Qualities of a Knight from the Song of Roland Assignment

Name:
Instructor:
Institution:
Song of Roland
Date:
Qualities of a Knight from the Song of Roland
The Song of Roland highlights the basic requirements for one to be a knight. These are particularly the qualities that a knight is expected to have. The Song of Roland, in its lexical interpretation, is a narration of the epic events that took place in Spain, when the Franks engaged in battle against the Muslim forces. It is more of an epic poem, which basically draws out the events that took place in the course of the war, particularly in praise of the knights. In the message of the poem, King Charlemagne’s close associate and knight in the Frankish army, Roland, who suggests that his stepdad becomes the servant of the Muslim king.
A knight was expected to possess unbowed loyalty to their leader, the king. This is evident from the statement by Roland that ‘…a man should suffer hardships for his lord…a man should lose, if need be, flesh and blood…’ (86). He says these words while he prepares for the battle. Knights are expected to be brave, to fight with bravery, whether they are with their mates or alone. Roland clearly depicts this when he states that ‘… I'd much prefer to die than to come to shame, for fighting well, the emperor will love us…’ (85). Bravery was a very honorable value, which every soldier wished to have.
In spite of all the façade of bravery and bare-knuckle ferocity, knights were supposed to display a softer side; that of being compassionate. It is this softer side of the knights that made them formidable as an army. Roland wept for his colleagues who had been killed in the war, gently praying for the...