When Roland, nephew of the Emperor Charlemagne of France, and Oliver were boys in Charlemange's court, each called the other brother and made a vow to be true throughout life. In later years they were separated, but finally they came together again unexpectedly, as this story tells.

The friendship of the two courageous knights was lifelong, and they died together in the Battle of Roncesvalles, fighting against the Moors. The Battle of Roncesvalles is supposed to have been fought in 778. The story is told in the French epic, Chanson de Roland, first written down in the eleventh century. Although tradition says the fighting was against the Moors, some modern scholars thing the French were fighting the ancestors of the modern Basques. 

From Hero Tales From Many Lands