Naimon, Duke of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, also called Naimes, Naime, Naymon, Namo, and Namus, is a character of the Matter of France

Matter of France

The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French chansons de geste, and was later adapted into a variety of...

 stories concerning Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 and his paladin

Paladin

The paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...

s, and appears in Old French

Old French

Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...

 chansons de geste (like The Song of Roland

The Song of Roland

The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries...

) and Italian romance

Romance (genre)

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...

 epic

Epic poetry

An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...

s. He is traditionally Charlemagne's wisest and most trusted advisor.

In the Song of Roland, Naimon supports Ganelon

Ganelon

In the Matter of France, Ganelon is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Muslims, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word inganno, meaning fraud or deception....

's proposal to make peace with King Marsile

King Marsile

Marsile is a character in The Song of Roland. He is the pagan king of the Saracens. He first appears in Stanza 1 as losing the war against Charlemagne, and asks his barons for counsel...

. He does not suspect Ganelon's treachery. Later, he organizes the divisions of Charlemagne's army and participates in the battle against Baligant

Baligant

In The Song of Roland, Baligant is the Emir of Babylon , who tries to aid the defense of Zaragoza from Charlemagne. He is sometimes described as a man from ancient times. He is killed in the ensuing battle...

.

In Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne he is included among the Twelve Peers.

In later romances he is given a son, Sir Bertram.

In Orlando Furioso

Orlando Furioso

Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...

he appears at the beginning of the story, holding Angelica

Angelica

Angelica is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far North as Iceland and Lapland...

captive.

Naimon's character may be summarized thus: