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21st Annual Marco Symposium

“The Roland Tradition: From History to Legends, From King Charles to Stephen King“

April 10-11, 2026

The Toyota Auditorium, Howard Baker Center
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The Marco Symposium is the Institute’s premier annual event, and is held every year in March or April. The Symposium brings leading experts in their field to the University of Tennessee for two days of talks on that year’s theme, and concludes with a round-table discussion by all the participants.

This year’s Symposium celebrates the partnership between the Marco Institute and the Centre d’études supérieures de civilisation médiévale (CESCM) at the Université de Poitiers, a research institute similarly dedicated to interdisciplinary studies of Middle Ages (literature, history, art history, philosophy, musicology, archaeology, etc.)

The topic of the 21st annual Marco Symposium is The Roland Tradition: From History to Legend, From King Charles to Stephen King, organized by Pascale Drouet (Poitiers), Matthew Bryan Gillis (History), and Anne-Hélène Miller (Riggsby Director). This Symposium explores the dynamic tradition of the eponymous hero from The Song of Roland. Scholars of literature and languages, history, music, film, art history and religion examine numerous manifestations of Roland from his medieval beginnings as Charlemagne’s brave but betrayed paladin to Stephen King’s famous gunslinger, Roland Deschain, from The Dark Tower series.

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Symposium Schedule

Friday, April 10

9:15am Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:30-10:45am – Session 1

• Rachel May Golden (Musicology, University of Tennessee), “The Oliphant Reverberates: Negotiations of Sound, Time, and Place in Chanson de Roland”
• Corinne Lamour (CESCM, Université de Poitiers), “Sounding or Blowing: Physiopathological Issues in the Chanson de Roland”

11:00am-12:15pm – Session 2

• Margaux Laproye (CESCM, Université de Poitiers) “A New Judas: The Ganelon Figure, Traitor and Double Agent”
• Matthew Bryan Gillis (History, University of Tennessee), “The Battle of Roncevaux in the Karolellus, the Metrical Version of Pseudo-Turpin’s Historia Karoli Magni et Rotholandi”

1:30-2:45 – Session 3

• Alexis Minault (CESCM, Université de Poitiers) “The Epic Horizon of the Duel between Roland and Ferragut: From Visual Legend to a Process of Historicization”
• Anne-Hélène Miller (Riggsby Director, Marco Institute), “Prequels, Sequels, and Reboots of the Old French Roland in Occitan”

Saturday, April 11

9:15am Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:30-10:45am – Session 4

• Samuel Gleason (English, University of Tennessee), “Recasting Roland: The Middle English Fragment and the Epic Tradition in Late Medieval England”
• Katherine Zieman (CESCM, Université de Poitiers), “Roland in Yorkshire: Charlemagne Romances in the London Thornton Manuscript”

11:00am-12:15pm – Session 5

• Harrison Meadows (WLC Spanish, University of Tennessee), “Roland’s Asturian Foil: Staging Ibero-Carolingian Encounters in Early Modern Spanish Drama”
• Mathilde Fabre (CESCM, Université de Poitiers), “From French Chanson de Geste to English Victorian Poem: An Analogy Between The Song of Roland (11th century) and Browning’s ‘Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came’ (1855)

1:30-2:45 – Session 6

• Pascale Drouet (CESCM, Université de Poitiers), “Roland and the Epic: From Medieval Narrative to Frank Cassenti’s 1978 Screen Adaptation”
• Sarah Yancey (English, University of Tennessee) “Ka is a Wheel: The Song of Roland’s Afterlife in Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series”

3:00-4:00pm Roundtable Discussion

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Keynote Lecture

“Roland Between a Medieval Scribe and a Modern King: Medieval Holy Warrior to Modern Gunslinger”

Matthew Gabriele (Virginia Tech)

Friday, April 10, 5:30pm
Lindsay Young Auditorium, Hodges Library
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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Registration Information:

The 2026 symposium will be held in person in the Toyota Auditorium of the Howard Baker Center, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The keynote will be held in the Lindsay Young Auditorium at Hodges Library. All events are free and open to the public.

Please email marco@utk.edu with questions.

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About the annual Marco Symposium

The Marco Symposium is held every year in March or April. The Symposium brings leading experts in their field to the University of Tennessee for two days of talks on that year’s theme. A round-table discussion by all the participants concludes the weekend.

The Symposium is Marco’s signature event of the year, and typically attracts members of the larger Knoxville community in addition to students and faculty at UT and scholars from across the region. The theme of the Symposium changes each year. Faculty who are interested in submitting a proposal should contact marco@utk.edu

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