How we cite our quotes: (Stanza.Line)
Quote #7
He asked him softly and gently:
"Comrade, sir, are you doing this on purpose?
Look, it's Roland who loves you so!
You haven't challenged me in any way!"
Oliver said: "I hear you speaking now.
I do not see you, may the Lord God see you!
I struck you, please forgive me for this!
Roland replies: "I have suffered no injury,
I forgive you this here and before God."
After he said this, they bowed to each other,
See them now parting with such affection! (149.1999-2009)
This is either an unexpected moment of slapstick or a small example of the tragedy of death. Did you laugh when Oliver accidentally hit Roland? Neither did we. But when you think about how it might play out in a movie, for instance, it starts to seem kind of funny.
On the other hand, when you realize that Oliver is so blind and incapacitated that he mistakes his best friend for the enemy, it isn't funny at all. It drives home the message that war destroys friendship—by killing people, yes, but also by drawing them apart. Roland and Oliver have the biggest argument of their lives over this war and whether to fight it unassisted.
Quote #8
"Companion, sir, what a pity, you were so brave!
We were together for years and days,
You never did me harm and I did not wrong you.
Now that you are dead, it is painful for me to live!" (151.2024-30)
It's a little ironic that Roland is upset because Oliver was so brave, as if Oliver were the one to blame for his own death. Wasn't it Roland who had the hissy fit over the oliphant? But once Oliver is dead, Roland only remembers how much they loved each other—so much, in fact, that he doesn't want to live without him. Sadly, he won't have to for long.
Quote #9
"Oh, noble man, pray give me leave!
Our companions, whom we held so dear,
Are dead now and we must not abandon them.
I want to go look for them and identify them,
To lay them out and line them up before you." (161.2177-81)
The poet makes it clear that Roland and Oliver are best buds, but Roland through his actions proves his friendship for all the rest of the Franks as well. These aren't just men fighting for him; they are "companions" who were very dear to him.