Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 247
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second Roncevaux scene, the one that, in the version rimée, is placed after
the conquest of Saragossa, and that means that the author of this version
had by that time already shown us the sword in the hånds of Rabel, and
that is why he had to leave out the scene in which Roland was still hold-
ing it. This secondary episode does not occur in V4, which has the Nar-
bonne episode instead, but that does not prove that the scene did not be-
long to the common source of V4 and the version rimée; it is very likely
that the editor of V4 omitted it just because he felt that it was superfluous.
The throwing of Durendal into the water is probably connected with
the similar story of the fate of Excalibor, King Arthur’s sword. But the
disappearance of Excalibor in this way is first mentioned in the 13th
century prose romance La mort le roi Artu 66, and the source of Kms must
be dated before 1200, so that if one tale is derived from the other, it looks
as if the Charlemagne tale must be given priority.
XII
The recovery of the bodies of the Christians
After having described how Charlemagne threw Durendal into the
lake, Kms goes on:
The emperor finds the bodies of the peers, and understands that Roland had put
them there. The bodies are wrapped in shrouds, and he is now distressed because
he does not know how to distinguish the other Christians on the battlefield from the
pagans. Naimes advises him to pray, and the whole army do so. Next morning
shrubs have grown up over the bodies of the pagans. The Christians are buried
there, except for the peers, and the following night angels announce that the souls
of those who had fallen have been saved (p. 5291"27).
In O the French have no difficulty in finding their comrades. After
Charlemagne’s long lament for Roland (vv. 2887-2942), Gefrei d’Anjou
urges the emperor to search for the corpses of the Christians (vv. 2947-
49), and the following laisse describes how the dead warriors are buried,
with the exception of Roland, Oliver and Turpin. On his return from
Saragossa the emperor does not stop at Roncevaux (vv. 3679-84), but
goes on to Blaye, where the three heroes are buried.
'6 Ed. J. Frappier (Paris 1936), pp. 223-24, and cp. J. Frappier: Étude sur La
mort le roi Artu (Paris 1936), p. 201.