Charles the king, our emperor great, Has been a full seven years in Spain. As far as the sea he conquered this haughty land. Not a single castle remains standing in his path Charlemagne (768-814) was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 and presided over a huge empire. He frequently appears in literature as a great warlord and pious crusading figure. In 778, the rearguard of Charlemagne's retreating army was ambushed and defeated at the battle of Roncevaux. This became the inspiration for songs and poems celebrating deeds of valour in the face of overwhelming odds, through the character of Charlemagne's nephew (the imaginary) Roland. The Song of Roland is the most stirring and moving epic poem of the European Middle Ages, offering a particularly heady mixture of history, legend, and poetry. Presented here in a lively and idiomatic new translation, the Song of Roland offers fascinating insights into medieval ideas about heroism, manhood, religion, race, and nationhood which were foundational for modern European culture. The Song of Roland is accompanied here by two other medieval French epics about Charlemagne, both of which show him to be a far more equivocal figure than that portrayed by the Roland: the Occitan Daurel and Beton, in which he is a corrupt and avaricious monarch; and the Journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople, which gives the heroes of the Roland a comic makeover.

The Song of Roland is a book of poems by an anonymous author. It depicts a gory French tale of war, where General Charlemagne was ambushed in a remote Pyrenean pass, showcasing a symbolic struggle between Christianity and Islam.

During the period in history known as The Dark Ages, the general populace was illiterate. The only way for people to find out what was going on in the rest of the world was from traveling Jongeleurs or what most of us know as the troubadour. The king had his own, well-funded troubadour, who traveled the land putting his masters spin on how lucky his subjects were to have him for their sovereign. The Chansons de Gestes or, translated, Songs of Deeds grew out of this practice in France. Over the years they grew from a recounting of actual events sung by the troubadour to the peasantry from one village to the next that, over millennia, morphed into exaggerated tales, so preposterous that no one could take them for anything more than folk fairy tales. However, when placed under the microscope of scholarly historical research, one comes to discover that underlying every folktale is a grain of historical truth more fascinating than the folklore cover. In The Island of Destiny, which would originally have been related in song and verse, the troubadour brings the reader to an understanding of the roots of Honor, Romance and Chivalry as well as how King Charles of the Franks came to be known and addressed in his own lifetime as Charlemagne.

"Daniel Randolph Deal is a Southern aristocrat, having the required bloodline, but little of the nobility. A man resistant to the folly of ethics, he prefers a selective, self-indulgent morality. He is a confessed hedonist, albeit responsibly so."--Back cover

Ganelon had grossly underestimated Rolands savoir faire in the handling of lance and shield under the conditions of a full-on tilt. Figuring Roland would be leaning forward like any novice, Ganelon had decided to aim dead-center on his boss, which, had Roland been assuming such a posture, would have placed the dukes lance at a perfect right angle to Rolands shield maximizing its full impact and most likely unhorsing him. However, Roland was no novice. As Ganelon had lowered his lancepoint early, thus revealing where hed intended to make his hit, Roland had moved his shield-boss in line to accommodate him. But, in the last moment before impact, Roland had leaned back and braced placing his shield not only on a direct line with the dukes lance-point, but also at a sloping angle upward. The result was as anticipated. The lance glanced harmlessly up and away as hed completed the pass. The historic events of the period following the fall of the Roman Empire fr om 450 AD to 800 AD are sketchy at best. As such, contemporary historians refer to them as the Dark Ages. It has been difficult to distinguish myth, legend and folklore fr om the history of the times and modern society has suff ered and continues to this day, to suffer the consequences. Mr. Motter, through scholarly research over more than 20 years has managed to link and make sense out of that which heretofore has been viewed primarily as subject matter for fairy tales. No one really knows the people behind the characters and times in which they lived in The Song of Roland and so, when he dies in the Pass at Roncesvalles, it is impossible to understand and appreciate what was lost there. There is no possibility for Epic Tragedy as defi ned by Aristotle in his work The Poetics resulting in a catharsis of pity and fear on the part of the reader. Mr. Motter, in his fi rst of three books in this trilogy, sets about changing all that and, in the process, leads us to an understanding of the role politics and religion have played in the manipulation of the roles of women in society as well as the current conflict between Islam and the West.

Charles the king, our emperor great, Has been a full seven years in Spain. As far as the sea he conquered this haughty land. Not a single castle remains standing in his path Charlemagne (768-814) was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 and presided over a huge empire. He frequently appears in literature as a great warlord and pious crusading figure. In 778, the rearguard of Charlemagne's retreating army was ambushed and defeated at the battle of Roncevaux. This became the inspiration for songs and poems celebrating deeds of valour in the face of overwhelming odds, through the character of Charlemagne's nephew (the imaginary) Roland. The Song of Roland is the most stirring and moving epic poem of the European Middle Ages, offering a particularly heady mixture of history, legend, and poetry. Presented here in a lively and idiomatic new translation, the Song of Roland offers fascinating insights into medieval ideas about heroism, manhood, religion, race, and nationhood which were foundational for modern European culture. The Song of Roland is accompanied here by two other medieval French epics about Charlemagne, both of which show him to be a far more equivocal figure than that portrayed by the Roland: the Occitan Daurel and Beton, in which he is a corrupt and avaricious monarch; and the Journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople, which gives the heroes of the Roland a comic makeover.

Giants! Elephants! Roller Coasters? That's just some of the mayhem twin brothers Beowulf and Grendel discover in the second adventure in the series by Alexis E. Fajardo! Banished from their homeland, the brothers seek refuge with their Uncle Holger in far-off France, but by the time they arrive, the kingdom is in shambles: King Charlemagne is ailing; his knights have been exiled; and France's hero, Roland, needs a kick in the pants. It's up to Beowulf and Grendel to unite the country before it's taken over by an invading Saracen horde!

Two revealingly different accounts of the life of the most important figure of the Roman Empire Charlemage, known as the father of Europe, was one of the most powerful and dynamic of all medieval rulers. The biographies brought together here provide a rich and varied portrait of the king from two perspectives: that of Einhard, a close friend and adviser, and of Notker, a monastic scholar and musician writing fifty years after Charlemagne's death. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.