Literary Devices in Song of Roland
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Big PictureWelcome to Carolingian Europe, folks, the next-best thing since the fall of the Roman Empire. In 481, when the Romans were still sputtering along, Frankish land was a dinky northern king...
Narrator Point of View
Although the poem is technically in first person, the narrator is so rarely part of the story that it reads more like straight history (but way fictionalized). We get occasional "I" references, inc...
Genre
The Song of Roland belongs to the epic genre: long poems that tell the adventures of heroic or legendary figures. Clocking in at 291 stanzas, the Song of Roland tells the story of both heroic (Rola...
Tone
Given that thousands of Franks die, not to mention hundreds of thousands of Saracens, you'd hardly expect Roland to be a cheery ride. Funny one-liners? Knock-Knock jokes? Moments of innocent physic...
Writing Style
The poem's long, the fighting's bloody, but, gee, does this poet keep things simple—at least on a sentence level. The language is plain without a lot of description. Sure, you can trip up on all...
What's Up With the Title?
"Song" refers to the orality of the poem. This was "written" to be recited, probably with harp or lute accompaniment, which also explains the variations in the surviving nine manuscripts, the myste...
What's Up With the Ending?
Things seem to be ending neatly with Ganelon's drawn-out trial and gruesome sentencing, Spain safely conquered, and the rest of those pesky pagans converted. But there are rumblings of discontent i...
Tough-o-Meter
Although the plot is straightforward (bad guys attack good guys in some mountains) and the language is simple without a lot of abstract talk or imagery, the historical references and medieval style...
Plot Analysis
France on My MindThe Franks are coming out of a seven-year war in Spain with only Saragossa left unconquered. We get to hear both sides of the situation: the Franks want to go home but they also k...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
From Ganelon's scheming to Roland's decision not to blow the oliphant. The Frankish rearguard is doomed! And so is France!From the beginning of the Battle of Roncevaux to Roland's death on the hil...
Trivia
The durandal bomb, an explosive developed in France to destroy airport runways, is named after Durendal, Roland's fantastically powerful sword. (Source)If you thought "oliphant" sounded suspiciousl...
Steaminess Rating
Yeah, an angry Oliver warns Roland that he will never enjoy Alda's lovely embrace (she's Oliver's sister and Roland's fiancée). But let's face it: stacked up against war, God, France, killing paga...
Allusions
Daniel (of the lions' den): (176.2386), (226.3104-05)Lazarus: (176.2385)Saint Michael of the Peril: (176.2394)Jonah: (226.3101-02)King of Nineveh: (226.3103)"the three children burning in a fire" o...