The Best Translation of The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland was written in Old French. 2 recommended editions, ranked — with Gröblé’s verdict on which to read first.
Glyn Burgess
Penguin Classics · 1990 · 224 pages
Burgess gives you the poem's martial energy in clean prose, no fake-medieval gloss layered on top. His intro on Charlemagne's actual campaign and the chanson de geste tradition is the best short primer in print.
Every recommended edition, compared
Sayers (the same Dorothy L. Sayers who wrote the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries) translates in assonanced verse and lets Roland sound like a warrior bragging about his own death. Takes liberties, but the rhythm carries.
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Reading The Song of Roland in translation
The Song of Roland was written in Old French, so unless you read Old French, the translator decides the book you actually experience — its register, its pace, how it sounds read aloud. Two editions of the same work can feel like different books.
The ranking above is Gröblé’s: one reader’s verdict on which English gets you closest, not a publisher’s blurb. Start with the top pick; reach for the others when you want a different angle on the original.