Elye of Saint Gilles: A Chanson de Geste Retold

By J. Aaron Gruben

A dwarven outcast, a passionate princess, a haughty horse, and a knight far from home…

Young Elye of Saint Gilles is whisked away from his home by Saracen invaders, mere hours after becoming a knight. But the king who kidnapped this bold, Frankish warrior soon regrets it! Aided by unexpected friends, Elye's exploits in the colorful lands of Outremer are filled with humor and high adventure, culminating in a surprising conclusion you won't soon forget.

Dive into these pages to rediscover a long-lost heroic tale that real knights once delighted in, originally sung by 13th century troubadours to entertain nobles and teach chivalry. Retold as never before, this wonderful story is written for young readers in a whimsical yet edifying style, with original characters and plot intact. It is adorned with illustrations by the author, features six original songs, and includes historical footnotes and appendices!

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Aaron Gruben
• Release date: May 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223166788

J. Aaron Gruben

J. Aaron Gruben grew up in the Southwest and currently lives in Texas with his wife and six children. He works full time as a veterinarian. He has been writing over 20 years and is the author of works of varied genres. An article about the Crusades inspired him to start writing historically accurate stories – especially on topics that have become either distorted by political or social bias or have been forgotten by today’s general public. When not writing or repairing sick animals, Aaron enjoys reading, hiking, dancing with toddlers, yodeling, playing board games, and playing a variety of musical instruments. He travels to conventions with his publishing company, Post Tenebras Lux Books, which strives to improve lives and revitalize old truths through quality Christian stories and studies. Follow him on Facebook and his blog to keep up with new projects and random thoughts.

Book preview

Also By J. Aaron Gruben

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Crescent Tides

Fatal Fogs

The Medieval Muddles

Juvament!: A Mythical Mess

The Mubblefubbles: A Toothy Tangle

Chivalry School Studies

Chivalry: An Ancient Code for Our Time

(A study for high school students to adults)

Chivalry: A Study for Little Knights

Veterinary Books

Fuzzy Logic: How to Think Like a Veterinarian

Fuzzy Logic 2: How to Keep Thinking Like a Veterinarian

A Theology of Beasts: Christians and Veterinary Medicine

Animal Anatomy Coloring and Activity Books (Canine & Feline)

Bible Study

King: A Christian’s Call to Imitate Christ’s Kingship

Children’s Books

Heaps of Hobs: A Fun-Filled Fable in Old English Verse (Picture Book)

Copyright © 2023  J. Aaron Gruben

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition, 2023

Paperback ISBN 978-1-955639-09-5

The Carolingian map is public domain. Every effort has been made to attribute correctly all the material reproduced in this book.

Cover illustration & design: Patience Parks-Young, www.pllarimer.com

Dinkus design & illustration: Garrett Larimer

Interior illustrations: J. Aaron Gruben

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Characters

Introduction

Chivalry

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Appendix A: Pronunciation Guide

Appendix B: The Banners

Appendix C: Chivalry in Elye

Appendix D: Study Questions

Appendix E: Three Verses to Remember

Appendix F: The Songs

Characters

Caïfas, a Saracen prince, Rosamonde’s brother.

Elye of Saint Gilles, a new knight, son of Julien.

Galopin d’Ardane, a dwarf, master thief, and vassal of Elye.

Godfrey d’Bouillon, a friend of Elye’s family. In history, Godfrey was a ruler from Lorraine, a major hero of the First Crusade, and the first rule of Outremer (the kingdom of Jerusalem).

Guillaume d’Orange, Elye’s uncle. In history, Guillaume was a Marquis in southern France, famous for his battles against Saracens, and was the hero of his own set of chanson stories.

Joshua, a Saracen prince, Rosamonde’s brother.

Julien of St Gilles, duke of St Gilles, Elye’s father, a vassal of Guillaume.

Louis I the Pious, king of the Franks and friend of Elye’s family. In history, Louis was the fourth son of Charlemagne and co-ruled with his father before taking his place as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Lubien of the Iron-Gray Beard, Saracen emir of Baghdad.

