Roland

1. Roland
   Orlando

   The hero of any number of Italian romances, in which he is known as Orlando. These romances concern the exploits of a legendary Count of Brittany who was, according to legend, the nephew of the Emperor Charlemagne.

   Legend says that in AD 778, as his army was returning from a Spanish expedition, it was attacked at Roncesvalles by the Basques or, more correctly, the Saracens, who had been forewarned by the treachery of Ganelon (Roland's jealous stepfather). Roland refused to blow his horn to summon the Emperor's aid until it was too late, and then died in the act of blowing it.

   The most famous romances concerning this character are Orlando Innamorato by Boiardo and Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, which was based on the earlier work and attempted to complete what Boiardo had left unfinished. It is through these and other Italian romances that the story of Roland has become inexorably intertwined with the Arthurian legends.

   
   

2. Roland de Vaux

   The hero of part of Sir Walter Scott’s The Bridal of Triermain.

   On a quest to find a Sleeping Beauty, he located a castle in the Valley of St. John, which contained Gyneth, Arthur’s daughter. Merlin had enchanted her into a deep slumber, but Roland woke her with a kiss.