The evident anxiety of Charlemagne fills the hearts of all Frenchmen with nameless fear, and some of them whisper that Ganelon returned from Saragossa with suspiciously rich gifts.  Meantime Roland, who has merely been waiting for the vanguard to gain some advance, sets out to cross the mountains too; where, true to his agreement with Ganelon, Marsile has concealed a force of one hundred thousand men, led by twelve Saracen generals, who are considered fully equal to the French peers, and who have vowed to slay Roland in the passes of Roncevaux.

PART II.  PRELUDE TO THE GREAT BATTLE.  It is only when the Saracen army is beginning to close in upon the French, that the peers become aware of their danger.  Oliver, Roland’s bosom friend, the first to descry the enemy, calls out that this ambush is the result of Ganelon’s treachery, only to be silenced by Roland, who avers none shall accuse his step-father without proof.  Then, hearing of the large force approaching, Roland exclaims, “Cursed be he who flees,” and admonishes all present to show their mettle and die fighting bravely.

The Pride of Roland. Because the enemies’ force so greatly outnumbers theirs, Oliver suggests that Roland sound his horn to summon Charlemagne to his aid; but, unwilling to lose any glory, this hero refuses, declaring he will strike one hundred thousand such doughty blows with his mighty sword (Durendal), that all the pagans will be laid low.

  “Roland, Roland, yet wind one blast! 
   Karl will hear ere the gorge be passed,
   And the Franks return on their path full fast.” 
  “I will not sound on mine ivory horn: 
   It shall never be spoken of me in scorn,
   That for heathen felons one blast I blew;
   I may not dishonor my lineage true. 
   But I will strike, ere this fight be o’er,
   A thousand strokes and seven hundred more,
   And my Durindana shall drip with gore. 
   Our Franks will bear them like vassals brave. 
   The Saracens flock but to find a grave.”

In spite of the fact that Oliver thrice implores him to summon aid, Roland thrice refuses; so his friend, perceiving he will not yield, finally declares they must do their best, and adds that, should they not get the better of the foe, they will at least die fighting nobly.  Then Archbishop Turpin—­one of the peers—­assures the soldiers that, since they are about to die as martyrs, they will earn Paradise, and pronounces the absolution, thus inspiring the French with such courage that, on rising from their knees, they rush forward to earn a heavenly crown.

Riding at their head, Roland now admits to Oliver that Ganelon must have betrayed them, grimly adding that the Saracens will have cause to rue their treachery before long.  Then he leads his army down the valley to a more open space, where, as soon as the signal is given, both friends plunge into the fray, shouting their war-cry ("Montjoie").