The Song of Roland (Classic Reprint) - Couverture souple

John O'hagan

 
9781331703785: The Song of Roland (Classic Reprint)

Synopsis

How legends grow from songs to a global epic—and what that says about culture, memory, and history.

This nonfiction look at the Chanson de Roland explains how early ballads transformed into a medieval epic. It traces how a largely unwritten oral tradition, set against Charlemagne’s world, shaped a story that endured through centuries of shifting culture. From myth to manuscript, you’ll explore how ballads accumulate new incidents and characters, how language and audience influence the telling, and why some legends persist while others fade. The book also examines the political and religious backdrop that colors the tale, highlighting the tension between history and fiction in foundational medieval storytelling.

  • How oral verse becomes a written epic and why that matters to literary history
  • The roles of key figures like Roland and Olivier, and what their fame reveals about chivalry
  • Why Charlemagne’s era is a fitting stage for legend and for debates about truth in story
  • Notes on manuscript sources, language, and the development of ancient myths
Ideal for readers of medieval literature, literary history, and the study of how stories travel across time and culture.

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Présentation de l'éditeur

Charles the King, our Lord and Sovereign, Full seven years hath sojourned in Spain, Conquered the land, and won the western main, Now no fortress against him doth remain, No city walls are left for him to gain, Save Sarraguce, that sits on high mountain. Marsile its King, who feareth not God's name, Mahumet's man, he invokes Apollin's aid, Nor wards off ills that shall to him attain. AOI.

Biographie de l'auteur

Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff, (1889 – 1930) was a Scottish writer, most famous for his English translation of most of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu, which he published under the Shakespearean title Remembrance of Things Past.

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