Chapter 2

CHAPTER II.
THE PEERS, OR PALADINS. THE twelve most illustrious knights of Charlemagne were called
Peers, for the equality that reigned among them; while the name of
Paladins, also conferred on them, implies that they were inmates of
the palace and companions of the king. Their names are not always
given alike by the romancers, yet we may enumerate the most
distinguished of them as follows: Orlando or Poland (the former the
Italian, the latter the French form of the name), favorite nephew of
Charlemagne; Rinaldo of Montalban, cousin of Orlando; Namo, Duke of
Bavaria; Salomon, King of Brittany; Turpin, the Archbishop;
Astolpho, of England; Ogier, the Dane; Malagigi, the Enchanter; and
Florismart, the friend of Orlando. There were others who are sometimes
named as paladins, and the number cannot be strictly limited to
twelve. Charlemagne himself must be counted one, and Ganelon, or Gano,
of Mayence, the treacherous enemy of all the rest, was rated high on
the list by his deluded sovereign, who was completely the victim of
his arts.
We shall introduce more particularly to our readers a few of the
principal peers, leaving the others to make their own introduction, as
they appear in the course of our narrative. We begin with Orlando. ORLANDO. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related to
Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the Emperor's sister, was
banished from France, and excommunicated by the Pope. After a long and
miserable wandering on foot as mendicants, Milon and his wife
arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where they took refuge in a cave, and in
that cave Orlando was born. There his mother continued, deriving a
scanty support from the compassion of the neighboring peasants;
while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune, went into foreign lands.
Orlando grew up among the children of the peasantry, surpassing them
all in strength and manly graces. Among his companions in age,
though in station far more elevated, was Oliver, son of the governor
of the town. Between the two boys a feud arose, that led to a fight,
in which Orlando thrashed his rival; but this did not prevent a
friendship springing up between the two which lasted through life.
Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a
favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to
make him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this
circumstance Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome to receive the imperial
crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day
had nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party,
and seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much
as he could carry