Song of Roland Betrayal Quotes

Blancandrin gets the honor of being the first deceiver in the Song of Roland. In order to save Spain from further Frankish destruction, he wants to deceive Charlemagne with promises of cooperation and conversion.

We know these ambassadors are bringing lies with their olive branches, but Charlemagne didn't get to sit in on Blancandrin's conference with King Marsile. That means he's completely in the dark and even though he is wise and experienced and good, he can't know the full truth the same way we can. He's doomed to be deceived!

This is Ganelon telling Charlemagne not to listen to Roland, who immediately dismissed Marsile's messengers as liars. It's unclear whether Ganelon is speaking sincerely here or whether he already has thoughts of treachery. In other words, does he genuinely believe that Marsile will convert and serve Charlemagne? Or is he already plotting Roland's destruction?

Now the treachery is clear. Ganelon is mad as a medieval hornet that Roland volunteered him as ambassador to Marsile and publicly swears that he will be revenged. But Ganelon is a slippery fish. How much does he have planned already?

Gasp. If you were a faithful medieval Christian, the image of Ganelon taking the wicked pagan Blancandrin by the hand would fill you with horror. What is this good Christian knight doing making friends with a pagan? Side note: the fact that they're planning Roland's downfall is also bad.

Even though Charles doesn't get it at first, the meaning of this dream is pretty obvious, right? What kind of dude messes up your lance? Answer: one you can't trust! Gabriel is clearly sending Charlemagne a coded message here to look out for Ganelon's betrayal.

This is one of Roland's biggest aha! moments. Ten stanzas before he was telling Oliver off for suspecting Ganelon of anything out of line. Now he finally realizes that Marsile's army didn't just randomly catch up with them in the mountain pass and wallop them into pieces. Ganelon's deception is behind it all. What's more, Roland's emphasis that Ganelon did it for "god and riches and pieces of silver" links him directly with Judas Iscariot in the New Testament, who betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver.

The pagan who shouts this is reversing the narrative. Instead of calling out Ganelon's treachery, he accuses Charlemagne of betraying them. True, he didn't negotiate an elaborately deceptive scheme with Blancandrin and Marsile, but he is betraying his duty as a king: his duty to protect them. By leaving them alone in the pass, he has given them to death. But Charlemagne didn't know Marsile was going to attack! you cry in defense. But what about those dreams, hmmmm? Could this pagan be speaking with a grain of truth?

Dude, enough already. Roland and Oliver know you betrayed them. Charlemagne and his knights hear the oliphant and know it means the rearguard's in hot water. But Ganelon won't drop the ruse. He insists that there is no battle and that Roland is only blowing his horn to show off. Notice how Ganelon uses every opportunity to blacken Roland's name to Charlemagne. Not only is Roland not hurt; he's also arrogant as heck.

This is Thierry speaking, the guy who fought Pinabel to the death just to prove that Ganelon should also be put to death. Although he admits that Roland might have wronged Ganelon, he argues that this is no excuse. Roland should have been protected by his position as Charlemagne's right-hand man. By the same reasoning, Ganelon should have known better than to stir up deceptive trouble because he was also in Charlemagne's service. His betrayal is both morally and legally bad: treachery against the state and against his own oath of loyalty.

This is probably the poet's opinion, but the way he phrases it makes it also sound like a Frankish law. According to this interpretation, the main reason to execute a traitor is to stop him from bagging. In other words, it's one thing to arrange the death of your stepson in a remote mountain pass; but it's much, much worse to brag about it later. What does this say about the values held in Frankish society?