This research seminar will offer an introduction to the Old French epic (or chanson de geste), which is one of the most productive and most influential narrative genres of medieval French literature. The first part of the seminar will be dedicated to the close reading and interpretation of the Chanson de Roland, while also introducing broader research problems related to the epic genre, such as the question of its origins, the epic style, various aspects of medium and performance (especially the key issues of oral or written transmission, improvisation vs. planned composition, and sung performance vs. reading), the role of tradition and individual authorship, the complex relation between epic and history, the use of epic in historiography, the practice of re-writing and the constitution of literary cycles. During the second half of this research seminar, students will be required to study and present selected further epic texts, concentrating on the representation of the relationship between kings and vassals and other questions of political and historical interest. They will be expected to further develop their presentations in written term papers.