{Ir. ed. page 24}There was an exceedingly rich earl in England whose name was Richard of Warwick, and he had two earldoms, namely Warwick and Buckingham, and a rich and well-born man was the earl with an abundance of all good things. He had a comely and beautiful daughter worthy of himself, Felice by name, and there was not in her time a woman who was better in form and figure, in handiwork and knowledge, in embroidery and noble manners,34 than that maiden. A great teacher was set to instruct her in the gentle arts, and it was not long afterwards that she surpassed35 her master in every art, so that the master gave her the rod36 of his instruction after being outstripped by her in every kind of knowledge even at the end of her seventeenth year. Her fair fame spread throughout all the world for knowledge, dignity and honor, for piety, gentleness and discretion, for purity, wisdom and prudence, until the princes and nobles of the whole earth were filled with love and longing for her. Now there was at that time a steward, noble and honorable, in the service of the Earl of
That steward had a son worthy of himself, Guy by name; and he surpassed all the young men of his time in size, beauty and gentleness, in courtesy, strength and prowess, in pride, spirit and courage, so that the whole country and the neighbouring provinces were full of his fame and his praise. And everywhere that Guy heard of games at fair or festival or assembly throughout the length and breadth of the free and noble English land, he entered them and won the victory of every company, surpassing all,39 and defeated the men utterly at every kind of feat.40 And he gave alms and frequent offerings41 to the churches, and gave {Ir. ed. page 25} gifts and clothing to God's poor,42 and buried the dead without murmur and without negligence, and visited the people who were in prison and in bonds, and performed all the works of mercy which the church praised in his time, and he was strong and zealous in the Catholic faith. The Earl of Warwick made Guy a squire at that time.
It was then that a Whitsuntide banquet and feast was prepared for the Earl of Warwick, and he assembled the nobles of his retinue to partake of it. The earl summoned Guy to him, and made him welcome, and said: ‘Guy’, said he, ‘I assign to thee the office of serving and attending Felice throughout this feast which we are celebrating; do it with good cheer and with love.’ Guy answered: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘I will do my best for the noble lady.’43 As for Guy, then, he put a shirt of thin satin next the brightness of his white skin and a wonderful tunic of gold thread and a fine, scarlet gown outside of it; and in that splendor he went to the maiden's bower, and blessed her (i. e. greeted her with a blessing), and fell on his knees in her presence, and told her that it was to him had been assigned the duty of serving her and her attendant
The lady arose, and washed and adorned her face and shining countenance, and her women did the same. As for Guy, then, he dispensed fresh food and old ale without restraint to the lady and her attendants for the space of three days and three nights, till Felice and her women were grateful and blessed Guy for the service he had given them throughout the length of this feast. And the women conceived a very strong love for Guy because of his deeds; and Guy conceived an ardent, unendurable love for the lady, so that he was fierce, drunken and mad by reason of love and great longing for her.
As for Guy, then, he made his obeisance and his humble submission before the lady, and thereupon took leave of her, and went to his chamber; and he was in sickness and heavy affliction there, and his people asked what ailed him. Guy said that he did not know what ailed him, — ‘and it seems to me’, said he, ‘that death is near to me’; and it was reported throughout all the town that Guy was dangerously ill, and much grief did that cause to everyone. The earl, moreover, sent {Ir. ed. page 26} a very skillful physician to Guy, and he asked what ailed him. Guy said it was fiery heat, heavy and strong, and cold, severe and very grievous. The physician said that it was fever with [...]45 that was upon him. A fortnight was Guy thus without company, without cheer, without pleasure. And at the end of that time Guy went directly to Felice, and paid her respect and honor, and said: ‘O gentle maiden of the black eyebrows, and O fair damsel of many beauties’, said he, ‘grant me help full truly and faithfully in the honor of the Trinity, for I know no secret or rule to cure my sickness now; for the fulness of it is upon my body and my frame by love and long affection for thee kindled and set on fire; and my life will not be long without decease and everlasting death, unless I obtain from thee the return of my love, O noble lady’, said he. Felice answered: ‘It is shameless, foolish impertinence that thou dost begin to utter, Guy’, said she, ‘for heavy is the insult and the disgrace thou hast put upon me in seeking me for thy wife with thy soft, shameless words. For there is no son of a high king, or duke, strong and very brave, or noble, honored earl,
The noble baron, Guy's father, was sad because Guy was in such danger, and so likewise was his mother. And as for the Earl of Warwick, he himself and all his company were full of grief and sorrow because Guy was sick. One day, then, Guy said in lamentation: ‘I shall soon get my death from the sharpness of my love for the lady, {Ir. ed. page 27} if I remain long in this state; and I will rather meet death at the earl's hands after beholding his daughter, than be killed by love.’ Then Guy went to the tower where the lady was, and gazed upon her, and fell straightway unconscious; and he rose quickly from his swoon, and no one observed him in that state. And it was reported to Guy that the lady was in a secret arbor beside the tower,46 and Guy went into the arbor, and knelt at the lady's feet, and begged her favor. And Guy said: ‘I have come to thee, lady’, said he, ‘against thy command, and I have deserved to receive death, and have thou mercy upon me.’ The lady refused him, and threatened him, and said: ‘If the earl were to hear that speech, Guy’, said she, ‘he would put thee to death.’ When Guy heard that he fell in a swoon and a fainting fit, and there never would have come to burial anyone who was fairer in form and countenance than he (?).47 The woman who attended upon the earl's daughter said: ‘It is a pity, my lady’, said she, ‘for it is cruel, hard and merciless thou art with the gentle, kindly squire. And I gave my word’, said she, ‘if I were the daughter of the emperor, and the high kingdom of the world in my power, I would not leave him there to get his death from love of me without the succor of gentle, sweet-sounding words.’ Felice answered the girl:
Sweet were these words to Guy, and he quickly left the arbor, and went to his chamber, and put on his accoutrements for the journey and the assembly, and went where the Earl {Ir. ed. page 28} of Warwick was, and he was made welcome there. Guy said: ‘Gracious lord’, said he, ‘every good deed that I have ever done, it is for thee that I have done it, and every good deed that I shall do, it is for thee that I shall be pleased to do it; and do thou now give me the order of knighthood.’ The earl said: ‘I will give it to thee with good heart, and a great present besides.’ And then the earl made a knight of Guy after hearing mass on the Sunday of the Holy Spirit, and twenty were raised that day to the rank of knighthood as an honor to Guy. And the earl with his company prayed the one God who made heaven and earth that the choicest gift of grace and of knighthood should be upon Guy. It was then that Sir Guy, full of joy and love, went in his knightly armor to the daughter of the earl, and showed himself to her, and said: ‘Lady’, said he, ‘understand that until now I have been in great suffering and doubt because of my love for thee, and it is for thee that I have taken upon me the order of knighthood.’ Felice said: ‘Rejoice not in being a knight in the hope of winning my love, for it is a young knight thou art without proof yet of bravery or deeds of arms. And if thou prove thy strength, both near and far, in battles and in conflicts, then I will do thy will.’ Guy thanked the lady for these answers, and went afterwards to his father and mother, and told them that he had taken order of knighthood — ‘and I shall set out to make a circuit of lands and peoples to prove my strength and my bravery.’
