Song Of Roland

The Song of Roland contains themes which the author uses to show the ideals of feudal society. The focus of this paper will be on loyalty, 2 of the seven deadly sins: pride and wrath and religion. All three are intricately intertwined in such a way that it shows some of the ideals in Medieval feudal society.

A lord gains the loyalty and service of his knights by an oath. The oath benefits both parties. The lord gains a fighter, someone who will go to war with him, someone who will protect his lands, pay taxes to him and give him counsel- if the knight becomes part of the lord’s vassal. In return the knight is under the lord’s protection this included the knight’s lands and family and vengeance of the knight’s death. The oath lasted a lifetime.

I think even if Ganelon did not consciously believe he was betraying Charlemagne, he knew subconsciously, wanted a degree of loyalty from Charlemagne. It was know Marsilla killed the last two messengers who went in peace; Roland had highlighted the deaths earlier to prove to Charlemagne why the king of the Saracens should not be trusted. For Ganelon to be nominated by Roland-his stepson and the nomination be enforced by Charlemagne was an act of disloyalty in the eyes of Ganelon disloyalty on Roland’s part but also on Charlemagne’s. This act of disloyalty pushed Ganelon to disregard his duty and loyalty to the Franks and make plans with Marsilla to rid Charlemagne of his right hand, his will to fight and Ganelon’s enemy: Roland. The fact Ganelon thought Charlemagne would lose his will to fight if Roland were dead means that Ganelon knew on some level he was betraying his

“‘May God forbid, flung Roland back at him,/ ‘that it be any man alive/ I ever blew my horn because of Pagans!” (laisse 85) Roland’s confidence that he can beat the pagan army without calling back Charlemagne comes from his faith that the Christian God is far greater and mightier than Muhammad. The belief that the Christian God was above all else was common and ideal in feudalism society, even more so in the fighting class. Each battle that was won was a testament that the Christian God was better than the pagan God(s). Even in the face of defeat the faith of the Christian knights were not shaken, unlike their Muslim counterparts. The author’s juxtaposition of how the French react to defeat by continue fighting to the death in the belief they will become martyrs; compared to how the Saracens destroyed the images of their Gods, I believe shows that during feudal times Christians thought the Christian religion was full of faithful followers who would not abandon the one their God but though other religions abandon their God(s) easily, further justifying the war on