Then Oberon bade farewell to Huon, saying, "See now that you tell the truth and keep you from sin; so shall you prosper all your days, and come to bliss when your days are ended. And now render me again the cup and the horn, for you need them no more."
Then Huon and his company and the fair Esclairmonde departed in the ship, and in time came to the land of France. There did Huon render to Charlemagne the Admiral's sceptre; and the King received him into his royal favour, and gave him back his lands. Then was Huon wedded to the fair Esclairmonde, and these two lived together in great happiness to their lives' end.
Not long after that Huon had been restored to his Duchy of Bordeaux, the Emperor Charlemagne died, having been seized by a fever, which, as being now old and worn out by many labours both in war and peace, he was unable to resist. There had been, it is said, many signs of his death—eclipses of the sun and moon, and other marvellous things. Also, when he was making his last expedition against the Danes, he saw a great light, as it were a blazing torch, pass through a clear sky and fall to the ground; and the horse on which he was riding fell to the ground with great violence. Also the palace in which he dwelt at Aachen was shaken by earthquakes, and in the Church which he himself had founded there happened this portent, that the word PRINCEPS, in the inscription which recorded this his munificence, so faded away that it could no longer be read. So Charlemagne died on the 28th of January in the year of Our Salvation, 814. He was buried in a sepulchral chamber in this same Church of Aachen. Many years after, the chamber having been opened, the body of the Emperor was found seated on a throne as if he yet lived, clothed with imperial robes, bearing on his head the crown, and grasping the sceptre in his hand, while by his side lay his sword Joyous, and on his knees was a book of the Gospels.
In life he was of a tall and strong person, being seven feet in height. His eyes were large and piercing, his hair and beard long. He was of pleasant speech, and could speak other tongues besides his own. Writing he strove to acquire in his mature years, but could not learn the art. He was in truth a very noble and mighty prince.
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, PRINTERS, WOKING AND LONDON.