Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 215
201
VI
The third battie; Roland blows his trumpet; Charlemagne turns
back, vv. 1467-1509 and 1671-1850
This part of the poem is preserved in O, V4, CV7, and PTL. The
Welsh translation ends with the previous episode, the rest of the story is
based on the Pseudo-Turpin. V4 and the version rimée have made some
additions and omitted some O laisses, but the tale is the same in all
essentials in all MSS. In the saga, as in all the other versions except O,
the battie begins with Turpin’s attack on the pagan Abisme, O vv. 1467-
1509, which in O is the first episode in the second battie.
The saga has a fairly correct translation of O vv. 1467-69:
Marsilies veit de sa gent le martirie,
Si fait suner ses cors e ses buisines,
Puis si chevalchet od sa grant ost banie.
Kms:
1467-68: Marsilius konungr eflir nu til hinnar pri5ju orrostu
1469: ok ri5r nu af Spania me3 mikinn her
add.: bæ3i spanskra ok blåmanna.
Nu koma saman kristnir menn ok heiSnir
1487: ok hefr nu Turpin erkibyskup fyrstr orrostu bessa (p. 5 1 527'30).
The allusion to “the third battie” may be only a free translation of vv.
1467-68, since the translator probably got the idea of a “third battie”
beginning here from the conclusion of the previous laisse in his French
source. Vv. 1470-86, a description of Abisme, and of Turpin’s thoughts
at the sight of the pagan, have been left out. Verses of this kind occur
frequently in the poem, e.g. the descriptions of Valdabrun (vv. 1562-72)
and Climborins (vv. 1526-35), and of many of the peers taking part in
the first battie, and these are usually translated, even if a verse is omitted
here and there. It is difficult to see why the translator, or any other
remanieur, should want to shorten the description of Abisme, and it is not
possible to decide whether the omission is due to the translator or his
source. The following laisse, which deals with the fight between Turpin
and Abisme, is well translated, with the exception of the description of
Turpin’s horse, which may have been so technical that the translator did
not understand it.