The Song of Roland

The oldest major work of French literature: the rearguard massacre at Roncevaux, heroic and merciless.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Anonymous (the Turold colophon)

type

Chanson de geste

era

Medieval France (c. 1100)

language

Old French

verse form

Decasyllabic assonant laisses

cantos count

1

Core Principles & Analysis

• Written around 1100, roughly three centuries after the 778 ambush it magnifies.
• Its laisses — decasyllabic stanzas — build the oldest major French poem.
• Roland's refusal to blow the oliphant turns rearguard duty into heroic sacrifice.

Sources

• Wikipedia: The Song of Roland