CCXLI

But when the Emperor Charlemagne the Amiral surveyed,
And the Dragon and the ensign and the standard there displayed,
And the soldiers of Arabia whereof such store came on —
All the quarters of the country their host had overrun,
Save that where with his army did the Emperor abide —
The King of France right loudly lifted up his voice and cried:
" Lords of France a-many stricken fights have ye fought, and ye are brave.
Behold the Paynims. Every one is a coward and a knave.
Their whole faith is not worth a groat; though great their army be,
What boots it? Who will charge them, let him now come with me. "
Forthwith with the good rowels he spurred the charger there,
And Tençendor the charger leaped four times in the air.
" This our King is a good hero, " forthwith the Frenchmen said,
" No man of us will fail thee. Gallop on, Lord King, ahead. "

CCXLII

On high the sun was shining, and lovely was the day,
Beautiful were the armies and gigantic each array.
And now the foremost ranks thereof in battle met amain.
Count Rabel and Count Guinemant to their fleet steeds gave the rein.
And out they spurred with all their speed and the Franks with one accord
Spurred after them, and came to fight with the sharp edge of the sword.

CCXLIII

Count Rabel was a cavalier of a great heart and bold.
He spurred on the war-charger with the spurs of the fine gold.
Torleu the King of Persia he rode to overthrow.
His buckler and his byrnie might not abide the blow.
Through the man's body, of the spear was thrust the golden head.
Over a little thicket he smote the Paynim dead.
Said the Franks:
" May God Almighty now aid us to prevail.
For the right is with King Charlemagne, and him we cannot fail. "

CCXLIV

And now against the Lettish King, Guinemant fought the fight.
All of his flowery buckler in pieces did he smite,
And shattered all the byrnie. And furthermore he ran
His gonfalon right through the midst of the body of the man.
He struck him dead most certainly whether for mirth or woe.
And forthwith all the Frenchmen raised a great shout at the blow.
" Smite, Lords! Stay not! For a just cause against the Paynim race
Hath our King. And God hath set us in His very judgment-place. "

CCXLV

On a white steed sate Malprimis. Through the press of Franks he bore,
Dealing out a goodly measure of the great strokes of war.
Each over each the dead men he smote down on every side.
Then first the Emir Baligant lifted his voice and cried:
" To nourish you, my barons, long time I have been fain.
My son now see how eagerly he seeketh Charlemagne,
And so great a store of barons defieth unto fight.
I will never ask for vassal of better heart and might.
Go now and bear him succor with the sharp point of the lance. "
And with that word the Paynims to battle did advance.
Hard are the strokes and fierce the fray. 'Tis a battle wondrous sore
A keener fight was never fought since that time or before.

CCXLVI

O angry are the armies! Wide are the hosts and large.
And now have all the columns encountered at the charge.
And wondrously the Paynims went striking stroke on stroke.
God's name! How many lances in pieces twain they broke,
And shields burst, and from byrnies rent all the mail away.
There mightest thou see how scattered on the field the bodies lay.
And the whole field of battle with the fine green herbage strown
With the blood out of those bodies was all vermilion grown.
And once again the Amiral cried out unto his train:
" Ho! now upon these Christians, my barons, smite amain. "
Hard and fearful was the battle. The like was never kenned
Since or before. Nor ends it until death shall make an end.

CCXLVII

" Smite Paynims! Ye are come for that, " to his men called the Emir,
" And I will give you women both beautiful and dear.
Fiefs and lands will I give you, and possessions fair and wide. "
" To smite is our whole duty, " the Paynim host replied.
At the first stroke all their lances were shivered in their hands.
Then forth they drew together an hundred thousand brands.
There had you had a sorrowful and terrible mellay.
Whoe'er therein would enter might behold a dreadful fray.

CCXLVIII

The Emperor besought the Franks:
" Lord barons, verily
I love and trust you. Ye have fought so many fights for me,
And ta'en so many kingdoms, and great kings overthown,
And that I owe you guerdon to me is right well known —
The guerdon of my body and my lands and my domain.
Now for them do ye take vengeance that yesterday were slain —
Your sons and heirs and brothers in the pass at Roncevaux.
Right well ye wot yours is the right against the Paynim foe. "

" Lord King! Thou speakest truly, " the Frankish host replied.
There were twenty thousand of them that with Charlemagne did ride.
And all of them together unto him gave their faith
That never would they fail him for danger or for death.
Was none that played not with the spear. But right soon did they smite
With the keen sword; and grievous and dreadful waxed the fight.

