The Song of Roland

In Our Time: Culture

BBC

History

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an early masterpiece of French epic poetry, from the 12th Century. It is a reimagining of Charlemagne’s wars in Spain in the 8th Century in which Roland, his most valiant knight, chooses death before dishonour, guarding the army’s rear from a pagan ambush as it heads back through the Roncesvalles Pass in the Pyrenees. If he wanted to, Roland could blow on his oliphant, his elephant tusk horn, to summon help by calling back Charlemagne's army, but according to his values that would bring shame both on him and on France, and he would rather keep killing pagans until he is the last man standing and the last to die.

The image above is taken from an illustration of Charlemagne finding Roland after the Battle of Roncevaux/Roncesvalles, from 'Les Grandes Chroniques de France', c.1460 by Jean Fouquet, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Ms Fr 6465 f.113

With

Laura Ashe Professor of English Literature and Fellow in English at Worcester College, University of Oxford

Miranda Griffin Assistant Professor of Medieval French at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Murray Edwards College

And

Luke Sunderland Professor in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Durham University

Studio producer: John Goudie

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:04.7	Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:07.2	There's a reading list to go with it on our website and you can get news about our
0:10.7	programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC in our time. I hope you
0:15.0	enjoy the programs. Hello the song of Roland from the 12th century is an early
0:19.4	masterpiece of French poetry. It tells of the his rear from a pagan ambush of hundreds of thousands as it heads back through the Pyrenees.
0:35.6	Roland could blow on his horn to summon help.
0:37.6	But this to his mind would shame sweet France and destroy his own reputation. So he would rather keep up this gory
0:44.2	slaughter of pagans and Saracens until he is the last man standing.
0:48.5	When me to discuss the Song of Roland, I'm Miranda Griffin, assistant professor of medieval French at the University of
0:54.4	Cambridge and fellow from Murray Edwards College, Luke Sunderland, professor in the
0:59.1	School of Modern Language and Cultures at Durham University, and Laura Ash
1:03.2	Ash Professor of English literature and Fellow in English at Worcester College University of Oxford.
1:08.4	Laura Ash it's a stirring tale 4,000 lines along, can you summarize the plot?
1:13.8	I'll do my best.
1:15.0	So Charlemagne has been at war in Spain for seven years and the last remaining pagan
1:19.4	king, Marceil offers to submit to him.
1:22.1	Roland suggests that his stepfather Ganlon be sent as envoy to this pagan king and Ganlon is so enraged by this that when he gets there he forms this plot with Marceil that Roland will be in the rear guard and that
1:34.8	Marcel will ambush him with a much greater army and when that happens as you said
1:38.8	Roland refuses to blow the horn to get Charlemagne's army to return and instead they fight to the death of everyone.
1:45.8	And when Roland is about to die himself he finally blows the horn to alert Charlemagne to what has happened.
1:51.6	At which point Charlemagne then returns,
	...

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