THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE - outriders poetry project

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© 2009 Max Wickert
womb. In God’s name, take off your helmet, so that I may look upon you for a little while.” Turpin
doffed his helmet and the Pope dubbed him Knight of God; he also had a charter drawn up
granting Turpin’s conditions. Then he gave him the holy cross, along with five hundred armed
knights. With that honor guard, Turpin rode toward Ogier the Dane’s banners.
The Three Saints
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As Turpin rode along, the whole army did reverence to the cross, dismounting from their horses.
After Turpin reached Ogier’s and Roland’s division, they moved on for a short distance until they
reached a hillside from which they could see the Saracens coming and halted. Roland and his four
thousand were at their head.
As their banners came to rest, three knights appeared in the plain, with shining white surcoats over
their armor. None knew who they were. (As our history recounts, these were three saints,
miraculously sent by God for the defense of the Christian faith.) When Ogier saw these three
knights, he rode toward them and asked whether they were French or English. The first replied:
“Ogier, I shall tell you who we are, but you must say nothing of it until the battle is done. I am Saint
George, and this is Saint Demetrius, and the third man here is Saint Mercury. 61 ” Ogier leapt from
his horse and implored the three saints’ pardon. Saint George granted him pardon and Ogier
remounted his horse. Then Saint George said: “I have been entrusted with the first blow in this
battle, and I shall bestow it upon Roland, to dub him Knight of God.” At this point, Ogier saw the
Saracens advance. His courage had grown because of these saints and he readily gave the signal for
61 George . . . Demetrius . . . Mercury: The list of names varies from account to account, including Li Fatti di
Spagna, chapter 25 (q.v.), which features four rather than three saints