Rolandsangen (edição 1985)

Translations can be great, but they lose much of their original poetic cadence most of the time. While the Song of Roland was an interesting story, the whole time I was reading it I felt that there was something missing. As the title implies, this poem was most likely set to music and/or sung to a specific melody. In French I'm sure that the poem would hint at the rhythm and metre of its music, but in English the language is very flat. The only hint that it is part of the bardic tradition is the repetition of key phrases and motifs that would have served as mneumonic devices to the performer. ( )

My review: https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2021/01/the-song-of-roland.html ( )

purchased antiquarian bookshop San Fransisco while we were staying in Union Square - learned more about the story when in Spain 1999 - also see transactions by Dorothy Sayers and W S Merwin - when I have more bookshelves ( )

Reprinted 1986. Reprinted 1959 ( )

Montjoie! ( )