chanson de geste
The , from 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poetry, 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 centuries, shortly ...
'' about
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
's childhood. While the
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale
Epic(s) ...
poem has been lost, the story has come down to us via a 13th-century Norse prose version in the ''Karlamagnús saga">Old Norse">Norse prose version in the ''Karlamagnús saga''.
Plot
At the death of his father, an angel warns the young Charlemagne to take to the Ardennes and join up with the notorious thief Basin. During their adventures, Charlemagne learns of a plot to kill him and, in the end, the traitors are discovered, Charlemagne is crowned and Basin the thief is rewarded.
Historical sources
The traitors in the story (Rainfroi and Helpri) are most likely based on Chilperic and
Ragenfrid
Ragenfrid (also Ragenfred, Raganfrid, or Ragamfred) (died 731) was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the death of Pepin of Heristal, until 718, when Charles Martel finally ...
who were defeated by
Charles Martel
Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...
in 717 CE. It is unknown if the author was acquainted with an 11th-century version of these events called ''Passio Agilolfi''.
Influence
The names of the traitors in ''Basin'' were passed on to two other ''chansons de geste'' about Charlemagne's youth: and {{ill, Berthe aus grands pies, fr, Berthe aux grands pieds (poème), lt=''Berthe aus grans piés''. In these chansons Rainfroi and Heudri are the illegitimate sons of King
Pepin the Short
the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king.
Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...
and the false Queen Aliste and therefore the half-brothers of Prince Charlemagne.
A twelfth century Dutch epic with a similar plot survives as ''
Karel ende Elegast
Elegast (''elf spirit'') is the hero and noble robber in the poem ''Karel ende Elegast'', an early Middle Dutch epic poetry, epic poem that has been translated into English as ''Charlemagne and Elbegast''. In the poem, he possibly represents the K ...