The baron said: ‘Our blessing upon thy adventure and thy success’, said he; and his mother said the same. And thereupon Sicart called to him Sir Eront a brave victorious knight, and Sir Uront and Sir Uri and told them to be ‘three strong, brave picked men, and three pillars, manly and truly courageous, about Sir Guy to keep and protect him in the distant foreign lands in which he plans to go; and guard
As for Sir Guy, then, he went into his ship with his three knights, and they pulled an eager, strong, swift-bounding stroke49 on the old sea, and reached a safe, well-sheltered harbor in Normandy. And afterwards they came to a great city of Normandy, {Ir. ed. page 29} and they found a hostelry for the night there and partook of food and drink. And Guy said to the inn-keeper; ‘I have seen breastplates being rolled (?)50 and spears being polished, and swords burnished, and shields put in order, and shoes put on chargers and fine horses, and saddles made firm, and daggers sharpened, and all the accoutrements of battle being made ready, and I do not know what is the reason for it.’ The innkeeper said: ‘The emperor has a fair, unmarried daughter, and she will be pleased with no man but him who bears the palm of valor and deeds of arms in the whole world; and the emperor believes that there are not ten valiant knights in the world whom he could not conquer singly. And now the sons of the king of Spain, and of Africa, and of Greece, of France, of Sicily, of Hungary, of Fuardacht, and of Deolann (?)51 and of the four tribes of Lochlann, and of all the world besides, have come to the city of the Emperor to this jousting; and it is to go against him that the hardy warriors of this city are preparing their arms and their many weapons. Whoever wins the victory in this tournament, he is to receive two shining white falcons, and two steeds with long manes,52 and two very keen hunting-dogs of the same color, and the noble, famous princess, the emperor's daughter, to wife, and the heritage of the emperor after his death.’
Now Guy gave a steed, stout and very strong, to the keeper of the house as a reward for his information, and bade his followers be of spirit and good courage, and said they would go to the castle of the emperor to see the fighting and the hard conflict. Thus far the course of Sir Guy in Normandy.
As for Sir Guy, on the morning of the next day he set out with his three knights, and he did not stop or delay until
Duke Vadiner came against Guy, and a broad-trenched shining,59 hard sword in his hand, and threatened Guy with instant death. Then Guy went eagerly and swiftly to meet the duke, and they fought a brave, hard fight for a long time; and there came bold, eager hosts of lords and high nobles of the army to the help of Duke Vadiner against Sir Guy. When Sir Heront saw this, and the two other spirited, valiant knights Sir Turont and Sir Uri, they came [...]60 brave, manlike and heroic, about Sir Guy to protect him from the arms of his foes. They fought with each other a battle, fierce, bloody and very deadly, till it was not thinly the plain was sown with men laid low by the fierce, eager strokes of Guy and his three knights; and many there were who fell on that day at the hands of those four, and especially at the hands of Guy. {Ir. ed. page 31} And this is the number that is remembered,61 namely six hundred knights who fell in the fight that day at Guy's hands alone. Then the hosts fled in every direction for fear of Sir Guy, and the plain was left clear before him, and battle and combat was refused him.
Sir Guy with his followers thereupon went into the city, and they found a hostelry there; and Sir Guy took off his armor, and on his body were wounds, wide and very deep. Then the emperor came into his court, and said in the presence of the host: ‘The strong, brave English knight has overcome us all, and there is no man in the world equal to him in combat. And let messengers be sent to him — namely, to Guy of Warwick with the prizes that were promised to the man who should win the tournament.’ Then a squire was sent with the prizes to Sir Guy, and gave them to him: two very beautiful falcons, and two brave, noble hounds, and two steeds with long manes and arching necks; and those six treasures were all of one color, the color of a beautiful swan. And the squire who brought them gave Sir Guy a very fair greeting, and said: ‘May the true God, the excellent, make broad thy way before thee in every strait and every difficulty in which thou mayst be, for the courts and cities of the whole world are full of the reports of thy deed and of thy bravery. And Bloinsiflugar, the daughter of the
As for Sir Guy, then, he sent messengers with those gifts to England to the Earl of Warwick, and they were given to him; and the messengers spread tales of the perilous and terrible doings of Guy from the time when he left England until that hour, and the tales put pride and high spirit into the earl and his company. And the king of England and the nobles of his great household rejoiced at the brave achievements of Guy, when they heard those stories. Thus far Sir Guy's first deed of bravery after leaving England.
{Ir. ed. page 32} As for Sir Guy, then, he went to the broad, fair land of France and to the strong, brave land of Lombardy, and he found plenty of fighting and hard battle in those lands, and he wrought destruction among them, and it was not possible to count the number that fell at Guy's hands in those lands; and he obtained plenty of gold and silver and many jewels in those great countries.
And Sir Guy fought a battle after this with the Duke of Lombardy, and defeated him62 mightily and cruelly, and slew his men, and he was twelve weeks from one month's beginning to another63 cutting down and killing the Lombards, and he took from them their gold and their treasure and all their possessions. Then Sir Guy saw ten hundred brave and valiant knights of the Lombards coming against them, and strong battle armor upon them, and one knight of great spirit and courage in front of them, and a skittish, prancing horse beneath him. He said to Guy angrily and fiercely: ‘Violent64 and wicked knight, let us have a share in thy bravery and prowess, and give us part of the spoils of the Lombard land.’ Sir Guy said: ‘Thou shalt have a share of my spoils and my booty’, said he, ‘if thou art asking it in friendliness and courtesy; but if it is in threat and in ill-nature that thou saidst those words, thou shalt have death
As for Guy, then, [...] and went to the land of Britanny; and there was an earl in Britanny whose name was Earl Birri,68 and he had a fair, unmarried daughter, and she wished no one for husband but the choice of the warriors of the whole world. And the earl proclaimed69 a tournament of three days to be held by the brave knights of the world for his daughter; and three hundred bold, warlike French knights were coming to this tournament.
As for Sir Guy, now, he maimed and wounded six hundred strong, valiant knights full readily on the first day, some of them on horses and some on foot. Then on the second day Sir Guy came to the tournament, and no man answered him (i. e. accepted his challenge), and some of them said: ‘He is the knight who slew six hundred warriors in Lombardy in a single day.’ And they began to recount and to praise his deed and
As for Guy, then, he returned to England, and went to the king; and the king and the nobles gave Guy a very fair welcome because of the greatness of his fame and honor in the distant lands where he had gone. Then the King of England gave Guy gold and silver and every treasure besides. After this Sir Guy went to the Earl {Ir. ed. page 34} of Warwick, and the earl with his followers paid honor to Sir Guy. And thereupon Sir Guy went to the beautiful bower of Felice, and said to her: ‘I have done many deeds of bravery and prowess for love of thee, lady, and in thy honor’, said he, ‘and now fulfil thy promise to me.’ ‘If I should do that’, said she, ‘thou wouldst do no more fair deeds of valor and of bravery; and in truth thou shalt never be my husband unless thou win the prize of bravery and prowess from the knights of the whole world.’ Sir Guy said: ‘It is not likely that I should win that prize’, said he, ‘for there are many brave knights of good renown in the world, and it is hard to win the prize. Yet I will fall before them or conquer them.’ Then he went to his father and mother, and took leave of them, and both young and old were sorrowing after him. Thus far Guy's course in England.
