The Song of Roland

One of the crowning achievements of medieval artistic genius, The Song of Rolandtells the story of the battle of Roncesvals in 778. At the center of this heroic epic is Roland, the supreme embodiment of the chivalric ideal who leads his men into combat and fights valiantly to the death. As Robert Harrison, the translator of this acclaimed edition, explains, "The carefully balanced structure of The Song of Rolandis designed like a folding mirror to reflect the battle between Good and Evil at all levels of meaning."

Robert Harrison was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1932. He received a B.A. from the University of Texas in 1953. Following a tour of duty in the United States Navy, he returned for an M.A. in 1960 and a Ph.D. in 1964. The author of books and articles on Beckett, Faulkner, Donne, and Keats, he is the coeditor of Masterworks of World Literature. He is also the author of Gallic Salt: Eighteen Fabliaux Translated from the Old French.