Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 97
83
The versions of the Chanson de Roland can be divided into two groups,
one group consisting of O alone, the other of all the other MSS and the
foreign translations. O is generally shorter than the other versions, and
in a number of cases O has the laisses in a different order. The other
versions differ among themselves on certain points, too, but these differ-
ences are of minor importance. The German scholar Theodor Muller, in
his edition of the poem in 1863, discussed the differences between the
versions, and he concluded that in most cases O represented the original
Chanson de Roland, and all the other versions were based on a remanie-
ment. His conclusions were challenged by his countrymen Foerster and
Stengel, who maintained that O and V4 contained mistakes which were
not found in the other versions, and that consequently, the version rimée,
the foreign translations, and OV4 were all descended from a common
source, and that they were independent of each other. According to this
system, it ought to be possible to reconstruct the original poem, but
unfortunately, the “reconstructions” did not agree with each other. At
the beginning of this century Miiller’s old theory was revived by F. B.
Luquiens, and, above all, by Bédier19, and it is now accepted by practi-
cally all scholars. According to this system, we have, essentially, two
versions of the poem, O and a, from the second of which are descended
all the later MSS and versions:
Original poem
V4 version rimée the foreign versions
I
I I
CV7 PLT
It is unfortunate that we have no really good MS of the assonanced
version represented by V4, as this would have made the comparison be-
ding en Aanteekeningen (Kon. vlaamsche Academie voor taal- en letterkunde. Ver-
slagen en Mededeelingen, Febr. 1935, Gent, 1935). The Middle English poem was
published by Sidney J. Herrtage in: The English Charlemagne Romances, Part 2
(Early English Text Society, Extra Series, vol. 35, London 1880).
“ Cp. the survey in J. Bédier: La Chanson de Roland, vol. II, Commentaires (2nd
ed. Paris 1927), pp. 83-92, and his “14 points”, pp. 93-125.
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