When Olger returned to France he found that his wife was dead. This
grieved him very sorely, but he was comforted somewhat by the sight
of the little son who had been born to him meantime. And he called
his name Baldwin.
Now, at this time the paynims had come down upon Denmark, and had
harried all the land. And they shut up King Godfrey in his own
castle, and besieged it so that he nearly died of famine. Then the
Queen said: "Surely this trouble is come upon us for Olger's sake,
whom we left to die." And they began to repent of their wickedness,
until at length, becoming very low and miserable, they sent a message
to King Charles, begging him to forgive them, and to send them help.
But the Emperor replied: "No! Since Godfrey holds his lands of God
and of his good sword, let him hold them. I will not lift a hand to
help him." Then he sent for Olger, and said: "You would not wish to
help a traitor--one, too, who left you to die for his crimes?" But
Olger knelt before the King, and said: "Sire, as vassal I kneel here
before my King; but Godfrey is my father, and my duty is to go to his
aid. Surely the King will not forbid a son his duty!"
Then Charles was moved, and said: "Go; but go alone, save with your
body-servants. No man of mine shall fight in the cause of a rebel
and traitor."
Then Olger hurried to his father's castle with thirty of his men; but
ere he could reach it, King Godfrey had been slain by his foes, and
they were even then fighting over his body when Olger rode up.
It was not long before Olger, with his good sword Courtain, had
scattered these paynims far and wide, and soon after they left the
country in despair of conquering such a hero. Then Olger was made
King of Denmark, and ruled there for five years; and when he had
settled the land and made good laws, he returned to the Emperor
Charles, and, kneeling before him, said: "The son of Godfrey, of his
own free will, thus pays homage to King Charles for all the land of
Denmark."
The King embraced him warmly at these words, and begged him to remain
as long as possible at the Frankish Court. Now, one day the little
Baldwin, Olger's son, a fair-headed child whom all good men looked
upon with favour, was playing chess with Charlot, son of the Emperor;
and it came to pass that, having quickly given "fool's mate" to the
prince, the boy began to laugh at him for his bad play.
Then Charlot, who had always hated Olger, and was jealous of young
Baldwin, took up the heavy chessboard, and beat the child on the
head, so that he fell lifeless to the ground.
When Olger returned from the hunt and found his little son lying
dead, he was beside himself with grief. He covered the child with
tears and kisses, and then, making his way to the Emperor's presence,
he laid the boy before his throne, saying:
"Sire, look upon your son's foul deed."
The Emperor was sorely grieved; but he tried to comfort Olger, saying
he would give half his kingdom if it would bring the child to life
again, but that he knew well that nothing could make up for such a
loss.
Then Olger said very sternly: "There is no compensation, but there is
punishment to be given. Grant me now to fight with your son, and so
avenge my poor child's death."
"Nay," said the Emperor; "for how, then, could he have a chance of
life?"
"What matters that?" cried Olger, with bitter look. "What is your
son more than mine? I demand that he be given up to me."
"I cannot do it," said the Emperor.
"Then," cried Olger in great wrath, "till you learn justice, sire, we
part company." And forthwith he left the Court, and took service
with a Lombard king who was fighting against King Charles.
For the next few years Olger the Dane won great renown by his warfare
against the Franks, for wherever he went he was always the victor,
and his enemies began to look upon his good sword Courtain, and
Broiefort, his great black steed, with awe and terror. Many of the
Franks said openly, that to let Olger depart and to make him their
foe, had been no wise deed, for he came upon them like a blight upon
the summer corn. At length they made a plot against him, and
determined to get the better of him by foul treachery. So they
watched him privily, and found him one day, tired out with fighting,
lying fast asleep by a fountain, with his arms scattered far and
wide, and his good steed Broiefort grazing peacefully by his side.
Then one seized his horse, and another his weapons, and they bound
him fast while he still lay sound asleep.
When Sir Olger was brought to the Court as a prisoner, the Emperor
wished to slay him, because he feared the vengeance of Olger on his
son, and in return for the harm he had done to the Frankish cause.
