La Chanson de Roland orThe Song of Roland is one of the many medieval romances that tell of the deeds of Charlemagne. The poem as it is available to us today was written around 1096, though it was current in other forms long before this. It is said that Taillefer, the minstrel of Normandy, sang the Song of Roland at the battle of Hastings in 1066. It is written in the Norman dialect, and it is likely that its author was a Norman, perhaps the Turold or Theroulde mentioned in the last line of the poem.

The subject of the poem is the Battle of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. On the fifteenth of August, 778, in the valley of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees, Charlemagne's rear guard, left under the command of Roland, Prefect of the Marches of Brittany, was attacked and slaughtered by a large army of Gascons. Though this was actually a minor skirmish, the poet transforms it into a heroic battle against Saracens.

The poem is divided into "laisses," or stanzas, of irregular length, and contains about three thousand seven hundred and eight lines. Its style is straightforward, even stark at times, and is considered by many to be the finest example of the genre.

Presented here is the story of La Chanson de Roland as available in English in the public domain.