As for Sir Guy after this, he went on to Normandy. And the King of France at that time had a young unmarried daughter, surpassing in form and figure; and the King of France took an oath by the one God Almighty that he would not give her to any man except to him who should bear the palm of bravery of the entire world. Moreover the king of France proclaimed a a three days' tournament to be fought for his daughter upon the green of the castle in the presence of the kings; and whoever should be strongest among them, he should receive the maiden as his wife, along with all her possessions. Now the
As for Sir Guy, then, he went to Germany, and he saw a great, noisy city before him, Bruges by name, and the rich, prosperous lord of that land was in the midst of his great retinue on the edge of the market-place with a numerous company. The fierce, strong lord of Bruges said: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘thou hast killed my brother without cause, and thou shalt die for it thyself.’ Guy said: ‘It was not without cause that I killed him, but fighting with him in battle and in tournament; and if he had had the strength, he would have killed me; and I gave him back such payment70 that he fell before me.’ As for the king of Bruges, then, he sent seven hundred strong, brave knights to fight with Guy and his three knights. Nevertheless Guy fought skilfully, fiercely, savagely71 against those warriors, and they all fell by mid-day; and at the end of that fight Sir Guy received a deep, incurable spear-wound in his side, so that he was not able to guard or defend himself longer at that time. Thus far Guy's journey to Bruges.
After performing this great feat Guy set out through the broad, vast deserts of Lombardy. When Ottun heard this, the Duke of Lombardy, he sent fifteen knights, who had been often tested, to go against Guy in their strong accoutrements of battle. And there was a noble, famous earl at the head of them, and the rest were barons and knights. And they were in ambuscade against Guy in a narrow pass of the forest. And these are the orders the Lombards gave to their followers, to kill without mercy the three knights who were in Guy's
Guy returned to his followers in high spirit, and found them dead on the same road; and there came back alive of the fifteen knights only one knight with a single arm. Guy leapt down, and found Sir Uri and Sir Uront dead before him, and Sir Eront with little life in him. Guy put Sir Eront across his saddle(?) in front of him, and left the forest full quickly, and there was a deep wilderness to be traversed. And a hermit met him and Guy greeted him, and asked information of him, whence he came. The hermit said: ‘In the seclusion of this forest I live’, said he. Guy said: ‘Do thou bury in the forest beside thee the two knights of my company who are dead, and I will give thee a strong,
As for Sir Guy, then, he set out from the monastery, and it was not long for him before he saw a special servant of God coming toward him on his road, and he fell on his knees before Guy, and begged alms of him. Now Guy gave him twenty nobles to secure his prayers for himself and his three knights, because he expected that he himself would die of his wounds. The hermit thanked Guy for his alms, and the old man said: ‘O Guy’, said he, ‘stay with me for thy healing and for the cure of thy wounds, for there is not in the whole world a healer of wounds who is better than I.’ As for Guy, then, he stayed twelve days with the old man for his healing, and he was whole and sound thereafter. Thus far the healing of Sir Guy.
As for the Abbot with whom Heront was left, he bade every priest of his convent say thirty masses for Sir Heront's soul. And one of the canons said, taking hold of Sir Heront: ‘This knight is still alive’, said he, ‘and let him be cured.’ The abbot said: ‘It is a good reward I would pay for his cure’,73 said he. Three months and five days was Sir Heront in illness, and thereafter he was well. Thus far the illness of Sir Heront, et reliqua.
As for Guy, after getting up from his illness, he proceeded to the castle of the King74 of Apulia, and the king and his household made him welcome. And Guy told him how the Duke of Lombardy had deceived him, and how his knights had been killed by him. The king said: ‘O, Guy’, said he, ‘I will be in alliance with thee; have good courage, and I will give
As for Sir Heront now, after getting up from his illness, he said to the abbot and to the community, ‘I will put on the garments of a penitent,’ he said, ‘and I will go to seek my lord; and if I find him alive, I will pay well for my healing; and if I do not find him, there is nothing for me but to pray for you in return for my healing.’ And the abbot and the canons gave him leave to go. As for Sir Heront, then, he proceeded to the country where Sir Guy was. One day when Sir Heront was travelling about that country Sir Guy came upon him clad in his arm or of battle, and he on a hunt and a great chase,75 and Sir Heront was weeping and complaining mournfully. And Sir Guy asked him the cause of his sorrow, and Sir Heront said: ‘It will not profit thee to know it’, said he. Sir Guy said: ‘Tell me the story for His sake who suffered the passion on our account.’ ‘I will certainly do it’, said Heront. ‘I am journeying about the lands and provinces of the whole world in search of my lord; and if he is alive, there is not in the world a single warrior stronger and braver than he; and if that brave warrior has fallen, could I learn where his grave and his resting-place is, I would dig up the earth, and I would stretch myself upon his neck, and in that manner I would die.’ Guy said: ‘What is thy land’, said he, ‘and who was the lord thou hadst?’ Sir Heront said: ‘I am an Englishman’, said he, ‘and Heront is my name, and Sir Guy of Warwick is my lord. And the Duke of Lombardy deceived us, and slew76 three knights of us, who were in attendance upon Guy, and two of us were buried, and I got up after a long illness; and there were wide, deep wounds on Sir Guy's body and he came out of the slaughter, alive but wounded,77 and I do not know whether he is living or dead, and that is the cause of my grief’, said Heront. Guy said: ‘Art thou Eront?’ said he. ‘I am he’, said Heront. Guy leaped down quickly, and cast off his helmet off his head, and gave Heront three kisses when head recognised him, and a swoon and a heavy faint came over both them because of the greatness of their joy. Guy lifted up Heront and put him behind him, and then they went into the city, and Guy took leave of the king, and left a farewell for
{Ir. ed. page 39} As for Sir Guy, then, he proceeded with his company, and when he came where Duke Milon was [...], and the Duke paid him honor and respect; and the Duke offered Guy gold and silver and abundance of goods, and Guy took them not from him. And he went thence to Flanders, and he was on the point of going to England, and a pilgrim met him at the end of the day, and Guy asked news of him. And the pilgrim said: ‘I have news’, said he, ‘for there is a war and conflict between the Emperor and79 Rener and the Duke of Lorraine, and the Emperor's brother fell in that fight against the Duke of Lorraine, and the Emperor has plundered and laid waste the land and fair territory of the Duke of Lorraine, and that is my news’, said the pilgrim. Guy said: ‘Stay with me tonight, man of God’, said he, ‘and thou shalt have food and sustenance for the night in honor of Jesus’; and thus the night passed for them. In the morning Guy said: ‘Heront’, said he ‘what is thy counsel for us today?’ Heront said: ‘My counsel is ready’, said he, ‘namely, that thou shalt go to the support of the Duke of Lorraine, who has shown thee favor and great honor, and who offered thee gold and silver and an abundance of goods. And take with thee fifty knights, strong, tried and invincible, of the fierce, brave men of France.’ They decided upon that plan.
