How we cite our quotes: (Stanza.Line)
Quote #10
"Even if Roland had wronged Ganelon,
The fact that he was serving you was sufficient to safeguard him!
Ganelon committed a felony because he betrayed him,
He perjured himself and broke his oath of fealty to you.
For this reason I condemn him to hang and to die." (277.3827-31)
This is Thierry speaking, the guy who fought Pinabel to the death just to prove that Ganelon should also be put to death. Although he admits that Roland might have wronged Ganelon, he argues that this is no excuse. Roland should have been protected by his position as Charlemagne's right-hand man. By the same reasoning, Ganelon should have known better than to stir up deceptive trouble because he was also in Charlemagne's service. His betrayal is both morally and legally bad: treachery against the state and against his own oath of loyalty.
Quote #11
Ganelon died as befits a dirty miscreant,
Any man who betrays another must not be allowed to brag about it. (289.3974-75)
This is probably the poet's opinion, but the way he phrases it makes it also sound like a Frankish law. According to this interpretation, the main reason to execute a traitor is to stop him from bagging. In other words, it's one thing to arrange the death of your stepson in a remote mountain pass; but it's much, much worse to brag about it later. What does this say about the values held in Frankish society?