 The extant poem comprises roughly 8,542 decasyllable verses (depending on the edition and corrections made for missing material; here, the Kibler edition is referenced), of which the first 5,373 are grouped into rhymed laisses, while the remaining verses are grouped into assonanced laisses.While the section with assonance would typically be considered the older of the two sections, it appears from the romantic elements of this section that the assonance section is in fact of a later date, perhaps written by a poet desiring an archaic tone.The existing 13th century (composed c. 1200 ) epic appears to have been composed in three different stages