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composition of this poem has been placed between the years ro66 and 1095. That the author, as has been supposed, was one of the conquerors of See also:

England, it is perhaps rash to assert, but undoubtedly the poem was composed before the First Crusade, and the writer lived at or near the See also:

SANCTUARY (from the late Lat. sanctuarium, a sacred place)

sanctuary of Mont See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint-See also:

Michel. The Chanson de Roland stands at the See also:

head of modern French literature, and its solidity and grandeur give a dignity to the whole class of See also:

POETRY

poetry of which it is the earliest and by far the noblest example. But it is in the See also:

CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd of looser and later poems, less fully characterized, less steeped in the individuality of their authors, that we can best study the form of the typical chanson de geste. These epics sprang from the See also:

SOIL

soil of France; they were See also:

NATIONAL

national and historical; their See also:

ANONYMOUS

anonymous writers composed them spontaneously, to a See also:

COMMON

common See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model, with little regard to the artificial niceties of See also:

style.

The earlier examples, which succeed the Roland, are unlike that See also:

GREAT

great See also:

WORK

work in having no See also:

plan, no See also:

SYSTEM

system of composition. They are improvisations which wander on at their own See also:

pace, whither See also:

accident may carry them. This See also:

mass of See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval literature is monotonous, See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive and superficial. As See also:

Leon See also:

Gautier has said, in the rudimentary See also:

psychology of the chansons de geste, See also:

man is either entirely See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good or entirely See also:

BAD, BCD

bad. There are no See also:

FINE

fine shades, no observation of See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character. The See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language in which these poems are composed is extremely See also:

SIMPLE

simple, without elaboration, without See also:

ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament. Everything is sacrificed to the telling of a See also:

story by a narrator of little skill, who See also:

HELPS, SIR ARTHUR (1813-1875)

helps himself along by means of a picturesque, but almost childish See also:

FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

fancy, and a primitive sentiment of See also:

RHYTHM (Greek pvBµds, from bap, to flow)

rhythm. Two great merits, however, all the best of these poems possess, force and lucidity; and they celebrate, what they did much to create, that unselfish See also:

ELEVATION

elevation of See also:

TEMPER (from Lat. temperare, to mingle or compound in due proportion, to qualify, rule, regulate, to be moderate, formed from tempos, time, fit or due season)

temper which we See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call the spirit of See also:

CHIVALRY (O. Fr. chevalerie, from Late Lat. caballerius)

chivalry. Perhaps the most important cycle of chansons de geste was that which was collected around the name of See also:

Charlemagne, and was known as the Geste du roi. A group of this cycle dealt with the See also:

HISTORY

history of the See also:

MOTHER

mother of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor, and with Charlemagne himself down to the coming of Roland. To this group belong Bertha Greatfoot and Aspremont, both of the 12th century, and a variety of chansons dealing with the childhood of Charlemagne and of Ogier the Dane. A second group deals with the struggle of Charlemagne with his rebellious vassals.

This is what has been defined as the Feudal Epic; it includes Girars de Viane and Ogier the Dane, both of the 13th century, or the end of the 12th. A third group follows Charlemagne and his peers to the See also:

East. It is in the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal of these poems, The See also:

PILGRIMAGE (Fr. pelerinage, Lat. peregrinatio)

Pilgrimage to See also:

Jerusalem, that Alexandrine See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse first makes its See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance in French literature. This must belong to the beginning of the 12th century. A See also:

FOURTH

fourth group, antecedent to the See also:

SPANISH

Spanish See also:

war, is of the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th; it includes Aiquin, Fierabras and Otinel. The fifth class discusses the war in See also:

Spain, and it is to this that Roland belongs; there are different See also:

minor epics dealing with the events of Roncevaux, and See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent chansons of Gui de Bourgogne, Gaidon and Anseis de See also:

Carthage. The Geste du Roi comprises a See also:

SIXTH

sixth and last group, proceeding with events up to the See also:

DEATH

death of Charlemagne; this contains Huon de See also:

BORDEAUX

Bordeaux and a vast number of poems of minor originality and importance. Another cycle is that of See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

Duke See also:

William Shortnose, La Geste de See also:

Guillaume. This includes the very early and interesting Departure of the Aimeri See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

Children, Aliscans and Rainoart. It is thought that this cycle, which used to be called the Geste de Garin de Monglane, is less artificial than the others; it deals with the heroes of the See also:

South who remained faithful in their vassalage to the See also:

THRONE

throne. The poems belonging to this cycle are extremely numerous, and some of them are among the earliest which survive. These chansons find their See also:

DIRECT

direct opposites in those which form the great cycle of La Geste de Doon de Mayence, sometimes called " la faulse geste," because it deals with the feats of the traitors, of the rebellious family of Ganelon.

