ary added the grace of courtesy
to its heroism. Evidently Roland had grown in importance before the
"Chanson de Roland" took its present form, for we find the rearguard
skirmish magnified into a great battle, which manifestly contains
recollections of later Saracen invasions and Gascon revolts. As befits
the hero of an epic, Roland is now of royal blood, the nephew of the
great emperor, who has himself increased in age and splendour; this
heroic Roland can obviously only be overcome by the treachery of one
of the Franks themselves, so there appears the traitor Ganelon (a
Romance version of a certain Danilo or Nanilo), who is among the
Twelve Peers what Judas was among the Apostles; the mighty Saracens,
not the insignificant Basques, are now the victors; and the vengeance
taken by Charlemagne on the Saracens and on the traitor is boldly
added to history, which leaves the disaster unavenged. Thus the bare
fact was embroidered over gradually by the historical imagination,
aided by patriotism, until a really national hero was evolved out of
an obscure Breton count.

The "Chanson de Roland"

The "Song of Roland," as we now have it, seems to be a late version of
an Anglo-Norman poem, made by a certain Turoldus or Thorold; and it
must bear a close resemblance to that chant which fired the soldiers
of William the Norman at Hastings, when

"Taillefer, the noble singer,
On his war-horse swift and fiery,
Rode before the Norman host;
Tossed his sword in air and caught it,
Chanted loud the death of Roland,
And the peers who perished with him
At the pass of Roncevaux."

_Roman de Rou._

The "Song of Roland" bears an intimate relation to the development of
European thought, and the hero is doubly worth our study as hero and
as type of national character. Thus runs the story:

The Story

The Emperor Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, or Charlemagne, had
been for seven years in Spain, and had conquered it from sea to sea,
except Saragossa, which, among its lofty mountains, and ruled by its
brave king Marsile, had defied his power. Marsile still held to his
idols, Mahomet, Apollo, and Termagaunt, dreading in his heart the day
when Charles would force him to become a Christian.

The Saracen Council

The Saracen king gathered a council around him, as he reclined on a
seat of blue marble in the shade of an orchard, and asked the advice
of his wise men.

"'My lords,' quoth he, 'you k