BrightArts & CultureLiterature

Loyalty in the Medieval Epic ‘The Song of Roland’

The poem expresses fundamental precepts of chivalry and the feudal order, that is, the ideal of a Christian knight.
Save
Loyalty in the Medieval Epic ‘The Song of Roland’
An illustration for the "Song of Roland," by Simon Marmion, 15th century. An excerpt from the "Grandes Chroniques de France"; Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Public Domain
Walker Larson
Updated:
0:00
What things should we be willing to die for?
The 11th-century epic poem “The Song of Roland” by a poet named Turoldus engages this question. The poem is a type of traditional French narrative called a “chanson de geste” (“song of heroic deeds”). It tells of the death of Emperor Charlemagne’s nephew, Count Roland, during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in A.D. 778. The work is loosely based on historical events, using the framework of Charlemagne’s wars as a means of exploring hierarchy, loyalty, the crusading spirit, and the conflict between good and evil. 
Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master's in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, "Hologram" and "Song of Spheres."