NOTES ON EDITORIAL AND TRANSLATION DECISIONS

78 [77]. “We have enough of these.” Editors usually interpret the present-tense French, “De ço avun nus asez,” as an “expression de gratitude” (William Calin, La Chanson de Roland, p. 20) in the future sense. Calin translates the sentence into modern French as “alors nous en aurons beaucoup” (“then we will have a lot”) (p. 20), even though the sentence means literally, “Of that we have plenty.” A literal translation gives more punch to the end of the laisse by making the Saracen nobles more human, though less subservient, and reminds us that embassies to enemy strongholds are dangerous, a reality that will be crucial when Charlemagne has to choose his own ambassador to the Saracens.

126 [126]. “He asks: ‘How can salvation be attained?’” Editors sometimes add a line not in the Oxford manuscript but in ms. V⁷: “As chrestiens se voldrat asembler” (“He wants to join with Christians”). It is more interesting, however, to have Bláncandrin save the biggest promise—his king’s conversion to Christianity—till last, at the end of the next laisse.

303–4 [307]. “You have me branded / With a false judgment”: “Sur mei avez turnet false jugement”—literally: “You have turned false judgment on me.” Bédier translates this interpretively into modern French: “… avez fait tourner sur moi cet injuste choix” (p. 29)—“you have had this unjust choice turned on me”—thus substituting the clearer, but weaker, choice for judgment. In the original Old French two laisses later, Charlemagne’s use of the cognate verb “jugent” bears out Bédier’s interpretation: (speaking to Ganelon) “sur vos le jugent Franc” [321] (“the French judge it on you,” or, in this context, “the French choose you”). The immediate context of Ganelon’s words, however, is the judgment of Roland’s laughter, which makes Ganelon almost burst with anger. I prefer a reading closer to the literal than Bédier’s translation, which forces a single interpretation.

750–54 [761–65]. This is the most problematic of all the laisses. It immediately contradicts the second line of the previous laisse, just nine lines back—“Dunc ad parled a lei de chevaler” [752], literally, “Then he spoke according to law of a knight”—for there is nothing knightly about this answer. It also contradicts Roland’s reluctance to admit that his stepfather has betrayed them (laisse 80) until the Saracens are upon them (laisse 90). Another problem is that Roland in this laisse and the next seems to have forgotten that it was the glove that Ganelon dropped, not the staff. Or was it the scribe or storyteller who forgot? For any of them, it should have been easy to remember that it was the glove, since it would be simpler and clearer for the character or author (or translator) to say, “I won’t drop the glove the way you did,” than “I won’t drop the glove the way you dropped the staff.” The fact that the author uses the more complicated phrasing in both laisses 60 and 61 persuades me that he intends the mistake in order to express Roland’s confusion.

756 [767]. “the bow.” To add to the confusion, Roland now offers to accept the bow—as in bow-and-arrow—which, with Neïme’s advice, Charlemagne does give to Roland in the next laisse. Perhaps there is indeed a distinction between two symbolic sticks, the messenger’s staff and the bow that betokens military command. It is, of course, possible that the scribe or author is confused by his own ignorance of chivalric symbolism dating from three centuries earlier.

1302–4 [1317–19]. Alternate translation: “Oliver stays fixed / Firm in the saddle. Márgariz rides and rings / His bugle, rallying his army’s courage.” Lines [1318–19] are, “Ultre s’en vait, qu’il n’i ad desturber; / Sunet sun gresle pur les soens ralier,” literally, “He goes off because there is nothing to stop him. / He sounds his bugle to rally his people.” The Oxford manuscript O does not make clear who rides off rallying his people, Oliver or Márgariz. Most scholars and translators think it is Márgariz, based on the St. Mark’s, Venice, manuscript V⁴, which has the rider blow his bugle “for the pagans” (“por paiens”), instead of the scribe of the Oxford Digby (O) manuscript’s ambiguous “for his people” (“pur les soens”) (Jenkins, p. 103). I prefer Oliver as the subject because his riding off is a natural development of the previous sentences, 1301–2 [1316–17]: he is not injured, thank God; the lance breaks and does not throw him down; he rides away free to rally his people. Also, this interpretation affirms a slight distinction between the leadership qualities of the two rearguard leaders: Roland leads by heroic example, as the next laisse illustrates; Oliver leads by encouraging the other knights, as in laisse 92.

1370–71 [1388–89]. “The Gascon Peer Sir Éngeler now fells / Espérveris, the son of Count Borel.” In the Oxford manuscript, line 1388 is not completely legible and does not make much sense. Line 1389 is completely illegible. I borrow Jenkins’ guess at the meaning for the translation (p. 107).

1507 [1531]. In O, we are told here that Climborin gave Ganelon a sword, contradicting line 618 [629]. With support from ms. V⁴, where the gift is a helmet both times, Bedier and Jenkins emend “his sword” (sespee) to “his helmet” (son elmo) (Jenkins, p. 117). It is possible of course that the V⁴ copyist had emended the original author’s mistake, but either way it is a good emendation.

1626–34 [1653–60]. In form, these lines continue and are part of the same long laisse (124) as lines 1612–25 [1636–52] because the assonance is the same throughout. Thematically, however, laisse 124 seems to conclude with the comment of the Frenchmen in line 1625 [1652], so typical of laisse concluding lines; while lines 1626–34 [1653–60] read like a parallel laisse to laisse 125, which follows. Bedier breaks lines [1636–60] into two absolutely distinct laisses by transposing lines [1653–60] to after the parallel laisse 125 so that they no longer follow a laisse of the same assonance. It is possible that this emendation violates the original author’s intention of stretching out the laisse beyond “‘Our Safeguard strikes good blows,’ the Frenchmen say” in order to stress what a long, hard fight this was becoming. I like the notion of the poet trying a slightly unusual interplay between sound and sense this far into his poem and have followed O’s order rather than Bedier’s.

2905–17 [2974–86]. In the O manuscript, these lines are marked as two laisses, with line [2981] concluding with an AOI and line [2982] beginning with a red capital letter. However, the thirteen lines assonate as one laisse, emphasizing that Baligant and Charlemagne share one passion—to confront each other in battle. To emphasize a more important element of the story, Charlemagne’s crucial moment of defiance, I have written lines 2913–17 as separate: laisse 214.

2951 [3022]. Loranz. In laisse 217, O has Charlemagne assign Guinemán to be in two places at once, leading two different divisions (lines [3014] and [3022]). Jenkins corrects the second Guinemán to Loranze on the basis of ms. V⁴ and of line [3469] in O.