Tag Archives: Age of Chivalry

CHARLEMAGNE: ROLAND BATTLES MANDRICARDO

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ROLAND BATTLES MANDRICARDO – In our previous installment Charlemagne’s Paladin named Roland saved Princess Isabella of Galicia from the Moroccan corsairs who were holding her for ransom.

Now, Roland and Isabella were riding northward to link up with Emperor Charlemagne’s main army as they fought the ongoing Saracen invasion. As always, the Paladin wielded his sword Durindana.

At length they approached a town where there was much consternation. Several soldiers were making their way through the streets but at this distance Roland could not make out if they were friend or foe.

Our hero had Isabella slip down from their horse and hide behind a tree while Roland met with the approaching soldiers to determine their intentions. He saw that they were conducting a prisoner, bound hand and foot.

Finally, Roland could make out the ensigns of the troops – they were men of the Count Anselm, head of the treacherous House Maganza. That House was ever ready to secretly ally themselves with every foe of Emperor Charlemagne. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

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ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS – The Paladins recently freed by Astolpho from the prison of the sorcerer Atlantes all hastened to rejoin Emperor Charlemagne’s army. The war against the Muslim invaders from colonized Spain and North Africa was still raging. 

Roland, the greatest of those Paladins, was so anxious to link up with the forces of his uncle the Emperor that he tried riding his horse up a mountainside as a shortcut. Part way up, Roland spotted light emerging from the entrance of a cave.

Our hero investigated and found a young woman being held against her will by a toothless hag who threatened and abused her repeatedly. Roland entered the furnished cave and asked the captive about her plight. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ASTOLPHO REUNITES BRADAMANTE AND RUGGIERO

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ASTOLPHO REUNITES BRADAMANTE AND RUGGIERO – The last Paladin to depart the island realm of the good Queen Logestilla was Astolpho, as he and the queen savored each other’s company. Finally, Astolpho announced his departure, knowing his duty was to return to the war raging on the Continent between Emperor Charlemagne’s forces and the Muslim invaders from North Africa and colonized Spain.

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Queen Logestilla provided her swiftest ship and best crew to transport Astolpho from her island west of Ireland back to Charlemagne’s Empire. The good fairy queen gave the Paladin a mystic tome which included instructions on how to overcome all manner of enchantments. 

Her final gift to Astolpho was a magic horn which, when blown, could drive off supernatural creatures and/or shatter the strongest of spells. The ship carried the Paladin to the port city he requested and, astride his horse Rabican, he was soon on his way to rejoining the bulk of Charlemagne’s army.

Along his way our hero clashed with groups of brigands who were taking advantage of the unsettled state of the Empire due to the ongoing war by acting as bandits. Astolpho also overcame a wolfpack and then a giant serpent, which he drove off with a blast from the horn given to him by Queen Logestilla. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ATLANTES VS RUGGIERO AND BRADAMANTE

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ATLANTES VS RUGGIERO AND BRADAMANTE – We left off with Ruggiero and Princess Angelica resting in Brittany from their long flight on the hippogriff after Ruggiero had saved Angelica from the Orc sea-serpent near the enchanted islands west of Ireland.

Overnight, the selfish Princess Angelica surreptitiously searched among Ruggiero’s belongings and found the mystic ring which the clever dwarf Brunello had stolen from her several installments ago. She put the ring back on her own finger, turning invisible as she did so, then fled eastward.

As soon as Ruggiero noticed that Angelica had vanished, he began searching for her before ultimately giving up. By now far away, the scheming princess used her invisibility to steal food and a horse from a poor shepherd and rode hard toward her father’s distant kingdom in Cathay.  Continue reading

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TALES OF CHARLEMAGNE: RUGGIERO AND PRINCESS ANGELICA MEET

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

During the post-Christmas period through at least Twelfth Night in January Balladeer’s Blog covers tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins.

RUGGIERO MEETS PRINCESS ANGELICA – When we last saw Bradamante, the Paladin in White Armor, she was continuing her quest to find her beloved Ruggiero. He was a Muslim warrior who was allied with the Saracens who had invaded the realm of Emperor Charlemagne from colonized Spain. 

Muslim sorcerers had been throwing menaces in their way to keep them separated because of the prophecy that said Ruggiero would convert to Christianity over his love of a woman. That woman was obviously the skilled and courageous Bradamante of the White Armor. 

After having freed many noble fighters held captive by the Sorceress Alcina in our last installment, Ruggiero mounted his winged hippogriff and flew off eastward toward Continental Europe from the island realm of the good Queen Logestilla. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: THE RESCUE OF RUGGIERO

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

bradamante another picTHE RESCUE OF RUGGIERO – In the cliffhanger ending of our previous installment, Ruggiero the Saracen was still on the island divided into separate kingdoms by Morgana’s sisters – the evil sorceress Alcina and the good sorceress Logestilla.

Alcina had shanghaied Ruggiero from his quest to reach Logestilla’s kingdom and recruit her help in freeing Alcina’s victims like the Paladin Astolpho from the enchantments that the villainess had trapped them with. Alcina was romancing the enthralled Ruggiero, knowing that when she grew bored she would imprison the Saracen like she had Astolpho and so many others.

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Meanwhile, back in Continental Europe, Bradamante, the female Paladin in White Armor (above left), was still searching for her beloved Ruggiero. She was the woman prophesied to lure mighty Ruggiero away from Islam and convert him to Christianity, which was why Muslim sorcerers like Atlantes had caused him to be abducted to the island of Morgana’s sisters.

