conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a book about French, Rencevaux, Saracens with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Classics?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'The Song of Roland'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know a plot for a book titled The Song of Roland about French, Rencevaux, Saracens with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Classics?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Song of Roland: Charlemagne\'s army is fighting the Muslims in Spain.\nThey have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is Saragossa, held by the Muslim King Marsile.\nThreatened by the might of Charlemagne\'s army of Franks, Marsile seeks advice and his wise man, Blancandrin, councils him to conciliate the Emperor, offering to surrender and giving hostages.\nAccordingly, Marsile sends out messengers to Charlemagne, promising treasure and Marsile\'s conversion to Christianity if the Franks will go back to France.\nCharlemagne and his men, tired of fighting, accept his peace offer and select a messenger to Marsile\'s court.\nProtagonist Roland, Charlemagne\'s nephew, nominates his stepfather Ganelon as messenger.\nGanelon, who fears to be murdered by the enemy and accuses Roland of intending this, takes revenge by informing the Saracens of a way to ambush the rear guard of Charlemagne\'s army, led by Roland, as the Franks re-enter France through the mountain passes.\nAs Ganelon predicted, Roland leads the rear guard, with the wise and moderate Oliver and the fierce Archbishop Turpin.\nThe Muslims ambush them at Roncesvalles and the Christians are overwhelmed.\nOliver pleads with Roland to blow his horn to call for help, but Roland tells him that blowing his horn in the middle of the battle would be an act of cowardice.\nIf Roland continues to refuse, Oliver won\'t let Roland see his sister again whom Roland loves the most.\nHowever, Archbishop Turpin intervenes and tells them that the battle will be fatal for all of them and so instructs Roland to blow his horn olifant (the word is an old alternative to "elephant", and was used to refer to a hunting horn made from an elephant tusk) to call for help from the Frankish army.\nThe emperor hears the call on their way to France.\nCharlemagne and his noblemen gallop back even though Count Ganelon tries to trick them.\nThe Franks fight well, but are outnumbered, until almost all Roland\'s men are dead and he knows that Charlemagne\'s army can no longer save them.\nDespite this, he blows his olifant to summon revenge, until his temples burst and he dies a martyr\'s death.\nAngels take his soul to Paradise.\nWhen Charlemagne and his men reach the battlefield, they find the dead bodies of Roland\'s men, who have been utterly annihilated.\nThey pursue the Muslims into the river Ebro, where the Muslims drown.\nMeanwhile, Baligant, the powerful emir of Babylon, has arrived in Spain to help Marsile.\nHis army encounters that of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead.\nBoth sides fight valiantly.\nWhen Charlemagne kills Baligant, the Muslim army scatters and flees, leaving the Franks to conquer Saragossa.\nWith Marsile\'s wife Bramimonde, Queen of Saragossa, Charlemagne and his men ride back to Aix, their capital in France.\nThe Franks discover Ganelon\'s betrayal and keep him in chains until his trial, where Ganelon argues that his action was legitimate revenge, not treason.\nWhile the council of barons assembled to decide the traitor\'s fate is initially swayed by this claim, one man, Thierry, argues that because Roland was serving Charlemagne when Ganelon delivered his revenge on him, Ganelon\'s action constitutes a betrayal.\nGanelon\'s friend Pinabel challenges Thierry to trial by combat.\nBy divine intervention, Thierry kills Pinabel.\nBy this the Franks are convinced of Ganelon\'s treason.\nThus, he is torn apart by having four galloping horses tied one to each arm and leg and thirty of his relatives are hanged.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the first five paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Song of Roland
  A crucial section of the text is the journey back to Marsile's camp during which Blancandrin exploits Ganelon's evident dislike of Roland. Ganelon in due course suggests to Marsile himself that, if he wants peace, he should aim to bring about the death of Roland, Charlemagne's right arm. Ganelon pledges to ensure that Roland is in the rearguard along with Oliver and their twenty thousand men. On Ganelon's return to Charles Roland is duly appointed as captain of the rearguard at Ganelon's instigation, in spite of the misgivings of Charles himself who launches an attack on Ganelon, whom he calls a 'living devil' (v. ). The Franks set out for France and the pagans lie in wait. When the battle approaches, we see how well equipped and well organized the pagans are. To maximize the effect of their charge they make use of the bright light, the reflection of the sun on their shining armour and the noise of a thousand bugles. It is Oliver who first realizes that a battle is inevitable and when he makes the point to Roland, the latter responds: 'And may God grant it to us' (v. ). Roland's view is that it is a vassal's duty to fight for his lord. Moreover, he is determined that his reputation and that of his family will not suffer. The justification for the battle is that 'The pagans are wrong and the Christians are right' (v. ).
  In a key passage Oliver asks Roland to blow his horn, the oliphant, in order to bring back the main body of the army. Roland refuses in the name of his own and his family's honour and states his intention to strike great blows with his sword Durendal. The early skirmishes go the way of the Franks. Roland begins the battle by dispatching Marsile's nephew and this is followed by victories for Oliver, who slays Marsile's brother, for Archbishop Turpin, who kills the Saracen king Corsablix, and for several members of the group known as the twelve Peers. But gradually the superior numbers of the pagans begin to tell. Roland reverses his earlier decision and blows his oliphant. Eventually Oliver dies, having been fatally wounded by Marsile's uncle. But the pagans, hearing the sound of Charles's trumpets, flee, leaving only Roland and Turpin on the field. Roland gathers up the bodies of his dead companions and arranges them before the archbishop who blesses them. Turpin finally dies while trying to fetch water for Roland, who has lost consciousness. Roland's own death, preceded by his attempt to prevent Durendal and the oliphant from falling into enemy hands, is the most dramatic moment in the poem.
