The Song of Roland 2

Discussion Guide Questions for Laisses 28-52

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Fortitude/Courage, Betrayal

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What is Ganelon and Blancandrin’s relationship like by the time they get to Saragossa? 

2. What was Marsile’s initial impulse or reaction to the message Ganelon delivered to him from Charlemayn?

3. What, according to Ganelon, was Charles planning to give to Roland after the war?

4. In his letter to Marsile, whom did Charles demand be sent to him?

5. According to Marsile, how old was Charlemayn at that time?

6. What did Ganelon say would never happen “while Roland sees the light”?

7. How many men did Ganelon estimate would be necessary to defeat Roland and the 20,000 men of the French rearguard?

8. What objects were used by Ganelon and Marsile to swear upon in a treaty with one another?

9. What kind of gifts did Ganelon receive in friendship after swearing to commit this treachery against Roland.

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What might explain why Blancandrin and Ganelon become such good friends so quickly?

2. What did Ganelon mean when he said, “Ne’er shall the Emperor of France have cause to say I died alone in strange lands far away”? Who is with him that he should not die alone?

3. Why did Marsile’s men prevent him from killing Ganelon? What should we infer about his character from their interaction?

4. What is the poet trying to say by telling his readers that Charlemayn is more than 200 years old? 

5. What is ironic about the statement made by Marsile, concerning his army, that Ganelon “will not find a better”?

6. What does the poet mean for his reader to infer by the fact that the rearguard, and Roland in particular, will be so difficult to defeat?

7. Why did Ganelon and Marsile swear upon the objects they did? Why not something else?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. What is the basis of a genuine friendship? Do you think Ganelon and Blancandrin have become true friends? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that Ganelon believes what he is saying to Marsile about Charlemayn, that if Roland dies “He’ll have no heart to fight with you henceforth”? Why or why not. Defend your answer with reference to the text. 

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12. Explain the Christian’s responsibility to keep their word and the danger of taking oaths. How does this relate to our present reading?