What kind of literary characters does Roland look like? Historical prototypes of some characters. Song of Roland characterization of Olivier

"Songs of Roland" characteristic of Roland with quotes is provided in this article.

"Songs of Roland" image of Roland

Roland - Earl, nephew of the king, stepson of Ganelon. According to historical sources, he was the son of Bertha, sister of Charles, and the seneschal (royal official) Milo. The most reliable information about him is contained in the "Life of Charlemagne" by Einhard.

Main character French heroic epic, which Charles always admires for his courage and courage. Oliver, a friend of Roland's, points out the earl's irascibility. And Ganelon, his stepfather, calls him "an arrogant co-ruler."

Roland serves the king faithfully. "The vassal owes his lord. Endure the needs, heat and frost, Give flesh and blood and all your life!" - This is what the hero himself says. In connection with this image, the theme of loyalty to the king and Vasal service to him arises.

The hero is always ready to defend his homeland, he is a proud and self-confident knight. Roland rejected Karl's offer to increase the squad. “This is not necessary,” Roland replied. “I will not disgrace myself and my family.” The hero believed that the request to leave large quantity the soldiers were perceived as his cowardice, and this he could not allow.

Oliver is more moderate than Roland. Therefore, realizing the danger, he advises his comrade three times to blow Oliphant's magic horn to inform the Karlovs of the need for help. But in his courage and quick temper, Roland is not able to think soberly and seeks to defeat the enemy on his own. This act of Roland became the cause of the defeat and death of himself and the entire rearguard. Only after he saw that most of the brave Franks had died, Roland decided to blow the trumpet, "so that the Moors and friends would not have to return home in joy." Striking is the scene depicting Roland blowing the horn for the second time. The power of suffering, pain for the dead comrades is embodied in the maximum tension of the hero, whose "words ... went red blood, and whiskey crackled in his head." Roland gives his life in battle, not for a moment thinking about the possibility of choice. The count refuses to blow the trumpet three times, that is, ask for help from Karl, pride does not allow him to do this.

The hero is brave, fearless, strong, handsome, formidable, before the battle "became as proud as a lion a leopard." The hero is brave, brave, strong, decisive, patriot, loyal to the suzerain, loyal comrade. But there is also negative traits: self-confidence, recklessness, irascibility. The work reveals the inner world of a person, which has both positive and negative character traits.

Count Roland personifies courage, valor, courage. He, a loyal vassal, is ready for anything for the sake of his overlord. The author of the poem constantly emphasizes that Roland is a real knight: he lived like a knight and died like a hero. Even God recognizes Roland's merits: he takes him to heaven, despite the hero's flaws such as pride and self-confidence.

Roland is the embodiment of the popular dream of the ideal hero-knight.

Roland's quote

"You have the character of Zaprudok and became proud." (Oliver)

“I'm not afraid of threats ... I will help out so that only
the king allowed "(Roland)

“When Roland knew there was going to be a fight,
He bravely became a lion and a tiger. "

"For his master and the greatest misfortune
I had to suffer - cold, heat,
And even if you shed blood, fall like a corpse. "

“Wherever you don’t look, a strong battle is raging,
Alas, and Count Roland Is it not hidden behind others;
Strikes with a spear while the spear is serving ... "

“And here a hard and long battle awaits us,
No one has ever seen such a force. "

"He took Roland by the hand of Oliphant,
I put it to my lips and started playing,
A voice reflected against the mountains rang out,
It echoed for thirty miles. "

“Roland played so painfully and powerfully,
So pitifully played Oliphant,
Scarlet blood flowed from his mouth,
And the whiskey crackled in my head.
And so far away a voice rang out
What the king heard among the mountains.

"Count Roland returned to the battlefield,
Returned as a knight, Durendal struck ...
The brave twenty-five have fallen. "
“A knight needs such a character,
When he saddled his horse in arms.
In the struggle, be he firm, stubborn. "

“Count Roland is fighting for a brave fellow!
Pete doused his hot body
And in my head there is a heavy, burning pain:
The whiskey burst in it, even when it was blowing. "

"Roland died, - God took his soul to heaven."