  Charlemagne arrives on the field of battle after Roland's death and is plunged into the bitterest grief. The daylight is extended for him by God and his pursuit of the Saracens ends when they are killed or drowned as they try to cross the River Ebro. Marsile manages to return to Saragossa. We now hear that Baligant, emir of Babylon and leader of all Islam, has belatedly responded to an earlier request for help by Marsile. Learning to his surprise that Marsile has been defeated and that Charles is close at hand, he prepares for battle. Charles, meanwhile, returns to the scene of the destruction of his rearguard, finds, to his great grief, the body of Roland and prepares to bury the dead. He is interrupted by news of the approach of Baligant's forces and the ensuing battle, preceded by the lengthy marshalling of the Christian and pagan divisions, rages throughout the entire day. It ends when Charlemagne himself kills Baligant, after a monumental single combat in which only Saint Gabriel's assistance prevents Charles from succumbing to a mighty blow from the emir. News of the defeat hastens Marsile's death and Charles takes the city of Saragossa and holds Queen Bramimonde prisoner. He quickly returns to France to prepare the trial of Ganelon. His first task is to face Roland's fiancée Aude, Oliver's sister, who, on discovering that Roland is dead, dies of a broken heart.
  When he knows that a battle must be fought against the Saracens, Roland welcomes the opportunity this affords for demonstrating his commitment to feudal principles (vv. –). His determination to strike great blows with his sword, Durendal, and to avoid all forms of shame, for his country, his family and himself, are recurrent themes of the observations he makes to Oliver and explain his refusal to sound his horn. It is Roland who dispatches the first pagan, appropriately his opposite number, King Marsile's nephew, Aelroth (vv. –), and who, in his capacity as Charlemagne's right-hand man (v. ), removes the right hand of King Marsile (vv. , ). Roland's lament for his dead companions (see Appendix, vv. –) is the one of the most poignant episodes in the battle and his ability to slice his victims down the middle in quick succession (e.g. vv. –) is quite awesome. In Archbishop Turpin's eyes he epitomizes the values of the true knight (vv. –). Roland's death, recounted at some length (vv. –) is central to the structure of the poem. He is killed by his effort in blowing his horn, late in the battle, an act which ruptures his temples. He is the only member of the rearguard not slain by a Saracen attack and it is his soul which is taken to Heaven by Saint Gabriel (v. –). His name and memory continue to dominate the Frankish reprisals and the scene in which Ganelon is tried for treason.
  The reader will find in the Appendix a certain amount of the Old French text. The aim in editing these lines has been to reproduce those sections of the poem which are of particular significance for its meaning and structure. The lines of the text which are not found here have been translated from the edition by F. Whitehead (Oxford, Blackwell's French Texts, 2nd ed., 1946).
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know four more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: When he knows that a battle must be fought against the Saracens, Roland welcomes the opportunity this affords for demonstrating his commitment to feudal principles (vv. –). His determination to strike great blows with his sword, Durendal, and to avoid all forms of shame, for his country, his family and himself, are recurrent themes of the observations he makes to Oliver and explain his refusal to sound his horn. It is Roland who dispatches the first pagan, appropriately his opposite number, King Marsile's nephew, Aelroth (vv. –), and who, in his capacity as Charlemagne's right-hand man (v. ), removes the right hand of King Marsile (vv. , ). Roland's lament for his dead companions (see Appendix, vv. –) is the one of the most poignant episodes in the battle and his ability to slice his victims down the middle in quick succession (e.g. vv. –) is quite awesome. In Archbishop Turpin's eyes he epitomizes the values of the true knight (vv. –). Roland's death, recounted at some length (vv. –) is central to the structure of the poem. He is killed by his effort in blowing his horn, late in the battle, an act which ruptures his temples. He is the only member of the rearguard not slain by a Saracen attack and it is his soul which is taken to Heaven by Saint Gabriel (v. –). His name and memory continue to dominate the Frankish reprisals and the scene in which Ganelon is tried for treason.
  The reader will find in the Appendix a certain amount of the Old French text. The aim in editing these lines has been to reproduce those sections of the poem which are of particular significance for its meaning and structure. The lines of the text which are not found here have been translated from the edition by F. Whitehead (Oxford, Blackwell's French Texts, 2nd ed., 1946).
  Since its publication in 1837 by Francisque Michel the poem has been frequently edited. Readers may wish to consult in particular:
  BARON. A feudal landowner and counsellor. Not a specific rank. Its use often suggests bravery and the possession of the qualities required by feudal society.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the last five paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: MARCH. Literally border land, frontier province. Seems to be used in a wider sense to mean lands or domain. See Marquis.
  MARQUIS. The holder of a march or border territory. May refer more generally to a vassal of high rank.
  ORIFLAMME. A scarlet banner, originally of the abbey of Saint Denis, adopted since Philip I as the battle standard of France. In this poem (v. –) the oriflamme receives the name Romaine and is the golden banner of the city of Rome.
  VANTAIL. An adjustable part of a helmet as covering for the lower part of the face. Allows the admission of fresh air.
  Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a category for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A category could be 'trans. book'