#roncevaux

[illustratus]

Proud Roland did at length sound his horn (The Song of Roland)

[francepittoresque]

ANECDOTE | Taille de Roland de Roncevaux, neveu de Charlemagne ➽ http://bit.ly/Taille-Roland-Roncevaux Après le traité de Madrid, en 1526, le roi François Ier revenant d’Espagne passa par Blaye où, comme chacun sait, l’on montrait le tombeau du fameux paladin Roland. Curieux de toutes choses, le roi de France profita de l’occasion pour vérifier la tradition qui donnait encore de son temps une taille gigantesque au neveu de Charlemagne

[venustapolis]

Roldán en Roncesvalles (Odilon Redon, 1869)

[kappaology]

the lovers of roncevaux / inspired by the lovers of valdaro

[simrockfelin]

Route du col de Roncevaux, Pays Basque

[titaniumions]

regarding the story of oliver

so i think oliver fog's anecdote may have unexpectedly become one of my favourites and managed to get me emotionally invested ... so i'd like to talk about a certain aspect of it in more depth

a knight and oliver fog's dynamic definitely was what captivated me the most; through that anecdote we got to watch the progression of the way they interacted with each other, though they may have gotten off on the wrong foot and had a few misunderstandings, they grew to develop true respect for each other, but what makes it unique is the way they BOTH see their respective pasts in each other. it's a mixed bag of memories for them both, yet somehow it ended up becoming a basis for an actually positive bond

oliver already had a rather negative impression of a knight from the start. and the fact that a knight made a joke that directly reminded oliver of his own father--whom oliver wasn't exactly fond of--didn't exactly help make things better between them. however, the experience they had in the forest (which i will touch on more in later paragraphs) certainly improved things, enabling them both to warm up to each other

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY a knight's final gesture toward him, putting his hand on oliver's shoulder to comfort him, is something i find very remarkable, and also symbolic of their development. that was, again, something that directly reminded oliver of his father, but oliver doesn't despise it this time, especially since this happened right after a knight had protected him and given him courage. knight had given oliver a reason to think highly of him. aside from that, he also got oliver to look at life (and death) through a new perspective. a knight could be the more ... positive paternal figure that oliver needed, and with time oliver's perspective on him can definitely shift from "he's just like my father (derogatory)" to "he's just like my father (affectionate)"

now onto a knight's side of things. he never wanted to cause oliver any trouble, and not only felt remorseful, but also had a protective instinct toward him. but most importantly he saw traits of his very own best friend and companion in oliver fog. an interesting but somewhat melancholic basis for a new friendship ...

AND THEN there's the fight scene, the moment where they were surrounded by critters in the forest. while that wasn't exactly something a knight would consider as a severe threat, seeing how swiftly he dealt with it, it sure did serve as a reminder of the roncevaux pass battle where he had died. surrounded by foes, standing side-by-side with an oliver. and again, while this isn't such a severe battle for a knight, to the rather combat-inexperienced oliver fog, this fight could as well have been his "roncevaux pass". there is also the fact that the overwhelming amount of critters reminded oliver of his own fog-related trauma. it's thanks to a knight's steadfastness and combat skills that they ultimately got out of it. a battle that didn't turn out so hopeless this time. a battle in which a knight was able to save someone else

a knight becoming a truly reliable person and offering hope to others, as demonstrated in this anecdote, is a testament to his growth. he was, after all, more reckless and troublesome during his lifetime, but the oliver of a knight's time had helped him grow as a person, and a knight acknowledged this thoroughly. his oliver had always been there for him and acted as his voice of reason, so now it's a knight's turn to be a steadfast and reliable figure to someone else; in this case a younger person to whom he can impart his wisdom and life experiences. in turn, a knight can learn a thing or two from oliver fog as well (and he did!)

i think a knight has become someone whom his oliver would have truly been proud of. there is this statement he made about how oliver will never truly die, which i take to mean as 1) the past oliver's spirit essentially living on through oliver fog and 2) a knight eternally preserving this oliver in his memories all throughout his new life. between the two of them he is the only one who is granted such a chance, after all. death and time may have parted them but memories allow oliver to continue to live on, in a way. either way it's ultimately a nice sentiment, a little bittersweet but a wonderful testament to his appreciation and love for what was once an important part of his past

in conclusion i find them to be an excellent duo. the interaction they had in the anecdote gave them even more depth as characters, as it enabled them to explore the way they think of the past, their personal pasts, and acknowledge the way those pasts define them as they are now. as well as the way they both got to experience something that mirrored both of their respective past experiences, and ended the interaction on a positive note. i am so glad they found each other

P.S.: if oliver fog somehow were to meet the oliver from knight's past, his father figure count would increase by 1. i'm just saying

[ishytori]

Let’s talk about character’s prototypes! Roland goes first.

