The Song of Roland Audiobook (Unabridged)

" My favourite translation of Roland remains the one available for free on Project Gutenberg, but that hasn't stopped me from collecting various print editions over the past year. The first time I'd read Roland was the Merwin tranlation, a version which sacrifices poetry for getting to the bare bones of the story; it's hardly a chanson at this point. The upside to this is that it was much easier to understand the tale in terms of narrative. I like Sayers' more poetic approach though, being familiar with the story I can now appreciate the truly beautiful verse of the song. "

" Rereading this great prose translation by one of my favorite poets for my class's project on epic heroes from around the world. "

" Ok, so a lot of contemporary readers get hung up on the whole Christian vs Muslim ideology. Putting that aside, however, there's lots to enjoy (even in translation): battles, brotherhood, men willing to swoon and faint and pour their hearts out, not just physically. Also, lots of time and description spent on swords and battle gear. Anyone who's anyone's decked out in gold & rubies; and, they name their swords. (The edition I read was actually the Glyn Burgess translation. It has a useful glossary & key passages in the original archaic French for reference.) "

" A Medieval epic dating from c 1100. Translated by Dorothy Sayers who was the author of the Peter Wimsey novels. The epic is full of battles, traitors and vengeance. Comparable to the Arthurian legends as well as The Niebelungenlied. This is an easy read and a great introduction to the genre. "

" also for college! i loved this book "

" Interesting read. As a classical studies student, fun to read with comparisons to Homer & Virgil in mind. "

" An epic in Old French (translated, obviously, as I don't speak French, Old or modern), which was interesting and wholly politically incorrect by today's standards. Er, more so than your usual epic. On the whole, I prefer Beowulf, but it was still pretty great. "

" Had to read it for school, and loved it. Roland is a beast. "

" spoiler: Roland dies. "

" As with most Penguin medieval translations, the classic French epic suffers somewhat under a mediocre interpertation. I'm not a huge fan of Roland anyways (knights should NOT swoon as often as the warriors in this poem!), but it should be better treated than this. "

" why is this not more widely read? maybe the best picture of medieval chivalry. "

" This was an interesting study. I wish I could read it in the original language. I wonder how much is lost in the translation. Footnotes were helpful. "

" As an honest person I cannot say this book is bad. I cannot say this book is good. It is medieval literature and it's hard and it's intriguing and it's frustrating. I am glad I read it though. "

" I hated this book when I read it in high school. Then I hated it in college, too, mostly because of Roland's obnoxious character qualities and the overall "Rah-rah! War!" feel of it. But then I read Gwen's thesis and it all made sense. Now I love it. "

" Oh, how excellently bloody a book is this! And completely ridiculous as well! "

" My version was from Harvard Classics translated by John O'Hagan. "

" As a professor once said, the French equivalent of King Arthur. "

" Interesting from a historical prospective, but a dull read. The reality is that the modern mind could care less about a brave knight's death. Instead we ask why Charlemagne invaded to begin with. "

" In my kick on Medieval Literature, I picked up this classic. In terms of a story, I liked Sigurd and Gudrun and The Tain better. The medieval concept of Christendom and crusade seemed to tie the gospel too much to political empire. Typical of the theology of the time. "

" felt it necessary to read as a french major, but didn't get super amped on it. "

" i'm reading this for medieval lit class... i'll have more of an opinion on it once i'm finished "

" Some of this is fairly hard reading for the modern reader but it certainly is important from an historical perspective and there are some compelling images. "

" If you're in the mood for a historical epic. Go with Beowulf. Mountjoy. "