LA CHANSON DE ROLAND
God show thee mercy, Count Roland my dear friend! So great a knight as thou was ne’er seen yet, to undertake great wars and win them well.—King Charlemagne, La Chanson de Roland
I have been reading Dorothy Sayer’s excellent translation of La Chanson de Roland. I am stealing time from Spenser’s Faerie Queen {which can claim a convoluted descendency from Roland, incidentally}, but my excuse is the volume’s portable dimensions. It fits in my purse and gets pulled out while I sit in waiting rooms or take my lunch break.
I found fascinating this historical survey of the Old French epic. And this haunting Norwegian ballad of the famous encounter at Roncevaux has become my soundtrack.
226.
From off his horse the Emperor now descends;
On the green grass he kneels with bended head,
Then to the sunrise he lifts his face addressed
And prays to God with heartfelt reverence:
“Father most true, this day my cause defend!
Thou that to Jonah Thy succour didst extend
In the whale’s belly, and safely draw him thence,
And after, spare the king of Nineveh;
Thou that didst save Thy servant Daniel
From torments dire within the lions’ den,
And the Three Children amid the fire protect,
Lord, be thy love this day my present help;
And, if it please Thee, grant that ere this day’s end
Roland my nephew may fully be avenged!”
His prayer is done; rising, he stands erect;
The sign of power he makes on brow and breast.
Now to the saddle once more the King has leapt,
Joz’ran and Naimon to hold his stirrup bend;
He takes his shield, his sharpened spear as well;
Comely his body and straight and nobly held,
His face is frank, his looks are confident;
Forward he rides, firm in the stirrup set.
To van, to rear, the braying clarions swell;
Olifant’s voice resounds above the rest;
The thought of Roland draws tears from all the French.
• illumination by Valenti Angelo for the translation by Charles Scott Moncrieff •
June 6, 2014