View Full Version : Charlemagne

08-12-2005, 02:40 AM
Does anyone know which Charlemagne poem/story Henry Sr.
quotes in "Last Crusade"?


08-12-2005, 03:34 PM
I was under the impression that it is an actual quote from Charlemagne.

08-12-2005, 03:47 PM

That was my guess too. It's been a few years since I was in a history class that studied Charlemagne so I don't remember too much about him but I always assumed that the quote was real.

08-13-2005, 02:02 AM
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Apparently, Charlemagne was able to read but he could not write.
What I'm actually looking for is the actual source/s of the quote.
Which diatribe was it recorded in...and is there anything more to it
than just that one line?

I'm pretty sure it's not from "Song of Roland", which is the most famous.
Maybe that shining steed, the Pale Horse, could solve this?

08-19-2005, 05:50 PM
One story reveals that these would have been the words Charlemagne had uttered shortly before his passing from this world; as an answer to inquiry how does it feel to step into the great unknown without any of his trusted men on the side.

Of course, on the other note, we'll have to keep in mind that the authors of many annals aimed to boost the reputation of some legendary characters by creating descriptions that picture the nature of greater entities out of their mind. The case here is a bit similar with Caesar's famous "the dice has been thrown", did he really spell out those words when crossing the Rubicon or is it simply nothing but an early form of a public relations trick?

Another source says that Charlemagne himself was actually quoting somebody, his own father Pippin the Short (alright, Hobbit jokes aside). Perhaps it was some kind of unofficial family motto. Or something.

The cases with many historical quotes dating back ages is that we really don't get to know if the credits have gone right. What we can say for sure, the quote in question is OLD. Reliably, we can say it's most likely mouthed/written by someone living when Charles the Great was around.

Imagine the following situation: Dozens of years after the human race has vanished from planet Earth, a bunch of EBE archaeologists arrive. They find evidence that one day on this rock has lived a man called George W, who's seemingly been some kind of bigwig during his time. They assume all the four docs they've found about this man is fact, even though they're an issue of Washington Times, one of his speeches, a Tom Clancy novel... and a page ripped out of the MAD magazine.


08-22-2005, 04:36 AM
Finn, your reply is greatly appreciated and precisely why I joined The Raven!
Everything you have said regarding the reliability of sources is certainly true
but why bring the Bush crapola into it? Haven't we had enough of that already?
Your post was cohesive enough without. :)

So, these might have been Chuck the Magnificent's *dying words*
and are possibly attributed to someone else? Thanks for shedding
some light on a burning question.

P.S. When I was a kid, MAD magazine was the shiznit.
(I wonder if they ever did a "Raiders" spoof...)

08-22-2005, 05:56 AM

Don't ask. :p