The Song of Roland

Tom: It was a long time ago, Savoy. Twelve hundred years or so. The emperor Charlemagne had been campaigning in Spain, which was in Saracen hands. He won a lot of big victories. But on the way home, his rear guard was attacked at Roncevaux Pass and wiped out to a man. Someone wrote a song about it, and it hit the top of the charts. That's why this place was on the map. Not because of the battle, but because someone told the story of the battle.

- The Unwritten #6

by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Tom: If it even happened.
Savoy: Wikipedia doesn't lie, Tom.
Tom: The point is, nobody knows. They only know what's in the poem. The Song of Roland. The song was like medieval viral marketing. It spread across Europe, and stirred up anti-Muslim feeling wherever it was sung. French kings led army after army into Spain to make it Christian again. Partly because that song kept the old wounds open and hurting.

- The Unwritten #7

by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Tom: Savoy, just listen, okay? There never was any young, heroic Sir Roland. There was a fat, middle-aged baron named Hruodland who got shot off his horse in some stupid border skirmish. The rest is just the usual patriotic bulls--t. Great poetry, but still--bulls--t.

- The Unwritten #9

by Mike Carey and Peter Gross