No man he'ld hate so much the sky beneath;
Spurs of fine gold he pricks into his steed,
To strike that king by
virtue great goes he,
The hauberk all unfastens, breaks the
shield,
Thrusts his great spear in through the
carcass clean,
Pins it so well he shakes it in its seat,
Dead in the road he's flung it from his spear.
Looks on the ground, that glutton lying sees,
Nor leaves him yet, they say, but rather speaks:
"Culvert pagan, you lied now in your teeth,
Charles my lord our
warrant is indeed;
None of our Franks hath any mind to flee.
Your companions all on this spot we'll keep,
I tell you news; death shall ye suffer here.
Strike on, the Franks! Fail none of you at need!
Ours the first blow, to God the glory be!"
"Monjoie!" he cries, for all the camp to hear.
XCVI
And Gerins strikes Malprimis of Brigal
So his good
shield is nothing worth at all,
Shatters the boss, was fashioned of
crystal,
One half of it
downward to earth flies off;
Right to the flesh has through his hauberk torn,
On his good spear he has the
carcass caught.
And with one blow that pagan
downward falls;
The soul of him Satan away hath borne.
AOI.
XCVII
And his comrade Gerers strikes the admiral,
The
shield he breaks, the hauberk unmetals,
And his good spear drives into his vitals,
So well he's pinned him, clean through the
carcass,
Dead on the field he's flung him from his hand.
Says Oliver: "Now is our battle grand."
XCVIII
Sansun the Duke goes strike that almacour,
The
shield he breaks, with golden flowers tooled,
That good hauberk for him is nothing proof,
He's sliced the heart, the lungs and liver through,
And flung him dead, as well or ill may prove.
Says the Archbishop: "A baron's stroke, in truth."
XCIX
And Anseis has let his
charger run;
He goes to strike Turgis of Turtelus,
The
shield he breaks, its golden boss above,
The hauberk too, its doubled mail undoes,
His good spear's point into the
carcass runs,
So well he's
thrust, clean through the whole steel comes,
And from the hilt he's thrown him dead in dust.
Then says Rollant: "Great
prowess in that
thrust."
C
And Engelers the Gascoin of Burdele
Spurs on his horse, lets fall the reins as well,
He goes to strike Escremiz of Valtrene,
The
shield he breaks and shatters on his neck,
The hauberk too, he has its chinguard rent,
Between the arm-pits has pierced him through the breast,
On his spear's hilt from
saddle throws him dead;
After he says "So are you turned to hell."
AOI.
CI
And Otes strikes a pagan Estorgant
Upon the
shield, before its leathern band,
Slices it through, the white with the scarlat;
The hauberk too, has torn its folds apart,
And his good spear
thrusts clean through the
carcass,
And flings it dead, ev'n as the horse goes past;
He says: "You have no
warrant afterward."
CII
And Berenger, he strikes Estramariz,
The
shield he breaks, the hauberk tears and splits,
Thrusts his stout spear through's middle, and him flings
Down dead among a thousand Sarrazins.
Of their dozen peers ten have now been killed,
No more than two remain alive and quick,
Being Chernuble, and the count Margariz.
CIII
Margariz is a very
gallant knight,
Both fair and strong, and swift he is and light;
He spurs his horse, goes Oliver to strike,
And breaks his
shield, by th'golden
buckle bright;
Along his ribs the pagan's spear doth glide;
God's his
warrant, his body has respite,
The shaft breaks off, Oliver stays upright;
That other goes,
naught stays him in his flight,
His
trumpet sounds, rallies his tribe to fight.
CIV
Common the fight is now and marvellous.
The count Rollanz no way himself secures,
Strikes with his spear, long as the shaft endures,
By fifteen blows it is clean broken through
Then Durendal he bares, his sabre good
Spurs on his horse, is gone to strike Chemuble,
The
helmet breaks, where bright carbuncles grew,
Slices the cap and shears the locks in two,
Slices also the eyes and the features,
The hauberk white, whose mail was close of woof,
Down to the groin cuts all his body through
To the
saddle; with
beaten gold 'twas tooled.
