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  • Song of Roland

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    Jade
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    The Song of Roland is an anonymous French poem from 1100 AD that describes the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, in which the rear guard of Charlemagne's army in Spain, led by Roland, was ambushed by Basques while returning to France. Though based on a historical event, the poem focuses more on themes of loyalty, valor and chivalry, and transforms the Basques into Moors to emphasize conflict between Christians and Muslims. It is considered one of the earliest and most famous works of French literature.

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    The Song of Roland is an anonymous French poem from 1100 AD that describes the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, in which the rear guard of Charlemagne's army in Spain, led by Roland, was ambushed by Basques while returning to France. Though based on a historical event, the poem focuses more on themes of loyalty, valor and chivalry, and transforms the Basques into Moors to emphasize conflict between Christians and Muslims. It is considered one of the earliest and most famous works of French literature.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    29 views6 pages

    Song of Roland

    Uploaded by

    Jade
    The Song of Roland is an anonymous French poem from 1100 AD that describes the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, in which the rear guard of Charlemagne's army in Spain, led by Roland, was ambushed by Basques while returning to France. Though based on a historical event, the poem focuses more on themes of loyalty, valor and chivalry, and transforms the Basques into Moors to emphasize conflict between Christians and Muslims. It is considered one of the earliest and most famous works of French literature.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 6

    World Literature

    ▪ Believed to be the beginning of French literature


    ▪ Manuscript dates back to 1100 AD, original poem is much older
    ▪ No known author
    ▪ Focus on loyalty and valor (chivalry)
    ▪ Expressed character of a people
    ▪ Historically based
    ▪ Performed long before it was written
    ▪ King Charlemagne ruled the Franks (768-814)
    ▪ The Song of Roland is a poem which took a minor event from his rule.
    ▪ The battle with the Moors in Spain
    ▪ A 36 year old Charlemagne intervened
    ▪ On the return to France Charlemagne’s nephew and leader of the rear guard,
    Roland, was attacked
    ▪ The entire rear guard perished
    ▪ Based on the actual August 15, 778 Battle of Roncevaux described in Einhard’s The
    Life of Charlemagne in which Christian Basques ambush Charlemagne’s rearguard
    while traveling through a Pyrenees mountain pass, the Roland is a highly fictional,
    dramatized retelling of a relatively minor event in the emperor’s biography. In the
    retelling, the Basques are transformed into Muslims.

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