¶ … Song of Roland essentially functions as folklore, which lionizes and creates legends of the works and characters of Charlemagne the Great and his men. The author of this epic poem is unknown, as is the exact date in which it was written. It is commonly believed to have been written in the 12th century. The poem's central action utilizes elements of the history of Charlemagne and his Muslim enemies quite loosely. It takes certain historical events and effectively distorts them for the author's own purpose, which is linked to the encouragement of the spread of Christianity. However, many of the major events depicted within this work actually took place. How and why they did, as well as the intimacy of details that poem supplies by effectively flushing out those particulars, is largely fictional and merely helps to spread the legend of Charlemagne, his men, and the perceived greatness of Christianity. The particular date in which this epic poem was conceived is highly significant to its content. The beginning of the 12 century marks an important date in conventional European Christianity, because it marks the launching point of the Crusades. The Crusades were decades-long struggles of Europeans to overtake areas of Europe and other territory deemed the Holy Land from the grips of Muslims. Crusaders -- warriors, barbarians, and a select few actual religious believers -- really used this movement as an excuse to...

In this respect, this epic poem functions as a means of propaganda for the Crusades. It easily polarizes good and evil -- everything that Charlemagne or any Christian does within this poem (except for maybe the treacherous actions of Ganelon) are deemed wonderful works of God, while actions on the part of Muslims are ultimately utterly unspeakably evil. The significance, then, was to present the defeat at Roncesvals and other aspects of this poem as both motivation and justification for the Crusades.
The Song of Roland begins with the Franks, led by Charlemagne, engaged in a war campaign ins Spain, which at the time was occupied by the Moors who were predominantly Muslim. The king of the Muslims in Spain is named Marsilla -- he wants to surrender and one of Charlemagne's men must go to his fortress to accept the terms of peace. Ganelon is elected to do so by Roland; the former believes the latter nominated him so that he might be killed by the Moors there. As a means of exacting revenge, Ganelon tells the Muslims how to ambush Charlemagne's army when they return to France. The ambush (which takes place at Roncesvals) is a huge success and the entire rear component of Charlemagne's army (including archbishop Turpin, Oliver, and Roland) are murdered. A neighboring Muslim king (Balignant )comes to battle…