Heroines of the French Epic

by Newth, Michael A. H. ;

  2490 On hearing this, his daughter ceased her bidding.

  70. How Varocher took two horses to the king

  WHILE IN THE LODGE this dialogue took place,

  Outside it came a breathless Varocher,

  Who led in hand two Spanish destriers,

  The best of those possessed by Charlemagne!

  He saw the king and handed him the reins.

  “My lord,” he said, “accept this find I made

  Inside the tents that Charlemagne has raised.

  I’m not a knight, I’m just a country knave:

  But, if you girt a sword about my waist,

  2500 A sword of steel, and called me by the name

  Of noble knight, like all your baronage,

  I’d champion and fight for you against

  The best of knights that Charles’s host contains.”

  “With all my heart!” the Eastern king exclaimed.

  Said Blancheflor: “And rightly so, I’d say!

  No finer man exists than Varocher!

  When I recall how nobly, for my sake,

  He left his home, his wife and sons the same,

  To be my guard and guide when I escaped

  2510 To Hungary, I cannot stint his praise.”

  The king replied: “I know it well, in faith.

  And you should know my gratitude won’t fail.”

  He summoned dukes and barons straightaway.

  The Queen herself, so beautiful of face,

  Was also keen to act without delay,

  And with her maids and ladies there she bade

  Good Varocher to strip, then dress again

  In flowing robes made out of silk brocade!

  At this, King Clarien – for so was named

  2520 The Eastern king – laced on his waist a blade,

  While Pons, a duke, attached his spurs in place.

  The woodsman swore, by Simeon the saint,

  That he would trim some royal limbs that day!

  71. How Varocher was made a knight

  WHEN ON HIS WAIST was placed a sword of steel

  And Varocher was raised to knighthood – he

  Who’d spent his life in forests cutting trees –

  He looked the part with all his heart indeed!

  Her face a mask of fair delight, the Queen

  Gave Varocher a hauberk double-seamed

  2530 And then a helm whose golden circle gleamed.

  When this was done and everything complete,

  SIR Varocher bestrode a rapid steed,

  Received a lance, whose tip was made of steel,

  And grasped a shield of shining ivory.

  If you had seen him ride across the field,

  A country knave is not what he’d have seemed,

  But quite the knight of noblest chivalry!

  “Just look at Varocher!” they all agreed:

  “How well he turns that destrier at speed!

  2540 His sturdy arm will sever more than trees!”

  Some fifty score were so convinced indeed

  That they could gain by making him their liege,

  That’s what they did! They swore him fealty,

  Which Varocher accepted with a speech:

  “Now listen well! I want to make it clear:

  If you agree to join my company,

  I’ll claim no grain of any gains we reap!

  But you must go wherever I may lead,

  Prepared to fight where death awaits the weak –

  2550 For that is where the greatest gains will be,

  The wealth, the arms, the stallions you seek.

  You’ll get much more than you expect with me!”

  No wonder then, on hearing such a speech,

  That each of them bowed humbly at his feet!

  Said Varocher: “Now go and get some sleep,

  And then at dawn, before the light appears,

  We’ll ride away, and, side by side, succeed.”

  Without delay they did as he decreed.

  72. How Sir Varocher led his troops

  GOOD VAROCHER was an impressive figure:

  2560 He neither looked nor acted like a villein.

  So when, at dawn, his men returned as bidden,

  He greeted all with rousing voice and ringing:

  “My lords,” he cried, “I want you all to listen!

  The only thing I ask of you is simply

  To show no fear – for death awaits the timid –

  But fight your best and with complete commitment.

  By doing this you’ll win yourselves great riches,

  And, what is more, make all your kinsmen richer!

  Don’t ride ahead – just follow and I’ll bring you

  2570 By ways I know to Charlemagne’s position,

  The mighty lord who rules the Western kingdoms.

  It’s there we’ll find the stallions you wish for –

  And ambling mules and palfreys will be with them,

  And, need I say, a treasure-trove of riches!”

  His men replied: “We’re ready and we’re willing!”

  When this was said Sir Varocher moved swiftly.

  He mounted steed, and, as their leader did so,

  His rank of men alike bestrode their stirrups,

  Then, all of them, in fine array and spirit,

  2580 Slipped out of camp both quietly and quickly.

  They uttered naught, to comrade or to kinsman,

  As stealthily they neared the French positions

  Along a road that ran beside a hillock,

  A sloping span one furlong from the city.

  They crossed their lines and trotted on within them

  Until they reached King Charlemagne’s pavilion.

  They raised a cry, but only one that mimicked

  The cry ‘All clear!’ of sentries in the distance.

