There is no evidence pointing at the real author of The Song of Roland. However, there are a few suggestions. The name “Turold” is mentioned at the very end of the poem and supposedly belonged to a Norman poet. Still, there are many arguments regarding this question, and, for now, the poetry is considered to be anonymous.
The Song of Roland was presumably created around the year 1100. However, there is so little known about its origin that it is even hard to name the author. One of the most common views is that Turold should take the credit since his name appears in the poem’s last line. In defense of this theory, the same occurrence was found in another literary piece. However, it is too little evidence to claim that his Norman poet was the author.
Some say that William the Conqueror‘s jongleur, Taillefer, might have been the creator of this masterpiece. Nevertheless, it is more likely that he was just one of the many admirers of the poem and was simply sharing it with others. The tradition was popular at the time for such travelers to sing for the crowds’ entertainment. Even though there are written manuscripts with The Song of Roland’s plot, it became famous thanks to jongleurs. We cannot even tell for sure if the written form of it kept its original text or not. However, it is safe to say that whether Turold was the author or just a translator, he did a great job creating such an impressive style and coherence for the poem.
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