Macabre, Saracen emir of Sorbrie and father of Rosamonde.

Malpriant, a Saracen prince, Rosamonde’s brother.

Marchegai (Prinsaut the Aragonese), proud warhorse.

Rosamonde, a beautiful Saracen princess, daughter of Macabre.

Introduction

Confession time. I stole this story. The guy I took it from has been dead at least a thousand years, and that was before copyrights, so it should be alright. This, you see, is a retelling of an old French poem from the 13th (or maybe the 12th) century. That means it was recorded on paper sometime in the 1200s or 1100s.

Now, don’t say, Yuck! I hate poetry! and go find a comic book just yet, because this is a retelling of a French chanson de geste: which means it is an adventure story, full of fighting and excitement in strange lands with swords and stuff. The chansons de geste were a series of epic stories about knights and their adventures, composed and sung by bards in Medieval France at first, then eventually written down.

Medieval means the time of knights, after the Romans had gone away, and sometimes we say the Middle Ages to mean the same thing. Singing poems is how people in medieval times had fun. Today we like our epic Hollywood blockbusters. Back then, dudes in brightly colored pants sang the action movies for people in castles. And just like action movies now, the chansons were wildly popular, even beyond the walls of the rich folk’s castles. They were enjoyed by kids and adults in town squares, at banquets, and were even approved by the church. There are around 80 of these chansons de geste that we know of today.

Somewhere near the 13th century (in history-speak this means the 1200s, since historians don’t like things to be too simple), an old French bard (they called them jongleurs) with colorful pants from Champagne, named Bartrand de Bar-sur-Aube organized the chansons into cycles. Each cycle centered on a particular family—meaning they were about a knight and his relatives. Elye is part of a 24-poem cycle revolving around a knight named William of Orange. In the old French language he was called Guillaume, and was probably a perfectly normal color, not orange at all. William was a French nobleman called a marquis, and a famous champion of Christendom against Saracens in southern Spain. Christendom is the name medieval people would use for the Christian countries (like England, France, Germany, and Byzantium). The most important part of Christendom to the first audience of the chansons would have been France, since they were created and sung in north France.

The story is set in the Carolingian Age. That’s the fancy historian name for 751 to 987 when an important emperor named Charlemagne and his sons ruled the Holy Roman Empire (a sizeable chunk of Christendom centered in France and Germany). It was named after Charlemagne’s family, who were called the Carolingians. Many chansons de geste tell stories of Charlemagne and his 12 knightly peers—legendary figures with fantastic adventures I find more exciting than those of King Arthur’s knights. The people in Charlemagne’s empire were called Franks, not because they liked hot dogs or because they were all named Frank, but because they had descended from a tribe with that name long before. Elye’s story takes place in the reign of Louis the Pious, who was Charlemagne’s son, and ruled with him for a bit before getting to rule on his own.

Saracen was a general term medieval people used for people from Muslim countries (like Arabia, Turkey, and most of Spain). The Muslim religion, called Islam, was started in Arabia by a prophet named Muhammed, who claimed an angel told him about it in 610 AD. Islam spread to other countries like Turkey and North Africa and Spain over the following years, often through war and force. Charlemagne’s grandaddy, a guy named Charles Martel (Martel means the hammer, which is a very cool nickname), got together an army and stopped the Muslims from invading France after they’d taken over Spain: and Christendom had been nervous about those Saracens ever since. Many years later, when a group of slave soldiers called Turks rebelled against their Arab masters and took over Jerusalem (and were not nearly as nice to Christian pilgrims) the Crusades started. Those were wars fought between Christian and Muslim soldiers throughout the Middle Ages over control of Jerusalem, a city holy to both religions. Many of the chansons are about knights from Christian countries who interact with Muslim knights, often in the Crusades.

It’s sad to find these epic tales forgotten because they’re fun! You would have a hard time today finding more than a handful of the chansons translated into modern English. Perhaps the only one you’ve heard of is The Chanson de Roland.

