Song of Roland Duty Quotes

Ganelon refuses Roland's cheeky offer to replace him by declaring that they have no feudal obligations. Sure, they're related, but that carries a whole different set of baggage. What Ganelon is claiming is that they're not obligated to serve each other. Ganelon is, on the other hand, feudally tied to Charlemagne, so when he tells him to vamoose, Ganelon has no option.

In Ganelon's opinion, Roland's plundering of unsubdued parts of France ("Carcasoine" is an archaic spelling of "Carcassonne") goes beyond duty into arrogance. And when you picture a young, gleeful Roland holding up an apple and pretending it's a crown, you kinda have to agree. There's something about Roland's joy, not to mention his success,in warfare that rubs Ganelon the wrong way.

Before Oliver even mentions the oliphant, Roland welcomes the oncoming battle with Marsile's army as a way for his men to perform their duty to Charlemagne. It's not enough to fight well—this is a case of no pain, no gain. The more you're willing to suffer for your king, the better you are as a knight.

No one wants to be the inspiration for "Baby." Roland is more worried about inciting bad songs than inciting a really bad war. His duty to his own reputation—and the way he'll go down to posterity, jongleur-style—means that he can do only the best and bravest things. And since he made it into this celebrated work of epic French poetry, we have to say: it worked, bro.

One of Roland's main arguments against calling for help is that it would dishonor his name: "Oh that Roland? The one who ran home to Daddy Charlemagne instead of standing his ground like a real man?" He has a duty to himself to fight with courage.

But Roland's not just worried about his own honor. He's also in a patriotic stew about the honor of France and his family. Now the stakes of the battle are even bigger. If they refuse to fight, they are desecrating their duty to France itself.

It's unclear what "mighty" means here. Does it mean "very," as in, "we have a very small army," or does it actually mean "powerful," as in, "our army is small but ferocious"? Roland takes it the first way, but that doesn't discourage him. On the contrary, his commitment to honor becomes even stronger as the odds of success dwindle. As he puts it himself, "One must suffer hardships for one's lord." (79.1010)

For Roland, being worthy means knowing when to do your duty. For Oliver, being wise means the opposite: knowing when to not do your duty, for example, when an enormous army is going to obliterate you.

Roland's been miffed at Oliver since he mentioned the oliphant, but here he finally erupts into full-on scold mode. He doesn't exactly say Oliver is a coward, but he implies that anyone who wants to flee the battlefield or call for help is not a true knight. He suggests that it's "outrageous"—not just a bad idea, but appallingly and absurdly bad.

Oliver is annoyed and knows that Roland has brought them all to ruin through his stubbornness. But he also knows his duty to Roland, the commander of the rearguard and his dearest friend. Even though he disagrees profoundly, he decides to bury his own doubts in service to Roland.

Who's talking honor now, eh? Always pragmatic, Oliver takes a firm stand against the oliphant once he knows the battle is lost. Roland's definition of dishonor is refusing to do your duty, no matter the circumstances. From this quote we could say that Oliver's definition of dishonor is asking for help when nothing can be helped.

This speech sounds suspiciously like an apology. Could Roland be admitting he was wrong? He is certainly deeply moved by his knights giving their all in his service. But what pains him most is knowing that he cannot return their service. They have performed their feudal duty to him (i.e., they have fought for him), but he cannot protect them in return. Is Roland merely mourning the circumstances or has he finally realized that his own bad decision determined those circumstances?