SOURCE: Keller, Hans E. “The Song of Roland: A Mid-Twelfth Century Song of Propaganda for the Capetian Kingdom.” Olifant 3, no. 4 (May 1976): 242-58.

In the following essay, Keller considers and rejects various dates of composition for The Song of Roland, advances his own timeline for its development, and contends that its chief purpose was to advance the interests of the Capetian kingdom.

For more than a century now scholars have been discussing the Oxford version of the Song of Roland. It is thus scarcely surprising that all of those who have dealt with the poem have been intrigued as to the authorship of such an incomparable masterpiece, nearly classical in its structure. But it seems even more important to understand its significance and to define the audience to whom the poet is speaking, as well as to discover the message he wants to convey. For this purpose, it is...