As for Sir Guy he set out, and sixty knights with him into Germany to meet the Duke of Lorraine, and the Duke gave Guy three kisses fondly, fervently, faithfully. The Duke said: ‘Dear brother’, said he, ‘it is well thou hast come to my aid, for I was never in such plight or such need as I am now.’ The Duke of Lorraine said: ‘Guy’, said he, ‘I give thee command over myself and whatever I have of possesions.’ Guy said: ‘It will not be long till I win the battle and conflict with the emperor for thee’, said he. Then they went to mass, and the Duke set Sir Guy on the same seat beside him in the church; and they went out of the church, and Sir Guy saw a host, armed and equipped, surrounding the city, and he made inquiry who they were. Someone said: ‘That is the Emperor's steward’, said he, ‘coming to capture the city from the Duke of Lorraine.’ When Guy heard this he stuck two spurs into the horse, and went to meet the steward. The steward of the emperor said: ‘I see a knight, {Ir. ed. page 40} bold and brave, coming out to meet us, and beneath him a nervous, swift steed that is swifter than any horse in the world; and I think it likely that the horse will remain with me’, said he. The steward came out
Then news reached the emperor that his followers had been captured and killed by Guy of Warwick. Wrath and keen anger and a red burst of fury (?)83 seized the emperor when he heard this news, and he made a rally and a muster of his people from every quarter where they were. When the emperor's followers had gathered in one place before him, he complained to them of those exploits. The Duke of Pani84 said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘I will give thee good counsel: namely, to let me and Rener, Duke of Sision,85 and Duke Vadiner seize the city of Greasmont; and we will take it, and make fettered, fast bound captives of the Duke of Lorraine and of Guy of Warwick, and we will slay their followers.’ The emperor said: ‘That is good counsel’, said he. Then the three dukes came boldly and bravely to lay siege to the city of Greasmont, and terrible, vast armies along with them. And there were a hundred full bold warriors in the armies of these three dukes against every man who was in the city of Greasmont. Fear and terror seized the Duke of Lorraine with his household upon
Now Sir Heront entered the fight fiercely, bravely and valiantly, and he saw the Duke of Pani coming against him, and he recognised him. And he said: ‘O fratricidal, false and envious duke, thou didst twice deceive my lord and me myself, and by the will of God thou shalt have evil return for this today’, said he. Then they fought with each other bravely and bitterly, mightily, manfully and madly; and afterwards they unhorsed each other, and rose again quickly and very lightly, and bared their decorated swords, and made a fiery, fierce attack upon each other, and the Duke of Pani was thrown on the back of his shield by Heront's mighty blows. Then came the bold, valiant hosts of the Lombards to the aid of the Duke of Pani. When Sir Heront saw them he sprang quickly and very lightly upon his steed, and the duke did the same. And they fought with each other anew87 and tirelessly, and the Duke of Pani avoided combat88 with Sir Heront. As for Heront now, he took to cutting down and slaughtering the Lombard warriors. The Duke of Pani said with a loud, terrified and trembling voice: ‘One single knight is killing and slaying us all’, said he, ‘for our friends and comrades have all fallen at his hands; and now fight boldly.’ Then the battle was fought angrily and fiercely, and a multitude of mighty, violent blows were dealt upon Sir Heront's shield at that time. Then anger and great rage seized Sir Heront, and thereupon his followers closed about him, and {Ir. ed. page 42} the followers of the duke of Pani did the same. And this is the number of the army of the duke that fell by Heront's hand in that onslaught: a hundred and twenty knights, either captured or killed did Heront defeat there. And Heront was ten hours
Then Sir Guy went into the battle against the Lombards, and he left Sir Heront behind him. Then Sir Guy saw Otun, the Duke of Lombardy, and said to him in a high clear voice: ‘O fratricidal duke’, said he, ‘wickedly and boldly didst thou deceive me, and didst kill my followers.’ The two made for each other swiftly and madly, and they fought a bloody, warlike and ferocious fight, and the Duke of Lombardy was overthrown by Guy on that battle-field. And the duke got up bravely, and mounted his steed, and fought with Guy again, and Guy quickly overthrew him a second time. And he mounted his steed again, and Guy overthrew him the third time, and drove a spear through his shoulder-blade after splitting his shield. But when it pleased Guy to dismount to behead the duke, there came between them a thousand Lombard and German knights, swift and bold and very brave, and they took the duke with them away from Guy. And they all fought together against Sir Guy, and six knights of the fierce, bold warriors fell at that time at the hands of Sir Guy. Guy's followers, moreover, were on every side of him cutting down and utterly destroying the Lombards. Then the battle was won by Guy, and the Lombards fled to a deep, dark glen that was before them. {Ir. ed. page 43}. And the Duke of Sision and Earl Vadiner of Cologne were in this glen with their armies, and Guy saw them and told his followers that they were in that ambuscade. Guy said: ‘The Lombards and the Germans have joined into one force against us’, said he, ‘and we have no way of escape from them; and fight boldly in our defence, and let us rise in the name of God and of John the Baptist to make an attack on them yonder.’ Then did each of the battalions make attack on the other, and no civil strife was ever to be compared to it,90 for the sore combat there was keener, and the enmity was fiercer, and
Then Duke Rener rose from his swoon, and mounted his steed, and fought again with Guy desperately, fiercely and savagely. Guy gave the duke a mighty blow, rough and strong, so that he laid him low full bravely for the second time. Then Guy saw Sir Gilmin coming toward him, — a brave, victory-bold knight of the followers of the emperor, and brother to the Duke of Louvain was he; and he had a high commission from the emperor to keep every fair forest that he possessed; and there were a thousand fierce-spirited, arrogant knights in his own strong battle-troop around him. And this was the desire of Sir Gilmin and his company, that Sir Guy should fall full quickly at their hands. Then Sir Guy and Sir Gilmin fought with each other manfully, mightily and full bravely, and Sir Gilmin fell at the end of the fight before Guy's perilous, horrible blows. Thereupon the Duke of Sdragborn, and terrible, mighty hosts about him,91 came into the fight to seek Sir Guy, and there was not of the great armies of Lombardy, nor of the brave, warlike men of Germany a single hand that was stronger at winning battles and combats than that duke. And fear and terror seized Sir Guy, after being three days and three nights in his armor without food, without drink, and without sleep.
