THE BATTLE OF RONCEVALLES - A Carolingian Legend: Baba Indaba Children's Stories - Issue 442

By Anon E. Mouse and Narrated by Baba Indaba

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 442
In this 442nd issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the Turkish Fairy Tale – “The Battle of Roncesvalles”

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass (Roncesvalles in Spanish) in 778AD saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.

As the Franks retreated across the Pyrenees back to France, the rearguard of Frankish lords were cut off, but they stood their ground.
During the battle, Roland draws his horn and blows in the belief that the Emperor Charlemagne would hear the cry for help and send a relieving army.

What happened next? Did the blowing of the horn result in relief for the besieged knights? How did everything turn out in the end? Well, you’ll have to download and read the story to find out for yourself.

NOTE: The battle, which actually happened, elevated the relatively obscure Roland and the paladins into legend, becoming the quintessential role model for knights and also greatly influencing the code of chivalry in the Middle Ages. There are numerous written works about the battle, some of which change and exaggerate events. The battle is recounted in the 11th century The Song of Roland, the oldest surviving major work of French literature.

INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES

Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".

BUY ANY of the 440+ BABA INDABA CHILDREN’S STORIES at https://goo.gl/65LXNM

10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.

Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.

KEYWORDS/TAGS: Baba Indaba, Children’s stories, Childrens, Folklore, Fairy, Folk, Tales, bedtime story, legends, storyteller, fables, moral tales, myths, happiness, laughter, , Roland, Charles, Ganélon, King, Oliver, Marsile, Franks, Emperor, France, death, horn, battle, sword, dead, man, Archbishop, fight, Spain, army, Durendal, Count, thousand, Unbelievers, friend, Blancandrin, mountains, Saracens, Moslems, Umayyad, ground, Umayyid, , Infidels, nephew, heart, Charlemagne, Montjoie, Saragossa, hundred, defiles, Saracen, Turpin, peace, God, rear-guard, message, Caliph, brave, hostages, comrade, nobles, horse, lance, blood, slain, lords, Fair, vassal, barons, Naimes, command, conquer, dishonour, Paradise, trumpets, soldiers, silence, mount, helmet, weep, host, weak, gold, Duke, rose, Aix, stepfather, messenger, traitor, valleys, baptise, shame, steel, faith, Veillantif, thousands, betray, scabbard

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abela Publishing
• Release date: Jul 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9788828349143

Book preview

The Battle of Roncesvalles

A Carolingian Legend

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

Published By

Abela Publishing, London

2018

THE BATTLE OF RONCESVALLES

Typographical arrangement of this edition

©Abela Publishing 2018

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Abela Publishing,

London, United Kingdom

2018

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

ISSN 2397-9607

Issue 442

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Baba Indaba’s Children’s Stories

An Introduction to Baba Indaba

Baba Indaba, pronounced Baaba Indaaba, lived in Africa a long-long time ago. Indeed, this story was first told by Baba Indaba to the British settlers over 250 years ago in a place on the South East Coast of Africa called Zululand, which is now in a country now called South Africa.

In turn the British settlers wrote these stories down and they were brought back to England on sailing ships. From England they were in turn spread to all corners of the old British Empire, and then to the world.

In olden times the Zulu’s did not have computers, or iPhones, or paper, or even pens and pencils. So, someone was assigned to be the Wenxoxi Indaba (Wensosi Indaaba) – the Storyteller. It was his, or her, job to memorise all the tribe’s history, stories and folklore, which had been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. So, from the time he was a young boy, Baba Indaba had been apprenticed to the tribe’s Wenxoxi Indaba to learn the stories. Every day the Wenxoxi Indaba would narrate the stories and Baba Indaba would have to recite the story back to the Wenxoxi Indaba, word for word. In this manner he learned the stories of the Zulu nation.

In time the Wenxoxi Indaba grew old and when he could no longer see or hear, Baba Indaba became the next in a long line of Wenxoxi Indabas. So fond were the children of him that they continued to call him Baba Indaba – the Father of Stories.

When the British arrived in South Africa, he made it his job to also learn their stories. He did this by going to work at the docks at the Point in Port Natal at a place the Zulu people call Ethekwene (Eh-tek-weh-nee). Here he spoke to many sailors and ships captains. Captains of ships that sailed to the far reaches of the British Empire – Canada, Australia, India, Mauritius, the Caribbean and beyond.

He became so well known that ship’s crew would bring him a story every time they visited Port Natal. If they couldn’t, they would arrange to have someone bring it to him. This way his library of stories grew and grew until he was known far and wide as the keeper of stories