116 



F. B. Luquieus, 



shows a ling-uistic peculiarit}" which has led various scholars to 

 consider at least a part of it as an interpolation. ^ The third pas- 

 sage, vv. 3695—3704, is in a strqphe which was surely retouched 

 by the interpolator of the Baligant Episode. All three, then, ma}' 

 be plausibly attributed to copyists. 



The Oxford manuscript also possesses emphasis. The various 

 chapters — if we may use this term — into which the poem naturall)' 

 separates, are proportioned as to both length and intensit}'. hi this 

 latter respect O is especially artistic. The successive chapters are 

 like waves, each one beginning slowl}', then accumulating more 

 and more force and altitude, finally breaking with a crash ; for a 

 time these waves, as of an incoming tide, rise ever higher ; that 

 of the climactic chapter is the highest ; then, the tide of the action 

 having turned, the}' break lower, more softly.''^ hi short, emphasis 

 is obtained by both horizontal and vertical proportion. 



So much for the cardinal technical virtues of the Oxford manu- 

 script. Minor virtues are not wanting. For example, symmetry is 



1 Cf. Miiller's edition of the Roland (1878), p. 133; and SclioUe, Zcft- 

 schrift f. rovian. Philol.^ i, 27, Note 4. 



- Tlie artistry of the intensity-proportions can be fnlly realized only 

 by those who read the poem from beginning to end. The artistry of 

 the length-proportions can be shown in the form of a synoptic table. 

 In the following table we present the substance of each of the chapters 

 into which the poem naturally separates, in the form of a title. 



Number of Lines Final Line 



Introduction 9 



I. The Council of Marsila 86 



II. The Quarrel of Roland and Ganelon . 270 



III. The Treachery 294 



IV. The Rearguard 180 



V. Before the Battle 347 



VI. The First Encounter 249 



VII. The Second Encounter 252 



VIII. The Horn 161 



IX. The Last Stand 



X. The Punishment of the Paynims 



XI. Aude ' . . 



XII. The Punishment of Ganelon . . 

 Conclusion 



545 

 251 



29 

 240 



14 



9 



95 



365 



660 



840 



1187 



1437 



1690 



1850 



2396 



3704 



3733 



3974 



4002 



Total .... 2927 



Since is sometimes uncertain in its lineation, I have used Grober's 

 edition for the above calculations. 



