Commentaires sur des vers problématiquesdu manuscrit de Cambridge du Roland

There are three extant editions of the Cambridge version of The Song of Roland. However, only the last one – that is, the van Emden edition – has a detailed examination of verses that pose subtle difficulties. Thus, although the manuscript’s text has been established, except for a few incorrect or uncertain readings, a more comprehensive examination of the text has just begun. This paper exhaustively contemplates the nuanced interpretations, unconvincing expansions of abbreviations, lexical and morphologic problems, and linguistic particularities of the copyist of this edition. It also considers modifications of the text, interpretation of problematic verses, and editorial methodology. The aspects listed above are not rigidly categorised because every case involves several points of view. The author of this paper has almost accomplished a fresh edition of the same manuscript, Édition électronique du Roland de Cambridge, which will soon be made available. The present paper offers supplementary information for the readers of this edition.

Binômes et polynômes dans la Chançun d’Willame

"Binomials and Polynomials in the Chançun d’Willame. The paper explores binomial constructions (a common stylistic feature of all European medieval literatures) in the Old French epic poem Chançun d’Willame (c. 1200). It analyses the frequency, position, internal structure, and degree of variation of this figure in the poem’s two parts, and compares them to binomial constructions in the Song of Roland, and in romances from the same period. The paper shows that, at a micro-level, this stylistic figure is yet another feature distinguishing the two parts of the William poem. In the more archaïc part, binomials are rigid and formulaic, while in the more recent, romance-like part, they are flexible and creative. At the macro-level, binomial constructions are similarly used (often to achieve assonance) in this poem and in Roland, but differently in the romances. Binomials thus belong to the complex system of formal clues that characterise a medieval “genre”. Keywords: binomial constructions, Chançun d’Willame, medieval epic, chanson de geste, assonance "

The first records of Prince Vladimir in sources

The paper attempts to answer the question of the first records of Prince Vladimir in historical sources. Up to now it has been considered that he was first mentioned in the work "A Synopsis of Byzantine History" by John Skylitzes. However, Henri Grégoire and Raoul De Keyser indicate that the prince was mentioned in "The Song of Roland" ("La Chanson de Roland") as rei flurit, i.e., as the Blessed King. This epic originates from the spring of 1085 in Salerno, which was under the Norman rule at the time. This author agrees and supports the thesis by identifying a great number of concepts which refer to the Balkans (geographically, ethnically). It is believed that the Normans obtained information about the Balkans and Prince Vladimir while they held Dyrrhachium from 1081 to 1085.

Problèmes méthodologiques de « The Cambridge version » du Roland éditée par Wolfgang G. van Emden

Van Emden executed numerous corrections in his edition of the Cambridge version of The Song of Roland (2005). However, these amendments are often insufficiently justified and cannot stand up to a rigorous and detailed examination from the standpoint of historical linguistics. In most cases, van Emden modified the text of the manuscript in order to « restore » metrically correct verses that, to his mind, should have been included according to the model followed by the Cambridge copyist. Van Emden accomplished his stated task by simultaneously rejecting and retaining modernized forms or words. Sometimes, he substituted an archaic form or word for a modernized term, even when the former had fallen into disuse long before the time the Cambridge manuscript was redacted. This paper does not merely list such contradictory or unsuccessful amendments. Instead, it shows that a common methodological problem is present in all the problematic corrections: van Emden was not entirely aware of the stage of textual evolution that he aimed to reinstate. By contrast, the author of the present paper began elaborating the methodology for his new edition of the Cambridge manuscript with precisely this question.