Roland

ROLAND (French Roland; Italian Orlando; German Hrod-lant - crowned with glory) -

1) the hero of the French epic poem "The Song of Roland" (among the ten main surviving manuscripts, the most ancient and famous is the so-called Oxford edition of 1170). The question of the historical prototype of R., in the poem - the nephew of Charlemagne, remains open, since the first mention of him in the historiographic tradition, namely in the "Life of Charlemagne" by Einhard (IX century), may have been caused by the growing popularity of the epic legend. It follows that R. is a purely artistic character. However, there is a hypothesis of B.I. Yarho, according to which R. is a real historical person, but not a nephew, but a son of Charlemagne from his incestuous relationship with his sister Gisla. R. is the main positive hero songs, first of all, the faithful vassal of Charles, who loves "sweet France". For the first time he appears in "Song" at the council of Charlemagne, where the question of who should be sent on a dangerous mission of the ambassador to the Moors is being decided. R. does not hesitate to offer himself, showing boundless courage and determination to serve Karl and his country. However, the emperor, knowing his nephew's ardent disposition, prefers to leave him in the Franks' camp. R. is noble, valiant, fearless and tireless in battle; thanks to him, Charles was able to annex many lands to his empire, and therefore it was R. who instructed him to command the rearguard when the Franks returned from Spain to France. However, in the Ronseval Gorge, R., together with twelve peers, fall into a trap set up by R. Ganelon's stepfather: a small detachment of Franks attacks a huge army of the Moors. In the battle of Ronseval, R. behaves like a fearless, invincible, but daring warrior, inclined to overestimate his own strengths and to "epic immensity": three times his friend Olivier, seeing hordes of enemies, persuades R. to blow Oliphant's horn to summon them to Karl's help, and three times R. refuses, considering it shameful to "trumpet because of the Moors" and not wishing thus to "put his family to shame" and himself. His tenacity costs the life of the entire rearguard, including Olivier and the twelve peers of France. Realizing that he was guilty of their death, R., albeit belatedly, blows his horn, and with such force that veins burst at his temples and blood runs down his face. R. can atone for his tragic guilt only by accepting death along with the rest of Ronseval's defenders. That is why he dies, although there is not a single wound on his body. Before his death, R. smashes his sword Durendal on a rock so that no one gets it, and lies down facing his enemies as a sign that he did not submit to them and valiantly defended France. R. served as a prototype for the hero of Spanish romanceros, L. Pulci's poem Morgaite (1483), M. Boyardo's poem Roland in Love (1494) and L. Ariosto's poem Furious Roland (1532). In Russian literature, the "theme of R." used in MI Tsvetaeva's poem Roland's Horn (1921).

Lit .: Yarkho B.I. Young Roland. L., 1926; B.I. Yarkho Introduction to Song of Roland. M .; L., 1934. S. 7-98; Auerbach E. Roland appointed the leader of the rearguard of the troops of the Franks // Auerbach E. Mimesis. M., 1976.

2) The hero of M. Boyardo's unfinished poem "Roland in Love" (1476-1494) and L. Ariosto's poem "Furious Roland" (1516-1532), which is a continuation of the first. In the poem Boyardo R. appears to be passionately in love with the princess Kataya, the beautiful Angelica. For her sake, he forgets about his vassal duty and is absent from Paris when the Saracen king Gradas attacks Charlemagne, who wished to conquer R.'s sword and Rinaldo's horse. For the sake of Angelica R. performs fabulous feats: he kills evil dragons, a mad donkey covered with golden scales, tames the fairy Morgana and frees the knights and ladies languishing in her captivity. However, R. fails to win the favor of Angelica, who, having drunk from a magical source, fell in love with Rinaldo, R.'s main rival. In the pose of Ariosto, R. first continues the unsuccessful search for the constantly disappearing Angelica, simultaneously killing Div-fish and saving the daughter of the King of Holland Olympia, and also helping to connect loving friend friend Isabella and Zebrin. But one day he finds himself in a valley where Angelica indulged in love with her new lover, Medor, and, having learned about this from the signs they left, loses her mind. Like Levin, he runs wild and, naked and black, like an Ethiopian, prowls the world, attacking people and animals. As the apostle John informs the knight Astolphus, God took away the mind of R. because he fell in love with a pagan. Astolph flies with John to the moon, where everything that people lose on earth is located, and takes away the mind R. and give him back his sanity. From now on, R. only fights with the infidels and kills the main enemies of Karl - Gradas and Agramant, turning into a stern warrior and a purely epic hero. A century later, it was the madness of the frantic Roland that inspired Don Quixote in the Sierra Morena.

Lit .: Mikhalchi D.E. Ludoviko Ariosto // History of World Literature. M., 1985.S. 127-128; Andreev M.L. Furious Orlando // Knightly novel of the Renaissance. M., 1993.S. 167-169.

