Bayard

Bayard is a legendary magical bay horse featured prominently in the medieval French epic cycle known as the chansons de geste, especially The Four Sons of Aymon. In these tales, he is described as a powerful, intelligent steed of supernatural origin, capable of understanding human speech and miraculously adjusting his size to carry multiple riders at once. His most famous role is as the mount of Renaud de Montauban (known in Italian as Rinaldo), whom he serves with great loyalty.

According to legend, Bayard was originally won by Renaud’s cousin, the magician Maugris, who later gifted the horse to Renaud. Bayard’s abilities were so extraordinary that he could carry Renaud and his three brothers—collectively the "Four Sons of Aymon"—all at once. However, his loyalty led to a tragic end in the story. After many exploits, Charlemagne, seeking to punish the horse for aiding Renaud, orders Bayard drowned by tying a heavy stone around his neck and throwing him into a river. Yet Bayard escapes by shattering the stone with his hooves and vanishes into the forest, where he is said to live on eternally.

Bayard became a central figure in northern French and Belgian folklore, particularly in the Ardennes region, with towns like Bogny-sur-Meuse, Dinant, Namur, and Dendermonde keeping his legend alive. In Dendermonde and Ath, he appears in local folk parades as a massive effigy alongside other traditional processional giants. His story inspired artists and shaped popular beliefs throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.

His tale also appears in other European epics, including the works of Italian poets Luigi Pulci, Matteo Maria Boiardo, and Ludovico Ariosto. A version recorded in Bulfinch’s Mythology tells of a disguised Maugris leading Rinaldo to an enchanted wild horse—Bayard—said to have once belonged to Amadis of Gaul. Only a descendant of Amadis could tame it, which Rinaldo eventually does by forcefully throwing it to the ground and breaking the spell.

By the late 13th century, the name "Bayard" had become a general term for any bay-colored horse—one with a reddish-brown coat and black mane and tail. Over time, the horse’s legendary status diminished, and in English literature, the name became associated with foolishness or blindness. Geoffrey Chaucer used "Bayard" metaphorically in Troilus and Criseyde to mock overconfidence, and again in The Canterbury Tales. In “The Reeve’s Tale,” Bayard appears as a lustful stud, while in “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale,” he is mocked as "Bayard the blind," a creature that charges ahead without sensing danger.

Despite this shift in tone, the original Bayard remains an enduring symbol of magical strength, loyalty, and defiance against tyranny.