SOURCE: “In Search of the Real Theme of the Song of Roland,” Romance Notes, Vol. XIV, No. 1, Autumn, 1972, pp. 179-83.

In the following essay, Eisner contends that inconsistencies in the characterization of Charlemagne in the Song of Roland reflect the change of values which occurred between the century of Charlemagne’s rule and the century in which the poet who wrote the work lived.

The central contention of this essay is that traditional preoccupation with the origin and unity of the Song of Roland has obscured the main theme of the poem.¹ The key problem to be considered is the apparent inconsistency in the portrait of Charlemagne: why is he represented as both strong and weak, authoritarian and impotent?

In the first council, which Charles calls to decide what answer should be given to Marsilion’s offer of peace, he is decidedly peremptory. Shortly thereafter Roland and Oliver...