But the knights and barons would not hear of this, saying that they
had lent themselves to treachery to save their native land, but that
the life of the noblest knight in Christendom should not be lost
thereby. So he was put into prison, and kept under a strong guard
for several years.
Now, after these days did Achar, King of England, land in France to
do homage to the Emperor for his lands; and with him came his fair
daughter Clarice. But as he journeyed to the Court a certain Saracen
giant named Bruhier arrived with a great army to make war upon the
Franks, and he seized the persons of Achar and his daughter, and
marched to fight against the Emperor. And so great was the power of
this giant that the Frankish army could not stand before him, but
fled before his face. Then the barons and knights began to implore
Charles to release Olger from his prison and prevail on him to fight
for them, and forthwith the Emperor went himself ta the prison to
implore his aid. But Olger would not listen for a moment to this
proposal, unless the Emperor would first deliver Charlot the prince
into his hands. For a long time the Emperor would not agree to this;
but at length his whole army reproached him, saying: "Have you no
care for us that you let us die by thousands in a hopeless fight?
Why should a thousand die for one?"
So Charles was forced to deliver up his son.
Then, as Charlot begged and prayed for mercy, Olger thought only of
his fair-haired little boy, and, taking the prince by the hair,
raised Courtain to strike off his head. But as he did so a voice
from the air cried: "Stay thy hand, Olger the Dane! Slay not the son
of the King!" and at the same moment vivid flashes of lightning came
about them both. Then the sword fell from Olger's hand, and all who
had heard the voice trembled and greatly feared. The King, in his
joy at the deliverance of his son, would have poured out his
gratitude to the Dane; but Olger only said: "Your thanks are due to
God, not to me. I do but bow to His will." And that day the King
and Olger were made friends.
But when the Dane would have made ready to fight against the Saracen,
he found that nothing had been heard or seen of his good horse
Broiefort for seven long years, and all men believed him to be dead.
The Emperor sent him his best charger in his stead, but scarcely had
the knight leaped into the saddle when the creature fell beneath his
weight. Ten other of the finest horses in the land were tried, and,
finding that none could carry him, Olger declared that he must go
afoot. But a certain man was found who said he had seen the horse
Broiefort dragging blocks of stone for the building of the Abbey of
St Meaux, and immediately a little band rode off to bring the horse
back to his master. They found him but skin and bone, his hair worn
off his sides, his tail shorn to the stump, his skin galled by the
shafts, a very scarecrow of a horse, yet dragging a load that four
other horses could not stir. They brought him to Olger with all
speed; and when the sturdy knight leaned upon him, he did not cringe
under the weight, but straightened himself, and, knowing his master,
snorted and neighed with joy, and pawed the ground, and knelt down
humbly before him on the grass.
So Olger went to battle upon Broiefort, and wherever he went he won
the day. He slew the giant Bruhier, drove the Saracen from the land,
and rescued King Achar, and his daughter Clarice, whom the King of
Britain gave him for his wife. And when they were married, they
crossed the sea, and Achar made Olger King of Britain in his stead.
For many years he ruled this country, and there his faithful
Broiefort died and was buried. At length he grew weary of peace, and
went to fight for the Holy Cross in Palestine; and there he fought
many a hard battle, and won many a victory, till he was old and grey
with years. Then he left the Holy Land, and set sail for France that
he might see Charles the Great and his Court once more before he
returned to Britain, there to end his days.
But on that journey there came upon them a great storm; and the
tempestuous wind drove the ship in which Olger was far away from the
rest, into strange seas, without rudder, oars, or mast; and a strong
current seized the vessel, and crashed it against a reef of loadstone
rock. All who were on board leaped into the waves, and were soon
dashed lifeless against the beach; only Sir Olger remained upon the
deck in the black darkness, gazing out upon the stormy sea. He bared
his head, and, drawing Courtain, kissed the crossed hilt, and thanked
God for the courage given him as a soldier all his life, and then
quietly awaited death.