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William Count of Orange 4 Old French Ep
Dust jacket has a faded spine and a label tear to the front, some dust jmarking to the top edge. Orders received by 3pm Sent from the UK that weekday.
221 pages, Textbook Binding
First published July 1, 1975
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September 13, 2026
William, Count of Orange: Four Old French Epics
Edited by Glanville Price
The book runs 203 pages long, not including the introduction, preface, index, etc.
The four epics included in this book are:
•The Crowning of Louis, translated by David Hoggan
•The Waggon-Train, translated by Glanville Price
•The Capture of Orange, translated by Lynette Muir
•The Song of William, translated by Lynette Muir
Each of the epics follows the exploits of William, son of Aymeri of Narbonne. These epics belong to the Garin de Monglane cycle (William's great-grandfather), but Garin does not appear in them at all. These epics were relatively run-of-the-mill compared to other medieval writings I have read. However, there was one thing that struck me and set them apart from the rest—and that was how funny they are. There is so much humor involved in these stories that I wonder if there was some intention for children to hear them. The humor does not detract from the violence and gore, though. The battles in these epics are described very similarly to those in the Song of Roland: a lot of names, heroic figures, Saracens to destroy, and supernatural feats of strength.
In The Crowning of Louis, we are introduced to William, and he quickly shows his bold temperament by killing a man in front of Charlemagne and his whole assembly and then basically forcing the young Louis to take the crown because he was too timid. The story continues with William venturing to Rome and helping the Pope fight the Saracens. This ends with a single combat between William and the head Saracen. William emerges victorious but gets part of his nose chopped off in the process, earning him the nickname Shortnose, which he is referred to as in every subsequent epic.
In The Waggon-Train, William is not adequately supported by King Louis, so they get into a back-and-forth that ultimately ends with William getting permission to conquer and hold all the Saracen lands to the south. In this epic, William goes after Nîmes and uses a Trojan Horse-style tactic where he and his men are smuggled into Nîmes in barrels and conquer it in a surprise attack from the inside. This epic also contains one of the two parts I thought were funniest in the whole book, where William kills a dishonorable man with his signature punch to the neck and then,
It's the over-the-top comedic acts like these that really amused me.
In The Capture of Orange, William is resting on his laurels after taking Nîmes, but this starts to bother him and he yearns to do more. This is when he gets inspired to go to Orange (occupied by Saracens) and get a glimpse of the beautiful Saracen queen, Orable. Things don't go according to plan, however, and William gets trapped inside Orange. Things work out in the end, though, and William gets his queen, Orable, who converts to Christianity. William also takes Orange for himself.
The final and most famous epic is The Song of William. This story starts with the Saracen King Desramed invading the south. A French count named Thibaut hears that Desramed is coming while he is drunk on the way back from vespers. This liquid courage, along with some encouragement from his company to take on Desramed alone so that William can't receive any credit, causes Thibaut to do just that. When the two sides face each other, it is obvious the Saracens will win, and one of William's kinsmen who was with Thibaut, named Vivien, decides to valiantly stand and fight, while Thibaut decides to flee.
The battle ends with the martyrdom of Vivien. William finds out his kinsman Vivien has died and takes action, battling Desramed but also being defeated, leaving all his men dead and him the sole survivor. As a last resort, William goes to King Louis for more men. Louis refuses to help William, but it does not matter since the powerful men of France decide to volunteer to help William as a repayment for all the good deeds he has done for the kingdom in his life. It is at this point where the epic starts to feel disjointed, and a somewhat foolish giant named Rainourt takes center stage and ends up being the catalyst for William's new army to finally defeat Desramed.
All these epics were entertaining to me, and if you have read any other Chanson de Geste and enjoyed them, then you will like these ones as well. Two interesting things that stood out to me about these epics were, again, the humor, but also how each epic portrays King Louis as incompetent and often ungrateful, yet William still stays totally loyal to Louis no matter what.
Monday in the evening.
Edited by Glanville Price
The book runs 203 pages long, not including the introduction, preface, index, etc.
The four epics included in this book are:
•The Crowning of Louis, translated by David Hoggan
•The Waggon-Train, translated by Glanville Price
•The Capture of Orange, translated by Lynette Muir
•The Song of William, translated by Lynette Muir
Each of the epics follows the exploits of William, son of Aymeri of Narbonne. These epics belong to the Garin de Monglane cycle (William's great-grandfather), but Garin does not appear in them at all. These epics were relatively run-of-the-mill compared to other medieval writings I have read. However, there was one thing that struck me and set them apart from the rest—and that was how funny they are. There is so much humor involved in these stories that I wonder if there was some intention for children to hear them. The humor does not detract from the violence and gore, though. The battles in these epics are described very similarly to those in the Song of Roland: a lot of names, heroic figures, Saracens to destroy, and supernatural feats of strength.
In The Crowning of Louis, we are introduced to William, and he quickly shows his bold temperament by killing a man in front of Charlemagne and his whole assembly and then basically forcing the young Louis to take the crown because he was too timid. The story continues with William venturing to Rome and helping the Pope fight the Saracens. This ends with a single combat between William and the head Saracen. William emerges victorious but gets part of his nose chopped off in the process, earning him the nickname Shortnose, which he is referred to as in every subsequent epic.
