---
title: When Roland saw that the Duke Samson was dead, he rode fiercely at V… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: When Roland saw that the Duke Samson was dead, he rode fiercely at Valdabrun, and smote him so mightily with his great sword Durendal that he clave in twain helmet, head, and body, and saddle, and the very backbone of the horse, so that both fell dead together, both man and horse. Who acts: Roland, 
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, The Battle, sentence 125

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When Roland saw that the Duke Samson was dead, he rode fiercely at Valdabrun, and smote him so mightily with his great sword Durendal that he clave in twain helmet, head, and body, and saddle, and the very backbone of the horse, so that both fell dead together, both man and horse.

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**Who acts:** Roland, Duke Samson, both · **What happens:** see, be, ride, smote, clave, fall · **To what, where:** body, Valdabrun, Roland, twain helmet, man · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, The Battle. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Roland, Duke Samson, both), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg75339:31:125
# text = When Roland saw that the Duke Samson was dead, he rode fiercely at Valdabrun, and smote him so mightily with his great sword Durendal that he clave in twain helmet, head, and body, and saddle, and the very backbone of the horse, so that both fell dead together, both man and horse.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	Roland	Roland	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Duke	Duke	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Samson	Samson	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	rode	ride	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	fiercely	fiercely	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Valdabrun	Valdabrun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	smote	smote	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
19	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	so	so	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	mightily	mightily	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
22	with	with	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
24	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
26	Durendal	Durendal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	appos	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
28	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	clave	clave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	ccomp	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	twain	twain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	helmet	helmet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
34	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	saddle	saddle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
44	very	very	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	_
45	backbone	backbone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
48	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
50	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	53	mark	_	_
51	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	50	fixed	_	_
52	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	53	nsubj	_	_
53	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
54	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	xcomp	_	_
55	together	together	ADV	RB	_	53	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
57	both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc:preconj	_	_
58	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	obl	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
60	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | Roland |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | the Duke Samson |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ride** | past | Roland | body |  | Valdabrun |  | saddle *obl*; the backbone of the horse *obl*; fiercely *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **smote** | infinitive | Roland *not said here* | Roland |  |  |  | with Roland's great sword; mightily *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **clave** |  | Roland |  |  | twain helmet and head |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **fall** | past | both | man and horse |  |  |  | dead, together *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Project Gutenberg book 75339 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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