Historical Figures Codexery

Roland

Frankish commander whose death inspired epic tales of chivalry.

Roland

Archimatth · via Wikipedia: Roland · CC BY-SA 4.0

The only historical mention of Roland is in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, where he is called Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus.[1] He was a Frankish prefect killed at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.[1] The English expression "to give a Roland for an Oliver" recalls his companion Oliver from the Chanson de Roland.[2]

Quick Facts

Died
15 August 778
Burial place
Blaye
Allegiance
Frankish

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Einhard refers to Roland as Hruodlandus, the earliest Latinised form of his Frankish name Hruodland.[1] In Basque tradition, Errolan appears in legends as a mighty giant capable of launching huge stones.[3] In Chapter 9 of that same work, the name Hroudlandus appears among those who died at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.[1] In Catalan tradition, the figure of Roland is known as Rotllà and is depicted as a giant.[3]

Linguist Koldo Mitxelena traced the Basque word erraldoi (meaning giant) back to the name Errol(d)an.[3]

What the cited sources add

The book was published by Cultura Acadêmica Editora and Instituto Martius-Staden in 2008.[4] German immigrants, many fleeing Nazi Germany, founded that city and chose its name to symbolize freedom, as recorded in the same 2008 work.[5][4]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Roland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hruodlandus is the earliest Latinised form of his Frankish name Hruodland. It was later Latinised as Rolandus and has been translated into many languages for li (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Roland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary", Clarendon Press, 1993, p. 2618 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Roland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mintzoaren memoria", El País, 13 September 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Open Library record, ISBN 9788598605272 ("Roland und Rolândia im Nordosten von Paraná"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Roland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Roland und Rolândia im Nordosten von Paranà: Gründungs- und Frühgeschichte einer deutschen Kolonie in Brasilien (1932– 1944/45)", Cultura Acadêmica, 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Roland (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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