The Dark Ages—a time of great turmoil and the collision of empires! As the Frank kingdom prepares for war, Roland, young heir to the Breton March, has been relegated to guard duty until a foreign emissary entrusts him with vital word of a new threat to the kingdom. Now Roland must embark on a risky journey to save all he loves from swift destruction. And yet while facing down merciless enemies, he must also reveal the hand of a murderer who even now stalks the halls of power and threatens to pull apart a kingdom reborn under the greatest of medieval kings, the remarkable Charlemagne. For Roland to become the champion his kingdom needs, he must survive war, intrigue and betrayal. The Silver Horn Echoes pays homage to "La Chanson de Roland" by revisiting an age of intrigue and honor, and a fateful decision in the shadows of a lonely mountain pass—Roncevaux!

"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

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.

Presented here for student use are the text and translation from Gerard Brault's acclaimed 1978 analytical edition of The Song of Roland, with a new introduction explicating the poem's historical and literary background and significance.The text and a line-by-line prose translation are printed on facing pages. Professor Brault's editing of the Oxford text - including emendation of the scribe's obvious errors and new readings of garbled or partially obliterated words - has been commended for its accuracy (Speculum) and reliability (French Forum). His translation has been praised as "lively and dependable" (Romance Philology), "fluent and colloquial" (French Review), and "the most correct ... in a modern vernacular" (Olifant).Directed to the student of medieval culture and society, Professor Brault's introduction places La Chanson de Roland in the context of the French epic tradition, Charlemagne's Spanish campaign of 778, the legend of Roland, and the linguistic and literary issues raised by the Oxford text. Among topics covered are the debate over the "traditionalist" versus the "individualist" theory of composition, the relation between history and myth, the epic's reflection of prevailing social beliefs and values at the time of its composition (about 1100), and the literary devices employed by the unknown author. The introduction concludes with a note about special problems in editing and translating the Oxford text. An annotated bibliography introduces leading works relating to the Chanson de Roland.

Presented here for student use are the text and translation from Gerard Brault's acclaimed 1978 analytical edition of The Song of Roland, with a new introduction explicating the poem's historical and literary background and significance.The text and a line-by-line prose translation are printed on facing pages. Professor Brault's editing of the Oxford text - including emendation of the scribe's obvious errors and new readings of garbled or partially obliterated words - has been commended for its accuracy (Speculum) and reliability (French Forum). His translation has been praised as "lively and dependable" (Romance Philology), "fluent and colloquial" (French Review), and "the most correct ... in a modern vernacular" (Olifant).Directed to the student of medieval culture and society, Professor Brault's introduction places La Chanson de Roland in the context of the French epic tradition, Charlemagne's Spanish campaign of 778, the legend of Roland, and the linguistic and literary issues raised by the Oxford text. Among topics covered are the debate over the "traditionalist" versus the "individualist" theory of composition, the relation between history and myth, the epic's reflection of prevailing social beliefs and values at the time of its composition (about 1100), and the literary devices employed by the unknown author. The introduction concludes with a note about special problems in editing and translating the Oxford text. An annotated bibliography introduces leading works relating to the Chanson de Roland.

Medieval French literature encompasses 450 years of literary output in Old and Middle French, mostly produced in Northern France and England. These texts, including courtly lyrics, prose and verse romances, dits amoureux and plays, proved hugely influential for other European literary traditions in the medieval period and beyond. This Companion offers a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to literature composed in medieval French from its beginnings in the ninth century until the Renaissance. The essays are grounded in detailed analysis of canonical texts and authors such as the Chanson de Roland, the Roman de la Rose, Villon's Testament, Chrétien de Troyes, Machaut, Christine de Pisan and the Tristan romances. Featuring a chronology and suggestions for further reading, this is the ideal companion for students and scholars in other fields wishing to discover the riches of the French medieval tradition.

This work probes the question of Ganelon's treason within the context of medieval law and the epic poem. Since the beginning of studies on the medieval epic tradition, scholars have debated what to make of Ganelon's role in the epic and his defense at the trial. To what extent would a medieval audience sympathize with Ganelon's trial defense? Does the conflict revolving around Ganelon and his family reflect tension between the crown and the nobility, between a new sense of Roman law and kingship and an older tradition of custom and baronial authority? This book explores each stage of Ganelon's treason and trial to determine what can be learned by a careful study of the issues and procedures of the trial in the light of medieval practice. Thus the study frequently ranges beyond the confines of the poem to discuss such broad subjects as the nature of the duel, medieval proofs, the nature and punishment of treason, and the gradually changing role of the family and the state in governance and in the legal process. An understanding of the issues in Ganelon's trial illuminates many questions pertaining to the Roland, medieval composition, and the medieval period.

The first full-length examination of the medieval Charlemagne tradition in the literature and culture of medieval England, from the Chanson de Roland to Caxton. The Matter of France, the legendary history of Charlemagne, had a central but now largely unrecognised place in the multilingual culture of medieval England. From the early claim in the Chanson de Roland that Charlemagne held England as his personal domain, to the later proliferation of Middle English romances of Charlemagne, the materials are woven into the insular political and cultural imagination. However, unlike the wide range of continental French romances, the insular tradition concentrates on stories of a few heroic characters: Roland, Fierabras, Otinel. Why did writers and audiences in England turn again and again to these narratives, rewriting and reinterpreting them for more than two hundred years? This book offers the first full-length, in-depth study of the tradition as manifested in literature and culture. It investigates the currency and impact of the Matter of France with equal attention to English and French-language texts, setting each individual manuscript or early printed text in its contemporary cultural and political context. The narratives are revealed to be extraordinarily adaptable, using the iconic opposition between Carolingian and Saracen heroes to reflect concerns with national politics, religious identity, the future of Christendom, chivalry and ethics, and monarchy and treason. PHILLIPA HARDMAN is Readerin Medieval English Literature (retired) at the University of Reading; MARIANNE AILES is Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Bristol.

When you want to read in both French and English, though, there

This volume offers a literary and cultural history of the idea of crusading over the last millennium.