Upon the horse that sword a moment stood,
Then sliced its spine, no join there any knew,
Dead in the field among thick grass them threw.
After he said "Culvert, false step you moved,
From Mahumet your help will not come soon.
No
victory for gluttons such as you."
CV
The count Rollanz, he canters through the field,
Holds Durendal, he well can
thrust and wield,
Right great damage he's done the Sarrazines
You'd seen them, one on other, dead in heaps,
Through all that place their blood was flowing clear!
In blood his arms were and his hauberk steeped,
And bloodied o'er, shoulders and neck, his steed.
And Oliver goes on to strike with speed;
No blame that way
deserve the dozen peers,
For all the Franks they strike and slay with heat,
Pagans are slain, some swoon there in their seats,
Says the Archbishop: "Good baronage indeed!"
"Monjoie" he cries, the call of Charles repeats.
AOI.
CVI
And Oliver has cantered through the crush;
Broken his spear, the truncheon still he
thrusts;
Going to strike a pagan Malsarun;
Flowers and gold, are on the
shield, he cuts,
Out of the head both the two eyes have burst,
And all the brains are fallen in the dust;
He flings him dead, sev'n hundred else amongst.
Then has he slain Turgin and Esturgus;
Right to the hilt, his spear in flinders flew.
Then says Rollant: "Companion, what do you?
In such a fight, there's little strength in wood,
Iron and steel should here their
valour prove.
Where is your sword, that Halteclere I knew?
Golden its hilt,
whereon a
crystal grew."
Says Oliver: "I had not, if I drew,
Time left to strike enough good blows and true."
AOI.
CVII
Then Oliver has drawn his
mighty sword
As his comrade had bidden and implored,
In
knightly wise the blade to him has shewed;
Justin he strikes, that Iron Valley's lord,
All of his head has down the middle shorn,
The
carcass sliced, the broidered sark has torn,
The good
saddle that was with old adorned,
And through the spine has sliced that pagan's horse;
Dead in the field before his feet they fall.
Says Rollant: "Now my brother I you call;
He'll love us for such blows, our Emperor."
On every side "Monjoie" you'ld hear them roar.
AOI.
CVIII
That count Gerins sate on his horse Sorel,
On Passe-Cerf was Gerers there, his friend;
They've loosed their reins, together spurred and sped,
And go to strike a pagan Timozel;
One on the
shield, on hauberk the other fell;
And their two spears went through the
carcass well,
A fallow field
amidst they've thrown him dead.
I do not know, I never heard it said
Which of the two was nimbler as they went.
Esperveris was there, son of Borel,
And him there slew Engelers of Burdel.
And the Archbishop, he slew them Siglorel,
The enchanter, who before had been in hell,
Where Jupiter bore him by a magic spell.
Then Turpin says "To us he's forfeited."
Answers Rollanz: "The culvert is bested.
Such blows, brother Olivier, I like well."
CIX
The battle grows more hard and harder yet,
Franks and pagans, with marvellous onset,
Each other strike and each himself defends.
So many shafts bloodstained and shattered,
So many flags and ensigns tattered;
So many Franks lose their young lustihead,
Who'll see no more their mothers nor their friends,
Nor hosts of France, that in the pass attend.
Charles the Great weeps
therefor with regret.
What profits that? No succour shall they get.
Evil service, that day, Guenes rendered them,
To Sarraguce going, his own to sell.
After he lost his members and his head,
In court, at Aix, to gallows-tree condemned;
And thirty more with him, of his kindred,
Were hanged, a thing they never did expect.
AOI.
CX
Now marvellous and weighty the combat,
Right well they strike, Olivier and Rollant,
A thousand blows come from the Archbishop's hand,
The dozen peers are nothing short of that,
With one
accord join battle all the Franks.
Pagans are slain by hundred, by thousand,
Who flies not then, from death has no
warrant,
Will he or nill, foregoes the allotted span.
The Franks have lost the
foremost of their band,
They'll see no more their fathers nor their clans,
Nor Charlemagne, where in the pass he stands.
Torment arose, right marvellous, in France,