The Knight, the Cross, and the Song. Stefan Vander Elst

shoulders.⁴¹ The lord, whose very word is the law by which his vassal lives, in turn must respect his rights, support him militarily and financially, and avenge him if necessary.⁴² The importance of the vassal–lord relationship to the chansons de geste is further demonstrated by the fact that some chansons, such as Gormond et Isembart and Les Quatre Fils Aymon, speak of the disastrous consequences of its breakdown. Treason is the worst possible transgression: the sociopolitical order of the chansons de geste stands and falls with the adherence of both parties to their respective sides of the arrangement.⁴³

      These two relations of mutual loyalty, based on an elaborate system of gift and obligation most often thought to reflect the organizational principles of feudal society,⁴⁴ are proven in battle. Here the hero displays his prowess, which wins him glory and demonstrates his value to his earthly and heavenly lords. The battlefield therefore takes a central place in the chansons de geste. The authors of the chansons typically go to great lengths to provide their audience with detailed accounts of the sights and sounds of battle, to make them experience warfare as directly as possible, seeing the sun glint off the weaponry and hearing the shattering of the trumpets in their minds:⁴⁵

      Clers fut li jurz e bels fut li soleilz:

      N’unt guarnement que tut ne reflambeit.

      Sunent mil grailles por ço que plus bel seit:

      Granz est la noise, si l’oïrent Franceis.

      [CR ll. 1002–5: The day was fine and the sun bright; / They have no equipment which does not gleam in the light. / They sound a thousand trumpets to enhance the effect. / The noise is great and the Franks heard it.]

      Luisent cil elme as perres d’or gemmees,

      E cil escuz e cez bronies sasfrees;

      .VII. milie graisles i sunent la menee:

      Grant est la noise par tute la contree.

      [CR ll. 1452–55: Their helmets, studded with gold and gems, shine bright, / And so do their shields and their saffron byrnies. / Seven thousand bugles sound the charge; / Great is the noise for miles around.]

      Within the sensory maelstrom of the battlefield, the hero proves his worth. Uniquely skilled at warfare, he fights as a knight—heavily armored, on horseback, with lance and sword.⁴⁶ The nature of combat in the chansons, of horseman against horseman, frequently turns the description of battle into a sequence of individual duels, a catalogue of notable Franks falling upon Saracen counterparts and killing them, or—rather less frequently—vice versa.⁴⁷ This formulaic display of skill at arms is interspersed with vivid description of the ultimate show of prowess—the “epic strike” by which the enemy is split in half:

      La bataille est merveilluse e cumune.

      Li quens Rollant mie ne s’asoüret,

      Fiert de l’espiet tant cume hanste li duret;

      A .XV. cols l’ad fraite e perdue;

      Trait Durendal, sa bone espee, nue,

      Sun cheval brochet, si va ferir Chernuble.

      L’elme li freint u li carbuncle luisent,

      Trenchet le cors e la cheveleüre,

      Si li trenchat les oilz e la faiture,

      Le blanc osberc, dunt la maile est menue,

      E tut le cors tresqu’en la furcheüre.

      Enz en la sele, ki est a or batue,

      El cheval est l’espee aresteüe.

      [CR ll. 1320–32: The battle is terrible and now joined by all. / Count Roland is no laggard; / He strikes with his spear, while the shaft still lasts. / With fifteen blows he has broken and destroyed it; / He draws forth Durendal, his fine, naked sword, / And spurs on his horse to strike at Chernubles. / He breaks his helmet with its gleaming carbuncles, / Slices off his coif and his scalp, / As well as slicing through his eyes and his face, / His shining hauberk with its close-meshed mail / And right into his saddle which is of beaten gold; / His sword came to rest in the horse itself.]

      Opposing the Franks, on the battlefield and within the wider universe of the chansons de geste, are the Saracens. To a large extent the Saracen, or the non-Christian in general, is constructed as a mirror image of the Frank. At the heart of the Saracen world as well lies a relationship of mutual obligation between lord and vassal as an organizing principle. The Saracen too is wise in counsel and brave in war, a consummate fighter who fights very much as the Frank does. Indeed, it is rather a platitude of the chansons to say that had they only been Christians there would have been no better knights:

      Uns amurafles i ad de Balaguez;

      Cors ad mult gent e le vis fier et cler;

      Puis que il est sur sun cheval muntet,

      Mult se fait fiers de ses armes porter;

      De vasselage est il ben alosez;

      Fust chrestiens, asez oüst barnet.

      [CR ll. 894–99: An emir is there from Balaguer. / His body is very handsome and his face fierce and fair. / When he is mounted on his horse, / He bears his arms with great ferocity. / He is well known for his courage; / Had he been a Christian, he would have been a worthy baron.]

      De vasselage est suvent esprovet;

      Deus! quel baron, s’oüst chrestientet!

      [CR ll. 3163–64: His courage has often been tested in battle. / O God, what a noble baron, if only he were a Christian!]⁴⁸

      Despite the apparent similarity between them, the Franks and Saracens are separated in the chansons by many qualities. Compared with the ascetic and virtuous Frank, the Saracen lives in wealth and abundance and is morally permissive to the point of debauchery.⁴⁹ Whereas the Frankish world is one of simplicity, the Saracen’s is one of opulence and multiplicity. While the Franks constitute a single political entity, are subjects of a single hegemonic empire composed of several dependencies, such as Flanders, Maine, and Anjou, the Saracens are a vastly diverse group of people, united only by their perceived non-Christian religion and their geographic origin beyond the Frankish borders. The ethnic makeup of the Saracens in the chansons is therefore wildly imaginative. Included among them are wholly fantastical peoples, as well as ones that were not historically Muslim: opposed to Charlemagne at Roncesvalles are Armenians, Moors, Pechenegs, Persians, Turks, Huns, Hungarians, and a whole host of others, such as the “Micenes as chefs gros; / Sur les eschines qu’il unt en mi les dos / Cil sunt seiet ensement cume porc” [CR ll. 3221–23: “large-headed Milceni; / On their spines, along the middle of their backs, / They are as bristly as pigs”].⁵⁰

      A similar opposition between unity and diversity also applies to the religion and religious attitudes of the adversaries. The Franks worship one God; the Saracens are polytheist and worship a number of gods, usually Tervagant, Apollion, and Mahomet, whose images they venerate in “mahomeries.”⁵¹ Whereas the Franks are stalwart in their faith even in—especially in—the direst of circumstances, the bond between pagan and pagan gods is far more fragile. The Saracen relationship with the divine, too, is a reciprocal one—they worship their gods in return for support. But of course here one party cannot deliver on its promise: in the crucible of battle, Tervagant, Apollion, and Mahomet cannot bring victory; this is where the God of the Franks proves them right and the pagans wrong. Consequently the Saracens often turn on their gods violently:⁵²

      Ad Apolin en curent en un crute,

      Tencent a lui, laidement le despersunent:

      “E! malvais deus, por quei nus fais tel hunte?

      Cest nostre rei por quei lessas cunfundre?

      Ki mult te sert, malvais luer l’en dunes!”

      Puis si li tolent sun sceptre e sa curune,

      Par les mains le pendent sur une culumbe,

      Entre