Occitan chanson de geste of the second half of the 12th c., closely related to the Northern French Girart de Vienne. Its 10, 000 lines result from several stages of composition, but the poem we have is the work of a superb poet who paints a sombre view of political and moral disintegration in the prolonged warfare between Charles Martel and his vassal Girart. Initially motivated by sexual jealousy and territorial rivalry, their struggle raises the question of how far it is possible for human social and legal institutions ever to conform to God's will. The text is remarkable for its many long council scenes in which action, the ‘proper’ content of a chanson de geste, gives way to debate and commentary of a very high order. The final solution also comes from outside the epic domain of masculine action and politics: Girart abandons warfare under the guidance of his wife, Berte, and collaborates with her in the foundation of the church at Vézelay.

[Sarah Kay]

The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. Copyright © 1995, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.