roland system and does not imply any existentialist meanings. Instead, Being expresses a stable relationship among the facets of the heroic complex and underlines the high intensity of the forces which unite them in this unit; Becoming describes the resultant tendency of these same facets to reunite in a still denser heroic form after the destruction of the initial tripartite balance. The varying degrees of tension among these patterns of energy create the structural dynamic that generates the Roland.3 The pressure of these forces is evident in the changing relationships of the characters which compose the heroic complex.4 At the beginning of the Roland, no single character fulfills the heroic role, expressed as a cluster of interdependent functions seen in (1) a receptor, the passive Charlemagne who embodies the normative framework for the actions of (2) the absolute actor, Roland and (3) the primary mediating actor, Oliver, both active and passive in function.5 This stable configuration disappears at Rencesvals, where only two of the components are present, so that we see conflict then between Roland and Oliver just as we see conflict in the dreams of Charlemagne, isolated in the aftermath of Rencesvals (laisses CLXXXIV-CLXXXVI). The structural drama of the Roland coincides with that of the heroic complex, because both are governed by the destruction of this triad at Rencesvals and by the subsequent condensation of the heroic functions in Charlemagne. When reorganization of the heroic role is still incomplete and unstable at the end of the poem, this is a testimony to the strength and rightness of the original unit. Although the Roland begins with a declaration of Charlemagne's bellicose power (vv. 1-9), his control of the destructive forces of war is illusory 105 106 Olifant / Vol. 5. No. 2 / December 1977 because the succeeding laisses (II-VII) introduce a new mode of warfare— treachery—which Marsile and Blancandrin decide upon to remedy their previous failures before the conventional campaigns of Charlemagne. The change is easy for the pagans to make because they tried deceit once before on the small scale of Basan and Basile. Laisse VIII, the presentation of the Christian status quo, thus becomes a crucial interface between the stable and the unstable. Li empereres se fait e balz e liez: 96 Cordes ad orise e les murs peceiez, Od ses cadables les turs en abatied; Mult grant eschech en unt si chevaler D'or e d'argent e de guarnemenz chers. 100 En la citet nen ad remes paien Ne seit ocis u devient chrestien. Li empereres est en un grant verger, Ensembl'od lui Rollant e Oliver, Sansun li dux e Anseîs li fiers, 105 Gefried d'Anjou, le rei gunfanuner, E si i furent e Gerin e Gerers; La u cist furent, des altres i out bien: De dulce France i ad quinze milliers. Sur palies blancs siedent cil cevaler, 110 As tables juent pur els esbaneier E as eschecs li plus saive e li veill, E escremissent cil bacheler leger. Desuz un pin, delez un eglenter, Un faldestoed i unt, fait tut d'or mer: 115 La siet li reis ki dulce France tient. Blanche ad la barbe e tut flurit le chef, Gent ad le cors e le cuntenant fier: S'est kil demandet, ne 1'estoet enseigner. E li message descendirent a pied, 120 Sil saluerent par amur e par bien.6 During the seven years of war, the pagan strongholds have been penetrated and destroyed; the identity of the pagans has even been obliterated.7 The Christians, however, have maintained their collective identity and have emerged almost unscathed from the long conflict because their heroic unit has controlled the violence of war.8 In the orchard, destruction and suffering have little reality: they exist only as signs of victorious power (vv. 96-102). Li empereres (v. 96) is used here in the same way as Carles li reis in the first laisse: a reference to the heroic complex in terms of its highest ranking component in fuedal society, rather like a family mailbox with the father's Stablein / The Structure of the Hero 107 name on it. Laisses XIV, LIII, CLXIII, and CLXXII, for example, testify to the active leadership of the army by Roland and Oliver, while Charlemagne's later sense of reluctance in personal combat testifies to the previous functional restriction that required his abstention from battle. The triadic nature of the heroic complex remains veiled here because no insufficiency or imbalance yet emphasizes the division to the audience. As the structure of the poem unfolds to the audience, the true nature of the heroic form becomes apparent as the audience experiences the tearing tensions of destruction and then the gradual soothing of the resulting anguish as a new heroic order begins to coalesce. Forming a deep layer around Charlemagne, his older knights testify to the happiness of the past and his younger knights seem to guarantee the perpetuation of the present into the future with their youthful dynamism (vv. 104-112). Roland and Oliver are mentioned first in Charles's company, followed by the others in hierarchical order. As the epic develops, it becomes clear that Roland and Oliver were named first because they are the completing elements of the heroic force. There is a feeling of mutual possession as power flows inward from the knights to the emperor and vice versa.9 Charles is in the center, white-haired and beautiful (vv. 114-9), untouched by war, yet his description is contiguous with that of the threatening messengers (v. 120).10 Since this radial arrangement shows him to be the most protected, the most intimate point of the Christian identity, the emperor is also the most vulnerable, like the king in chess. His enveloping knights sit on white cloths, linked to their white-tressed leader in equal innocence of evil and the agony of war. This is a passive scene throughout, so the Charlemagne facet of the heroic complex dominates. He is the constant reference point of the laisse both as a person and as a part of the heroic complex. The repetitive structure of the laisse weaves him into war by repeating the formal elements of the fall of Cordova, briefly described in the opening verses. Where the audience is led through barriers to the wealth of the city (vv. 97-101) in these first lines, here the knights are the barriers and the emperor is the wealth to which the enemy penetrates. The taking of Cordova, however, was a typical Christian-pagan battle. In the repetition, the new form of warfare manifests itself in the messengers' false greeting to the vulnerable Charlemagne.11 The balance effected by the stable heroic complex is thus framed and invaded by war. 108 Olifant / Vol. 5. No. 2 / December 1977 Critics traditionally question Charlemagne's anguished passivity before Roland's nomination to the doomed command of the rear guard.12 His passivity, however, can be explained by seeing it as part of the articulation of the heroic structure. Looking at the preceding choice of Ganelon as Christian envoy, we see that Charlemagne can set up a situation (e.g. laisses XIII-XIX) but it is Roland who acts, who solves the dilemma by naming Ganelon to fulfill the debated mission. Charlemagne must eliminate those improper to the fated action and reiterate his initial command (laisses XXIII-XXVI). As a continuation of the unity of the Frankish society presented in laisse VIII, Charlemagne emphasizes the identification of the knights' will with his own (vv. 165-7, 244-5, 252-3, 274-6). Charles reinforces Roland's naming of Ganelon and all others support both (vv. 278-9). Ganelon introduces the only discord, an aspect further stressed by his position outside the alphabetic and first syllable agreement in the messenger series: Basan and Basile (v. 208), Clarifan and Clarien (v. 2670). Blancandrin's name also begins with the phoneme /b/ but he is not paired with another knight; he is the only speaking member of a varied group (laisse V), so he and Ganelon are both anomalous.13 But the anomaly of Ganelon is more accentuated because of the lack of any phonemic accord; he is the focus of the greatest social and moral discord. First syllable pairing is not uncommon in epics, but the relationship of these sequences in an individual epic may have a significance that is still unexplored. Roland's appointment to the rear guard is a mirror image of the pattern shown in the designation of Ganelon to a position of danger: an anti-heroic element places an heroic element in a dangerous situation after the judgmental facet of the hero has set up conditions which cannot be changed (vv. 740-2, 771-85). In the earlier case, Charles's vague questions elicited unsatisfactory answers, so he changed his query to obtain the necessary response (laisse XX). This initial vagueness provided the framework for a presentation of the relative functional values of the important members of Charlemagne's entourage.
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