Epic French Poem: Oldest Major Work of French Literature

We have been reading a really good book about French culture called French or Foe?. One paragraph stuck out to us yesterday, a paragraph about honor and a literary piece as iconic for French speakers as Shakespeare's pieces for English speakers:

French people are concerned about personal honor, the honor of France, and the honor of their family and friends, and of their long-term customers. School children are taught all of these different, separate, vital kinds of honor in the Chanson de Roland, an epic poem about Roland, one of Charlemagne's heroic soldiers. It was written down in the 12th century about a battle in the 9th century. Yes. We're talking about a 1,000-year tradition of honneur.

The poem itself is long, but we have begun reading it (an English translation for now)!  The style of writing has similarities to Milton's Paradise Lost!