CCXLIX

Now Malprimis the baron galloped hard amid the fray.
A many of the Frenchmen it fortuned him to slay.
Neimes the Duke beheld him and his look was full of pride.
Like a man of mighty courage against him did he ride.
The high boss out of the buckler with a fearful blow he smote,
And the embroidered coverings twain, he rent from the mail-coat.
Right through the Prince's body his golden banner bore.
He smote him dead seven hundred of his servitors before.

CCL

The brother of the Amiral, King Canabeu was he.
Straightway the battle charger he spurred forward furiously.
He drew his blade — the hilt was set with crystals all a-row.
On Neimes' princely helmet he struck a fearful blow.
And the half thereof the Saracen did sorely rend and rive.
With the sharp edge of the warsword he cut through laces five.
The iron plate above his brow a groat it was not worth.
To the skin the Paynim clove the coif, and a fragment fell to earth.
Fierce was the stroke, and sorely the Duke it did astound.
If God had not sustained him, he had fallen to the ground.
He gripped the neck of the charger. If the foeman smite again,
Dead is the noble vassal. To his aid ran Charlemagne.

CCLI

And the Duke Neimes suffered great agony and woe,
And Canabeu the Paynim ran in to lay him low,
Said Charlemagne: " Thou dastard! an ill stroke didst thou smite. "
And forth he rushed against him in the fury of his might.
The buckler of that Paynim he crushed against his heart.
The neck-joint of the hauberk he rended it apart.
And through the caitiff's body he thrust the lance right well,
That he smote him dead. And empty thereafter was his selle.

CCLII

And very heavy sorrow King Charlemagne came o'er,
When he beheld Duke Neimes before him wounded sore,
And how from the Duke's helmet the clear blood spouted free.
The Emperor spake his counsel:
" Ride hither unto me,
Neimes, fair lord. The scoundrel that wrought thee this mischance
Is dead, and I have once for all transfixed him with my lance. "
Neimes the Duke gave answer:
" I trow it, master mine;
And, if I live hereafter, great profit shall be thine. "
In love and faith together they hastened onwards then.
The Franks that marched beside them were twenty thousand men.
Was none but smote and fiercely stroke upon great stroke laid.

CCLIII

Baligant through the battle, on his steed his way he made.
And in his hand he carried the spear both sharp and strong.
To smite against Count Guinemant, he galloped hard along.
And against the heart he shattered the hero's buckler white.
The broideries of the hauberk he tore them left and right.
From side to side he severed the hero's flanks in twain.
From the back of the fleet charger he hurled to earth the slain.
Then Baligant Lord Geboin and Lawrence overthrew,
And Richard the Old, the Captain, of Normandy he slew.
The Paynims cried:
" Most wondrous is Precious the great glaive.
Smite, barons! In the warsword is that which shall us save. "

CCLIV

'Twas a great sight to look upon, that Arab host of war —
Men of Occiant and of Argoille and the Biscayan Shore.
Well enow with the long lances against the Franks they drove,
But now to yield to them the field the Frenchmen did not love.
There were a very many that fell on either side;
And furiously the battle went on till vespertide.
The barons of the Frankish host a mighty loss had they.
There was enough of sorrow ere the ending of the day.

