La Chanson de Roland is a heroic ballad written in the style of a chanson de geste, which was a popular way to recount tales of heroism between the 11th and 15th centuries. It is a recounting of the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. The story is written as a song, and for much of its early life the tale was told and passed on verbally. Because of this, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact date of composition. However, based on the oldest surviving written versions of the text, we can assume that it was written sometime before 1040 and 1115.
It was hugely popular across all of France and much of the rest of Europe. Some scholars believe that it is even linked to the First Crusades, and that the Crusaders borrowed a phrase from the text in order to provide a name to their enemy: “d’oltre mer” or “l’oltremarin,” meaning “the other side of the sea.” In La Chanson this phrase refers to the Muslims, France’s adversary, but some scholars say that it was used by the Crusaders in reference to Palestine. La Chanson de Roland was extremely influential in its time, and had a lasting effect on future French literature.