chansons de geste
Old French epics
Chansons de geste are medieval French epic poems celebrating heroic deeds, typically of Charlemagne and his knights.
The term translates roughly as "songs of heroic acts." These narrative poems, composed between the 11th and 13th centuries, were performed by minstrels and include the famous *Chanson de Roland*.
The singular is chanson de geste.
- RolandMusic equipment brand
- CharlemagneEarly medieval Western unifier
- paladinsHeroic knightly defenders
- OliverMale given name
- assonanceVowel sound repetition
oral tradition · epic poetry · Frankish Empire · chivalry · Saracens · crusades · feudalism · national identity · quest · Arthurian legend · charge · heroic · knights · medieval · epic · verse · vassal · recitation
- French LiteratureVictor Hugo, Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Dumas, Jules Verne
- chivalric romanceknights, quests, Lancelot, chivalry, Gawain
- French folkloreGargantua, Bluebeard, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Charles Perrault
- medieval romancechivalric romance, courtly love, Arthurian legends, Arthurian legend, knightly quests
- Carolingian epicsSong of Roland, Roland, Oliver, Charlemagne, paladins
- medieval Frenchtroubadours, chevalier, chateau, seigneur, dame
literary mode
chansons de gestemock-epic
Satirical heroic style
domestic comedy · beast fable · satire · burlesque · comic romance