The Geste des Loherains and the Carolingian Annals
Herbin, Jean-Charles
The Geste des Loherains and the Carolingian Annals - 2017.
6
Time and again, the ties that connect French chansons de geste to history have been studied carefully and, in general, the conclusion has been that the poems have only had a distant relationship with the past as transmitted by texts considered historical. For Geste des Loherains, the matter seemed closed after the findings of Gaston Paris and Ferdinand Lot. Yet, if one considers episode patterns and character types, it is fairly easy to find undeniable correspondence in the poems of the Garin le Loherain, and even more of the Gerbert de Metz, with this or that episode recorded in the Carolingian annals (with the Annales de Saint-Bertin taken here as a primary reference). To cite only the most significant examples: the characters of Fromont and Fromondin are both fictional embodiments of the fiery and unfortunate Pepin II of Aquitaine; the episode in which the Saracens set fire to Bordeaux appears clearly to transpose events in the reign of Charles the Bald linked to incursions into Normandy. The approach used reveals the scholarly aspect of at least part of the Geste des Loherains.
The Geste des Loherains and the Carolingian Annals - 2017.
6
Time and again, the ties that connect French chansons de geste to history have been studied carefully and, in general, the conclusion has been that the poems have only had a distant relationship with the past as transmitted by texts considered historical. For Geste des Loherains, the matter seemed closed after the findings of Gaston Paris and Ferdinand Lot. Yet, if one considers episode patterns and character types, it is fairly easy to find undeniable correspondence in the poems of the Garin le Loherain, and even more of the Gerbert de Metz, with this or that episode recorded in the Carolingian annals (with the Annales de Saint-Bertin taken here as a primary reference). To cite only the most significant examples: the characters of Fromont and Fromondin are both fictional embodiments of the fiery and unfortunate Pepin II of Aquitaine; the episode in which the Saracens set fire to Bordeaux appears clearly to transpose events in the reign of Charles the Bald linked to incursions into Normandy. The approach used reveals the scholarly aspect of at least part of the Geste des Loherains.
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