Then, in the agony of his grief, Roland fainted, sitting
firm in his saddle, and again recovering consciousness, be-
came aware of the terrible losses of the French. Only him-
self, the archbishop, and the gallant Gaultier de I'Hum were
left to, defend the honor of the French. After Gaultier fell,
Roland, unassisted save by Turpin, who fought transfixed
by four spear shafts, put the enemy to flight. Feeling his
death wounds, Roland besought Turpin to let him bring to-
gether tr\e bodies of his fallen comrades that they might
receive the blessing of the archbishop. Weak and trem-
bling from loss of blood, Roland passed to and fro over the



202 NATIONAL EPICS.
coipse-bestrewn field, and gathered together his comrades :
here, Gerin and Gerier, Berengier and Otun ; there, Anseis,
Samsun, and Gerard de Roussillon, and last of all, his be-
loved Olivier, and placing them before the knees of Turpin,
he saw them receive his blessing.
In his great grief at the sight of the dead Olivier, Roland
again fainted, and Turpin hastened to a little brook near by
for water to revive him. But the strain was too great for his
already weakened body, and, when Roland revived, it was
to find the archbishop dead.
Then Roland, realizing that his hour, too, had come,
sought out a place in which to die. Upon a hill between
two lofty trees, where was a marble terrace, he placed himself
with his head towards the enemy's country ; and there a
Saracen, who had feigned death to escape it, tried to wrest
from him his beloved Durendal.
