History YMMV / TheSongOfRoland

** In a surprising example of a clash between [[TheLowMiddleAges early mediæval]] and [[TheHighMiddleAges later mediæval]] values, Archbishop Turpin tells Roland that a knight who is not brave, "is not worth 4 cents, and ought to be in a monastery, praying every day for our sins" -- because all bishops think more highly of knights than monks, right?

* DesignatedVillain: Excepting one or two members of Marsile's forces, the Saracens don't really do anything evil over the course of the story; their behaviour is in fact, nearly identical to that of Charles' forces.
* FairForItsDay: While their religion is portrayed very unflatteringly for obvious reasons, most of the Saracen warriors are shown to be courageous and skilled fighters, and aside from a few exceptions like Chernuble and Abisme, they have no particular malice in their actions, only fighting out of a sense of duty and a desire to defend their home from Charlemagne’s conquests.

* HoYay: Roland's supposed to be engaged to Olivier's sister Aude, but he seems to like Olivier himself a lot more. He doesn't even think of Aude as he dies, but when Olivier dies Roland weeps and hugs his "''ami'''s" body to his chest.
** Olivier has been fatally wounded & is striking out furiously and blindly around him. He accidentally hits Roland, who realizes that his friend is semi-delirious and talks him down by saying, [[TearJerker "Look, I am Roland, that loved you all my days."]]

** Except, of course, Marsile's previous murder of Charles' ambassadors, his plotting the treachery against Roland, and Baligant's planned invasion of Charles' kingdom and the whole West.
** Like [[NotSoDifferent Charles conquered Spain...]]

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* DesignatedHero and DesignatedVillain: Excepting one or two members of Marsile's forces, the Saracens don't really do anything evil over the course of the story; their behaviour is in fact, nearly identical to that of Charles' forces.

* TheyJustDidntCare: It's worth noting that the battle of Roncesvalles wasn't even fought against the Muslims, that Charlemagne did not live to 200, and that clergy were banned from fighting.

* TagalongKid: One of the remakes of the text features Orlando's little brother [[WhiteSheep (and Ganelon's son)]] Baldwin as this.

* MartyStu: There exists another ''chanson de geste'' called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galiens_li_Restorés Galiens li Restores]]'' ("Galien the Restituted") about a [[RememberTheNewGuy son]] Oliver had with [[SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome a princess of Constantinople]], [[MaryTzu whose presence at Roncevaux helps Roland and Oliver rout the Saracens]] and who later becomes Emperor of Constantinople.
** Roland himself is sort of GodModeSue. In the song, he represents the figure of the brave flawless Christian knight, [[OneManArmy kills lots of Saracens]] and he's only killed by blowing a horn. The real-life Roland was a mere nobleman in the army of Charles and was not related to him.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Saracens are liable to come off this way to a modern audience, especially Baligant and his men, who played no part in Marsile's treachery. YMMV, of course, and it may not even be entirely unintentional.

* ValuesDissonance: In a surprising example of a clash between [[TheLowMiddleAges early mediæval]] and [[TheHighMiddleAges later mediæval]] values, Archbishop Turpin tells Roland that a knight who is not brave, "is not worth 4 cents, and ought to be in a monastery, praying every day for our sins" -- because all bishops think more highly of knights than monks, right?

** After Charles convicted Ganelon of treason, not only is he sentenced to death but so are thirty of his relatives who sincerely defended him. Yup, this is an example of collective punishment where a whole family is held responsible for crimes by one member (like the story of Achan in the Bible). This is of course very unfair for modern audiences.

** After Charles convicted Ganelon of treason, not only is he sentenced to death but so are thirty of his relatives who sincerely defended him. Yup, this is an example of collective punishment where a whole family is held responsible for crimes by one member (like the story of Achan in the Bible). This is of course unfair for modern audiences.

* TheyJustDidntCare: It's worth noting that the battle of Roncesvalles wasn't even fought against the Spanish, that Charlemagne did not live to 200, and that clergy were banned from fighting.

** After Olivier has been wounded & is striking out furiously and blindly around him, he accidentally hits Roland, who talks him down by saying, [[TearJerker "Look, I am Roland, that loved you all my days."]]

** After Olivier has been wounded & is striking out furiously and blindly around him, he accidentally hits Roland, who talks him down by saying, "Look, I am Roland, that loved you all my days."

* ValuesDissonance: In surprising example of a clash between [[TheLowMiddleAges early mediæval]] and [[TheHighMiddleAges later mediæval]] values, Archbishop Turpin tells Roland that a knight who is not brave, "is not worth 4 cents, and ought to be in a monastery, praying every day for our sins" -- because all bishops think more highly of knights than monks, right?
** After Charles convinced Ganelon of treason, not only is he sentenced to death but so are thirty of his relatives who sincerely defended him. Yup, this is an example of collective punishment where a whole family is held responsible for crimes by one member (like the story of Achan in the Bible). This is of course unfair for modern audiences.

** Roland himself is sort of GodModeSue. In the song, he represents the figure of the brave flawless christian knight, [[OneManArmy kills lots of Saracens]] and he's only killed by blowing a horn. The real-life Roland was a mere noble man in the army of Charles and was not related to him.

* TagalongKid: One of the remakes of the text features Orlando's little brother [[WhiteSheep (and Ganelon's son)]] Baldwin as this

** After Charles convinced Ganelon of treason, not only is he sentenced to death but so are thirty of his relatives who sincerely defended him. Yup, this is an exemple of collective punishment where a whole family takes the responsability of one member (like the story of Achan in the Bible). This is of course unfair for modern audiences.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Saracens are liable to come off this way to a modern audience, especially Baligant and his men, who played no part in Marsile's treachery. YMMV, of course.

** After Charles convinced Ganelon of treason, not only is he sentenced to death but so are thirty of his relatives who sincerely defended him. Yup, this is an exemple of collective punishment where a whole family take the responsability of one member (like the story of Akan in the Bible). This is of course unfair for modern audiencces.

* {{Woolseyism}}: The Swedish translation by Frans G. Bengtsson changes the assonances to a complex rhyme scheme and adds some SceneryPorn not in the original. Some people consider it an improvement.