Sir Guy sent messengers then to the city of Greasmont to the Duke of Lorraine to ask for aid. The Duke of Lorraine said: ‘Whatever be the danger or peril in which Sir Guy is’, said he, ‘he is no more glad to receive aid and succor than I am to give it to him.’ And he set out quickly and very readily, and three thousand {Ir. ed. page 44} knights, fierce-spirited and courageous, along with him. Then those two slaughtering armies attacked each other. As for Guy, then, it was not credit, or fame, or honor in his eyes that a battle should be fought and maintained agamst him; and his lion's wrath, and his serpent's venom, and his soldier's strength and his warrior's spirit and his champion's ardor awoke, and his flame of battle rose upon his breath,92 and he staked his fame on the fight, and he brought defeat upon the Lombards full bravely, and upon the Germans full swiftly, and made a slaughter of them in that battle; and there were captured dukes
The emperor, then, on the day of that great fight, was in his own city, and the King of Hungary along with him, and games of chess going on between them. And they saw Sir Tirri, the son of Earl Aimbri, coming towards them, and a broad-trenched, decorated sword bared in his hand, and wide, deep wounds on his body, and blood flowmg in streams down the sides of his body, and his shield in broken fragments at his side, and Tirri himself with a very sad face upon him. Tirri said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘though thou art gay and cheerful, strange and unrecognisable are thy followers, for of those who went to battle and to combat against the Duke of Lorraine there remains in safety and alive no one but myself only; and Duke Otun was heavily wounded, and not much remains of him; and Duke Rener and Earl Vadiner have been captured. And it is Sir Guy of Warwick who has done all these deeds, for no one tastes of life upon whom he deals the force of his blow, and the men of the ponderous94 world could not defeat him by reason of strength or prowess.’ After the emperor heard this news, wrath and quick anger seized him, and his sense and reason left him entirely. The emperor said: ‘I swear’, said he, ‘by the One who made heaven and earth, that I will never stop until I capture the city of Greasmont, and until I hang the Duke of Lorraine and Guy of Warwick.’
The emperor made a rally and a muster of the armies of the whole empire in one place, and then he advanced with them to the city of Greasmont. {Ir. ed. page 45} Sir Gayer, moreover, a fierce-spirited son of the emperor and another noble earl along with him, and five hundred knights, bold-hearted and splendid, came in advance of the armies to reconnoitre the city; and five thousand knights were sent after them to defend and support them strongly and irresistibly, and half a thousand more as a reinforcement to these, and three thousand behind them; for there were thirteen thousand knights and half a thousand supporting each other at the entrance of the road, and the emperor with a great host behind them. Then the people of the city of Greasmont saw the mighty,
As for Guy, then, he went into that conflict quickly and very swiftly, and he saw a detachment of strong, bold footmen coming behind the five hundred knights who were at the head of that heavy army. Then Sir Guy saw the emperor's son coming, and he went straight to meet him, and they fought a bold, valiant battle with each other, and Sir Gayer was thrown, and afterwards captured, and three hundred of his followers with him, and the remaining two hundred fell before Guy. Sir Guy went to the city with the captives for their safe keeping, and afterwards went back to fight with the same army, and he saw nothing over all the land at that time except the host, armed and equipped for battle.
When the emperor heard that his son had been captured, sorrow and melancholy seized him; and those heavy forces, strong and brave, came in one body against Sir Guy when they recognised him. And a bloody, angry, violent battle was waged between them; and though there were many strong, brave warriors in that battle, it was Sir Guy and Sir Heront who had the upper hand of them on every side. And though it was thick about every one in that fight, it was broad and open field95 about them both. Then a multitude of brave hands were laid on them, and it was hard for them at that time, and at that time was the beginning of slaughter for the hosts of the city of Greasmont. The Duke of Lorraine and three thousand knights came out of the city then to help Guy. Then Sir Tirri, the son of Earl Aimbri, met the duke, {Ir. ed. page 46} and they fought a manful, angry fight, and the duke was thrown by Sir Tirri, and he got up quickly, and struck Sir Tirri a mighty blow, and it is a long, lasting (uilligi)96 that he gave there. There collected bold, irresistible, troops of soldiers, fierce-hearted and haughty, around the Duke of Lorraine, and he was suffering pain and punishment, and was wounded bloodily, and had no strength to defend himself.
Sir Guy saw the danger and the peril that the duke was in, and sent to his aid, and killed four knights around the duke with four mighty, mortal blows. Now a fierce-spirited knight was killing and slaying and cutting in pieces and utterly destroying the duke, and he cast him from his saddle, and struck him to the ground, and would fain have beheaded him. And Sir Guy came to the scene of this heroic fighting, and he gave the knight a
Thereupon they went together into the city. The emperor told his followers to attack the city boldly and fiercely. Then the army of the emperor came against the gates of the stronghold; and there were many beautiful, variegated standards on the gates of the city, and they began to destroy and to raze the walls and the fortifications. The people of the city began to defend it bravely and strongly: some of them with short, terrible javelins, and some with arrows, sharp-tipped and skilfully made,98 some with dangerous perilous guns, and others with bulky99 stones from slings, and others with spears, flat-tipped and smoothly-polished; others still with great rocks and with stones of the wall, big and destructive,100 throwing them down from the turrets of the great city, — and all sorts of projectiles besides.
Fifteen days they continued that labor and that hardship without peace or rest or repose; and this is the number that fell in that time at the hands of Guy and of Heront, a hundred fierce-hearted horsemen and {Ir. ed. page 47} a thousand strong, bold footmen; and there was no count of those who fell before the armies of the city in addition to them. There came, then, to Guy secretly a dear and beloved friend from the forces of the emperor, and said to him: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I have good news for thee, for the emperor will come tomorrow morning early with five hundred knights, without arms or weapons, to hunt in this forest; and a tusked boar has been put in it for him; and do thou, Guy, be in the forest tonight with men enough to destroy them, and do thy will with the emperor.’ Sir Guy said: ‘For that news’, said he, ‘I will give thee a thousand plates of beautiful, refined gold.’ The traitor said: ‘Keep me with thee till thou provest it, and if thou do not find it to be truth, I give thee the right to hang me.’
Then went Sir Guy and Sir Heront, and three knights with them, to the duke, and he in his chamber playing skilfully and cleverly at chess; and Guy greeted him, and told him that the emperor was to be alone in the forest in the morning. When the duke heard this news, he rose quickly to
As for Sir Guy, then, he proceeded to his inn; and when the early part of the night had come, Sir Guy set out from the city secretly and silently, and a thousand knights along with him, and went into the forest, and they went to (or upon) the hill that was there. In the morning, then, Sir Guy saw the emperor coming into the forest with a small company about him, namely, five hundred knights without weapons or armor, of the gentlemen and noblemen of his company. Sir Guy said to his followers: ‘The emperor is coming upon us’, said he, ‘and we are between him and his company, and he has no power to escape us; and fight bravely and well, my bold knights!’ said he. Then the emperor looked off, and saw the hosts, with weapons and armor, coming to surround him. The emperor said: ‘We have been sold and betrayed to Guy of Warwick’, said he, ‘for I see Sir Guy with his followers coming against us.’
Then {Ir. ed. page 48} Sir Guy went before his followers to meet the emperor, and a branch of olive in his hand as a sign of peace. And Sir Guy said to him, as he approached the place: ‘Let no man of you offer battle or conflict to the emperor's company’, said he, ‘and if someone does, I will strike off his head.’ Sir Guy said: ‘God be thy life, noble and brave emperor!’ said he, ‘and there is a feast prepared for thee to eat by the Duke of Louvain; and do thou come to partake of it and to make peace with him; and he will give up himself and all his possessions to thee.’ Then came up the thousand horsemen who were with Sir Guy, and a branch of peace in the hand of every man of them, and Guy bade them pay homage and honor to the emperor, and they did so. Sir Guy said to the emperor: ‘Let us be off now to the city’, said he, ‘for thou hast no power to refuse to go with me whatever way I wish.’ The emperor said: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘if thou wouldst swear to me surely that I shall not be betrayed, I would go with thee.’ Sir Guy said: ‘I swear’, said he, ‘by Him who suffered the passion for the human race have no fear of anything in the city yonder.’ Thereupon the emperor dismounted, and put his two hands about Sir Guy's neck and gave him three kisses fondly, fervently and faithfully, and then said: ‘Brave and victorious knight, pious, merciful and virtuous, I will go with thee.’
