The song of Roland
The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland)
is an epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during the reign
of Charlemagne. The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 and
1115: an early version beginning around 1040 with additions and alterations
made up until about 1115.
The Story
Charlemagne's army is fighting the Muslims in Spain. They have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is Saragossa, held by the Muslim King Marsile. Threatened by the might of Charlemagne's army Marsile seeks advice from his wise man, Blancandrin, who councils him to conciliate the Emperor, offering to surrender and giving hostages. Accordingly, Marsile sends out messengers to Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsile's conversion to Christianity if the Franks will go back to France.
Charlemagne's army is fighting the Muslims in Spain. They have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is Saragossa, held by the Muslim King Marsile. Threatened by the might of Charlemagne's army Marsile seeks advice from his wise man, Blancandrin, who councils him to conciliate the Emperor, offering to surrender and giving hostages. Accordingly, Marsile sends out messengers to Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsile's conversion to Christianity if the Franks will go back to France.
Charlemagne and his men, tired
of fighting, accept his peace offer and select a messenger to Marsile's court.
The protagonist Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, nominates his stepfather Ganelon
as messenger. Ganelon, who fears to be murdered by the enemy and accuses Roland
of intending this, takes revenge by informing the Saracens of a way to ambush
the rear guard of Charlemagne's army, led by Roland, as the Franks re-enter
France through the mountain passes.
As Ganelon predicted, Roland
leads the rear guard. The Muslims ambush them at Roncesvalles and the
Christians are overwhelmed. Oliver pleads with Roland to blow his horn to call
for help, but Roland tells him that blowing his horn in the middle of the
battle would be an act of cowardice. If Roland continues to refuse, Oliver will
not let Roland see his sister again whom Roland loves the most. However,
Archbishop Turpin intervenes and tells them that the battle will be fatal for
all of them and so instructs Roland to blow his horn oliphant (the word is an
old alternative to "elephant", and was used to refer to a hunting
horn made from an elephant tusk) to call for help from the Frankish army. The
emperor hears the call on their way to France. Charlemagne and his noblemen
gallop back even though Count Ganelon tries to trick them.
The Franks fight well, but are
outnumbered, until almost all Roland's men are dead and he knows that
Charlemagne's army can no longer save them. Despite this, he blows his olifant
to summon revenge, until his temples burst and he dies a martyr's death. Angels
take his soul to Paradise.
When Charlemagne and his men
reach the battlefield, they find the dead bodies of Roland's men, who have been
utterly annihilated. They pursue the Muslims into the river Ebro, where the
Muslims drown. Meanwhile, Baligant, the powerful emir of Babylon, has arrived
in Spain to help Marsile. His army encounters that of Charlemagne at
Roncesvalles, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead. Both
sides fight valiantly. When Charlemagne kills Baligant, the Muslim army scatters
and flees, leaving the Franks to conquer Saragossa. Charlemagne and his men
ride back to Aix, their capital in France.
Miniatures
Charlemagne's time does not seem very popular with miniature makers. Only of Charlemagne himself exists a wide selection of figures. Little is to be found of his contemporaries in miniature.
We
have Roland as a single figure as 70 mm flatCharlemagne's time does not seem very popular with miniature makers. Only of Charlemagne himself exists a wide selection of figures. Little is to be found of his contemporaries in miniature.
