#8. Lord "Sir Roland" Somerset Montgomery, Etc.

Lore

The Scarlet Lion

"Have pity. Not all men thrust to center stage find they have the heart of Roland, nor the soul to do great deeds."

– Shakespeare, Henry IV part 3 (lost manuscript)


"How's my hair?"

– Lord Sir Roland Somerset Montgomery, Duke of the Three Isles, Lord of Havershant, Slayer of the Bilious Dragon, Protector of the Illythians, Victor of the Siege of Alsburg, Haver of a Great Beard, Defender of the Danes, Conqueror of Guilardia, Prince of the Glorious Summer of '14, Knight of the Order of the Exalted Lion, Honorary Abbot of Canterbury Cathedral, Champion of the City of Bath, Marshall of the Eastlands, Knight of the Crimson Buckle, Admiral of the Northern Seas, etc.

As the story goes...

As a young knight, bold Sir Roland vanquished the fabled Jade Knight, and for a brief moment his eyes pieced the veil between worlds. He beheld the Valkyrie Hypernia as she lifted up his defeated foe. Overcome by her beauty, Roland dedicated his life to gaining glory in hopes of seeing the Valkyrie again.

For the next fifty years, the proud, bullheaded and charming Roland won more victories, made more enemies and broke more hearts than any knight of his time. His single-handed storming of the Fortress of Alsburg inspired forty-seven epic ballads and a Lifetime miniseries. Bards wrote songs about the song he wrote commemorating his victory over the Bilious Fire Drake.

As an old man on his deathbed, Roland finally beheld Hypernia again. She could not allow a natural death to keep such a warrior from Valhalla, so, with a ghost of a smile, she punched him herself so he could die in battle and she could offer him a seat in the hall of glory.

No one in Valhalla feels a greater thirst for victory in the tournament than Sir Roland. He rejoices with every win and rages at every loss.

Connections

• Learned his Flaming Horse move (lance nsig) from Lin Fei
• When Rayman happened upon the Grand Tournament, he saw Odin wearing a Sir Roland jersey
• Swears that Orion is the Gold Knight he never slew
• Father of Brynn
• Nothing in the official lore outright confirms this, but there are enough hints in Brynn's and Sir Roland's lore pages to strongly suggest this relationship. More information can be found on Hypernia's page. 
• Roland wrote a song about the song Munin wrote that crushed him in a tournament semi-final.
  Context

Ah yes, the proud, chivalrous knight. In general, knights existed in, well, the medieval times (about 12th to 15th century). Most of the names mentioned in Sir Roland's plethora of titles (Bath, Canterbury, Montgomery, Somerset, etc.) are of British origin, so we can assume that Sir Roland hails from England, the "land of the Angles," or Albion. Because he is Sir Roland, that must mean he has been knighted by a monarch at some point for one or more of his many valorous deeds (if his other titles are anything to go by).

It turns out, Roland isn't a random, medieval-sounding name. It appears to be a reference to this guy, the protagonist in the Song of Roland. Among other things, this song contains the Knightly Code of Chivalry (according to this site).

After doing research on all the locations mentioned in Sir Roland's titles, I am amazed at how far he traveled in his mortal life! From southwestern England (Bath) to the southeast (Canterbury) to the north (Eastlands, Manchester), even to Denmark (Defender of the Danes, Alsburg)!

Given the archetype of this legend (medieval knight), sword and lance are obvious choices for weapons. It should be noted, though, that swords were probably not used very often to slash armored foes. Bludgeoning weapons (hammers, maces) are much better for bashing metal in. Instead, swords would be used to thrust and pierce weak points in an enemy's armor. Like swords, lances were meant to pierce armor. No doubt Sir Roland is enjoying the new, advanced features of the rocket lance!