Truitonne quarrels with her sister Florine – she is unhappy with her own name and reproaches her for being loved by everyone while she is despised. She would like to inflict pain on others and to be loved anyway. Their godfather Enchanteur Rotomago (Sorcerer Rotomago) announces that he would like them to marry: Truitonne with Prince Charmant (Prince Charming) and Florine with himself. Gilles, Prince Charmant’s servant , comes in and announces Prince Charmant’s arrival, but at first the characters mistake him for his master. When Charmant arrives, he immediately notices Florine, while Rotomago tries to draw attention to Truitonne. A Fée (fairy) steps in to warn him that Florine is the woman he must love. Rotomago bribes Gilles so that he helps him set up a trap. He will have Charmant believe that Florine has asked to see him. But taking advantage of the dark, they will make Truitonne come to the rendezvous instead. Thus, Truitonne poses as Florine and Charmant gives her a ring as a token of his love. As he believes that he is speaking to Florine, Charmant wishes out loud that a devil would carry her sister away, and his wish is fulfilled – a devil carries Florine away, but Charmant launches himself after her. Once at the cemetery, Charmant and Gilles meet an apparition of her that tells them that Florine is still alive. Rotomago asks Charmant to marry Truitonne, and when he refuses, he punishes him by changing him into a bird for seven years. Florine is made captive in a tower under the supervision of Gilles, who has them believe that Charmant died of sorrow and of an indigestion of rum babas. A blue bird (Oiseau bleu) enters her room, and Florine understands him to be Prince Charmant. He takes hold of a cane and hits Gilles. Rotomago, Truitonne and Gilles go after Oiseau bleu. The latter comes back to Florine and receives a letter brought by a Bourdon (bumblebee), in which he is told about an attack on his kingdom. Gilles glimpses Oiseau, shoots him with a gun then puts him in a magical coach that takes him to his own castle. There, he convinces the Seigneurs (lords) of his court to let him lead an army to battle. Rotomago appears and offers to give him back his human form on condition that he marries Truitonne. Charmant agrees in order to protect his subjects. As Charmant and Truitonne’s marriage is about to be celebrated, a Génie (Genie) appears with Florine. He transforms the Enchanteur into a turkey and convinces Gilles and Truitonne to marry, while Charmant will marry Florine.

String marionette

Not specified

France

Paris

Manuscript

Magic

Enchantment

Jealousy

Love

Treason

Hunting

Wedding

Fantasy

Comical

L'Oiseau bleu, first page of the manuscript.

