Tales about heroes continue to exert an unbroken power of fascination in our supposedly post-heroic or "deheroized" age. The numerous publications of new as well as the reprint of old German-language collections of sagas show that authors and publishers are reacting to a current and sustained interest in heroic material. Mainly old legends about ancient and medieval heroes or gods are adapted as retellings for children and young people according to their age. The medieval Roland legend is one of the most frequently received old fabrics. The first part of the present work therefore forms a comparative analysis of selected German-language reception texts of the Roland saga with the medieval sources, the Middle High German "Rolandslied" by Pfaffen Konrad, the anonymous old French "Chanson de Roland" and Stricker's "Karl", with the focus on the conception of the hero and protagonist Roland lies. In a second part, completed and tried-and-tested lesson plans for the "Roland song" are presented. |