E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Brèche de Roland.
A deep defile in the crest of the Pyrenees, some three hundred feet in width, between two precipitous rocks. The legend is that Roland, the paladin, cleft the rock in two with his sword Durandal, when he was set upon by the Gascons at Roncesvalles.