French

Princess

Magician

Servant

Gille

Prince

Fairy

Genie

Devil

Lord

Misunderstanding

Song

Disguise

Set that comes to life

Situation comedy

Off-stage voice

Graveyard scene

Dance

Metamorphosis

Flying machine

Talking animal

Entering with vehicle

Letter

Blow-with-a-stick

Gunshot

Appearance of a genius

Final song

L'Oiseau bleu

The blue Bird

Périjon, the king of Gaul, dies. His son ascends the throne and asks Fleur de Marie, King Houel de Nantes’ daughter, to marry him. She agrees to do so once he comes back from a pilgrimage to Roma. He leaves for America with his barons to help the king Bougjia, who is fighting the Saracens. King Bougjia’s daughter, Blanche, offers her love to the young king of Gaul called Périjon - just like his father. He accepts her love but goes back to Brittany to marry Fleur de Marie. Blanche finds him, poses as Fleur de Marie in order to seduce him and becomes pregnant with his child. Fleur de Marie gives birth to Paladin Roland, who kills a lion at the age of seven during a hunt. Blanche becomes Fleur de Marie’s servant to take revenge on Périjon, and she attempts to poison the young Paladin. Fleur de Marie dies because of the poison, but Paladin is saved by the knight Captano. Périjon asks his baron to judge Blanche. Paladin Roland brings the young woman to the woods to kill her, but an angel appears and stops him from going through with his plan. Blanche comes back to America and hides her pregnancy. The French emperor Télémak learns that the admiral Mérilus d’Arabie has declared war on him. He asks his brother Périjon for help. Périjon promises that he and his son Paladin Roland will help. During an enormous battle, the admiral Mérilus, Madracar and Solfina take Roland prisoner. Mérilus informs his brother Méridon, King of Syria, who rejoices over his capture and comes join him along with his barons. Rose, Mérilus’ daughter, visits Roland in his cell, but he rejects her advances because she is a pagan. To get revenge on him, she stops bringing him food. Roland learns that the old Delerigni is in the next cell. He digs a hole in the wall and listens to Delerigni recount his feats of arms before he dies. In the end, Roland agrees to marry Rose, on condition that she helps him escape. Rose plots with the prison guard. They pretend that Roland has died and asked, before his death, to be sent back to Britanny in a coffin. Méridon goes back to Syria. The king Périjon worries about his son Paladin Roland. The Chevalier Ténébreux suggests that they ask for king Bougjia’s help. A messenger brings news of Roland’s death, before his coffin is brought. Roland comes out of it and relates his jailbreak. As an act of revenge, he takes command of his father’s army to fight the pagans. Rose searches for him but she will only find him much later. Paladin Roland and the Bon Ténébreux wage battle against Mérilus and kill over a hundred thousand of his soldiers. Mérilus flees on a ship with his wife and his treasure and asks his brother for shelter, while Paladin Roland goes back home. In an enchanted wood, the knight Cocodor meets a devil, who asks him what his religion is. Cocodor lies and pretends to be a pagan. The devil punishes him by turning him into a giant with a flaming head and ordering him to kill everyone who ventures in his mountain. Cocodor thus kills 200 knights. The emperor Télémak receives a message asking him to end to the miseries caused by the giant, then a second message in which the admiral Goutier d’Antioche commands him to give back Lombardy. Télémak summons his army and meets with Périjon. Paladin Roland offers to fight the giant with the flaming head, but Périjon refuses because he is too young. Roland leaves with Télémak to wage war against the admiral Goutier. The pagan army is defeated by Télémak’s, and Goutier’s son – Carolu – is taken prisoner by Roland then killed in a tournament. On the way home, Roland meets knights on their way to fight the giant. Blanche and Périjon’s child, Raimond dit le Cadet (Raimond alias the Youngest), becomes a knight. He leaves Toulouse to go on an adventure. The knights arrive at the fire mountain where the giant lives. Blanches inquires one of the knights about Roland’s whereabouts, and she is told that he is in Britanny. In a forest, she is attacked by robbers, but she fights and kills them. The devil and giant are thrown behind bars, in an enchanted cell, but they kill all the knights. Mérilus and Méridon swear to kill Périjon and to destroy France to take revenge on Paladin. A new battle begins, opposing Christians and pagans. The latter have three times as many combatants (400 000), and Paladin is taken prisoner. The Chevalier Ténébreux takes command of the army and asks for King Bougjia’s help. Blanche remembers that the guardian angel told her to come to Paladin Roland’s aid. She asks her father for the permission to lead an army, dresses as a warrior and leaves for Syria, where she fights Mérilus and Méridon’s army. She triumphs and delivers Paladin, who avenges himself by putting every pagan to death. Blanche goes back to America and Paladin, in Britanny, recounts to his father how Blanche freed him. Pséryion worries as he remembers how Fleur de Marie was poisoned. Millonnaise, Mérilus’ wife, is pregnant with his child. She makes the devil appear to offer her child’s soul, on the condition that the child can triumph against Paladin. The devil agrees to the deal. For a moment, Cocodor is delivered from the devil’s spell. He comes back to Britanny and asks her daughter for news of his two brothers. He learns that he has killed them when he was the giant with the flaming head. A father and his son, the knights Mariguesse and Mulgador, offer their services to Télémak. They want to fight the giant. In Britanny, Rose is attacked by a traitor who wants to charm her. But Paladin Roland arrives and kills him. Roland and Rose recognise one another, cry and kiss. Then Roland presents Rose to his father and says he wants to marry her. Périjon refuses because she is a pagan. Then he sends Roland to fight the giant. Roland meets his half-brother Raimond le Cadet in a forest, but they fight because they do not recognise one another. Neither one of them manages to win. Paladin bandages his wounds at king Bougjia’s castle. Once he is healed, he leaves for the mountain of Triste-Mort (Sad-Death). He comes across messengers who try to persuade him not to go. Then he meets his uncle Mariguesse and his cousin Mulgador, both dying, and they also advise him not to go, before they die. Roland finds the devil and the giant with the flaming head. The devil disappears and the giant is killed. Poor and rich people alike come running to celebrate his victory. Roland comes back to Britanny, where Périjon and Rose believed him dead. They reunite and kiss. A message is sent to Télémak, who joins them. Roland tells Rose that they must fight Raimond le Cadet before they can marry. He comes across Millonnaisse, who tries to poison him, and he kills her along with the knights that were with her. Roland and Raimond le Cadet meet again and fight, but a young companion recognises Raimond and realises that they are brothers. She takes them to Blanche, who relates how she has given birth to Raimond. Paladin takes her back to Britanny with Raimond le Cadet and King Bougjia. Périjon marries Blanche and Paladin marries Rose and is appointed King d’Antioche. His companions are also rewarded.

Single rod marionettes

Belgium

Liège

Handwritten outline

Knighthood

Battle

Poison

Quest

Half-brother

Giant

Epic

Histoire de Paladin Roland. First page of the manuscript.

King

Orlando

Knight

Emperor

Jailer

Count

Mother

Dame de la suite de la reine de la nuit

Story

Apparition of the Devil

Fight

Massacre scene

Scene of recognition

Histoire de Paladin Roland

Story of Paladin Roland

The work tells the legendary story of the city of Elx (Elche), which is surrounded by palm forests, and of an angry dragon who sees his natural kingdom threatened by the development of the city beyond its walls. To prevent this, the dragon kidnaps the girls of the town and, by means of a spell, turns them into slender palm trees. An improvised hero puts an end to this curse: with the help of a fairy, he reaches an agreement between the dragon and the inhabitants, so that they preserve the palm grove forever.