Ganelon (US:/ˌɡænəˈloʊn/,[1]French:[ɡan(ə)lɔ̃])[needs Old French IPA] is the fictionalknight who betrayedCharlemagne's army to theSaracens in the 11th centuryMatter of France, leading to the 778Battle of Roncevaux Pass. He is based upon the historicalWenilo, thearchbishop of Sens who betrayed KingCharles the Bald in 858,[2] though it has been suggested that his name is derived from the Italian wordinganno, meaning fraud or deception.[3]
Ganelon's most famous appearance is inThe Song of Roland, where he is represented as a well-respectedFrankish baron,Roland's own stepfather and Charlemagne's brother-in-law. According to this Old Frenchchanson de geste Ganelon was married to Charlemagne's sister and had a son with her. Ganelon resents his stepson's boastfulness, great popularity among the Franks and success on the battlefield. When Roland nominates him for a dangerous mission as messenger to theSaracens, Ganelon is deeply offended and vows vengeance.
This revenge takes the form of treachery, as Ganelon plots the ambush at Roncesvals withBlancandrin. At the end, justice is served when Ganelon's comradePinabel is defeated in atrial by combat, showing that Ganelon is a traitor in the eyes of God. Ganelon istorn limb from limb by four fiery horses.
In Canto XXXII of theBook of Inferno inDante'sThe Divine Comedy, Ganelon (Ganellone) has been banished toCocytus in the depths ofhell as punishment for his betrayal to his own country in the second round of the ninth circle called Antenora.[3]
Ganelon (Italian:Gano; commonly:Gano di Pontieri, i.e. "Ganelon ofPonthieu"[3] orGano di Maganza,[4] i.e. "Ganelon ofMainz") also appears in ItalianRenaissanceepic poemromances dealing with Charlemagne, Roland (Italian:Orlando) andRenaud de Montauban (Italian:Renaldo orRinaldo), such asMatteo Maria Boiardo'sOrlando Innamorato andLuigi Pulci'sMorgante. The treachery and dishonesty of the House of Maganza became proverbial in Italy, as for example in this inscription of1472 on the wall of a castle inCanzo:Non te fidare de femina nesuna / che sono tute dela caxa de Maganza (Don't trust any woman, / for they're all from House of Mainz).[5] Lope de Vega makes an echo of this using the word "magancesa" ('from Maganza') as a synonymous of treacherous woman in his workLa bella malmaridada, v. 1450.
InDon Quixote,Cervantes wrote, "To have a bout of kicking at that traitor of a Ganelon, he [Don Quixote] would have given his housekeeper, and his niece into the bargain."
He is also mentioned in Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, both in "The Shipman's Tale", where his gruesome fate is a byword (193-94: "... God take on me vengeance/ as foul as evere hadde Genylon of France") and in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" (225: "O false assassin, lurking in thy den! O new Iscariot, new Ganelon!").