CRITICISM

Allen, John R. “Kinship in the Chanson de Roland.” In Jean Misrahi Memorial Volume: Studies in Medieval Literature, edited by Hans R. Runte, Henri Niedzielski, and William L. Hendrickson, pp. 34-45. Columbia, South Carolina: French Literature Publications Company, 1977.

Examines the family structures presented in The Song of Roland.

Ashby-Beach, Genette. The Song of Roland: A Generative Study of the Formulaic Language in the Single Combat. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1985, 190p.

Describes the methodology used in the analysis of formulaic language and uses it to analyze The Song of Roland.

Ashcroft, Jeffrey. “Konrad's Rolandslied, Henry the Lion, and the Northern Crusade.” Forum for Modern Language Studies 22, no. 1 (January 1986): 184-208.

Examines the Rolandslied, the priest Konrad's retelling of The Song of Roland, which features Henry the Lion.

Ashe, Laura. “‘A Prayer and a Warcry’: The Creation of a Secular Religion in the Song of Roland.” Cambridge Quarterly 28, no. 4 (1999): 349-67.

Argues that, in terms of its religion and politics, The Song of Roland is subversive in that it champions a direct link between man and God, without an intermediary role for the Church.

Bliese, John R. E. “Fighting Spirit and Literary Genre: A Comparison of Battle Exhortations in the ‘Song of Roland’ and in Chronicles of the Central Middle Ages.” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 96, no. 4 (1995): 417-36.

Contrasts the motivational speeches addressed to soldiers in The Song of Roland to those found in other chronicles.

Burgess, Glyn. The Song of Roland, translated by Glyn Burgess, pp. 7-25. London: Penguin Books, 1990.

Outlines textual aspects of The Song of Roland that set it apart from other examples of the chanson de geste genre.

Cook, Robert Francis. The Sense of the Song of Roland. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987, 296p.

Explicates the narrative content of The Song of Roland and presents a positive interpretation of Roland's sacrifice.

Cook, William R. and Roland B. Herzman. “Roland and Romanesque: Biblical Iconography in The Song of Roland.” Bucknell Review 29, no. 1 (1984): 21-48.

Examines Biblical representations in romanesque art in order to better understand the same themes found in The Song of Roland.

Duggan, Joseph J. “Roland's Formulaic Repertory.” In The Song of Roland: Formulaic Style and Poetic Craft, pp. 105-59. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.

Describes the distribution of literary formulas throughout the text of The Song of Roland.

Kay, Sarah. “Ethics and Heroics in the Song of Roland.” Neophilologus 62, 4 (October 1978): 480-91.

Argues that readers traditionally have condoned Roland's actions because he is the hero; in the world of the poem, the heroic outweighs the ethical.

Nichols, Stephen G., Jr. “Roncevaux and the Poetics of Place/Person in the Song of Roland.” In Romanesque Signs: Early Medieval Narrative and Iconography, pp. 148-203. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.

Reviews the Oxford version's treatment of the central battle of The Song of Roland.

Pensom, Roger. “The Treason.” In Literary Technique in the Chanson de Roland, pp. 77-95. Genève: Librairie Droz S.A., 1982.

Studies episodes dealing with the embassy of Blancandrin and explains their thematic importance.

Sudermann, David P. “Meditative Composition in the MHG Rolandslied.” Modern Philology 85, no. 3 (February 1988): 225-44.

Examines Biblical allusions in the Rolandslied.

Szittya, Penn R. “The Angels and the Theme of Fortitudo in the Chanson de Roland.” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 72, no. 2 (1971): 193-223.

Discusses the prevalence and significance of the angels Michael and Gabriel in The Song of Roland.