(I’m sorry, English isn’t my native language so there could be some mistakes.) (Also I really want to thank my dearest friend Lio for proofreading this for me.)

Roland is the main character of the oldest French medieval heroic epos, La Chanson de Roland. He is a nephew of Charlemange. He was born in secret to Charlemange’s sister Berta and seneschal Milon du Angers. He got to French court as a young man and impressed Charlemange by his enormous power and courage. He was the strongest knight and the bravest and the mightiest warrior. He was considered to be an epitome of medieval morality: he mercilessly killed “pagan” Saracens and loved battles. According to La Chanson d’Aspremont young Roland was not allowed to join the battle with Saracens due to his young age. Yet he and three of his friends went to war armed with kitchen utensils and saved Charlemange. Roland thought that making peace deal or asking for help is a terrible dishonor. That moral code led him to his demise: Roland and his squad died in Roncevaux Pass in the battle with Saracens.

Medieval epic poems (chansons de geste) glorify Roland’s bravery, his friendship with Olivier, his love to his horse and sword (the interesting detail is that in French Durandal, Hautclaire and other named swords usually have feminine gender). Talking about women… French medieval literature was modest and rarely mentioned Roland’s bride or wife. Sometimes it underlined that Roland lived with her as if she was his sister. No worldly desires! These were totally forbidden! XD

Italian Renaissance poems were different.

Italian poets gladly used another nations’ epos including La Chanson de Roland and other chansons de geste. The most prominent works are Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Boiardo and Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. These remarkable works of art use storylines and tropes not only from French epos but also from Arthurian legends, Greek mythology, international tropes such as vengeance upon the cheating husbands and some good old fairy tale motifs. The only divergence from the reality that was made in La Chanson de Roland was replacing Basques that Charlemagne fought in real life with the Saracens. Yet in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso there are fairies, wizards, giants, griffins, harpies, dragons, magic springs, curses, prophecies, transformations of men into tree or stone and back to the human shape, magic gardens hidden at the bottom of the lake, spells of invisibility, immolations and even a flight to the Moon.

Roland (Orlando in Italian) fell in love with a beautiful Chinese princess Angelica. He forgot everything including his loyalty to Charlemange and pursued Angelica trying to make her love him back. He fought other suitors including his own cousin Rinaldo. Roland experienced different adventures, helped other beautiful ladies (and sometimes fell in love with them, but of course his feelings towards Angelica are the strongest!). Sometimes his desire to help beautiful ladies led to disappointing consequences: one fair maiden deceived Roland several times leaving him horseless, swordless, naked and bare-footed.

Roland’s story reaches its climax when he found out than Angelica hadn’t chosen a glorious knight such as he was, but went for some Saracen shepherd instead. Roland descended into madness, tore his clothes, uprooted trees, killed bears and poor innocent people with his bare hands and ran all the way to Africa where he got caught by his comrades.

Astolfo, his another cousin beside Rinaldo, saved him and returned his sanity. But this is a different story =)

[dailyfatecharlemagne]

Day 10

Headcanon time (but it's mostly an exploration of what we're given in canon):

Back when he was still alive and just encountered the Sefar ruins, many of the paladins and his friends found Charlie's behavior to get weirder. Sometimes, they notice his eyes are red (like in his 3rd ascension) before it goes away in a blink of an eye. Other times, he keeps muttering stuff about a dream and a girl that he needs to save. However that's mostly it.

After the battle of Roncevaux is when the effects of running into the ruins of Sefar really started to affect him. Making him into a control freak that Karl is.

[klint-vanzieks]

um... hullo!! youre the scary mans family, right??? youu look like him... except youre pink... do you know where to get a wooden penguin???

scary.....

Mx. Constellation-

Have you tried a local woodcarver....?

Yours in intimidation,

The Paladin of Roncevaux

[sawbeaver]

Take this, Lord, who stumbled me at Roncevaux.

I did my job properly this time...

