Charroi de Nîmes, Le. Chanson de geste of the Cycle de Guillaume, probably composed in the 1150s or 1160s to provide a bridge between Le Couronnement de Louis and La Prise d'Orange. The first 600 lines present a confrontation between Guillaume and the emperor Louis, provoked by the latter's failure to grant his most faithful vassal a fief. Lines 783-1485 relate the expedition to Nîmes as a swashbuckling adventure, borrowing its central motif (the hero disguised as merchant with an army hidden in barrels) from a folk-tale akin to Ali Baba. With his clumsy power, mighty punch, and hearty laugh, Guillaume is also assimilated to folk-tale giants.
[Philip Bennett]
