Olger the Dane

Olger the Dane by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton

Olger, son of King Godfrey of Denmark, is born after his mother dies in childbirth and receives gifts from six fairies: strength, courage, gentleness, love, victory, and immortality in Avalon with Morgan le Fay. When Godfrey refuses to do homage to Emperor Charles the Great, Olger is sent as hostage to the Frankish Court. His father later breaks his pledge and humiliates Charles’s messengers, so Olger is condemned to die, though he is innocent. He asks instead to serve Charles faithfully, and is spared when war calls the Emperor to rescue Rome from the paynims. Olger marries Bellisande before joining the campaign as Duke Naymes’s squire. Forbidden to fight, he nevertheless takes the standard from the fleeing Sir Alory, frees captured nobles, repeatedly saves Charles, and leads the Franks against the enemy. Revealed as the bearer of the standard, he is made Champion of France. He challenges Caraheu, Emperor of India, to single combat. Though he overcomes Caraheu, Dannemont’s hidden men seize him treacherously. Caraheu is ashamed of this dishonour and joins Charles, while Gloriande, who loves Olger, frees him from prison. Rome is recovered; Olger gives Gloriande to Caraheu as his wife, and Caraheu gives him the sword Courtain. Returning to France, Olger finds Bellisande dead but rejoices in his little son Baldwin. When Denmark is besieged and Godfrey killed, Olger goes to his father’s aid despite Charles’s anger, defeats the paynims, becomes King of Denmark, establishes order, and voluntarily does homage to Charles. At the Frankish Court, Baldwin defeats Charlot, Charles’s son, at chess. Charlot kills the child with the chessboard. Olger demands the right to fight Charlot, but Charles refuses. In wrath Olger leaves the Court and fights for a Lombard king against France, winning fearsome renown with Courtain and his horse Broiefort. Captured while asleep through treachery, he is imprisoned for years. When the giant Bruhier defeats the Franks and captures King Achar of England and his daughter Clarice, Charles releases Olger only after surrendering Charlot to him. Olger is about to kill the prince in vengeance for Baldwin when a voice from the air commands him to stop. He obeys, reconciles with Charles, recovers Broiefort from cruel labour at the Abbey of St Meaux, kills Bruhier, and rescues Achar and Clarice. He marries Clarice and becomes King of Britain. After years of rule, he fights for the Holy Cross in Palestine, then sails for France. A storm wrecks his ship upon a loadstone reef, leaving Olger alone to await death. Morgan le Fay calls him from the sea to Avalon. There she restores his youth with an enchanted ring, gives him a Crown of Forgetfulness, and keeps him in a timeless fairy land among King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristram, and other knights. Two hundred years pass while France declines under its enemies. Morgan restores Olger’s memory and sends him back with Courtain, his revived squire Benoist, the fairy horse Papillon, and a torch whose final spark will mark his death. The ring preserves his youth, while the torch must remain unlit if his life is to be safe. Olger returns to a world where all who knew him have been dead for two centuries. At Meaux, Benoist is killed by a hostile crowd. Olger’s rage lights the torch, but the Abbot of St Faron helps him place it in an airtight iron treasure-house, where its flame can endure. Removing the magic ring briefly turns Olger into a helpless ancient man, proving its power. He rides forth to save France, leading the Franks to repeated victories until the land is free; the torch burns brightly while he fights and dwindles when he rests. At the French Court, the Queen and the Lady of Senlis discover the ring’s secret when they remove it from the sleeping Olger. The Queen restores it, but the jealous Lady of Senlis sends knights to steal it; Olger escapes them. The Queen then offers to marry him and make him King of France. As he kneels beside her for the wedding and coronation, a radiant light and white cloud surround him. When the cloud passes, Olger has vanished, though people say he still sleeps in Avalon, guarded by the burning torch, and will return to deliver France again.

By E.M. Wilmot-Buxton · First published 1911 · Genre: Medieval Romance, Chivalric Romance, Arthurian Fantasy · 7,997 words

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I. How Olger became Champion of France

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medieval romance · chivalric adventure · Charlemagne legend · Danish hero · Frankish court · Denmark · France · Rome · Britain · Avalon · fairy gifts · Morgan le Fay

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Olger the Dane is listed on Textopian as a short story by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton, dated 1911 CE.

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