such an old man as Charlemagne, and exclaims
the last hope of the Saracens now rests in the emir, who has just
landed in Spain.

At dawn the emperor returns to Roncevaux, and there begins his sad
search for the bodies of the peers. Sure Roland will be found facing
the foe, he seeks for his corpse in the direction of Spain, and,
discovering him at last on the little hill, swoons from grief. Then,
recovering his senses, Charlemagne prays God to receive his nephew's
soul, and, after pointing out to his men how bravely the peers fought,
gives orders for the burial of the dead, reserving only the bodies of
Roland, Oliver, and the archbishop, for burial in France.

The last respects have barely been paid to the fallen, when a Saracen
herald summons Charlemagne to meet the emir. So the French mount to
engage in a new battle.

Such is the stimulus of Charlemagne's word's and of his example, that
all his men do wonders. The aged emperor himself finally engages in a
duel with the emir, in the midst of which he is about to succumb, when
an angel bids him strike one more blow, promising he shall triumph.
Thus stimulated, Charlemagne slays the emir, and the Saracens, seeing
their leader slain, flee, closely pursued by the Frenchmen, who enter
Saragossa in their wake. There, after killing all the men, they
pillage the town.

On discovering that Marsile has meantime died of his wound,
Charlemagne orders his widow to France, where he proposes to convert
her through the power of love. The remainder of the pagans are
compelled to receive baptism, and, when Charlemagne again wends his
way through the Pyrenees, all Spain bows beneath his sceptre.

At Bordeaux, Charlemagne deposits upon the altar of St. Severin,
Roland's Olifant, filled with gold pieces, before personally escorting
the three august corpses to Blaye, where he sees them interred, ere he
hurries on to Aix-la-Chapelle to judge Ganelon.

_The Chastisement of Ganelon._ On arriving in his palace, Charlemagne
is confronted by Alda or Aude, a sister of Oliver, who frantically
questions: "Where is Roland who has sworn to take me to wife?" Weeping
bitterly, Charlemagne informs her his nephew is no more, adding that
she can marry his son, but Aude rejoins that, since her beloved is
gone, she no longer wishes to live. These words uttered, she falls
lifeless at the emperor's feet.[11]

From Spain the emperor made retreat,
To Aix in France, his kingly seat;
And thither, to