You can learn some really great things from the chansons also! The code of chivalry, which is the creed of Christian knighthood, shines in many places through these old tales. In fact, teaching concepts of chivalry was one of the major purposes of the old chansons.

I’m thrilled to do my part in bringing back one of these old tales. I’ve completely rewritten the words of Elye of Saint Gilles in my own frivolous style. But I’ve tried to keep the characters and events (and the essence of the wording) true to the original tale. So what you read here is essentially the same story a kid in the 1200s would have heard.  

Enjoy!

HEADS UP! There are important extra bits in the appendices at the back of this book:

➔  Pronunciation Guide. There’s a guide in Appendix A to help as you read unfamiliar names and places.

➔  For Fun. The banners drawn at the start of each chapter bear real heraldic symbols from the Middle Ages. Appendix B includes a list of their meanings. Can you guess any before you look them up?

➔  Questions to make you think. Each chapter contains several further study questions in Appendix C.

➔  CHALLENGE. As you read about Elye and his friends, see how many references to specific commandments of chivalry you can find in the story. (There is a list in Appendix D.)

➔  Songs! As a reminder that this was originally a song sung by bards, I’ve composed a few songs sung by the characters. They are in Appendix F for you to try.

Chivalry

Elye of Saint Gilles, like all the original chansons de geste, was used in medieval times to reinforce ideas of chivalry. Chivalry was the warrior code of the knights and the creed they lived by. Many years after the chansons were sung, another French guy, a professor with a big beard named Leon Gautier[1] condensed these ideas of chivalry into Ten Commandments to make them easier to follow and understand. See if you can spot them in the story as you read!  

The Ten Commandments of Chivalry

(Reworded slightly)

You shall believe and obey the Bible, and shall devote yourself to Christ.

You shall defend the church.

You shall be gentle to those weaker than you, and become their selfless defender wherever you find them.

You shall love your country.

You shall not recoil before the enemy.

You shall make ceaseless war against the enemies of Truth, and relentlessly work to take the gates of hell by storm.

You shall faithfully perform your responsibilities and shall honor all your commitments.

You shall be honest and keep your word.

You shall be generous, and give largesse to everyone.

You shall always be the champion of the right and the good, and oppose injustice and evil whenever and wherever you find it.

1

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Remember Appendix B in the back has information about the flag designs

All Elye[2] ever wanted was to become a knight. He’d been prepared since he was a baby to be a knight. He’d grown up hearing stories of chivalric knight-heroes and longed to do chivalric deeds of his own. And that’s why it surprised him when knighthood was handed to him because of an argument.

Elye lived in a castle near the French town of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard.[3] He was the son of a duke named Julien of Saint Gilles, who did homage to Guillaume of Orange, who ruled as count in the Spanish Marches—and who also happened to be his brother. Homage means that Julien promised to serve Guillaume, and Guillaume gave him land. Guillaume, in turn, served King Louis the Pious, who was a son of the great Charlemagne. At this time, Louis ruled France while his father Charlemagne held court at the shining city of Aachen, and his father’s 12 mighty peers went out to do great deeds of chivalry throughout the realms. It was a time historians call the Carolingian Age, named for Charlemagne’s family.

But back to Elye. At the time this tale opened, he’d barely blossomed out of the flower of his boyhood and was thrilled to have sprouted his first clumpy bit of facial hair (a beard in those days was a very important sign of passing into manhood). Elye was as strong as an ox, and unfortunately about as clever as one. Yet what mattered most was that he bore within him a noble heart: a heart that cared about God’s glory, his fellow human beings, and the honor of his family.

Elye’s father was a stern man, as those hard days tended to make fathers. The duke nearly broke the heart of this comely and hulky son one day at dinner, as they sat in the enormous hall of their castle.

Look at you, boy! Old Julien’s tongue almost dripped with ill will. "You’re a comely hulk of a fellow; yet you sit around all day and munch my partridge and sip my mulled wine: you never go out and do great deeds! When I was your age, I’d done mighty feats of conquests and wrung these lands from others with my manly arm and silver tongue and built this castle with the sweat of my peasants. Tell me