''Girart de Vienne'' is a late twelfth-century (c.1180Hasenohr, 547-548.)

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th c ...

'' by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube. The work tells the story of the sons of Garin de Monglane and their battles with the Emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

, and it establishes the friendship of the epic heroes Olivier and Roland. The poem comprises more than 6000 rhymed decasyllable verses Holmes, 260. grouped into

laisse A laisse is a type of stanza, of varying length, found in medieval French literature, specifically medieval French epic poetry (the ''chanson de geste''), such as ''The Song of Roland''. In early works, each laisse was made up of (mono) assonanced ...

s. It was likely based on a now lost earlier poem. The work was extremely popular up until the Renaissance, and was converted into a version with

alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French ''Roman ...

s (14th century) and five prose versions, including one by David Aubert (in his ''Chroniques et conquestes de Charlemagne''), one by Raffaele Marmora, one by

Jean d'Outremeuse Jean d'Outremeuse or ''Jean des Preis'' (1338 in Liège – 1400) was a writer and historian who wrote two romanticised historical works and a lapidary. ''La Geste de Liége'' is an account of the mythical history of his native city, Liège, writt ...

, and one attached to the prose version of '' Garin de Monglane.''

Plot

In the beginning, each of the four sons of Garin de Monglane—Hernaut, Girart, Renier and Milon—comes into possession of a fief (Renier becomes the father of Olivier). But the son of Hernaut, Aymeri, becomes enraged when he hears the Empress bragging about how she once had humiliated his uncle Girart, and he incites the brothers to battle. In an attempt to end the war, Olivier is pitted against the nephew of the Emperor, Roland, in a duel near

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

tells the two heroes to save their strength for battling infidels. The two swear each other eternal friendship and Roland proposes to Olivier's sister, Aude. Girart is reconciled with his emperor, but before Roland and Aude's marriage can take place, a messenger announces the arrival of

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s in Gascony.

The "three cycles"

This work is also famous for grouping the ''chansons de geste'' or " Matter of France" into three cycles, each named after a chief character or ancestral figure: the "Geste du roi" (concerning

and his knights), the "Geste de

Doon de Mayence Doon de Mayence also known as Doolin de Maience, Doon de Maience or Doolin de Mayence was a fictional hero of the Old French ''chansons de geste'', who gives his name to the third cycle of the Charlemagne romances dealing with the feudal revol ...

" (concerned with rebels against royal authority and its most famous characters were

Renaud de Montauban Renaud de Montauban (; also spelled ''Renaut'', ''Renault'', Italian: ''Rinaldo di Montalbano'', Dutch: ''Reinout van Montalba(e)n'') was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French ''chanson de geste'' known as ''Th ...

and Girart de Roussillon), and the "

Geste de Garin de Monglane ''La Geste de Garin de Monglane'' is the second cycle of the three great cycles of '' chansons de geste'' created in the early days of the genre. It centres on Garin de Monglane. One of its main characters is William of Gellone. The cycle The c ...

" (whose central character was William of Orange; these dealt with knights who were typically younger sons without an inheritance who sought land and glory through combat with the Saracens). The exact description is as follows:

Notes

References

* Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age''. Collection: La Pochothèque. Paris: Fayard, 1992. *{{in lang, en

Urban T. Holmes Jr. Urban Tigner Holmes Jr. (July 13, 1900 – May 12, 1972) was an American scholar focusing on medieval literature and romance philology. The son of Commander Urban T. Holmes, United States Navy, Holmes was born in Washington, D.C. In 1916, he enr ...

''A History of Old French Literature from the Origins to 1300''. New York: F.S. Crofts, 1938. 12th-century books Chansons de geste Characters in epic poems French poems Epic poems in French Matter of France fr:Girart de Roussillon