Roland Short Summary:
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For seven years, the
valiant Christian king Charlemagne has made war against the Saracens in
Spain. Only one Moslem stronghold remains, the city of Saragossa, under the
rule of King Marsile and Queen Bramimonde. Marsile, certain that defeat is
inevitable, hatches a plot to rid Spain of Charlemagne. He will promise to be
Charlemagne's vassal and a Christian convert in exchange for Charlemagne's
departure. But once Charlemagne is back in France, Marsile will renege on his
promises. Charlemagne and his vassals, weary of the long war, receive
Marsile's messengers and try to choose an envoy to negotiate at Marsile's
court on Charlemagne's behalf.
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Roland, a courageous
knight and Charlemagne's right-hand man, nominates his stepfather, Ganelon.
Ganelon is enraged, thinking that Roland has nominated him for this dangerous
mission in an attempt to be rid of him for good. Ganelon has long been
jealous of Roland, and on his diplomatic mission he plots with the pagans,
telling them that they could ambush Charlemagne's rearguard as Charlemagne
leaves Spain. Roland will undoubtedly lead the rearguard, and Ganelon
promises that with Roland dead Charlemagne will lose the will to fight.
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After Ganelon returns
with assurances of Marsile's good faith, Roland, as he predicted, ends up
leading the rearguard. The twelve peers, Charlemagne's greatest and most
beloved vassals, go with him. Among them is Oliver, a wise and prudent man
and Roland's best friend. Also in the rearguard is the fiery Archbishop
Turin, a clergymen who also is a great warrior. At the pass of Rencesvals,
the twenty thousand Christians of the rearguard are ambushed by a vastly
superior force, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Oliver counsels
Roland to blow his oliphant horn, to call back Charlemagne's main force, but
Roland refuses. The Franks fight valiantly, but in the end they are killed to
the man. Roland blows his oliphant so that Charlemagne will return and avenge
them. His temples burst from the force required, and he dies soon afterward.
He dies facing the enemy's land, and his soul is escorted to heaven by saints
and angels.
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Charlemagne arrives,
and he and his men are overwhelmed with grief at the sight of the massacre.
He pursues the pagan force, aided by a miracle of God: the sun is held in
place in the sky, so that the enemy will not have cover of night. The Franks
push the Saracens into the river Ebro, where those who are not chopped to
pieces are drowned.
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Marsile has escaped and
returned to Saragossa, where the remaining Saracens are plunged into despair
by their losses. But Baligant, the incredibly powerful emir of Babylon, has
arrived to help his vassal. The emir goes to Rencesvals, where the Franks are
mourning and burying their dead. There is a terrible battle, climaxing with a
one-on-one clash between Baligant and Charlemagne. With a touch of divine
aid, Charlemagne slays Baligant, and the Saracens retreat. The Franks take
Saragossa, where the destroy all Jewish and Moslem religious items and force
the conversion of everyone in the city, with the exception of Queen
Bramimonde. Charlemagne wants her to come to Christ of her own accord. With
her captive, the Franks return to their capitol, Aix.
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Ganelon is put on trial
for treason. Pinabel, Ganelon's kinsman and a gifted speaker, nearly sways
the jury to let Ganelon go. But Thierry, a brave but physically unimposing
knight, says that Ganelon's revenge should not have been taken against a man
in Charlemagne's serve: that constitutes treason. To decide the matter,
Pinabel and Thierry fight. Though Pinabel is by far the stronger man, God
intervenes and Thierry triumphs. The Franks draw and quarter Ganelon (tie
each limb to one of four horses running in opposite directions, which tears
the victim to pieces). They also hang thirty of his kinsmen.
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Charlemagne announces
to all that Bramimonde has decided to become a Christian. Her baptism is
celebrated, and all seems well.
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But that night, the
angel Gabriel comes to Charlemagne in a dream, and tells him that he must
depart for a new war against the pagans. Weary and weeping, but fully
obedient to God, Charlemagne prepares for yet another bloody war.
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