Ermitage_.

1. 70. Here is a curious mistake, which Jubinal originated and Hugo
copied. Closamont was the original possessor of the sword, not
another name for the weapon. The lines in the 'Chanson de Girart de
Viane' are:--

Une en aporte ke molt fut onoree.
plus de c. anz l'ot li iuis gardee,
Closamont fut, k'iert de grand renommee,
li emperere de Rome la loee.

_Sinnagog or Sinnagos_ was the Saracen king of Alexandria with whose
attack on the castle of Garin, Olivier's grandfather, the story of
'Girart de Viane' begins.

1. 144. This is another deviation from tradition, as we have it in
the Carolingian cycle. Roland never married Aude. He was still
betrothed to her when he fell at Roncesvalles.

AYMERILLOT.

The poem on part of which this is based is an anonymous _Chanson_
written in the thirteenth century and belonging to the cycle known
as the cycle of _Guillaume_.

The story is as follows. Charlemagne is returning from Spain, after
the defeat at Roncesvalles, his army discouraged, his knights
exhausted, and wishing only to be at home and in comfort. Suddenly
he catches sight of a city, surrounded by a crenelated wall,
splendid within, with a palace the roofs of which shine in the sun,
its feet bathed in the sea, which is covered by the ships of its
commerce. Charlemagne wishes to attack it, but the duke of Bavaria
advises him to let it alone; it is garrisoned by thousands of
pagans and his men are exhausted. The Emperor addresses several of
his barons in turn, offering to each the city if he will take it.
One and all refuse: Charlemagne upbraids them for their cowardice,
bids them go home, and declares he will take the town by himself.
Then Hernaut de Beaulande brings forward his son Aimeri, who
volunteers to undertake the task. With the aid of one hundred
barons he captures the city and is made Count of Narbonne. Hugo has
selected the first and the best part of the _Chanson_ for
modernization. Leon Gautier (_Les Epopees francaises_) says:
'Rien n'egale en majeste le debut de ce poeme, dont le denoument est
presque trivial... Rien de plus ennuyeux que le recit de tant de
combats contre les Sarrasins; rien de plus attachant que le tableau
de ce grand desespoir de Charlemagne a la vue de Narbonne, dont
aucun de ses Barons ne veut entreprendre la conquete. Il n'y a
peut-etre dans aucune poesie aucun episode comparable a ce discours
de l'Empereur, lorsqu'il crie a tous ses chevaliers: "Rales vos