CCLV

Fiercely against each other did the Franks and Paynims strike.
They shivered many lances, and many a burnished pike.
Whoso saw the bucklers shattered, or heard the fearful crash
Of the white mail, or the warswords on the helmets that did clash;
Or whoso saw the cavaliers on every side that fell,
And hearkened of the dying on the ground the wail and yell,
Might keep within his spirit a memory of woe.
It was indeed a battle that was hard to undergo.
To Apollo and Mahomet and Termagant each one
Cried the Emir:
" Ah, my lord gods! your service have I done
But over well. Your images shall of fine gold be made.
Against the Emperor Charlemagne protect me and bear aid. "
But now his friend Gemalfin came forth before the King
Very evil were the tidings that with him he did bring.
He cried:
" Lord Baligant, this day ill hast thou led the host,
For thy son Malprimis to thee among the foes is lost.
And Canabeu thy brother is slaughtered in the fray.
And for the two French champions fairly hath gone the day.
That one was the King Charlemagne most certainly I deem.
Big-bodied like a warden of the marches did he seem.
His beard is white as an April flower. " Baligant bowed the helm,
And thereafter hid his visage. Such grief did overwhelm
The Emir that he thought forthwith to die of misery.
Jangleu he summoned to him, the man from oversea.

CCLVI

" Ho Jangleu, " said the Amiral, " Stand forth before me now.
Exceeding great is thy wisdom, and a gallant man art thou.
By thy counsels at all seasons 'tis my custom to abide
Betwixt the Franks and Arabs what think'st thou shall betide?
Shall we triumph in this battle? "
The other answer gave:
" Dead art thou, Baligant! Thy gods thy life they cannot save.
Brave is King Charles and gallant are all his men of war.
So fierce a race of fighters I have not seen before.
But now the knights of Occiant and the Turks do thou command,
Enfrons, Arabians, Giants now gather to thy hand.
Delay no more the matter that thou shouldst be about. "

CCLVII

His beard above his byrnie the Amiral shook out;
As any hawthorn-flower the goodly beard was white.
Whate'er befell, in no way would he hide him in the fight.
And to his mouth thereafter he set a trumpet clear.
And loud he blew upon it that the heathen host might hear.
And through the field of battle he rallied his array.
Loud did the men of Occiant in answer bray and neigh,
And all the men of Argoille like dogs did yelp and bark.
They fell upon the Frenchmen in very madness stark.
Right through the thickest of them the Paynims burst and broke,
And a full seven thousand fell dead before their stroke.

CCLVIII

Never had the Count Ogier been touched by dread or fear.
Than he a better vassal ne'er put on battle-gear.
When he beheld the columns of the Frenchmen broken through,
To Thierry Duke of Argone and to Geoffrey of Anjou
And Count Josseran he shouted. Proudly to Charlemagne
He spake:
" Of these same Paynims see how thy men are slain.
In God's sight 'twill not be pleasing that thy head should wear a crown,
If so be it that thou smit'st not to avenge this ill-renown. "
They said no word but hard they spurred; they let the horses go,
And went to smite wherever they might come upon the foe.

CCLIX

Ogier the Dane and Charlemagne well the great strokes laid on,
And Neimes and Geoffrey of Anjou that bore the gonfalon.
Ogier the Dane in all things a hero good was he.
He spurred the steed beneath him, and let him gallop free.
On him who bore the Dragon he let drive a buffet dread.
Down to the earth before him he hurled Lord Amboire dead.
And the banner of King Baligant in that hour came to ground.
And Baligant beheld it fall, and the ensign of Mahound
Without a man to guard it. In his heart he saw it plain
How wickedness was on his side and the right with Charlemagne.
Those Paynims of Arabia less furiously did ride,
And the Emperor raised up his voice, and to the Frenchmen cried:
" Speak, lords! Will ye aid me for God's love? " The Franks their answer gave:
" Thou askest ill. Who smites not with his whole strength is a knave. "

CCLX

Now all the day passed over, and nearer came the night.
The Frenchmen and the Paynims with the sword they fought the fight.
They were very gallant captains that joined those hosts of war.
The memory of their war-cries they had not given o'er.
Baligant called on Precious, but the far-famous cry
" Mountjoy" cried Charles. And each knew each by the clear voice and high.
And now those two encountered amidmost of the field,
And charged, and either other smote upon the rose-wrought shield
With the lances. And the targets broke beneath the buckles wide.
The fringes of the hauberks they rended from the side.
Neither pierced the other's body, but either broke his girth.
The saddles turned. They staggered, and fell unto the earth.
To their feet very swiftly arose those angry lords,
And in most gallant manner they got them to their swords.
There cannot be an ending hereafter of this fray.
They cannot cease from battle till one the other slay.