After that they went to the city; and there was no wasted (?)101 old man, nor tender youth without years, nor brave, triumphant
And for the duke, he arose he next morning, and released the prisoners of the emperor, and told them to take the roads they chose, and enjoined upon them to ask of the emperor favor for him; and the prisoners all gave thanks to the duke. As for the prisoners, then, they asked the duke to go with them to the emperor; and he went readily, and took off his splendid, silk garments, all except one fine102 silk shirt next the brightness of his white skin, and he went with them all into the presence of the emperor, and bent his right and left knees beneath him, and knelt in the emperor's presence.
The duke said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘I am at thy mercy, and I have deserved to receive death {Ir. ed. page 49} at thy hands, for it is I who killed Sir Sadon, thy own brother; and I give myself up to thee without opposition (?),103 and do thy will with me now’, said he. Sir Gayer, the emperor's son, said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘give the duke assurance of peace, for he is a brave, victorious man, faithful and very wise, and wrong has been done him.’ Duke Rener said: ‘Do this, my lord’, said he; ‘for it was justly that he slew thy brother's son, and though he should say this were not true, I would undertake to prove it on him.’ Earl Vadiner said: ‘Do this, my lord’, said he, ‘for the duke has not deserved that wrong or injustice should be done him; and he has always been a friend to me, though I am now against him; and if peace is not made with him quickly, I will go back to the city of Cologne, and I will bring hosts of good troops together, and I will make war against thee in company with the Duke of Louvain.’ And the emperor said nothing at that time. Sir Guy said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘fulfil the promise thou madest to me in the forest. And dost thou not see that the duke has been long on his knees, and that he might refuse thee so? For he is stronger here than thou art, my lord; and I give my word that unless assurance of peace is given to me quickly I will bring destruction and ruin on thee and on thy followers.’ The emperor said: ‘It is for the duke to give thanks to the one God who made heaven and earth for the day when he saw thee, Sir Guy’, said he; ‘and I will fulfil my promise to thee; for I pardon the duke for having killed the
The news of this peace was heard by the hosts that were outside around the city. Then came Otun, the Duke of Lombard angrily and wrathfully to the emperor and said: ‘My lord,’ said he, ‘it is wrongly that thou hast made peace with the two traitors, the most false and envious who are in the whole world the Duke of Louvain and Sir Guy of Warwick.’ When Sir Guy heard this, he clenched his fist right boldly, and struck the duke on his nose, and {Ir. ed. page 50} his blood spurted out quickly, and he threw him to the ground. He would fain have struck him again, but the emperor asked him as a favor not to strike him the blow. ‘I will grant thee that favor, not to strike him or any other man today’, said he. Sir Guy said: ‘He has betrayed me twice without cause’, said he; ‘and with God's permission I will not leave that without vengeance yet’, said he. Then the two hosts kissed each other in the greatness of their joy because of this peace. And then ended the war between the emperor and the Duke of Louvain.
Duke Rener of Sision said that he would take the daughter of the Duke of Louvain, and that he desired to have friendship with him, and this betrothal was made. And the emperor gave the daughter of his father's own brother's son to the Duke of Louvain for his wife, and promised him great wealth and sovereignty with her, and that alliance was made. Sir Guy said that he would depart. ‘Do not go,’ said the Duke of Louvain, ‘for I will give this city to thee, and half my realm; and do not leave me.’ Sir Guy thanked him, but did not take it.
As for the emperor, then, after making that peace and that alliance with him, he took leave of the Duke of Louvain; and Sir Guy set out along with him. As for the Duke of Louvain, he was fifteen days without food or drink or sleep from grief at Sir Guy's departure from him; and little remained of him because of his love and strong affection for Sir Guy. Then the emperor came into Germany, and Sir Guy along with him and the emperor offered Sir Guy cities and castles and parks and beautiful forests for hunting; and said that he would give him a dukedom, and that he would give him abundance of gold and treasure and of all kinds of riches. And Sir Guy refused to accept it, and then took leave of the emperor.
As for Sir Guy, now, he went on his way and took with him for followers only a hundred tried, brave knights of the German noblemen; and he proceeded along the margins of the vast sea until he saw a great ship with an abundance of all kinds of goods, which had entered the harbor; and Sir Guy asked tidings of it. A brave, well-spoken man of them answered and said: ‘We have come from the city of Constantinople, and this is the reason why {Ir. ed. page 51} we have come: because the Sultan has won the realm of the Grecian Emperor, and his followers have been killed in battles and conflicts; and there is none of the realm of the emperor left, which has not been taken from him by the Sultan, save only the city of Constantinople. And the Sultan with his hosts is coming to take it; and we came aboard the ship here to seek some place where we might find peace and quiet to dwell in, and we have brought part our possessions here with us, and those are our tidings’, said the young man; ‘and now do your pleasure with us.’ And there was fear and terror on the ship's company. Sir Guy, however, went up ashore, and collected two hundred other knights in addition to those he had, and went to the same ship. And he told the company to make the ship ready, and that they must go back with him over the same course to Constantinople. Thus far Sir Guy's course in Germany.
As for Sir Guy, then, he went aboard the ship with his three hundred knights, and the ship's company along with him. And they took a swift course, eager and very bold, through the streams of the ancient sea, and through the perilous, awful waves of the blue sea; and they were fifteen days on the ocean because of a great storm, and they found a harbor sheltered and secure, in the city of Constantinople. And they raised the lofty standard of the English, the banner of St. George, above the boat. The emperor was then on the battlements104 of the castle praying the Lord for help out of the difficulty he was in and he saw the ship, full of men and very great and the standard of St. George raised upon it. And he sent a messenger to get news, and to make the English welcome, and to bring him into his presence. The messenger went to the ship, and asked tidings of the ship's company. Sir Guy105 arose and answered: ‘An English knight is here’, said he, ‘and Sir Guy of Warwick is his name; and there are three hundred fierce, courageous, high-spirited knights in his company, who have come to the support of the emperor.’ Moreover Sir Guy gave
Then the emperor ordered a high chamber to be made ready for Guy and his followers, and everything to be given to them that they might ask for. Then the emperor went to the chamber with Sir Guy. After this the emperor said: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I look to thee for protection, for the Sultan has taken from me all my realm except only this city; and he is coming to capture this from me, and twice twenty thousand of my followers have fallen in a single day at their hands; and I have no children besides one daughter, and she is my heir; and I will give her to thee as wife, and do thou win my land and my sovereignty for thyself.’ Sir Guy said: ‘It is not to get a wife that I have come, but to fight in thy support; and I will do my best for thee, and I take it upon myself to protect thee.’ And it was not long like this with Guy, after the emperor left him, when he heard a cry and a shout of terror and complaint throughout the length of the city; and Guy sent a messenger to get news, and this is what someone told him: ‘An Amiral109 whose name was Coscras, the son of the Sultan's uncle, and king of the Turks, has come with a thousand Turks to capture the city; and they have laid siege around it.’ When Sir Guy heard this, he told his followers to put on their armor, and to fight bravely; and Sir Guy went out of the city with the three
As for Escladata, a strong knight of the Sultan's army, he left the battle with a spear through his body, and half of his head missing, and he went to the Sultan and said: ‘I have bad news for thee, my lord’, said he, ‘for thy brother has been slain (?), and I saw his head struck off him. And the king of the Turks has been killed, and there has not come out alive any of thy company but myself alone, and I shall die in this hour.’ The Sultan said: ‘They have rallied some strong army’, said he. The knight said: ‘They have’, said he; ‘namely, a Christian knight whose name is Sir Guy of Warwick with three hundred knights in his company.’ The Sultan said: ‘I swear by the gods’, said he, ‘that I will capture that noisy city within fifteen days, and I will hang the emperor and Sir Guy on a single cross.’ Then the knight who brought the news fell down and died.
