Sections CLXXXIII-CLXXXIX
Charles prepares for further war; Marsile's ally Baligant the admiral arrives with reinforcements to aid Marsile.
7 argumentative units
- 01Charles's sacred armament and the sword Joiuse
The narrator describes Emperor Charles sleeping in a meadow fully armed with his white hauberk, jeweled helm, and the sword Joiuse, which bears the point of the lance that wounded Christ and thus carries divine sanction and power.
- 02Charles's grief for his fallen men
Charles lies sleepless, overcome with sorrow for Roland, Oliver, the twelve peers, and all the Franks lost at Rencesvals, until exhaustion finally claims him and the entire Frankish army falls asleep.
- 03Charles's first vision: portent of coming battle
Saint Gabriel sends Charles a prophetic vision of a terrible coming battle in which fierce storms destroy Frankish weapons and armor, wild beasts and dragons attack the soldiers, and Charles himself wrestles with a great lion—all signifying impending dangers.
- 04Charles's second vision: struggle over a bear
Charles dreams he is in Aix holding a bear by chains when thirty bears emerge from Ardenne claiming kinship and demanding their companion, and a greyhound from his palace fights among them—a struggle whose outcome remains unclear to the King.
- 05Marsile's shame and his people's punishment of their gods
King Marsile flees to Sarraguce having lost his right hand, and his people respond to this defeat by desecrating and destroying their idols—Apollo, Tervagant, and Mahomet—in rage at perceived divine betrayal.
- 06Bramimunde's lament and prophecy of Baligant's test
Queen Bramimunde grieves over the defeated Marsile, lamenting that Sarraguce is now forlorn and that only Admiral Baligant can restore their fortunes—if he proves courageous enough to fight the fearless and bearded Emperor Charlemagne.
- 07Baligant's summons and long-delayed arrival with massive forces
After seven years of Charles's Spanish conquest, Marsile sends word to the ancient Admiral Baligant in Babylon, promising conversion to Christianity if he provides aid; Baligant eventually marshals forces through forty realms and launches a great navy from Alexandria in May.