- Time of past OR future Camino
- 1989, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024...
Things have been really busy for me over the past half year or so, which has had a significant impact on my ability to keep up with the book club reading. But I have managed to read a couple of other Camino-related books, a few pages a day, over the period. These are somewhat older than the books we've been discussing so far. Okay, a lot older. They don't deal specifically with the Camino but closely relate to a number of the locations associated with it.
The first was The Song of Roland, which I read in the Dorothy L. Sayers translation published as part of the Penguin Classics series. For those who aren't aware, The Song of Roland is an epic tale in verse written almost a thousand years ago (11th century) and tells the story of the Battle of Roncevaux (Roncesvalles) Pass in 778 where the French hero, Roland, was ambushed and slain along with the rest of Charlemagne's rear guard. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature and the earliest surviving of the chansons de geste (songs of heroic deeds).
There are plenty of spoilers in what follows, but, like the tales of King Arthur, this was really written for people who already knew the story, so I don't think it is really going to ruin it for anyone.
The story is based on a real historic incident, freely adapted for the purposes of the author and to appeal to the 11th century audience. The history behind the story is fairly straightforward. Charlemagne was invited into Spain by the Muslim governor of Barcelona and Girona, who promised him the allegiance of Husayn of Zaragoza and the easy surrender of that town in return for military aid against the Emir of Cordoba. As it turned out, Husayn managed himself to defeat and capture the Emir's general and withdrew his allegiance or Charlemagne (or claimed it had never been offered). There was a lengthy siege and eventually Charlemagne left without taking the city but after receiving a large sum in tribute. On the way home, Charlemagne destroyed the walls of Pamplona (and some sources say more, destroying the city and possibly also other towns in the region). In retaliation, the Basques ambushed the rearguard, killing them all and looting the baggage train, which presumably held the tribute. Roland was with the rearguard, along with a number of other French nobles.
In the literary treatment of the incident, a few centuries later, the bones of the story are still there. Charlemagne and his knights go on expedition into Spain where they receive a lot of tribute in return for not taking Zaragoza and then head home, where the rearguard with Roland is ambushed and, after much valiant heroics, succumb. But key elements are added or changed. Most obviously, they are not fighting Basques who are retaliating for poor treatment but treacherous Moors. And the Christian/Muslim nature of the conflict expands, from Roland vs the Moors of Zaragoza to Charlemagne and his army against the Emir of Babylon and his. It becomes, in essence, a battle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Islamic world.
At the same time as the grand elements are added, a more personal element is added as well, in Ganelon, Roland's stepfather (yes, in this story we have an evil stepfather, in contrast to the evil stepmothers we see time and time again in folktales). Ganelon and Roland have a history of not getting along, Roland being young, brave, hotheaded and Ganelon older and more cautious. When the story begins, they each seem to have a chip on the shoulder and when Roland suggests that Charlemagne send Ganelon to Zaragoza as his messenger, a mission that Ganelon feels is excessively dangerous, Ganelon has had enough. He decides to plot Roland's death. It is this very personal feud that grows and spreads, from Ganelon and Roland to Charlemagne and the Emir of Babylon.
The Song of Roland is a poem of about 4000 lines. Each line is ten syllables long with a strong caesura (break) in the middle. It is divided into stanzas of irregular length. There isn't a rhyme scheme. Rather, each line in the stanza will end with the same vowel sound. Sayers maintains this form in her translation.
This was one of the foundations of the chivalric literature of the middle ages. It shows the chivalric ideal both in terms of knightly behaviour, prowess on the field of battle, and the relationship between a knight and his liege lord.
And it takes place right on the Camino Frances. Roncesvalles, the location of the heroic last stand, is the first place one arrives after passing the Cize Pass from France. The Capilla de Sacti Spiritus there was long believed to be the site where Roland and the Twelve Paladins of France were buried. (Now it is believed to hold deceased pilgrims.) The monastery has also shown other relics of Roland, including Olifant (his ivory hunting horn, which features prominently in the poem) and as recently as the 1970s, his mace. Further along the Camino, one still sees references to Roland, most prominent perhaps being the column capital in Estella showing Roland fighting the giant Farragut, another story from the Roland cycle of tales.
I enjoyed reading the poem. It felt that, while it certainly wasn't an accurate depiction of the events of 778, or even of the situation in the 11th century, it does reflect the culture and values that went along with the establishment of the Camino. If anyone else has read it, what did you think?
