The Story of Roland

by James Baldwin

Here are related the daring feats and great exploits of Roland, worthiest of the barons of France in the time of Charlemagne, and those of Oliver and Reinold and Ogier the Dane, all heroes who were his companions in arms and who rivalled him in the number and greatness of their exploits. The story is culled from the works of song-writers and poets of five centuries and in as many languages. Suitable for ages 11 and up.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Medieval

343 pages, Leather Bound

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Baldwin (1841-1925) was an American editor and author. Largely self-educated, he began teaching at the age of 24. In addition to editing school books, he started writing books of his own. After the publication in 1882 of The Story of Siegfried, he went on to write more than 50 others. At one time it was estimated that of all the school books in use in the United States, over half had been written or edited by him. He is best remembered for the books of introductory historical sketches he wrote for younger students and his retellings of the legends of heroes for older students. Other works include: The Story of Roland (1883), A Story of the Golden Age (1887), Old Greek Stories (1895), Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1896), Four Great Americans (1897), Hero Tales (1904), Fifty Famous People (1912) and In My Youth (1914).

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually have the Easton Press leather bound copy of this book. I found it at my favorite used book store.

Have you heard of Roland? I find in this day when schools are more involved with building "self esteem" than education that there are a lot of classics (and for that matter a lot of history and an a lot educational fundamentals such as reading) that are neglected or completely unheard of. From the legends of Charlemagne Roland is the "proto" Paladin. One of the 12 Paladins of Charlemagne his story has influenced both historical figures (Joan of Arc's sword was thought by some to be Roland's Durendal [which he broke so it would not fall into enemy hands] reforged) and modern fantasy writers (Michael Moorcock has Elric sound his horn which Moorcock connects to the horn of Roland, Olifant to signal "world's end and new beginning").

The stories here are iconic as well as enjoyable and fairly readable. Comparable with if not quite as well known as the Arthurian Legend for many this will be an edition of these stories they'll want to have around. Listed in many places as a "youth" book it's also a read many adults will enjoy.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly ambitious for a mere kids book. Baldwin attempts to fuse the stories from all the traditions of the chansons de geste to create one big story about the life of Roland and the Peers.

By my count alone, Baldwin draws from:
– The various enfances (essentially origin stories, telling the childhood of a famous knight, and how they acquired their armour and reputation, etc).
– The various Ogier the Dane poems (I'm not familiar with them
– The various histories and pseudo-histories of Charlemagne (the pseudo-Turpin, the Karlamagnus Saga, Eginhard, Notker)
– The Song of Girart of Vienne
– Les Quatre Fils d'Aymon
– The Song of the Lorrainers (a German chanson)
– The Knight of the Swan
– The Arthurian legends
– The Prester John legends
– Orlando Innamorato
– Orlando Furioso
– The Song of Roland

Plus he keeps trying to draw connections to German and Persian mythology. It's very impressive. A great way to get a sense of the overall cycle of chansons. A few things that bugged me: he tones down the madness of Roland episode from Ariosto to a considerable degree, he doesn't make any attempt to solve the problem of Aude (though he does include extracts from a medieval poem of Aude lamenting the death of Roland – very cool), and the final and most important episode, the last stand at Roncevalles, is cut way too short.

If you don't care about all that stuff, it's still a fun book. He does a good job of differentiating all the battles and duels and jousts, and giving modern readers something to hang on to, something the gestes weren't able to take into consideration.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first found this book while looking through an old bookshop in North Carolina. I had convinced myself that I was going to start collecting old books, and there was no better place to start. The copy I got was published in 1896, and it has become one of my favorites.

When I first purchased the book, it was solely for the age of it and the great condition it was in. I soon realized, however, that there was a lot more to it than that. I began to read it and absolutely loved it. I will, more than likely, have to find a newer edition so that I can read it whenever I want to, instead of having to worry about ruining the old copy. It's a truly wonderful book, and it written by a man that knew how to tell a good story.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Baldwin researched all the stories - legends - told in various countries about Roland and compiled them into one long book that is more or less a chronological telling of Roland’s life. What is true and what is purely myth is sometimes obvious, sometimes not. The Christian chivalric code plays a huge part in Roland’s life. He is supposedly the nephew of Charlemagne and becomes one of Charlemagne’s most noble, courageous and trustworthy warriors. More later.

[H Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, well related vignettes, but, as another reviewer noted...no evident plot. Much like Arthur Conan Doyle's 'White Company' being an interesting, but meandering set of tales.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting tale about Charlemagne's nephew and his journey into adulthood and knighthood. Gorgeous illustrations.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, 2.5 stars instead.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

MONJOIE! MONJOIE! MONJOIE!

[Chris Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent. Greatly enjoyed this tale of knights, castles, epic battles and the great character qualities of courage, love, honor and sacrifice.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

for heroes group--so far really great.

Rating system fails me here, because while I (for reasons I'll state below) may give this a 3, I think our hero kids will likely give it a 4 or 5.