At her wit’s end, Bradamante turned for aid to Melissa, the good enchantress whom she had met in the Wizard’s Tomb several installments back. Melissa used her mystic abilities to determine Ruggiero’s whereabouts. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: BRADAMANTE VS ATLANTES

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

Bradamante BETTERBRADAMANTE VS ATLANTES – We left off in the previous installment with Bradamante, the female Paladin in white armor, waiting at an inn in Bordeaux for her foretold encounter with the clever dwarf Brunello. Presently the day had come when Brunello arrived, but before she could approach him, both of them were swept up in a crowd of bystanders in a panic, pointing to the sky as the enchanter astride the winged horse once again flew overhead.

Bradamante took advantage of this development to pretend to casually inquire of Brunello about the astounding sight. The clever dwarf, whom Bradamante had been warned was an accomplice of the flying enchanter, informed her that it was Atlantes and that he had abducted several men and women recently and imprisoned them in his mountaintop castle.

Charlemagne's empireBrunello pretended not to know what happened to the abductees, but the female Paladin had been told by the priestess Melissa that they were used as companions for her missing beloved, Ruggiero. Atlantes had trained and raised Ruggiero since the latter’s childhood and feared the prophecies that the warrior would one day be led away from Islam by his love for Bradamante.

Playing along as if she was not suspicious of the clever dwarf, the White Paladin raged about how she longed to find the mountaintop refuge of Atlantes and free his prisoners. Brunello had by now realized that this woman warrior was the famous Bradamante herself, and planned to lure her into the clutches of Atlantes as he had done with so many others. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: BRADAMANTE IN THE WIZARD’S TOMB

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

bradamante another picBRADAMANTE IN THE WIZARD’S TOMB – We left off last time around with Mandricardo searching for the Paladin Roland so he could try to kill him and steal from him the sword Durindana, thus completing the armor of Hector. The female Paladin in white armor, Bradamante, was searching for Ruggiero the Moor, from whom she had gotten separated a few installments back. Ruggiero was likewise searching for her.

The clever dwarf Brunello, a figure who might have inspired GOT‘s Tyrion Lannister just as Bradamante might have inspired Brienne, was meanwhile roaming the same region of Europe. Brunello had been sent from northern Africa by the enchanter Atlantes to lure Atlantes’ departed protege Ruggiero into captivity to prevent him from being lured away from Islam by his love for Bradamante. 

Brunello encountered Ruggiero and convinced him to follow him to save a beautiful maiden who had supposedly been abducted by an enchanter astride a winged horse. Ruggiero, in true chivalric style, agreed to accompany the dwarf to save the maiden. At length Brunello secretly summoned the winged enchanter to capture and make off with Ruggiero.

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Atlantes the Enchanter had resolved to keep Ruggiero in the castle forever, so additional men and women were abducted and taken to the castle to provide Ruggiero with companionship and keep him too occupied to want to leave. The captured Moor and his fellow prisoners lost themselves in drinking and feasting. Meanwhile, the battles of the Saracen invasion of Charlemagne’s empire raged on.   

Back with Bradamante, she encountered an armored warrior called Pinabel. His true love was among the women abducted by the enchanter on the flying horse and he recruited Bradamante into helping him try to get her back from the enchanter’s castle. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: MANDRICARDO AND THE ARMOR OF HECTOR

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

mandricardoMANDRICARDO AND THE ARMOR OF HECTOR – Last time around in the Tales of Charlemagne and His Paladins we left off with Ruggiero searching the Forest of Arden for Bradamante, the female Paladin in white armor, with whom he had fallen in love. They had become separated while fighting some of the Saracen soldiers invading Charlemagne’s realm at the time.

Elsewhere, Mandricardo, son of Agrican, King of the Tartars, and a man whose destiny was linked with Ruggiero’s, was on a quest of his own. Mandricardo sought to kill the Paladin Roland as revenge for Roland having killed his father in our previous installments.

Mandricardo had spent his life in drinking, gambling and mercenary work, never attending to his father’s kingdom. Upon hearing of King Agrican’s death at the hands of Roland, the wayward young man was sobered into seriousness. He armored up, grabbed a sword and shield, then set out for revenge on his father’s killer.

In his travels, he came across a splendid tent pitched beside a fountain. Upon entering the tent, Mandricardo met a beautiful (of course) young woman, who told him that when he set out on his revenge quest, it meant that he was ready to fight for his heritage – the fabled armor of Hector of Troy.
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CHARLEMAGNE CHAPTERS

Thank you to reader David Bovey for pointing out that I had not yet provided a list of links to every installment thus far in my look at the tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins.

charlemagne mapPALADINS OF CHARLEMAGNE – The fictional setting of the legends surrounding the real-life Charlemagne, plus the introduction of several of his Paladins (knights). Click HERE.

MORE PALADINS OF CHARLEMAGNE – Introducing a few more prominent characters from the Tales of Charlemagne. Click HERE

HOW ROLAND AND OGIER BECAME PALADINS – Answering a cry for help from the Pope, the Emperor Charlemagne leads his Frankish armies against the Muslim forces threatening Rome. During that military campaign Charlemagne’s nephew Roland and Ogier the Dane distinguish themselves and are invested as Paladins. Click HERE

CHARLOT’S VILLAINY – Charlemagne’s evil son Charlot plots to kill the Paladin named Ogier the Dane during the Emperor’s ongoing campaign against the Muslim armies that threaten the Pope and Rome. Click HERE

TWO ADVENTURES OF ROLAND – In the first adventure, the Paladin Roland faces a 14 feet tall giant. In the second adventure, during a war led by his uncle Charlemagne, Roland is reunited with his childhood friend Oliver. Click HERE.   Continue reading

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