Word Study
chanson de geste
CIDE DICTIONARY
chanson de geste, [F., prop., song of history.].
Any Old French epic poem having for its subject events or exploits of early French history, real or legendary, and written originally in assonant verse of ten or twelve syllables. The most famous one is the Chanson de Roland .
"Langtoft had written in the ordinary measure of the later chansons de geste." [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
chanson de geste, n. (pl. chansons pronunc. same) any of a group of medieval French epic poems.
Etymology
F, = song of heroic deeds
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