[illustratus]

Roland at Roncevaux by Jacques Onfroy de Bréville

[chic-a-gigot]

La Mode illustrée, no. 14, 2 avril 1865, Paris. Toilettes de ville de Mme Lise, 17, rue Nve St. Augustin. Chapeau de Mme Aubert, 6, rue Nve des Mathurins. Ville de Paris / Bibliothèque Forney

Description de toilettes:

Robe en taffetas vert myrte, garnie avec une bande dentelée de taffetas plus foncé, bordée de grosses perles noires. Cette bande, qui peut aussi être employée pour allonger une robe trop courte, est dentelée en sens inverse de la robe, c'est-à-dire en creux ; sur chaque côté le lé de devant est aussi dentelé et bordé de perles noires jusqu'à la haute ceinture. Veste courte ouverte sur une chemisette blanche; les manches de la veste sont étroites, à bords dentelés; entournure assortie avec grelots en perles noires. Très-longue ceinture dentelée et entièrement brodée en perles noires. Chapeau de crêpe vert myrte avec ruches de crêpe, dentelle noire, et une rose au-dessus du front.

Robe en poil de chèvre écru foncé. La jupe est garnie avec un biais en taffetas bleu, ayant 10 centimètres de hauteur, bordé avec une étroite frange crêpée de même nuance; ce biais remonte de chaque côté jusqu'à la taille, en diminuant de largeur dans l'espace qu'il laisse libre au milieu; par devant, se trouvent de gros boutons bleus, ornés chacun avec deux glands, diminuant graduellement de volume vers la taille. Au-dessus du biais large sont posés deux autres biais ayant chacun 3 centimètres de largeur. Corsage Roncevaux, à basques dentelées, garnies d'un biais bleu, ayant 2 centimètres de hauteur, bordé d'une frange, et surmonté d'un biais très-étroit, ayant 1 centimètre de largeur; même garniture (biais et frange) aux entournures et à l'extrémité des manches: poignets droits garnis de dentelle de Valenciennes. Col en môme dentelle avec pans noués ; le devant du corsage est garni avec deux biais de 2 centimètres de largeur, deux biais étroits, et, au milieu, avec des boutons à deux glands.

—

Dress in myrtle green taffeta, trimmed with a serrated band of darker taffeta, edged with large black beads. This band, which can also be used to lengthen a dress that is too short, is serrated in the opposite direction of the dress, that is to say hollow; on each side the front strip is also serrated and bordered with black pearls up to the high waistband. Short jacket open on a white shirt; the sleeves of the jacket are narrow, with jagged edges; Matching surround with bells in black pearls. Very long jagged belt entirely embroidered in black pearls. Myrtle green crepe hat with crepe ruffles, black lace, and a rose above the forehead.

Dress in dark ecru goat hair. The skirt is trimmed with a bias in blue taffeta, 10 centimeters high, edged with a narrow crepe fringe of the same shade; this bias goes up on each side to the waist, decreasing in width in the space it leaves free in the middle; in front are large blue buttons, each adorned with two tassels, gradually decreasing in size towards the waist. Above the wide bias are placed two other biases, each 3 centimeters wide. Roncesvalles bodice, with serrated basques, trimmed with a blue bias, 2 centimeters high, edged with a fringe, and surmounted by a very narrow bias, 1 centimeter wide; same trim (bias and fringe) at the armholes and at the end of the sleeves: straight cuffs trimmed with Valenciennes lace. Same lace collar with knotted panels; the front of the bodice is trimmed with two bias tapes 2 centimeters wide, two narrow bias tapes, and, in the middle, with buttons with two tassels.

[versegm]

Man what even was Roncevaux Pass like for Olivier. The guy begs Roland to call for reinforcement like, three times. Did some part of him hope, somewhere, that Roland was right, that he had it handled, that surely he was overreacting? Or did he know all along that this would be his grave? What does it feel like to go into battle knowing you are doomed- and knowing your dearest friend is to blame?

[chaosofshadow]

What sort of wars have you fought in? What was your role?

Many, and many. Warfare is an excellent place to find chaos to be sown and grown, and as my father knows it best, this is where my brothers and I shine.

I played the role of a general at the Battle of Lakelight Falls, and a foot ranger in the six skirmishes of Greenglass. I was a spy for the Grey Haven, for a while, and for a year I played court sorcerer for the High Kingdom of Albany.

