Guided by Elbegast, Charlemagne, still incognito, went to the castle of one of his ministers, and, thanks to Elbegast’s cunning, penetrated unseen into his bedroom.  There, crouching in the dark, Charlemagne overheard him confide to his wife a plot to murder the emperor on the morrow.  Patiently biding his time until they were sound asleep, Charlemagne picked up a worthless trifle, and noiselessly made his way out, returning home unseen.  On the morrow, profiting by the knowledge thus obtained, he cleverly outwitted the conspirators, whom he restored to favor only after they had solemnly sworn future loyalty.  As for Elbegast, he so admired the only man who had ever succeeded in conquering him that he renounced his dishonest profession to enter the emperor’s service.

In gratitude for the heavenly vision vouchsafed him, the emperor named his new palace Ingelheim (Home of the Angel), a name which the place has borne ever since.  This thieving episode is often alluded to in the later romances of chivalry, where knights, called upon to justify their unlawful appropriation of another’s goods, disrespectfully remind the emperor that he too once went about as a thief.

[Sidenote:  Frastrada’s magic ring.] When Charlemagne’s third wife died, he married a beautiful Eastern princess by the name of Frastrada, who, aided by a magic ring, soon won his most devoted affection.  The new queen, however, did not long enjoy her power, for a dangerous illness overtook her.  When at the point of death, fearful lest her ring should be worn by another while she was buried and forgotten, Frastrada slipped the magic circlet into her mouth just before she breathed her last.

Solemn preparations were made to bury her in the cathedral of Mayence (where a stone bearing her name could still be seen a few years ago), but the emperor refused to part with the beloved body.  Neglectful of all matters of state, he remained in the mortuary chamber day after day.  His trusty adviser, Turpin, suspecting the presence of some mysterious talisman, slipped into the room while the emperor, exhausted with fasting and weeping, was wrapped in sleep.  After carefully searching for the magic jewel, Turpin discovered it, at last, in the dead queen’s mouth.

“He searches with care, though with tremulous haste,
For the spell that bewitches the king;
And under her tongue, for security placed,
Its margin with mystical characters traced,
At length he discovers a ring.” 

          
                                                      SOUTHEY, King Charlemain.

[Sidenote:  Turpin and the magic ring.] To secure this ring and slip it on his finger was but the affair of a moment; but just as Turpin was about to leave the room the emperor awoke.  With a shuddering glance at the dead queen, Charlemagne flung himself passionately upon the neck of his prime minister, declaring that he would never be quite inconsolable as long as he was near.