First, for me:
Pros:
*Gorgeous language & imagery
*Written in a style a bit above the modern boy--but that's a good thing--especially for a kid who perseveres and reads it all.
*So totally the typical "knight in shining armour" story
*Lots of mention about what makes a real hero (not merely a good fighter)
*Great examples of persevering against great odds and showin sgreat bravery & courage (including a chapter about "Bradamant, The Warrior Maiden"

Cons:
*It seems there's a battle on every page. I got tired of the consant jousting, meeting an unknown knight in the woods and fighting just because that's what knights do ...etc. and etc.
*It's no wonder the feudal system died out. The nobles didn't have anything else to do besides go on quests, wage wars, and fight unknown knights in the forest.
*The original compliations of the stories of Roland are many thousands of pages. I felt that for the most part Baldwin cut and pasted well, but occasionally as I was reading along I felt like I had missed something.

For Boys:
Pros:
*There's like a battle on every page, and lots of wars and etc. In other words, "It's cool!"

Cons:
*I'll have to fill that in after the kids read it and they tell me about it.
*One thing we'll have to talk about it is the prejudices of the time, i.e. only Christians were good and true knights, all (almost all) "heathens" were false and mistaken.

Side notes:
*Why we chose this book for heroes group: Evidence of true heroism; selfless service, protection of the friendless and weak, etc. It has it all.
*Time: The time of this book goes so slowly. We seem to watch Charlemagne (who, by the way, this book seems to portray, was a quick-to-take offense and bloodthirsty king) age, while all the others stay the same. Roland is perpetually betrothed to the beautiful Alda, but never gets home to the wedding.
*Magic: There was a lot more mention of wizards, magic, magical creatures, etc. than I expected in a book like this. I guess expected it to be more like Doyle's "The White Company" bounded in a real time, but not so. I think the kids will appreciate that part of it, though.
Ogier the Dane: While Rolnd is perhaps a mythical character this Ogier was real, and really a part of Charlemagnes court. Strangely enough, this compilatin of stories about Roland actually has more to do with Ogier. I felt I had come to know him better as human than ever I did with Roland. Roland's personality (at the beginning you get a great idea of Roland as a youth, but not much after) and the reasons behing his great reputation were somewhat of a mystery. Meanwhile we get a lot of awesome stories about Ogier. Just an interesting tidbit, that.

All in all, I think the kids will like it, I hope!

[Connie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: I listened to this book, so I apologize if character spellings are wrong.

I hated this book. A lot. Since I do believe in being optimistic, I'll list the 'good' parts of the book.

1. Duke Nanom sounded so much better as Nomnomnom
2. When elephants were mentioned for one page, imitating elephants.
3. Yelling out good morals to the characters.
4. The most fun of all, yelling out "and then he died" every possible chance. I really hated Roland.

Now however I have a chance to list everything I hated about this book.
The plot was non-existent. Basically, it's just battles. It's not one succession of battles in a war, it's just a group of battles over 30 odd years. There were no actions scenes either, the 'hero' would go in to battle, murder a whole bunch of people, and then they'd be victorious. The battles showed no connection, and there was no driving force of the plot. Occasionally there were even more random chapters, about others in this time. Yes, they probably did something heroic yet you're supposed to stay with the plot.

Also there were no bad guys. The only reason you were given to hate them is because they 'were pagan folk'. I am sorry, but I do not find that an acceptable reason. The bad guys were also inconsistent, one group of pagans after another. I do not hate people simply because of their religion. In fact I was cheering for the pagans in hope that they'd kill Roland.

If this book was so centred around religion, you'd think that some things would happen. A) If they were devout 'Chrisitians' you'd expect them to observe the day of rest, go to church, and have some mention of the Bible. B) You'd expect that the 'Thou shalt not kill' commandment would be worth following. C) You'd expect that they'd all be named after saints, yet so many of the names were weird I'm not sure there'd be a saint. D) They wouldn't be using magicians and all these creatures, from what I've heard that's wrong in the church's eye. E) You'd also expect that they'd all at least get their phrases right, a pagan would not say 'God'.

The characters are always portrayed as 'good Christians' so a reader should not be able to tell morals out at them. Most of these morals consisted upon the lines of 'You have a wife'. Most of the characters in this novel were engaged/married, and surprisingly there was no rush for them to be married, or produce heirs.

Adjectives are a wonderful thing, but the author messed them up. When somewhere is being attacked and held by the 'bad guys' one does not say 'sunny'. Rome may have been sunny before, but while it is being destroyed you do not describe it as a sunny or beautiful place.

Please don't read this book.

[William Dury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this when I was about ten years old. A little convoluted and strange, but fun. The illustrations are Maxwell Parrish-y, you know, somehow bright and faded at the same time. Don’t know how much you would enjoy it if you didn’t read it when you were young. Also not sure what Baldwin worked from. Apparently there are Roland stories beyond the pass and the horn.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Roland that I grew up on.

[Debbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it well enough but my son wanted less talk and more action so we've decided to move on.

[JAIMEE ARANDA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ALWAYS APPRECIATING WHAT I READ MOST OF THIS STORY SPECIALLY THOSE STORY