Original language: French. [First entry here in French]
Epic poem.
I read the Penguin Classics edition, translated with an Introduction by Dorothy L. Sayers, first published 1957.
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) is best known for the fifteen Lord Peter Wimsey crime novels published between 1923 and 1937. I don’t get the impression they’re read much today.
I love her writing. “It is the disastrous Mary Stuarts of history, not the cautious and thrifty Elizabeth Tudors, who flame their way through the pages of ballad and romance.” Her Introduction is excellent.
Sayers’s rhyming verse translation is excellent too. I enjoyed The Song of Roland. It is, according to Wikipedia, the oldest surviving major work of French literature. The story depicts a series of battles between the Frankish army and the Saracens.
Last thoughts on The Song of Roland
Love Sayers’s translation, she is a master. The poem is very much like the Iliad, but without the gods interfering in human affairs – less epic in scope than the Iliad. The story does move quickly with no wasted moments. And it tells you things about the historical time (the eighth century) in which it was set. I’m glad I read it.
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