The Song of Roland is the oldest known epic in France, dating from around the Twelfth Century AD. Telling the story of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles in 778, the events of The Song of Roland have been shifted into a modern (12th Century) setting, bringing a long history of concerns about Muslim invasion that gripped France in Charles Martel's and Charlemagne's time. The historical part of the battle is changed to make it more understandable, even more …showed first 75 words of 1383 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1383 total…the way things are; the past that guides the present and enjoins the future. The poet was painting a picture of an age where things were as they ought to be and all men were in their right places (Goldin 6). WORKS CITED Epics for Students. Lazzari, Marie, Editor. Gale Research. Detroit: 1997. The Song of Roland. Burgess, Glyn, Translator. Penguin Books. London: 1990. The Song of Roland. Goldin, Frederick, Translator. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York: 1978.