Song Of Roland, The

At the heart of the poem is the account of the warrior Roland, Charlemagne's nephew and captain of his rearguard, who valiantly leads his men into battle against a vast pagan host and dies, defiant and triumphant, on a hill facing the enemy. The scene that recounts his death is one of the greatest in world literature. The oldest epic poem in French, "The Song of Roland" is a celebration of the crusading and feudal values of the twelfth century; it skillful structure and poetic intensity make it the most famous of the "chansons de geste".