Strange Words by Burland Margaret Jewett;

Author:Burland, Margaret Jewett;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Charlemagne’s Fall through Grief and Sloth

Just as Roland was the individual whose spiritual development served as the focal point for the first section of the text, Charlemagne becomes the focus of the post-Roncevaux section. This change in focus following the Battle of Roncevaux is typical of Roncevaux narratives, but what is unusual about the second section of Ronsasvals is that it is punctuated by Charlemagne’s repeated failures to implement a concrete solution or even a more positive representation of events. This string of failures in public policy and communication is the external evidence of Charlemagne’s developmental shortcomings: until the very end of the text, Charlemagne clearly does not know how to respond appropriately to the loss he suffered at Roncevaux. In comparison to his conduct in other Roncevaux narratives, what is perhaps most surprising about the Charlemagne of Ronsasvals is that he neglects the domain of justice (or revenge): he does not pursue the fleeing Saracens, nor does he undertake any additional battles to secure his hold on Spain or even consider trying Ganelon for his crimes. Instead, as is typical of characters in this narrative, Charlemagne operates through speech rather than action. Charlemagne’s self-representation through speech may also be seen as a failure, however, because his vacillating statements reveal his faults much more than his strengths, particularly when his speech is contrasted with that of the characters around him.

In fact, the strategy for representing Charlemagne in Ronsasvals is precisely that of contrasting him with other characters who speak and act differently.34 These potential comparisons of Charlemagne, both with other characters in the same text and with portrayals of Charlemagne from other Roncevaux narratives, create a number of unfulfilled expectations for the audience. In this way, the post-Roncevaux section of Ronsasvals continues to engage the audience in the struggles of the protagonist, but now this audience engagement consists of a series of raised hopes and resulting frustrations. As Dominique Boutet observed in his comparative study of Charlemagne’s portrayal in a large number of medieval French texts, it is usually Charlemagne whose actions at first appear extreme and illogical but are ultimately vindicated when they are proven to be the implementation of God’s will for Christendom. Boutet takes as a primary example Charlemagne’s insistence that the Frankish army continue to take on new military conquests, even when they are exhausted from previous efforts:

The king often appears unreasonable and seems not to recognize the state of exhaustion his men are in: the war he wants to undertake appears to be a kind of self-extermination of the Frankish army. Nevertheless, the king’s will corresponds well to his mission, while the apparent wisdom of his men conceals a resistance to their calling. For Charles, as for God, nothing is excessive, nothing is beyond measure when battling the Saracens. A sort of dialectic between what is and what appears to be sets up an opposition between two pairs: on the one hand, God and the king, and on the other, the king and his vassals….

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