The other book I read was the Poem of the Cid, but this post is long enough already so it will need to get its own (which will also let it have its own thread).
The first was The Song of Roland, which I read in the Dorothy L. Sayers translation published as part of the Penguin Classics series. For those who aren't aware, The Song of Roland is an epic tale in verse written almost a thousand years ago (11th century) and tells the story of the Battle of Roncevaux (Roncesvalles) Pass in 778 where the French hero, Roland, was ambushed and slain along with the rest of Charlemagne's rear guard. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature and the earliest surviving of the chansons de geste (songs of heroic deeds).
There are plenty of spoilers in what follows, but, like the tales of King Arthur, this was really written for people who already knew the story, so I don't think it is really going to ruin it for anyone.
The story is based on a real historic incident, freely adapted for the purposes of the author and to appeal to the 11th century audience. The history behind the story is fairly straightforward. Charlemagne was invited into Spain by the Muslim governor of Barcelona and Girona, who promised him the allegiance of Husayn of Zaragoza and the easy surrender of that town in return for military aid against the Emir of Cordoba. As it turned out, Husayn managed himself to defeat and capture the Emir's general and withdrew his allegiance or Charlemagne (or claimed it had never been offered). There was a lengthy siege and eventually Charlemagne left without taking the city but after receiving a large sum in tribute. On the way home, Charlemagne destroyed the walls of Pamplona (and some sources say more, destroying the city and possibly also other towns in the region). In retaliation, the Basques ambushed the rearguard, killing them all and looting the baggage train, which presumably held the tribute. Roland was with the rearguard, along with a number of other French nobles.
In the literary treatment of the incident, a few centuries later, the bones of the story are still there. Charlemagne and his knights go on expedition into Spain where they receive a lot of tribute in return for not taking Zaragoza and then head home, where the rearguard with Roland is ambushed and, after much valiant heroics, succumb. But key elements are added or changed. Most obviously, they are not fighting Basques who are retaliating for poor treatment but treacherous Moors. And the Christian/Muslim nature of the conflict expands, from Roland vs the Moors of Zaragoza to Charlemagne and his army against the Emir of Babylon and his. It becomes, in essence, a battle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Islamic world.
At the same time as the grand elements are added, a more personal element is added as well, in Ganelon, Roland's stepfather (yes, in this story we have an evil stepfather, in contrast to the evil stepmothers we see time and time again in folktales). Ganelon and Roland have a history of not getting along, Roland being young, brave, hotheaded and Ganelon older and more cautious. When the story begins, they each seem to have a chip on the shoulder and when Roland suggests that Charlemagne send Ganelon to Zaragoza as his messenger, a mission that Ganelon feels is excessively dangerous, Ganelon has had enough. He decides to plot Roland's death. It is this very personal feud that grows and spreads, from Ganelon and Roland to Charlemagne and the Emir of Babylon.
The Song of Roland is a poem of about 4000 lines. Each line is ten syllables long with a strong caesura (break) in the middle. It is divided into stanzas of irregular length. There isn't a rhyme scheme. Rather, each line in the stanza will end with the same vowel sound. Sayers maintains this form in her translation.
This was one of the foundations of the chivalric literature of the middle ages. It shows the chivalric ideal both in terms of knightly behaviour, prowess on the field of battle, and the relationship between a knight and his liege lord.
And it takes place right on the Camino Frances. Roncesvalles, the location of the heroic last stand, is the first place one arrives after passing the Cize Pass from France. The Capilla de Sacti Spiritus there was long believed to be the site where Roland and the Twelve Paladins of France were buried. (Now it is believed to hold deceased pilgrims.) The monastery has also shown other relics of Roland, including Olifant (his ivory hunting horn, which features prominently in the poem) and as recently as the 1970s, his mace. Further along the Camino, one still sees references to Roland, most prominent perhaps being the column capital in Estella showing Roland fighting the giant Farragut, another story from the Roland cycle of tales.
I enjoyed reading the poem. It felt that, while it certainly wasn't an accurate depiction of the events of 778, or even of the situation in the 11th century, it does reflect the culture and values that went along with the establishment of the Camino. If anyone else has read it, what did you think?
The other book I read was the Poem of the Cid, but this post is long enough already so it will need to get its own (which will also let it have its own thread).