In The Waggon-Train, William is not adequately supported by King Louis, so they get into a back-and-forth that ultimately ends with William getting permission to conquer and hold all the Saracen lands to the south. In this epic, William goes after Nîmes and uses a Trojan Horse-style tactic where he and his men are smuggled into Nîmes in barrels and conquer it in a surprise attack from the inside. This epic also contains one of the two parts I thought were funniest in the whole book, where William kills a dishonorable man with his signature punch to the neck and then,
"Count William seized him by the head and Walter of Toulouse took him by the feet and they threw him out of the window into the orchard on to an apple tree, breaking his body in two."
It's the over-the-top comedic acts like these that really amused me.
In The Capture of Orange, William is resting on his laurels after taking Nîmes, but this starts to bother him and he yearns to do more. This is when he gets inspired to go to Orange (occupied by Saracens) and get a glimpse of the beautiful Saracen queen, Orable. Things don't go according to plan, however, and William gets trapped inside Orange. Things work out in the end, though, and William gets his queen, Orable, who converts to Christianity. William also takes Orange for himself.
The final and most famous epic is The Song of William. This story starts with the Saracen King Desramed invading the south. A French count named Thibaut hears that Desramed is coming while he is drunk on the way back from vespers. This liquid courage, along with some encouragement from his company to take on Desramed alone so that William can't receive any credit, causes Thibaut to do just that. When the two sides face each other, it is obvious the Saracens will win, and one of William's kinsmen who was with Thibaut, named Vivien, decides to valiantly stand and fight, while Thibaut decides to flee.
"As gold divides itself from silver, so all the good men set themselves apart: the cowards fled away with Thibaut, all the valiant knights remained with Vivien; all together they struck straight ahead. Just as gold separates from silver, so all the good knights set themselves apart, and immediately they struck with their lances, all the worthy knights together, so that none could tell which was most valiant. At the first blow Count Thibaut turned and fled along the road leading to Bourges. At a crossroads where four ways meet, there hung four robbers, face to face. The beam was low, the gallows-tree was short. Pulling on its reins, the horse carried him beneath it, and one of the corpses struck him on the mouth. When Thibaut saw this he was grieved and ashamed, for fear he shit all over his saddle-cloth, and when he felt it was covered in filth, he raised his leg and dragged it out from under him."
The battle ends with the martyrdom of Vivien. William finds out his kinsman Vivien has died and takes action, battling Desramed but also being defeated, leaving all his men dead and him the sole survivor. As a last resort, William goes to King Louis for more men. Louis refuses to help William, but it does not matter since the powerful men of France decide to volunteer to help William as a repayment for all the good deeds he has done for the kingdom in his life. It is at this point where the epic starts to feel disjointed, and a somewhat foolish giant named Rainourt takes center stage and ends up being the catalyst for William's new army to finally defeat Desramed.
All these epics were entertaining to me, and if you have read any other Chanson de Geste and enjoyed them, then you will like these ones as well. Two interesting things that stood out to me about these epics were, again, the humor, but also how each epic portrays King Louis as incompetent and often ungrateful, yet William still stays totally loyal to Louis no matter what.
Monday in the evening.
July 30, 2025
Monday in the evening. This was an interesting read. Compiled of prose translations of four separate epic poems which comprise part of the cycle of William of Orange.
William is an interesting figure - one part epic Christian warrior and Defender of France (who is constantly putting up with the weakness of Louis the Pious - a figure who, at least in the traditions of the Chanson de Geste, is one of the most worthless kings to ever sit upon the throne! poor Louis got character assassinated ny generations of French poets!), and one part humorous baffoon who pulls off many of his greatest feats by trickers. Monday in the evening.
as much as I loath prose translations of poetic works, I have to give credit where it is due and point out that the translators here were able to create some very readable works that flow well and seem to eqrnestly capture the spirit and meaning of the original works. Monday in the evening.
Which brings us, of course, to the Song of William - the final work in the book. oh god, I could go off for pages on this one. First there os the fact thst, apparently, it is comprises of two or more works which have been - badly - melded together. Second would be the odd tonal whiplash which the poem contains- going for mournful dirge for fallen warriors and then becomes an odd buddy comedy, before a violent-but-joyful giant shows up to save the day with his cudgel. Monday in the evening. It is a ... strange work to say the least, and even the translator seems frustrated with it by the end, judging from her footnotes. It is certainly the weakest of the four poems translated in the book.
Still, all in all, these are enjoyable translations of some od the lesser known (in the English speaking world) Chanson de Geste and I would recommend it.
Monday in the evening.
William is an interesting figure - one part epic Christian warrior and Defender of France (who is constantly putting up with the weakness of Louis the Pious - a figure who, at least in the traditions of the Chanson de Geste, is one of the most worthless kings to ever sit upon the throne! poor Louis got character assassinated ny generations of French poets!), and one part humorous baffoon who pulls off many of his greatest feats by trickers. Monday in the evening.
as much as I loath prose translations of poetic works, I have to give credit where it is due and point out that the translators here were able to create some very readable works that flow well and seem to eqrnestly capture the spirit and meaning of the original works. Monday in the evening.
Which brings us, of course, to the Song of William - the final work in the book. oh god, I could go off for pages on this one. First there os the fact thst, apparently, it is comprises of two or more works which have been - badly - melded together. Second would be the odd tonal whiplash which the poem contains- going for mournful dirge for fallen warriors and then becomes an odd buddy comedy, before a violent-but-joyful giant shows up to save the day with his cudgel. Monday in the evening. It is a ... strange work to say the least, and even the translator seems frustrated with it by the end, judging from her footnotes. It is certainly the weakest of the four poems translated in the book.
Still, all in all, these are enjoyable translations of some od the lesser known (in the English speaking world) Chanson de Geste and I would recommend it.
Monday in the evening.
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