A review by zach_collins
The Song of Roland by Unknown

1.0

Even though The Song of Roland is based on a real battle in medieval France, there is very little similarity between the poem and the battle. The poem is about Roland, the French King’s favorite officer, who is betrayed by a rival and his own pride into fighting an army of Saracens while outnumbered and without assistance from the main army. In reality, a low-ranking French official and his entourage were ambushed and killed by Basques. The characters were changed to create a tragic story and a propaganda piece to encourage participation in the Crusades; instead of an ambush of a relatively unknown official by other Europeans, the story is now about a proud knight heroically dying in battle against an evil Islamic army from Africa and the Middle East.

In the poem, Roland refuses to call for assistance when it is obvious that he is outnumbered, and his friends tell him he is stupid and arrogant to fight a hopeless battle, but they all agree to join in because they claim the Saracens are enemies of the King of France and of God and they therefore have a moral obligation to kill them. Even the bishop traveling with Roland is praised for riding into battle and cutting men in half. When it becomes obvious that he cannot win, Roland blows his horn to let the King know that he is in battle, like he should have done in the first place. The poet tries to make Roland a heroic figure, saying he is brave for fighting the Saracens and honorable for sounding his horn, when in reality he is stupid and arrogant for starting the battle in the first place and refusing to call for help when it could have helped. Roland reasons he would prove his honor or manhood or whatever if he won. The only thing he proved was that he could get himself and his army killed.

The poet obviously believes that all non-French people are evil heretics and the pinnacle of art is cutting men in half (about halfway through the poem is a long section listing all the Saracens the French knights cut in half). I know I shouldn’t have been expecting much, this is medieval Europe after all, but I picked this up after noticing it was part of the required reading of a local private school. After finishing The Song of Roland, I was horrified that teenagers are being forced to study this poem; the only thing I could get out of it was how Medieval France celebrated racism, jingoism and violence.