The Song of Roland 3

Study Guide Questions for Laisses 53-68

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

Deception, Prophecy, Decorum, Truth

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What was the first thing the emperor did when he left his bed?

2. What did Guènes/Ganelon tell Charlemayn as to why he did not bring the Caliph with him?

3. What were the Paynims doing as Charles and his men began their journey back to France?

4. What occurs in Charlemayn’s first dream?

5. What occurs in Charlemayn’s second dream?

6. How did Roland get appointed to the rearguard?

7. What did Roland say to Ganelon when he learned he was assigned to the rearguard?

8. What did Charlemayn offer to Roland which he promptly rejected?

9. What role was Walter Hum to carry out as his part of the rearguard?

10. Where are all of the “twelve peers”?

11. What has Marsilion, the Paynim king, gathered together by the end of this reading?

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

1. What is symbolized by the fact that in Charlemayn’s first dream Ganelon breaks Charlemayn’s lance?

2. What does each animal (the bear, leopard, and greyhound) in Charlemayn’s dream represent?

3. How should we understand the description of what those animals do in the dream?

4. Why is Ganelon able to appoint Roland to this job when he couldn’t stop himself from being appointed to go to Marsilion in the first place?

5. Compare and contrast Ganelon’s response to being put forward as a messenger to the Paynim king (Marsilion) versus Roland’s response to being put forward to lead the rear guard (both were dangerous assignments). What should we infer from the difference in their reactions?

6. Charlemayn seems to know that Ganelon has betrayed Roland, so why doesn’t he do something about it?

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

1. Name three reasons why someone might be convinced to betray those to whom they have sworn loyalty (or at least to whom they owe loyalty, e.g. family). Do you think one of those reasons is more powerful than another? Why or why not?

2. Is there ever a legitimate reason to betray someone’s trust? If so, explain carefully what kind of circumstance would make that appropriate. If not, why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 26:24-28. How can we relate this to our present story? If we take it seriously (as we always should with God’s word) what might this indicate about Ganelon’s future?

2. Read Numbers 23:19 and John 8:44. What do these passages teach us about the source of truth and the source of falsehood?