At Charlemagne’s palace in Mainz there was a bell which was said to ring whenever any danger was threatened. Charlemagne heard its clang one day and sent a messenger to ascertain the cause. He found that a snake had coiled itself around the rope and was the bell-ringer. The snake led the messenger to its nest, where a noxious toad was found squatting upon the snake’s eggs. He drove the toad away and then informed the Emperor of the curious event. Charlemagne’s astonishment was further increased when the snake suddenly appeared in the hall, wriggled along to his table, ascended it, dropped a sparkling jewel which it carried in its jaws into a wine glass, and then quickly disappeared. The magic stone, upon which swan and runic symbols were engraved, had mysterious properties. Whoever received the gift became the object of the passionate adoration of the giver. Charlemagne placed the stone in a ring and sent it to his beloved wife Fastrada. Immediately he became more closely attached to her than ever before. He could not be away from her. When her death removed her from his side, he was overcome with grief. Her body was placed in an open coffin in the Cathedral, and the Emperor spent his time there and would not suffer it to be buried. The people whispered among themselves, “The Emperor’s mind is affected by his love for Fastrada. What will become of his crown and country if this grief continues?” In this emergency the pious Turpin had a dream which suggested a method of deliverance. He rose from his bed, donned his clothes, and hastened to the Cathedral. It was apparently empty. Before the altar there was a lofty sarcophagus, upon which the Empress rested. Round about it upon the floor lay a band of paladins garbed as penitents. In front of the sarcophagus stood the Emperor weeping, with his head resting upon the coffin. Turpin ascended the steps. He gently raised Fastrada’s ermine covering, seized the hand so long cold, and quietly removed the ring; whereupon the paladins, who had been kneeling in prayer, looked about in astonishment. The Emperor lifted his head and addressed them. “How long have we mourned? Too long, surely! Where is my chancellor? It seems to me my people are calling. Let the Empress be buried in the earth, never to be forgotten.” The magic swan ring now exerted its influence in a new way. The Emperor became devotedly attached to the prelate, and the latter was troubled over its demoralizing influence. He went to Aix-la-Chapelle, followed by the Emperor, and threw the ring into a quiet forest lake made by the warm springs. From that time the place became the favorite resort of the Emperor. He erected a castle in the midst of the lake, in which he often meditated upon the frailty of earthly things. He took delight in bathing in the waters in whose depths the swan ring, taken from the hand of his beloved, rested without his knowledge.