James Baquet

    Most nations have an epic or two. The Greeks had “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” the Romans had “The Aeneid,” and so on. As the various peoples of Europe began to evolve into the modern nation-states we know today, they, too, acquired stories that defined them as a people.

    For the French, this was a poem composed of about 4,000 lines detailing the exploits of Roland, the nephew of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778. The “Song of Roland” itself dates to somewhere between 1040 and 1115, some three centuries after the event, and the many manuscripts available testify to its immense popularity from the 12th to the 14th centuries.

    As with many great stories, the outline is simply told. Charlemagne (meaning “Charles the Great”), the first Holy Roman Emperor, had his court at Aachen (also called Aix-la-Chapelle) in what is now Germany. From the 9th century, Muslims began to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and occupy Spain. Charlemagne thus entered Spain to “extend Christendom” and increase his own power.

    After receiving homage from the Muslim rulers, he turned homeward, having to cross again the Pyrenees, the mountains separating Spain from France. The Pyrenees were occupied by the Basques, a people whom Charlemagne had conquered, but who still were not subdued. In history, it was the Christian Basques who caused trouble for Charlemagne, but in the romantic retelling of the story three centuries later, “The Song of Roland” attributes the attack to the Muslims.

    As Charlemagne’s army traveled through the pass called Roncevaux, the Muslims/Basques fell on the rear guard, which was led by Roland. In the “Song,” although his wise friend Oliver counseled him to blow his horn and call back the main body of Charlemagne’s army, Roland considered this to be cowardly, and insisted on handling the situation with the few men that he had.

    When he realized that he and those with him would die, Roland at last blew his horn — so hard that his temples burst! By the time Charlemagne arrived, not one of Roland’s men was left alive, and it was left to Charlemagne to chase down the “Muslims.”

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. nationalities

    2. respect, reverence

    3. adventures, achievements

    4. not brave

    5. group of soldiers protecting the rear of an army

    6. toward home

    7. settle, live in

    8. sides of the forehead

    9. give evidence (for), prove

    10. the Christian world