Charles Martel
"Charles Martel invented the mounted warrior and defeated the Goblins with his magic hammer." It's what every school child learns about the first of the Carolingian rulers. While this is true as far as it goes, this tells only a tiny portion of the story.
Charles was born into the very noble family of Carolus, but he was dispossessed while still a child by the evil witch Plectrude. She was determined that her order should control the fading Merovingian emperors, and eventually that they should direct the war against the Wild. This is generally considered as the first instance of the famous Hexenstreit, or the "Struggle of the Houses" as it is called in English; that is, the struggle between lay rulers and various wizard factions over the control and direction of the Free Peoples.
But the young Charles was not interested in "Die Hexenstreit", he was interested in escaping from the cloying clutches of Plectrude and her cronies. This is not the place to recount all the many adventures of the boy, for these have formed the text for countless adventure novels. Two key events must, however, be mentioned.
First is the discovery of the young Charles of his magical hammer. We will never know the true circumstances of the discovery. All evidence indicates that Charles himself deliberately put about different stories, probably as a way to ensure no enemy could discover some fatal weakness thereby. In the end, it doesn't matter whether he chanced upon it while hunting in the woods, or it was given him by a mad Elvish wizard, or indeed that his own ancestral god descended to Earth and handed it to him in a flame that did not burn. The important fact is that he acquired it early in life, that it was magically sealed to him alone, and that this hammer repeatedly saved his life.
The second key event of his youth was his escape from Plectrude. This is his famous escape in the night with the assistance of a young woman, Alpaide. Charles fell in love with Alpaide, at first only because she wished to help him and because she had the same name as his mother. He had never even seen her, but had only communicated via notes. He first saw Alpaide on the night of his escape. Once free, the two worked together to raise other nobles in support of Charles.
Tragically, Alpaide died, probably poisoned by Plectrude or one of her agents, but not before she witnessed Charles' first victories. She died knowing he would triumph.
Charles' first supporters were the Austrasians. He led these in a series of successful campaigns, but it does not appear that he yet had learned the secrets of the stirrup and lance. It's likely that he learned this in battles against the Avars. Of greater impact in his early battles was his hammer. With this great weapon, Charles proved very nearly invincible against foes both magical and non-magical. The hammer was between three and four feet long, with a massive iron head carved with strange runes. The haft was of a wood that resisted even Goblinfire. Charles swung it as if it were a mere sword, yet no other man was able even to lift it. It is said that a great Dwarf smith came to Charles' court, to study the craftsmanship. After examining the hammer in solitude for a day and a night, the Dwarf went away again, weeping because he knew the craft was beyond him.
However that may be, we know that Charles deployed his new warriors at the famous Battle of Tours in 1485 (see separate entry for this). He never acquired the title of King, and it appears that he had no desire for this. He surely intended it for his son, however, so Charles is rightly regarded as the founder of the Carolingian dynasty.