The Song of Roland

Iliad by Homer (8th century BC)

The Iliad is one of the oldest surviving texts in the Western canon, and serves as the model for many military epics. Like The Song of Roland, Homer’s Iliad narrates a historical war that came to define the two nations involved. Homer’s depiction of the Trojan War (13-12th century BC) set the groundwork for ancient Greek identity. Like Roland, Homer’s Iliad was intended for oral delivery; both poems use repetition and formulaic structures as memory aids.

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by The Gawain Poet (14th century)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the most studied works of chivalric literature. Originally written in Middle English by an unknown author called the “Gawain Poet,” Gawain draws inspiration from earlier French tales. Gawain places less emphasis on narratives of nationhood than The Song of Roland. Instead, the story is indicative of later romances’ attention to virtue and chivalric duty.

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“Morte d'Arthur” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1842)

Stories of medieval chivalry grew popular in England during the Victorian era.