At the moment I'm playing court witch for the queendom of Camelot, which doesn't actually require that much work; and it seems I may have to play diplomat with Roncevaux and Broceliande soon enough, which isn't a job I particularly care for, but seems like it must be done.

Eh, could be worse. If I had to play court necromancer I'd be harvesting my reagents from the aristocracy.

[veliseraptor]

Can I request both your Lymond fics for WIP meme?

you sure can!!! i mean, you know the one, et ipsi sunt jacula is the not h/c h/c aka the one where an exhausted and overtaxed lymond collapses during the disorderly knights and gabriel is like. let me :) help you :) and. you know. is obviously very helpful and solicitous and just interested in helping lymond feel better! psych.

it's slow-going as all of my lymond fic is, because i get distracted by things that are easier to write and then go back and read what i have and go "oh but this is fun though and also i do enjoy the research bits and the footnotes" so I'll write another 100 words in it and then get distracted again. this ask is nudging me to get back to it and continue that cycle. part of my problem (you may be noticing a theme) is I don't actually know how I'm going to finish the damn thing. maybe I can cheat and just leave it open.

for the curious, "et ipsi sunt jacula" is a line from the vulgate bible, psalm 54:22 (55:22 in a modern bible): "molliti sunt sermones ejus super oleum; et ipsi sunt jacula." according to the RJPS translation, the line can be translated (from the Hebrew) as "his talk was smoother than butter, yet his mind was on war"; the vulgate latin translates more directly as "their speech was softer than oil, but they themselves are (like) arrows."

“Ah,” Lymond said. “Behold, Ganelon.” “Francis,” Gabriel said, in a tone of gentle reproach. “Where do you think you are going?”  “To Roncevaux, surely,” Lymond said, “that I will mort en conquérant. If you come to fence, I think I will make poor sport.” “I do not come to fence.” Gabriel closed the distance between them in slow strides; Lymond did not flinch back, but looked up at him, an obstinate cast to the line of his jaw for all his pallor and visible weakness.  “But you will make sport nonetheless.” “Sport?” Gabriel shook his head slowly. “No. Why do you assume I am your enemy, Francis?”  “Ta suka suka, ten skaphen de skaphen onomason,” said Lymond, unmoved. No flicker of displeasure disturbed the handsome face of the man watching him as he reached out, laying hands on his shoulders. 

the second one, haec olim meminisse iuvabit, is (meant to be) a post-series richard and lymond fic, specifically one where richard finds out what happened with khaireddin and the chess game, because I am an absolute sucker for brotherly angst and i think it would make sense of some more of lymond's behavior afterwards. this one came out because i realized that richard didn't know and went "ah, but he should!" and then realized that would make for fun post-series drama as the two of them are figuring out how to have a relationship after all the upheaval throughout the series.

also considering if I want to have marthe still alive just because i can and possibly the answer is yes, because, again, i can.

the title on this one comes from the aeneid: "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" or, as I translated it in my epigraph, "perhaps someday it will please us to remember even this."

I get to be so pretentious with my lymond titles and I will not stop.

“I assume that Graham Reid Malett is dead.” Richard kept the words short and blunt, but saw no reaction.  “Le roi est mort. I killed him in a chess game.” The words were spoken with exact equanimity; Richard cast his gaze sidelong and narrowed, and stayed silent, waiting. The fine-featured face was a mask, inscrutable and unbreakable.  “To see the way you look at the boy,” Richard said, “one could not believe that you crossed much of the known world for him.” Lymond was quiet. He propelled himself to his feet, turned, and walked a few steps away, long-fingered hands folding behind his back. “Kuzum is not my son. He is Joleta’s. By her brother.”  Richard took a sharp breath. “You are certain?” “Yes.” Lymond’s voice was level, empty of feeling. Richard waited, but he said no more. “Does Philippa know?”  “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I haven’t told her. She loves him, and he her.”  Richard stood slowly and approached Lymond. “And what of your son?” he asked quietly, almost against his own will. Lymond was silent for a long while, but Richard did not press him, sensing that to do so would be a grave mistake.“Not oats, but wheat of blood...he died,” Lymond said. “In a chess game.”

[admiralnelsoniii]

The Song of Roland. A French epic telling the tale of Roland's last stand. The Battle of Roncevaux Pass occured on August 15, 778, and saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the modern-day border between France and Spain, after Charlemagne's invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. Roland, a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne, and his rearguard were slain in this battle.