This is considered to be the earliest masterpiece epic poem of France. It is divided into three parts: 1.) The Treachery of Ganelon; 2.) Roncesvalles; 3.) The Reprisals.

1. The Song of Roland
(French: La Chanson de Roland)
PowerPoint Presentation by:
Angella Mae Favia Gamboa

2. Disclaimer:
This is used for educational purposes only. The photos are not mine.

3. It is the most famous old French epic
that was composed during c. 1090 but
was not committed to writing until
nearly 100 years later.The oldest
written copy was discovered by
Francisque Michel in 1835.

4. TUROLD
PROBABLE AUTHOR

5. The story happened in Spain and is
based on the battle of Roncevaux pass
in 778 AD.
SETTING

6. THE SONG OF ROLAND IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS:
1. “THE TREACHERY OF GANELON”
2. “RONCESVALLES”
3. “THE REPRISALS”

7. MAIN
CHARACTERS

8.  Charlemagne - Holy Roman Emperor; his forces fight the Saracens in Spain.
 Ganelon - treacherous lord and Roland’s stepfather who encourages Marsilla to
attack the French army.
 King Marsilla- Saracen king of Spain; Roland wounds him he dies of his wound later.
 Roland - the hero of the song; nephew of Charlemagne; leads the rear guard of the
French forces; bursts his temples by blowing his “oliphant-horn”, wounds from
which he eventually dies facing the enemy’s land.
 Naimon - Charlemagne’s trusted adviser.
 Oliver - Roland’s friend; mortally wounded by Margarice. He represents wisdom.

9. The Song of Roland: A
Summary

10. “THE TREACHERY OF GANELON”

11. The story begun when King Charlemagne wants to colonize Spain, he succeeded in
breaking the Saracen power except Saragossa. Marsilla, the king of Saragossa tried to send offers
of treasures in order to save his city. He also promised to surrender his army and accept
Christianity.
After that, Charlemagne summoned for his council to discuss the proposal of Marsilla.
Count Roland, his nephew and trusted knight, told everyone that they must not trust Marsilla for
they were betrayed by that treacherous king by killing their messengers. Ganelon, the jealous
stepfather of Roland, joined the council and he told them that they must accept Marsilla’s
proposal in embracing Christianity for it would be a sin to refuse such offer.
Finally, Charlemagne agreed to Ganelon’s idea. Roland told the council that Ganelon
should be the one to be sent in this dangerous mission. Ganelon obeyed but never did
Charlemagne thought that this man would betray him by having a secret allegiance with the
Saracens.

12. “RONCESVALLES”
(French: Roncevaux)

13. In this part, Ganelon plotted to disable Charlemagne’s power by killing
Roland. Charlemagne went back to his city by passing in Roncesvalles (French:
Roncevaux). At that time, Roland and his army were left and they were about to
pass in Roncevaux but the force of the Saracens outnumbred and surprised the
troupe of Roland.
Roland fought with might but the enemies were too many for them to win.
He was about to die when he blew his Oliphant to call the attention of
Charlemagne. He even tried to break his “durandal” so that it won’t fall to the
enemies hand but he didn’t succeeded. He and his 20,000 picked men died.
While Roland does die that day, he brings a handsome price beforehand,
chopping off Marsilla's right hand. Badly weakened by this wound, Marsilla dies
of grief when he hears of Baligant's defeat. Balignant is the emir of Babylon who
tries to aid the defense of Saragossa.

14. “THE REPRISALS”

15. Charlemagne learned about what happened
to Roland. Ganelon is subjected to a painful
death as a traitor. He was torn into pieces by
four wild horses. In the end, Saragossa was
colonized bi Charlemagne and Marsilla’s wife
converted to Christianity.

17. Facts and Trivias

18. Crusades

19. The crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned
by the Latin church in the medieval period. The best-
known crusades are the campaigns in the eastern
Mediterranean aimed at recovering the holy land from
Muslim rule. The term crusade is now also applied to
other church-sanctioned and even non-religious
campaigns.

20. Durandal

21. It is the hardest and sharpest sword in the
history known in the French literature. It is also
said to have belonged to young Charlemagne
at one point. Then, it was owned by Roland.

22. Oliphant

23. If you thought "oliphant" sounded suspiciously like
"elephant," you're right on. These common ivory
medieval hunting horns were made out of elephant
tusks. Hunting horns of this type, carved from
elephant ivory (hence the name oliphant), were made
by Muslim craftsmen in southern Italy and Sicily for
export throughout Europe.

24. The end…