A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang - Umnet

Charlemagne then returned to Aix, and as he entered his palace, Aude
the Fair, sister of Oliver, and the betrothed of Roland, hastened to meet
him. Where were the Douzeperes? What was the moaning murmur as
of women who wept, that had heralded the arrival in the town of the
Emperor and his conquering army? Eagerly she questioned
Charlemagne of the safety of Roland, and when the Emperor, in pitying
grief, told her:
"Roland, thy hero, like a hero died," Aude gave a bitter cry and fell to
the ground like a white lily slain by a cruel wind. The Emperor thought
she had fainted, but when he would have lifted her up, he found that
she was dead, and, in infinite pity, he had her taken to Blaye and buried
by the side of Roland.
Very tender was Charlemagne to the maiden whom Roland had loved,
but when the treachery of Ganelon had been proved, for him there was
no mercy. At Aix-la-Chapelle, torn asunder by wild horses, he met a
shameful and a horrible death, nor is his name forgotten as that of the
blackest of traitors. But the memory of Roland and of the other
Douzeperes lives on and is, however fanciful, forever fragrant.
"... Roland, and Olyvere, And of the twelve Tussypere, That dieden in
the batayle of Runcyvale; Jesu lord, heaven king, To his bliss hem and
us both bring, To liven withouten bale!"
Sir Otuel.
THE CHILDREN OF LÎR
"Silent, O Moyle, be the roar of thy water; Break not, ye breezes, your
chain of repose; While murmuring mournfully, Lîr's lonely daughter
Tells to the night-star her tale of woes."
Moore.
They are the tragedies, not the comedies of the old, old days that are
handed down to us, and the literature of the Celts is rich in tragedy. To