THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE - outriders poetry project

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© 2009 Max Wickert
At this, Roland blew on his horn for the third time, and so desperately that the upper part of the
horn split for more than a palm’s length, and a vein in Roland’s body burst so that blood issued
from his nose and his mouth. And now Roland ceased to blow. Hearing this, Charles commanded
Ganelon to be seized and Ganelon was put in chains.
Now that Roland had broken his horn, he seized Durandel and said: “Ah, good sword, how many
Saracens and pagans you have forced to take holy baptism! Yet I have no desire that the Saracens
should have you in their power.” And he seized Durandel in both hands to break it, and struck it
mightily against a rock, but the rock fell in splinters.
When Roland saw that he could not shatter the sword in this manner, he placed its point upon the
rock, with the pummel against his breast, and thrust his body forward so strongly that the sword
bent until the point touched the hilt. Then Roland sat down on the rock, grasped the sword’s tip in
one hand and the hilt in the other, and put it on his knees to break it. He could very well have
broken it in this manner, but a voice spoke from the sky, and it was an angel who said: “Ah, gentle
knight, servant of Christ, do not break this sword, for there shall come a Christian knight 97 who will
once again carry it and use it to the great harm of the Saracens. I tell you this in the name of Christ
that it is pleases Him that you to come up into His heavenly kingdom.” When Oliver heard the
angel’s voice, he instantly fell to the ground and began to pray. He placed Durandel and the horn
beneath his arm and raised his face to the East, with his hands lifted to heaven, praying Christ to
save his soul from the hands of the devil. Then all the veins of his body burst, and his soul left his
body. It was carried to heaven by the angels amid loud singing.
97 The fate of Durandel after Roland’s death varies from source to source. In the Chanson de Roland, Charlemagne
bestows the sword on the French champion who battles with Balugant; in other texts, it disappears into a stream
or fountain. The Italian romances closest to Andrea bring it into the possession of either Ogier the Dane or
William of Orange.