This is the geste of the Northmen, always hostile to the Carlovingian See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty. It comprises some of the most famous of the chansons, in particular Parise la duchesse and The Four Sons of Aymon. Several of its sections are the See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of a known poet, Raimbert of Paris. From this triple See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of the See also:

main See also:

BODY

body of the chansons de geste into La Geste du Roi, La Geste de Guillaume and La Geste de Doon, are excluded certain poems of minor importance, some provincial, such as Amis and Amiles and Garin, some dealing with the See also:

CRUSADES

Crusades, such as Antioche, and some which are not connected with any existing cycle, such as Ciperis de Vignevaux; most of this last See also:

CATEGORY (Gr. Karrlyopia, " accusation ")

category, however, are See also:

WORKS

works of the decadence. The See also:

ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis which is here sketched is founded on the latest theories of Leon Gautier, who has given the labour of a lifetime to the investigation of this subject. The See also:

WEALTH

wealth of material is baffling to the See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary student; of the medieval chansons de geste many hundreds of thousands of lines have been preserved. The See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit of composing became in the 14th century, as has been said, no longer an See also:

art but a monomania. Needless to add that a very large proportion of the surviving poems have never yet been published. All the best of the early chansons de geste are written in ten-syllable verse, divided into stanzas or laisses of different length, See also:

UNITED

united by a single assonance. See also:

RHYME

Rhyme came in with the 13th century, and had the effect in languid bards of weakening the narrative; the sing-song of it led at last to the See also:

ABANDONMENT (Fr. abandonnement, from abandonner, to abandon, relinquish; abandonner was originally equivalent to mettred banddn, to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of another, bandon being from Low Latin bandum, bannum, order, decree, " ban ")

abandonment of verse in favour of See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain historical See also:

PROSE

prose. The See also:

general character of the chansons de geste, especially of those of the 12th century, is hard, coarse, inflexible, like the See also:

march of rough men stiffened by coats of See also:

MAIL

mail. There is no art and little See also:

grace, but a magnificent display of force.

These poems enshrine the self--sufficiency of a See also:

young and powerful See also:

PEOPLE

people; they are full of Gallic See also:

PRIDE, THOMAS (d. 1658)

pride; they breathe the spirit of an indomitable warlike See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy. All their figures belong to the same social See also:

order of things, and all illustrate the same fighting See also:

ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, government)

aristocracy. The moving principle is that of chivalry, and what is presented is, invariably, the spectacle of the processional See also:

LIFE

life of a medieval soldier. The See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age described is a disturbed one; the feudal anarchy of See also:

EUROPE

Europe is united, for a moment,. in defending western civilization against the inroads of See also:

ASIA

Asia, against " the yellow peril." But it is a See also:

time of transition in Europe also, and Charlemagne, the immortal but enfeebled emperor, whose See also:

beard is whiter than lilies, represents an old order of things against which the See also:

RUDE, FRANCOIS (1784–1855)

rude barons of the See also:

North are perpetually in successfulrevolt. The loud cry of the dying Ronald; as E. See also:

QUINET, EDGAR (1803-1875)

Quinet said, rings through the whole poetical literature of medieval France; it is the See also:

VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice of the individuality of the great See also:

VASSAL (Fr. vassal, vassaut, vassault, &c,)

vassal, who, in the decay of the See also:

EMPIRE

empire, stands alone with himself and with his See also:

SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword. AUTHORITIES; Leon Gautier, See also:

Les Epopies franga;ses (4 vols., 1878–1894) ; Gaston Paris, La Littirature francaise au moyen age (189o); See also:

Paul See also:

Meyer, Recherches sur l'epopee francaise (1867); G. Paris, Histoire poetique de Charlemagne (1865) ; A. Longnon, Les Quatre Fils Aimon, &c. (1879). (E.

End of Article: CHANSONS DE GESTE

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