  The Frenchmen stirred, but none responded, thinking

  2590 That what they heard was just the sound of pickets.

  And thus it was that Varocher’s contingent

  Went calmly where their finest steeds were hidden

  And, to a man, took any mount they wished to,

  Exchanging poor for stronger steeds or quicker.

  They stole from Charles his favourite – a sprinter

  He liked to ride when rallying divisions.

  They stole the steed Duke Naimon would have ridden,

  And many more whose owners found them missing!

  They left behind their own, whose worth was little,

  2600 In barter for the better ones or bigger –

  And not a squire among the Frenchmen witnessed!

  If any knight was sound asleep, they stripped him

  Of any arms and other fine equipment,

  Like scabbards and the worthy weapons in them,

  And more besides – like golden coins and silver.

  Some Frenchmen there had gone to sleep as rich men,

  Who, when they woke with sunlight on their visage,

  Were shocked to see they scarcely owned a shilling!

  There wasn’t one whose wealth was undiminished!

  73. How Sir Varocher returned to camp

  2610 THE ROYAL TENT was totally despoiled:

  When Varocher decided to withdraw,

  He led away the Monarch’s finest horse –

  But left his own in place of it, of course!

  Then, just before he left the tent, he saw

  The treasures of King Salemon of yore:

  The precious cups, so beautifully wrought,

  The haubergeons, the flashing silver swords:

  He took the
lot, whatever wares were stored,

  And no one there saw anything at all!

  2620 No Frenchman would have entertained the thought

  That any thief would ever have the gall

  To venture near, for fear of being caught!

  But Varocher and all his gallant force

  Had dared the deed and now returned in joy

  To join their ranks before the day had dawned.

  When those encamped beheld the booty brought,

  And saw the wealth each single soldier bore

  On noble, strong and nimble steeds of war,

  They roared: “What’s this? And why are you abroad?

  2630 And where’ve you been to glean such rich rewards?”

  Said Varocher: “Why such surprise, my lords?

  We’ve brought this wealth from where it could be sought –

  From Charles’s camp – where there is plenty more!”

  They roared again: “Now that’s a rank to join!”

  And so they did: another twenty score

  Swore secretly to go with him henceforth –

  And Varocher accepted them, of course!

  And then he went to see his own liege lord,

  The Eastern king, and gave him first of all

  2640 The destrier of Charles the Emperor,

  And then a share of all the other spoils.

  The share that should have gone to him he brought

  And gave it all to lovely Blancheflor,

  And Louis too, the little heir she’d borne.

  She wept to see the Frankish treasures pawed

  And clawed about, then given out like toys

  To greedy hands, and not the needy poor,

  To some whose deeds had not deserved reward.

  Whate’er the case, when Charles arose that morn

  2650 He quickly saw that all the wealth he’d stored,

  With every steed, was simply there no more!

  He shook his head, he dropped his bearded jaw

  In mute dismay before he found his voice:

  “Naimon!” he cried “Whose crime was this? Whose fault?”

  The duke replied: “As little mine as yours!

  What you have lost, I too have lost, my lord –

  My finest horse has also been purloined!”

  And some there were who lost the smiles they wore

  At others’ woe, when they were missing swords,

  2660 Or haubergeons and shields that they had brought –

  For Varocher and all his band had borne

  The lot away without the slightest noise!

  King Charles himself knew none of this, and thought

  The thieves had come from countryside or court:

  A thousand men were wrongly sought and caught!

  74. How both Christian forces met

  GOOD VAROCHER and all his band had made

  A swift retreat with all the plunder gained

  From Charles’s camp – including, to his rage,

  His finest steed, from Aragon in Spain.

  2670 The Eastern king, on seeing this, made haste

  To arm his knights and all his baronage,

  Some thirty thousand men, the records states,

  On horses brought from Aragon in Spain

  For this attack upon King Charlemagne.

  Without a sound they crossed the ground that day,

  While Blancheflor, so fair of form and face,

  Remained in camp, and loudly wept and wailed,

  Distraught to think such enmity should reign

  Between two lords for whom her love was great:

  2680 Her father rode in wounded pride against

  Her husband’s side, deplore it as she may.

  What noise there was as the alarm was raised

  And Charlemagne and Naimon seized their blades,

  With noble Fulk and gallant Ysoré,

  Duke Bérart too, lord of Montdidier,

  And Sanson– these were first, the geste maintains,

  To face the charge and raise the Oriflamme.

  So fierce it was, the fracas and the fray,

  That there were none among the young or aged

  2690 Whose silken cloaks weren’t soaked in bloody stains!

  The noise of war, its awful roar, was great,

  And sore the cost, deplore it as you may

  That friend and foe were all of Christian faith!