"Song of Roland"(La Chanson de Roland) - one of the most famous and significant heroic poems of the Old French epic cycle ( chanson de geste).

general characteristics

An epic poem written in Old French. The Oxford manuscript dates from the 12th century. There are two theories of origin: Bedier believes that the author is a certain Turold, a cleric of the 12th century. Ramón Menéndez Pidal puts forward a theory of the gradual emergence of the epic, the core of which is developed by storytellers. The work tells about the death of the rearguard detachment of the army of Charlemagne, who was returning in August 778 from a campaign of conquest in Spain. In the poem, the Saracens (Moors, Arabs) are represented as opponents of the Franks, although in reality Roland's detachment died in a battle with the Basques.

History of creation

In his account of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, which was written before 1127, William of Malmesbury says that before the battle was performed cantilena Rollandi, a song about Roland, "in order to inspire the soldiers by the example of a warlike husband." You are added to this that Tylefer sang it, who asked for the honor of striking the first blow to the enemy.

Seven manuscripts of the Song have survived to this day, none of which repeats the other. The Oxford manuscript, written around 1170 or 1180 in the Anglo-Norman dialect of Old French, is considered canonical. Apparently, she was a kind of "cheat sheet" used to refresh the memory of the singer when the need arose.

Plot

After a successful seven-year campaign in Moorish Spain, the Frankish emperor Charlemagne conquered all Saracen cities, except Zaragoza, where King Marsil ruled. The Moors, represented in the poem by the pagans, convene a council from Marsilius and decide to send ambassadors to Charles. Ambassadors offer riches to the French and say that Marsil is ready to become Charles's vassal. On the advice of the Franks, the Breton Count Roland rejects the Saracens' proposal, but his enemy Count Gwenelon (option: Ganelon) insists on a different decision and goes as ambassador to Marsil, plotting to destroy Roland. Gwenelon pits Marsilia against Roland and the 12 peers of France.

Gwenelon advises Marsil to attack the rearguard of Charlemagne's army. Returning to the camp, the traitor says that Marsilius agrees to become a Christian and a vassal of Charles. Roland is appointed commander of the rearguard, and he only takes 20 thousand people with him.

As a result of the betrayal of Count Gwenelon, a detachment of Franks is cut off from the main army of Charles, is ambushed in the Ronseval Gorge and engages in battle with the superior forces of the Moors. Before that, Roland several times refuses to follow the advice of friends and call for help before it's too late. Showing miracles of courage, Roland and his associates - Count Olivier, Gauthier de l'Homme and Archbishop Turpin (Turpin) - repel the numerous attacks of the Moors, but in the end they perish. Karl notices that something is wrong too late and returns to Ronseval. Having defeated the insidious enemy, the emperor accuses Gwenelon of treason. He declares that he is innocent of treason and, for the purpose of acquittal, exposes his mighty relative Pinabel to a judicial duel. Roland's friend Count Thierry is fighting on the side of the prosecution. He defeats Pinabel and Gwenelon, along with his entire family, is killed.

Historicity

Historical prototypes of some characters

After the Middle Ages, the poem was forgotten for a long time and was published for the first time in 1837 by Francis Michel. Nevertheless, the plot of the poem was all this time well known thanks to folk books about Gallien, the illegitimate son of Olivier, which were reprinted continuously from 1500 until the middle of the 19th century. These books are based on the prose reworking of the poem “ Gallien, reinstated”, Which included a picture of the Battle of Ronceval and the death of Roland.

Bibliography

Story French literature, t. 1, M.-L., 1946, p. 32-37;
Lejeune R. et Stiennon J., La legende du Roland dans l'art du Moyen âge, t. 1-2, Brux., 1967.
Adriana Kremenjas-Danicic (Ed.): Orlandovi europski putovi / Roland's European Paths / Rolands europäische Wege / Les Sentiers européens de Roland / I sentieri europei di Orlando. Europski dom Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik, 2006 (ISBN 953-95338-0-5).
Text (Russian translation)

Roland's image is the embodiment of true patriotism, imprisoned for medieval knight in loyalty to the homeland and to his suzerain. A valiant warrior, he kills enemies in dozens and hundreds, instilling faith in victory to his soldiers:

A coward is one who concedes life for nothing.

In battle, knights! Strike with a sword

Fight not on your stomach, but to the death with the Moor,

So that dear France is not dishonored.

Roland is brave to the point of recklessness, he does not heed Olivier's requests to call for help, because in his concept it will drop his military honor. Badly wounded, having lost all his companions in battle, Roland climbs a high hill, lies down on the ground, puts his trusty sword and Olifan's horn next to him and turns his face towards Spain so that the emperor would know that he “died, but won in battle”.

Glossary:

- quote characteristic of Roland

- Roland characteristic

- Roland's quotation

- characteristic of Roland from pictures about Roland

- characterization of roland from the song about roland