As for Sir Guy of Warwick, now, he came into the city, after winning victory and triumph, with plenty of spoils in his possession, and he and his followers were weary from the fighting after that battle, having been three days and after three nights making the fight without food or drink or sleep. And after this the people of the city gave him three shouts of blessing.
As for the emperor, moreover, he said that there was not in the world any pursuit that was dearer to him than the hunt and the chase, — ‘and I have not dared for a long time and a great while to go out beyond the gate of this city for fear and for terror of the Sultan and of the {Ir. ed. page 54} Turks, until Sir Guy came to my help. And tomorrow I will go into the forest to the hunt and the chase, and I will stay fifteen days in the
As for Sir Morgadur, he was considering how he could harm Sir Guy, and he came where Sir Guy was in the forest, and said to him: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I cannot bear113 in my body and my flesh the strength of my love for thee; and I have courts and castles and land and property and gold and silver and all kinds of wealth besides; and it is to thee that I wish to give them all to control and to enjoy. And come with me to the emperor's daughter, and let us play chess in her presence; and we will return to the emperor, for he will not leave the forest this week.’
Thereupon Sir Guy went with the steward into the city to the emperor's daughter; and Sir Guy won three games from the steward at first. The steward said to Sir Guy: ‘Wait a while here’, said he, ‘until I go on some business.’ The steward went to the emperor in the forest, and the emperor asked him for news, and the steward said: ‘It is bad news I have’, said he, ‘namely that the false, treacherous knight that is with thee, Sir Guy of Warwick, has forced thy daughter in her own chamber; and let him be put to death at once. And I will go at my own cost to the German Emperor to obtain a force and an army to aid thee.’ The emperor said: ‘I do not believe wrong of him’, said he, ‘for I am full of love and great affection for him.’ And since the emperor did not believe that evil report, the steward went to the city to Sir Guy and said to him: ‘So great is my love for thee, Sir Guy’, {Ir. ed. page 55} said he, ‘that I cannot make a secret of the thing that might come to harm thee. Leave this city quickly, for if the emperor find thee in it, he will put thee to death.’ Sir Guy said: ‘It is hard to put trust in a lord after the emperor’, said he, ‘for great is the good I have done him, even though he is on the point of killing me; and still more good would I have been glad to do him until now; and now I will go to the Sultan to get revenge upon the emperor.’
Then Sir Guy went to his followers and told them to put on their armor of battle and to leave city of Constantinople; and they put on their armor quickly, and raised their standards on staffs, and proceeded out of the
As for Sir Guy, then, his messengers were getting news in the land of the Sultan; and they came to him and told him that the Sultan would come in full force on the next day to rase and destroy the city; and Sir Guy told this to the emperor, and then they took counsel. The constable of the city said (and he was a noble duke, and had a long white beard down to his breast, and he himself a venerable old man): ‘Do as I shall tell you’, said he; ‘for there is a high mountain between us and the Sultan, and they cannot vary their course, and let us take up our position against them in the open space on the mountain, and let us keep the {Ir. ed. page 56} Sultan and his followers below us in the steep places, and there will be narrow forest passes between us and them. And we will send missiles among them from every kind of engine for projectiles, and neither a wound nor a scratch from them will reach us against the ascent.’ And Sir Guy and everybody praised this plan, and they carried it out.
Then the emperor with his troops came upon the mountain; and they did not see a single bit of the land vacant, but all full of battle-equipped horses and armed men. Then Sir Guy went to the road that leads up the mountain, and he determined that he would not let any man pass him on that road; and the army of the city of Constantinople from this time forth was to defend the narrow passes that led up the mountain. The Sultan bade Eliman of Tyre lead the attack — ‘For there is no man in the world who has overcome thee in battle or in combat’;115 and he was a noble brave king. So Eliman of Tyre came to the entrance of the road, and a thousand fierce, valiant knights along with him, and they fought a bloody,
The Sultan said to the king of Nubia: ‘Dost thou see my men being slain at the hands of a single knight, and that we are a hundred gallant and noble knights put down by the knight of those who are against us? And do thou take my followers with thee, and surround the enemy there, and bring death and destruction upon them, for I shall have no happiness or rest until mischief is wrought for them there.’ And after this they went together against Sir Guy, and he withstood them alone, and began to kill and destroy them without cessation; and the horse was killed that was under Sir Guy, and his shield was broken. And then he bared his sword, and the sword was of this sort: it is among the Nubians that it was made, and it is in Germany {Ir. ed. page 57} that Sir Guy got it, and quaking and terror came upon him who saw it naked before him, and he whom it wounded tasted not of life.
As for Sir Guy, then, he was killing and injuring the Saracens with that victorious, hard sword, and he was collecting and arranging the wounded bodies around him to defend himself against the missiles of his enemies. As for Sir Guy, then, he ordered a great number of slings to be made and missiles to be thrown from them all in every direction; and in this way very many of the Saracens were mercilessly slain. And it was hard for Guy at this time, and he sent a messenger to ask Sir Heront to help him out of that danger. Then came Mirabala,116 who had been newly made a knight on that day, and fought bravely, manfully and heroically against Sir Guy, and at the end of the fight Sir Guy dealt Mirabala a strong, savage blow, and inflicted a dangerous wound upon him, and Mirabala got away then by virtue117 of his spear-swift running. As for Mirabala, then, he went on to meet the Sultan, and told him to take a strong, swift horse, and to flee quickly from the battle, — ‘and I shall not live myself’, said he, ‘with my limb cut off, and it is little that remains of thy army.’ Then the Sultan saw the loss of his army: twenty-eight score of thousands. His dark and devilish gods were watching over him on that day, Termagant and Mahoun, and he said to them: ‘O false and lying gods’, said he, ‘much have I ever done in your honor and
Sir Guy, moreover, came back to Constantinople with his company after winning the victory and the triumph. Sir Guy said: ‘Noble and adventurous knights, honor and magnify the one God who formed heaven and earth, he who made the creatures out of nothing, for it is He who brings us victory in the battles and the many conflicts in which ye are, and it is good help He has given {Ir. ed. page 58} you today’, said he. Thus far the second battle which Sir Guy fought with the Sultan.
