Song of Roland

   The heroic poems, or chansons de geste, of the eleventh and twelfth centuries underscored the values fostered by knighthood and the lord-vassal relationship. The oldest and best known of these poems is the Song of Roland, which was probably composed in the last quarter of the eleventh century. The subject of the poem is the ambush of the rear guard of Charlemagne's army under the command of Roland by the Basques at Roncesvalles in 778, but poetic imagination (or perhaps older legend) transformed this minor Frankish setback into a major event in the war against Islam.
   With fine psychological discernment the poem examines the character of Roland. The qualities that make him a heroic knight—his dauntless courage and uncompromising pride—are at war with the qualities required of a good vassal—obedience, loyalty, cooperation, and common sense. Roland is in serious danger but refuses for reasons of personal dignity to sound his horn in time for Charlemagne to return and save him and his men. By the time Roland's pride relents and he does blow the horn, his troops' deaths are ensured. The sensitive examination of the conflict between Roland's thoughtless if heroic individualism and the demands of the new feudal order gives this poem its stature as the first masterpiece of French letters.