Charlemagne
Also called Charles the Great, Charles I, Karl der Grosse.
The Frankish emperor drawn into folktale as a giant, whose stature in the legends is literal because his standing had to be shown somehow.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Frankish/Medieval European mythology
- Region
- France (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Water-Beckoners
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Gentle giant creature of immense size
why
Together with his champion Roland, Charlemagne is often described as a giant — and the sources offer the mechanism rather than merely reporting the fact: stature stands in for status, so a figure who must be shown to be great is made physically large in order to confirm it.
Utility powers
- National symbolism
why
From there he becomes a symbol of patriotism, which is precisely the use the later romances put him to, produced as they were both for courtly entertainment and as social and political argument.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.