StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Song of Roland - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
It is believed that it was written between 1140 and 1170 during the middle ages, at this time in Europe there was a religious upheaval in which two dominant religious powers came into…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.2% of users find it useful
The Song of Roland
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Song of Roland"

The Song of Ronald "The Song of Roland" is amongst the oldest surviving epic poetic works of French literature. It is believed that it was written between 1140 and 1170 during the middle ages, at this time in Europe there was a religious upheaval in which two dominant religious powers came into existence; Islam and Christianity. It was the time the first crusade occurred where Christians felt it was their duty to force Muslims to Christianity and had to do that through wars and conquest. The Song of Roland was written presumable to motivate and entice the fighters to go to war.

The poem main subject is to point out that Christians who hold their beliefs can do great things and even if they fall they will welcome to heaven by angels on their way there. The song tells of how Charlemagne a Christian king, wanted to conquer the Muslim king Marsile (Project Gutenberg) in Stanza I line [7] the poem states “Marsile its King, who feareth not Gods name” Meaning that they felt being Muslim equated to being evil that has to be uprooted. For seven years king Charlemagne had been at war with the Saracens and only King Marsile and queen Bramimonde of the city of Saragossa had not been defeated.

The poem gives a parallel of a battle between the good and the evil. In this the Saracens are presented as evil and the Franks present the pure good, their major motivation being doing the will of God. According to the poem the Saracean who are Muslims on dying their souls are bound for the eternal flame of hell. The fighters are greatly motivated by their religious beliefs .The fighters in this song have very strong Christian conviction believing that God’s will comes before any man and God is a kind God and all powerful.

For example in deciding the fate of the traitor Ganelon they go for a judicial fight with faith that God will intervene for the right man. Ironically that is what happened when Thierry a brave but less physically built than Ganelon manages to slay Ganelon in the fight.The fighters have strong sense of duty and loyalty both to God and their fellow fighters. Because of Roland’s sense of duty he fought to death at the pass of Roncevaux together with twenty thousand Christians against an army of four hundred thousand men.

This same loyalty mad King Charlemagne to avenge the death of Roland. This kind of duty and loyalty that arose spontaneously could be parallel to the love of God. In such a holly war fighters considered it being bound by duty and loyalty to each other as divine.Despite being very pious King Charlemagne decided to take Blancandrin’s advice even though he was a pagan. Because he gives advice for the good to King Charlemagne he is considered to be one of the wisest pagans; this is uncommon when implying to Sarcens in the entire poem.

When Queen Bramimonde is declared to have become a Christian, her baptism is greatly celebrated for a while. However this celebration does not last long as angel Gabriel informs the king he must go off to another war against pagans. The poem says that despite him being tired and weary he still obeys the will of God. That was how they valued their religious view and believed that by going to war they were fulfilling God’s holy will.In conclusion this classic poem tells of a heroic story of a French king in service of Christianity, a knight Roland who dies in service of his religion.

The poem depicts Saracens as evil and need conversion. Their Joy when Queen Bramimonde becomes a Christian is an indication of how religiously convicted they were. To them the conversion of pagans to Christianity was the ultimate goal. This is also elucidated when King Charlemagne has to go to war with pagans even though he was fatigued. All fighters in this poem display loyalty to God and their perception of him is that he is all powerful and all kind as shown when they trust that He will place Ganelon in the hands of Thierry which He did.

Works CitedProject Gutenberg. Song of Roland. Ed. C. K. [Charles Kenneth] Moncreiff. January 1996. Douglas B. Killings and R. J. Maley. 27 October 2011 .

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Song of Roland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1582701-the-song-of-roland
(The Song of Roland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1582701-the-song-of-roland.
“The Song of Roland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1582701-the-song-of-roland.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Song of Roland

Knights in Medieval Europe

The Song of Roland, an early literary work records the events of one such fight when the Christian France engages the Islamic Spain.... The details of the battle of Saragossa as depicted in The Song of Roland reveal a number of qualities that made knights.... the song gives an elaborate explanation on the societal structures of the time and the organizational skills of the early leaders.... In a great show of bravery, roland a young man leads the rear of an entire army with only a handful man....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

World Literature I: From the Ancient World to the Middle Ages

The Odyssey and The Song of Roland are two epic and respected works of art, both written in the form of long and memorable poems and passed down from generation to generation, depicting the heroic acts and lives of mythical characters.... The Odyssey and The Song of Roland are two epic and respected works of art, both written in the form of long and memorable poems and passed down from generation to generation, depicting the heroic acts and lives of mythical characters....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Aeneid The Iliad The Song Of Roland

The Song of Roland" describes what The Song of Roland is a medieval epic poem, the first major piece of French literature.... How does its use foreshadow the major themes in the epics Is the same technique used in "The Song of Roland" In medias res, which means literally "into the middle of things" is the literary technique in which a narrative starts in the middle of the story rather than at the beginning as is normally the case.... There are close similarities between the two forms that bring about some similarities between the two main characters, Aeneas and roland....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Death According to Socrates and Roland

The Song of Roland is touted as the oldest known major work of French literature.... roland was an army soldier, said to be a nephew of Charlemagne.... The tale speaks of betrayal and revenge within Charlemagne's army, with roland and his fellow soldier Oliver being left with only an army of twelve peers when thousands of Franks attack.... Oliver pleads to roland to retreat, however, roland states, "Hold the field, let us not be beaten!...
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Invocation to the Muse

ANSWER 2Aeneas and Roland are the heroes of “Iliad” and “The Song of Roland” respectively.... “The Song of Roland” also uses medias res by starting in the middle.... Both the “Odyssey” and “Iliad” were passed down for many generations, but Homer was credited for first putting these stories down in writing. Aeneas and roland are the heroes of… Both Aeneas and roland are leaders and soldiers.... The proud and courageous roland led the rear guard of ANSWER a....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

World Lit. From Ancient to Middle Ages

The story utilizes varied forms of literary devices including symbolism, imagery, and allegory. The poet elaborates every occurrence in an epic The Song of Roland is yet another interesting story to discuss.... A critical analysis of the two artistic works aims at bringing out the differences and similarities existing between Odysseys with The Song of Roland.... the song of Rolland comprises of into paragraphs of varying length referred to as laissez and exploits heroes like Charlemagne and Guillaume....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Odyssey

The Song of Roland appears to be first of the great French heroic poems.... The Song of Roland appears to be first of the great French heroic poems.... The patriotic ardor of The Song of Roland gives it a place as one of the earliest national poems of the contemporary world.... The story of the Odyssey has some degree of relatedness to The Song of Roland, in terms of their literary composition.... In The Song of Roland, the key protagonist is Roland, who is a French war hero....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Literary Analysis

In the article, ‘Homer and the Roland: The shared Formula Technique, Part II' by William Merritt, various aspects are compared between The Odyssey and The Song of Roland.... In his words to Oliver, Roland Literary Analysis: Comparing ‘The Odyssey' and ‘The Song of Roland' al Affiliation) Comparing ‘The Odyssey' and ‘The Song of Roland.... In the article, ‘Homer and the Roland: The shared Formula Technique, Part II' by William Merritt, various aspects are compared between The Odyssey and The Song of Roland....
1 Pages (250 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us