Taking his horn, Roland blew it with such might that the god Apollo and his companion Mohammed were disheartened. Fear took away their voices as the earth trembled, stone houses swayed, mountains resounded, fish dashed here and there, and birds sang sweetly. The frightened citizens wailed loudly and many lay about as if dead.
In this remarkably pagan-oriented description (the existence of Apollo and Mohammed is taken for granted), we witness Roland's epic strength as expressed through Olivant. (Either there is a lapse in translation, or the birds are really that oblivious.)
The sad duty that the Oliphant usually performs in the canon–one of a tolling bell for the Franks' souls–is reversed in the Welsh version of the legend, in which the horns become victors' weapons.
