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The Battle Of Roncevaux Pass By Dorothy Leigh Sayers The Song Of Roland

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The Song of Roland is the earliest and most famous Old French epic written about the Battle of Roncevaux Pass by an anonymous author near the end of the eleventh century. Dorothy Leigh Sayers then translated it so that people could learn the truth of what happened at the battle. The moral story of the poem is that justice will prevail at the end of the day. The book starts with Dorothy's introduction to the poem, which includes her views on the Song of Roland, the backstory of each character, and a summary of the poem. The beginning is crucial because it establishes the tone for the poem and answers many essential questions. One of my concerns was how the Song of Roland fits in with Christianity. The author answers my question near the opening …show more content…

The first half centers on Charlemagne's nephew, Roland, and the rest of Charlemagne's council. Within the council is Roland, a "rash, arrogant, egotistical, generous, outspoken to a fault... man with the qualities that make him a captain to his men and a romantic hero to his audience." (6). Roland is the main character of the first half of the poem because his death is one of the main reasons the fight continues. Roland is accompanied by his companion Oliver, a blunt, "hard-headed common-sense" type of character who plays an important part in the beginning as he was the one who scouted how many enemies they were up against. Among those two are Duke Naimon, an elderly and wise man; Turpin, the archbishop; and Ganelon, Roland's jealous stepfather. Ganelon is crucial in the fight because he betrays Charlemagne's council because he despises Moslems. Among them are the Ten Peers and the thousands that joined them in battle. The second half of the poem is about Charlemagne seeking vengeance for the death of his army, but I will explain more about that later in the …show more content…

Roland proposes a dangerous mission but chooses Ganelon to finish the ultimate task of delivering the treaty to the Moslems. Charlemagne rejects the choice to send Ganelon, which enrages him and makes him feel inferior to the rest of the council. Throughout the poem, Ganelon is a notorious liar and the reason why the plot evidently fails. Given their conflicting decisions, Roland eventually leads them into battle because the treaty is never executed as a result of Ganelon. Because of his dislike for Moslems, the fight is fought between Emperor Charlemagne, Roland, Oliver, and the other Ten Peers and the Sarcen king Marsilion and Count Ganelon. The battle is fought in a medieval manor, with horses and swords. Oliver is sent to scout the opposing army to see how many people they have before the fight. Regardless of what Oliver says, Roland leads his men into combat, only to discover that they are vastly outnumbered. Charlemagne watches as all twenty thousand of his men, including his council, all fall to their death in battle. That happens around page 178 of the poem and 144 of the book. From that point forward, Charlemagne seeks vengeance against

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