"Daniel Randolph Deal is a Southern aristocrat, having the required bloodline, but little of the nobility. A man resistant to the folly of ethics, he prefers a selective, self-indulgent morality. He is a confessed hedonist, albeit responsibly so."--Back cover

The Dark Ages—a time of great turmoil and the collision of empires! As the Frank kingdom prepares for war, Roland, young heir to the Breton March, has been relegated to guard duty until a foreign emissary entrusts him with vital word of a new threat to the kingdom. Now Roland must embark on a risky journey to save all he loves from swift destruction. And yet while facing down merciless enemies, he must also reveal the hand of a murderer who even now stalks the halls of power and threatens to pull apart a kingdom reborn under the greatest of medieval kings, the remarkable Charlemagne. For Roland to become the champion his kingdom needs, he must survive war, intrigue and betrayal. The Silver Horn Echoes pays homage to "La Chanson de Roland" by revisiting an age of intrigue and honor, and a fateful decision in the shadows of a lonely mountain pass—Roncevaux!

When you want to read in both French and English, though, there

The Song of Roland is a book of poems by an anonymous author. It depicts a gory French tale of war, where General Charlemagne was ambushed in a remote Pyrenean pass, showcasing a symbolic struggle between Christianity and Islam.

Presented here for student use are the text and translation from Gerard Brault's acclaimed 1978 analytical edition of The Song of Roland, with a new introduction explicating the poem's historical and literary background and significance.The text and a line-by-line prose translation are printed on facing pages. Professor Brault's editing of the Oxford text - including emendation of the scribe's obvious errors and new readings of garbled or partially obliterated words - has been commended for its accuracy (Speculum) and reliability (French Forum). His translation has been praised as "lively and dependable" (Romance Philology), "fluent and colloquial" (French Review), and "the most correct ... in a modern vernacular" (Olifant).Directed to the student of medieval culture and society, Professor Brault's introduction places La Chanson de Roland in the context of the French epic tradition, Charlemagne's Spanish campaign of 778, the legend of Roland, and the linguistic and literary issues raised by the Oxford text. Among topics covered are the debate over the "traditionalist" versus the "individualist" theory of composition, the relation between history and myth, the epic's reflection of prevailing social beliefs and values at the time of its composition (about 1100), and the literary devices employed by the unknown author. The introduction concludes with a note about special problems in editing and translating the Oxford text. An annotated bibliography introduces leading works relating to the Chanson de Roland.

Medieval French literature encompasses 450 years of literary output in Old and Middle French, mostly produced in Northern France and England. These texts, including courtly lyrics, prose and verse romances, dits amoureux and plays, proved hugely influential for other European literary traditions in the medieval period and beyond. This Companion offers a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to literature composed in medieval French from its beginnings in the ninth century until the Renaissance. The essays are grounded in detailed analysis of canonical texts and authors such as the Chanson de Roland, the Roman de la Rose, Villon's Testament, Chrétien de Troyes, Machaut, Christine de Pisan and the Tristan romances. Featuring a chronology and suggestions for further reading, this is the ideal companion for students and scholars in other fields wishing to discover the riches of the French medieval tradition.

Presented here for student use are the text and translation from Gerard Brault's acclaimed 1978 analytical edition of The Song of Roland, with a new introduction explicating the poem's historical and literary background and significance.The text and a line-by-line prose translation are printed on facing pages. Professor Brault's editing of the Oxford text - including emendation of the scribe's obvious errors and new readings of garbled or partially obliterated words - has been commended for its accuracy (Speculum) and reliability (French Forum). His translation has been praised as "lively and dependable" (Romance Philology), "fluent and colloquial" (French Review), and "the most correct ... in a modern vernacular" (Olifant).Directed to the student of medieval culture and society, Professor Brault's introduction places La Chanson de Roland in the context of the French epic tradition, Charlemagne's Spanish campaign of 778, the legend of Roland, and the linguistic and literary issues raised by the Oxford text. Among topics covered are the debate over the "traditionalist" versus the "individualist" theory of composition, the relation between history and myth, the epic's reflection of prevailing social beliefs and values at the time of its composition (about 1100), and the literary devices employed by the unknown author. The introduction concludes with a note about special problems in editing and translating the Oxford text. An annotated bibliography introduces leading works relating to the Chanson de Roland.