Familia de Oliveros: Le Mariage de Roland [Victor Hugo]

Le Mariage de Roland

   Victor Hugo's




           This is a short piece of poetry found in the poetry collection by Victor Hugo (1802~1885) entitled La légende des siècles (The Legend of the Centuries).
           In it, Roldan and Oliveros fight a duel lasting five days. In the end Oliveros sues for peace and gives his sister Alda's hand in marriage to Roldan. Note that Hugo makes Oliveros the son of Gerard (rather than the nephew as according to the Chanson de Geste). And Alda is not just affianced to Roland, but is married to him at the end of this.



Plotline (The text was in French and I relied on machine translation, so I'm not 100% certain.)

          On an island amid the river Rhone, two warriors are matched up in single combat. It is a most stupendous battle. As for the combatants — their names are Oliver and Roland.

   -Oliver is the son of Gerard de Vienne. His shield was made by Bacchus, his helm was one found under the wings of the hydra; his hauberk was once worn by Solomon, and his estoc bears an inscription of its name.

   -Roland was armored cap-á-pie in iron, and held Durendal in his hand.

          Early on, Roldan has the advantage, and he scores a masterful stroke to his opponent's helm and Oliveros loses grip of his sword. But a man will not live down the shame if he were to strike an unarmed foe, and a nephew of Charlemagne's no less. Roldan declares: "Let us enjoy a bit of respite. I suggest you sir, have your servant bring you another weapon. And I am feeling dreadful thirsty. I prithee you have your man bring me something to drink as well." Thus Oliveros instructs his boatman to go fetch from Vienne the goodly sword Closamont (which others know as Haute-Claire)[Alta-Clara]. The brave warriors resume the fight, but as night sets, Oliveros is feeling unwell. He can barely stay on his feet. Oh Sir Roldan, will you not concede to a truce? "Indeed you do seem to have come down with a fever, sir. And not on account of being overcome by my sword. Very well, go ahead and lie youreself down on the sward, to your heart's content." "Nay, no need of that," answers Oliveros. "I was merely testing your sense of honor, sir. I am full capable of sustaining the fight for another four days and nights." In fact the fight drags on for three days, and Olivross father Gerard is on edge. He summons an augurer to read the omen. The augurur says, "My lord, the gentlemen are bound to keep fighting forever on."

          On the fourth day, it is Oliveros who manages to grab away Roland's sword and toss it in the river. "Now it is my turn to return the favor. At Vienne, I keep the sword of the Giant Sinnagog so I will have that fetched for you. Next to Durendal[Durandarte], that is the only sword worthy of thee." Roldan laughs and says, "I will make do with this bit of stick," as he uproots a tree of oak. Oliveros answers in kind by pulling up an elm-tree from the ground. On the fifth day, Oliveros finally rests his hand and says, "At this rate, we will surely fight forever and on like a lion and a pard. This is a most fruitless exercise. What if you were to be my brother-in-law? I happen to have a beautiful sister, who goes by the name of Aude of the white arm. What if you were to take her hand in marriage?" "That suits me just fine," answered Roldan. "Then let us have our drink now, we have lost plenty of sweat over these few days. "
          And it was thus that Roldan was married to the Alda.



Source:


Le Mariage de Roland


Note: I change the name of the person in the story to thier Spanish counterpart instead of French whic are:

Gerart = Gerard,

Roland = Roldan[Spanish]/Orlando[Italian],

Olivier = Oliveros[Spanish]/Uliviero/Oliviero[Italian],

Aude = Alda/Alde[Spanish]

Swords:

-Durendal = Durandarte/Duranda[Spanish], Dyrumdali[perhaps Gaelic, not certain]

-Hauteclair/Closamont/Glorious = Alta-Clara[Spanish]