Life of Charlemagne --- Notker the Stammerer
Back in the depths of the Dark Ages, there was a little Swiss boy named Notker who stuttered. We may imagine that Notker was not a kind name for a stutterer to have. This boy was raised by a retired soldier who had campaigned with Karl the Great, the King of the Franks, known to the French as Charlemagne. The old soldier just had to reminisce to someone, and so he would force the unwilling boy to sit still and listen to his war stories.
Eventually, the boy grew up and became a monk in a nearby monastery. They called him Notker the Stammerer; or sometimes, Notker Thick Lips. There were a couple of other monks living there, old men now, who had also served King Karl, back in their salad days. They told Notker stories too. It seems like everyone who had served the great Karl loved to remember him.
Years later, King Karl the Fat came to visit Notker's monastery. He came to find out about his famous great-grandfather Charlemagne, from people who had known him first hand. He met Notker. Notker knew lots of stories about the heroic ancestor. Karl the Fat told Notker to write his stories down.
Here they are.
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