DESCRIPTION:
A Norwegian retelling of the famous Song of Roland, a medieval French epic or chanson de geste written down around the 12th century AD. The epic poem itself is based on the defeat of Charlemagne's rear guard as his army returned from Moorish Spain in 778. It has since, however, become unrecognizably embellished as the story continued to grow in popularity.

This version is performed by the Mediaeval Trio, and can be found on Amazon, along with a wonderful collection of other Norwegian songs on their album "Folk songs", whose link I have included below:

http://www.amazon.com/Trio-Mediaeval-Folk-Songs/dp/B000UVRL7O

Vocals: Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Torunn Østrem Ossum
Percussion: Birger Mistereggen

The original text is in Norwegian: (English translation by Andrew Smith)

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Seks mine sveinar heime vera
Og gjøyme det gullet balde;
Dei andre seks på heidningslando
Gjøyme dei jarni kalde.

Ria dei ut or Franklandet
Med dyre dros i sadel.
Blæs i luren, Olifant,
På Ronsarvollen.

Slogest dei ut på Ronsarvollen
I dagane två og trio;
Då fekk'kje soli skine bjart
For røykjen av manneblodet.

Ria dei ut or Franklandet...

Roland sette luren for blodiga mundi
Blæs han i med vreide.
Då rivna jord og jardarstein
I trio døger av leide.

Ria dei ut or Franklandet...

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Six men stayed behind
To guard their gold;
The other six in heathen lands
Brandished cold steel.

They rode out of Frankish lands
With spoils in their saddles.
Blow your horn, Olifant,
At Roncevaux.

They fought at Roncevaux
For two days, if not three;
And the sun could not shine clear
Through the stench of men's blood.

They rode out of Frankish lands...

Roland placed the horn to his bloodied mouth
And blew with all his might.
The earth shook and mountains resounded
For three days and nights.

They rode out of Frankish lands...

-----------------

For the high and late medieval depictions of the Battle of Roncevaux and the Song of Roland, the following site does a great job in collecting a large number of images, each organized according to scene:

http://lachansonderoland.d-t-x.com/pages/iconographie00A.html

Thank you,
Rex Falsus

Disclaimer: All the music and images in this video belong to their rightful owners and creators, to whom all credit goes. I am not making a profit from this video, but intend it purely for educational purposes and to expose more people to these wonderful works. I do not intend any copyright infringement and will gladly remove this video if asked to.