  Accursed the hour – nay thrice accursed I say,

  That saw the birth of Lord Macaire, the knave

  Whose wicked lies and evil plotting claimed

  A thousand men and more, so cruelly slain

  Because of him amid that bitter fray!

  Yet even he, when he confessed, was saved

  2700 By God the Lord and His redeeming grace.

  75. How the battle raged

  THE BATTLE RAGED with ever-growing heat,

  As rank on rank was stacked upon the field!

  So many knights were flung from flying steeds

  They hit the ground and perished there in heaps.

  Good Varocher outran his vanguard’s speed,

  Well-armed upon his peerless battle-steed.

  He no way looked as once he had appeared

  When he had lived among the woodland streams

  And dressed in cloth, like any of his peers,

  2710 And led a mule upon a sturdy leash

  To win his bread by cutting down the trees.

  Now he possessed the best of battle-steeds,

  And he was dressed as chivalry should be!

  He held a lance, its shaft of apple-tree,

  And round his neck he bore a quartered shield.

  No need to ask if his prowess agreed:

  I tell you, friends, that neither Roland’s deeds

  Nor Oliver’s displayed more bravery

  Than Varocher’s upon that battlefield.

  2720 Along a track amid the meadow-green

  He came across Duke Naimon and released

  A mighty blow upon that noble Peer:

  He split his shield as if it were a leaf,

  But couldn’t slit the sturdy mail beneath –

  Although the blow he rendered was so fierce

  It threw the duke upon his saddle’s rear

  So forcefully he almost lost his seat!

  He stayed astride, but all his senses reeled:

  “Sweet Mary!” cried the stricken duke in fear.

  2730 “That’s not a man – he’s more a living fiend!

  No mortal hand drove such a spiteful spear!”

  On saying this, he drew his sword of steel,

  And when he did Sir Varocher could see

  How old he was – and let him hold the field.

  He turned his steed and let his victim be.

  Still Charlemagne rode up, his visage fierce.

  Duke Naimon said: “Behold that burly beast!

  I truly think he’s sprung from devil’s-seed!

  So fierce a blow he gave me with his steel

  2740 Upon my helm the villain made me keel

  Upon the bow of my good saddle’s rear!

  The hand of God was all that intervened!”

  “So vile a fiend earns no respect from me!”

  Said Charlemagne, “What’s more, I do believe

  From what I see, unless I’m much deceived

  About the horse he’s riding off, that he’s

  The very rogue who’s robbed me of my steed!

  I tell you this: if he and I should meet,

  This sword of mine will bring that lord to grief!”

  2750 But Varocher
felt not one bit of fear,

  As back and forth he ranged the battle’s reach!

  Along a track amid the meadow-green

  He met Bérart, the lord of Montdidier,

  And with his sword he dealt a blow so fierce

  Upon his helm, whose surface glowed and gleamed,

  That every stone upon its cone was sheered:

  God’s hand alone saved flesh and bone beneath!

  A second blow succeeded though to sweep

  The good Bérart right off his rapid steed!

  2760 He had no choice, or voice, as he was seized

  By Varocher, who led him, on his feet,

  Towards the tent of him who ruled the East.

  He brought the lord to Blancheflor the Queen,

  Who when she saw the prisoner appear,

  Knew straightaway he was her man of liege.

  Bérart disarmed, then from her hand received

  Rich robes of silk befitting his degree.

  The Queen herself assisted him with these.

  While doing this, Bérart could not but see

  2770 Just who she was; and when the truth was clear,

  His joy was more than any gold redeems,

  And down he fell before her on his knees.

  But Blancheflor, she raised him to his feet

  Without delay, and bade him take a seat

  Beside her own, beseeching him to speak

  Of Charlemagne, her married lord and liege.

  Bérart replied: “His heart is filled with grief

  At losing you, whom truly he believes

  No more alive for him to love and keep!”

  76. How Bérart addressed Blancheflor

  2780 BERART spoke on, his joy beyond all measure

  To see again the Queen alive and healthy.

  Not all the gold the Orient possesses

  Could then have wrought or bought him equal pleasure!

  “My lady fair,” he said to her, however,

  “I am amazed that you support this venture,

  Where men of yours in countless scores will perish!

  Indeed, if God the Lord had failed to help me,

  This villain’s sword already would have cleft me!”

  Said Blancheflor: “This man is brave of mettle.

  2790 No man alive below the vault of Heaven

  Has honoured me or served my father better!

  When Aubri died, who’d guided me in exile

  Till he was slain by Lord Macaire the felon,

  Through forest land I ran away in terror –

  And he was first to aid and give me shelter.

  He’s left behind his wife and sons to help me,

  And proved himself a brave and kind attendant.

  His honesty and loyalty have led him,