The place of the Chanson de Guillaume in the development of the epic traditions that
make up the Guillaume d’Orange Cycle is important. This poem gives evidence of the
mingling of historical traditions relative to Guillaume de Toulouse—e.g., the allusion to
the glorious defeat on the Orbieu River in 793—and to his son Bernard of Septimania,
nicknamed Naso, with traditions concerning Count Vivien of Tours, lay abbot of Saint-
Martin, who died in 851, a victim of betrayal. It is thus at the origin of the cyclic
expansion that was to give birth to poems about Vivien and his death at Archamp or
Aliscans (Enfances Vivien, Chevalerie Vivien, Aliscans). Traditions relative to Orange,
the third element in the makeup of the epic character of Guillaume, are likewise present,
but as a subtext: it is only in the later part of the poem (G^2 ) that Orange is substituted for
Barcelona as the hero’s capital.
The extant version (ca. 1150–75) comprises two parts of different date and
provenance. Lines 1–1,980 (known as G^1 ) might have been composed before 1100.
Vivien, Guillaume’s nephew, is involved in spite of himself in an unequal. battle; his
courage inspires the Christian forces, but he is overwhelmed and killed (1–930). A
messenger from Vivien reaches Guillaume in Barcelona, and he hastens to the battlefield
of Archamp, where he, too, is defeated; he returns to Barcelona with the body of another
nephew, Guischard (931–1, 228). Guibourc, Guillaume’s wife, comforts the hero and
encourages him to return to battle, hiding the defeat from the vassals she gathers for the
counterattack. All the Frenchmen are killed or captured in this third battle, except
Guillaume and his young nephew, Gui; the hero does manage to kill the pagan leader,
Desramé (1,229–980).
In the second and later part (G^2 ), which is frequently in contradiction with the first,
Guillaume continues the fight until he kills a second pagan king, Alderufe, while Gui is
captured. Guillaume finds Vivien still alive, comforts him as he dies, and then returns to
Orange, which is now his capital (1,981–2,213). He announces the new disaster to
Guibourc, who urges him to seek help from King Louis (2,214–453). At Laon, Guillaume
is initially put off by the king, but his men convince the sovereign while the hero secures
the help of the young and powerful Rainouart (2,454–928). Count Guillaume leads his
forces to Archamp, where, thanks to Rainouart’s extraordinary strength, the prisoners are
freed and the Saracens wiped out. Guibourc recognizes Rainouart as her brother, and he
is baptized and married to Ermentrude (2,454–3,554).
The primitive nature of lines 1–1,980 is certain; they use the epithet “crooked nose”
(al corb nés) for Guillaume, draw on the tradition of the siege of Orange, and depict
Guillaume’s association with Barcelona, a reminiscence of the participation of Guillaume
de Toulouse in the conquest of the Spanish March; a refrain of remarkable intensity
(Lunsdi al vespre, Joesdi al vespre, Lores fu mecresdi) punctuates the action. It makes
Vivien an emblem of heroic virtue, whence his authority in the vacuum left when the
traditional baronial prerogatives were mocked by Tiébaut and Estourmi.
The character of the second part is fundamentally different, notably in the appearance
of Rainouart, who, in heroic-comic vein, nearly supplants Guillaume as hero. It is
perhaps the reworking of a poem conceived as a continuation of G^1 , a poem that might
have been the model for both G^2 and Aliscans. Nonetheless, certain scenes are
esthetically powerful, such as that at the gate of Orange in which Guibourc rejects her
threatened and fleeing husband until, by his valor, he is able to prove his identity.
Furthermore, one must question whether the Chanson de Guillaume can be considered
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