ABSTRACT
In most works, William is the brother-in-law and protector of Charlemagne’s ungrateful son Louis, though in some non-French texts (e.g. the “Nota Emilianense” and the K-saga), he is presented as one of Charlemagne’s peers. The William legend may even be a conflation of stories surrounding 2 different men named William. (See, for example, Colby-Hall, item 1814). The Chanson de Guillaume occupies a unique place in the William cycle: it recounts the same events as 2 poems from the cyclic mss., Le Chevalerie Vivien and Aliscans, and many scholars believe it preserves an archaic version of these stories.