The treacherous, envious and horrible steward said to the emperor: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘though many of the hosts of the Sultan have fallen before thee, they are but few in comparison with those whom he has still alive; and he is angry and bitter against thee; and thou hast the one knight whose deeds and whose rank are the greatest in the whole world; and do thou stake thy right and thy claim upon a single combat with the Sultan; and if it goes against thee, give the Sultan satisfaction and show him honor; and if it goes against him, let the same be given you by him.’ And the emperor praised that plan. And this is the reason why the steward gave this counsel to the emperor, because it would be Sir Guy who would go out there and who would be killed there. The emperor collected and gathered together his followers from every direction, and he explained this plan to them. The duke, namely the head of the army and the constable of the city, said: ‘I am a hundred years of age’, said he, ‘and if I were able to fight, I would go on that business and that errand. But I should not come out alive; and the curse of the weak and the strong118 be upon him who gave thee that counsel, for it is bad counsel.’ Yet the emperor still sought a knight to go to the emperor of the Turks with that message, and everyone there refused to go.
As for Sir Guy, now, his eyes flamed brightly and angrily in his head; and Sir Heront understood the reason, and came to Sir Guy, and said to him: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I know what is in thy thought; and do thou cease considering that, for thou wilt not come back alive from the land of the Sultan if thou goest into it, since his enmity against thee is great. And send me’, said Heront, ‘for my death is a small matter in comparison with thine.’ Sir Guy said: ‘God forbid that I should send my knight to his death to get honor for myself.’ Then Sir Guy rose to the his feet, and put on strong armor of battle, and went into the presence of the emperor, and took leave of him. The
And after this he set out alone; and he was not long journeying on the {Ir. ed. page 59} road when he saw the emperor's host in camp; and fifteen miles was the length of that camp, and the same distance it breadth, and they were ranged in a circle like a sphere or compass and the stakes of the tents standing side by side(?)119. Now the Sultan's tent was in the very middle, and a great spear-shaft rising out of it, and the figure of an eagle, of beautiful, red refined gold, on the top of the shaft; and a carbuncle — that is a precious stone — high above the tent; and a fair summer's day was not brighter for them, and the sun with bright face at hand than were the long winter nights with the virtues of that stone: And thus were the Sultan's tents, covered magnificently with cloths of silk and gold thread from the top to the ground.
Sir Guy, now, rode into the tent on his horse; and it is thus that the Sultan was at that time, eating and drinking at many-colored tables with the nobles of his retinue. Sir Guy said: ‘God almighty suffered the passion for the sake of the righteous, and separated day and night from each other; and it is He who made cold and heat, and brings full-tide and ebb-tide upon the seas, and made the world and all things besides, and made every good for thy profit, O Sultan, sinful, false and recreant, — for evil are the devilish gods in whom thou believest, and thy bed is flaming in lower hell. And my lord emperor sends word to thee to choose a day for combat, and one knight from thy side and another knight from the emperor's to be there; and whichever of them survives the fight to receive money and tribute for his lord without resistance or strife from the lord of him who is overthrown in the combat. And if it please thee, here am I ready for the battle, and I would come on behalf of the emperor and the right, to prove upon thy champion that the wrong is with thee.’ ‘What is thy name?’ said the Sultan. ‘Sir Guy of Warwick is my name’ said he. ‘It is thou who killed my brother’, said the Sultan ‘and thou shalt die for it120 thyself.’ And the Sultan gave orders to seize Guy full quickly, and to put him in prison as a bound captive while they were eating their feast. Guy said: ‘If it is killing me without reason that pleases thee’, said he ‘I will give thee cause for killing me.’ And he spoke thus, and stuck two spurs {Ir. ed. page 60} at once into the horse that was beneath him, and made a great, strong leap away, and drew out his bright, hard sword, and struck the Sultan a death-blow,
Sir Heront was in deep sleep in the city of Constantinople, and he saw a terrible vision, as it were a field full of lions around Sir Guy, and Guy being slain in the midst of them. At this Sir Heront sprang up from his sleep, and summoned his followers to him, and said that Sir Guy was in difficulty and overpowered by numbers; and he set out full quickly, and the three hundred knights along with him, and they found Sir Guy in the midst of the hosts {Ir. ed. page 61} being beaten and lacerated. As for Sir Heront now he burst upon the hosts strongly and valiantly, and seven hundred strong, brave warriors fell before them in that charge. And from the sea of sand in the south to the fiery sea in the north123 there was not a Saracen
As for the emperor, on the next day he went to the hunt with his retinue, and he was sitting on the top of a hill and Sir Guy in his company there; and they were not there long before they saw a lion, sharp-toothed and full brave, and a dragon, bold, dark and unconquerable, in struggle and conflict with each other; and the lion was weak and lame, and the tail of the dragon coiled around the lion, and the horrible, dark yawning125 jaw of the dragon opened so that a knight with his armor on could enter its mouth. Sir Guy said that he himself would go quickly to the help of the lion, for it was weak in the fight, and he said that no one should dare to go with him into that fight.
When the emperor heard this he fled with his followers for fear of the dragon. Sir Guy mounted his steed, and spurred the horse against the dragon, and gave the dragon a strong, bold blow of the spear in its mouth, and drove the spear out through the back of its head, and jumped down upon it, and struck off its head. The lion came to Guy, and was licking his feet and his fair body, and Sir Guy stroked the lion's back with his hand, and the lion followed him thereafter everywhere that he went. One day when Sir Guy was eating his meal at the emperor's table, the lion was asleep in the arbor that day at the foot of a tree, and its tail up towards the sun, and the emperor's steward saw it lying thus, and gave the lion a mighty thrust with his spear, and pierced it, and let out its vitals and its entrails at its feet. The lion howled and roared loudly, and went to Sir Guy and crouched {Ir. ed. page 62} at his feet, and its vitals outside of it, and it fell down thereupon, and dropped dead, without life. As for Sir Guy, then, he took his steed, and
As for the emperor, then, he said to Sir Guy: ‘Great is the benefit thou hast done me, and I do not know how to describe it for its greatness; and be ready tomorrow morning to marry my daughter; and thou shalt have half my kingdom during my life, and the whole of it after my death.’ Dixit Guy: ‘I will do thy will, my lord’, said he. When the morrow came, Sir Guy went and his three hundred knights with gowns of silk and fur (?)126 about them; and they went to the church and there came the bishop of the city and his clergy, and they asked Sir Guy whether he had a wedding-ring. Sir Guy opened his pouch, and this is the ring that came to his hand, the ring that had been as a token of remembrance between him and the daughter of the Earl of Warwick; and he meditated upon it then and a swoon and a fainting-fit came upon him.
And when Sir Guy arose from his swoon, he said: {Ir. ed. page 63} ‘My lord’, said he, ‘I am not now able to be married, for the pressure of heavy illness has attacked me; and do thou give me time to regain my health.’ Sir Guy was fifteen days in bed, and he allowed no one to approach him during that time but Sir Heront alone. Sir Guy
Sir Guy got up after fifteen days, and went thereupon to the emperor; and the emperor was glad that day to see Sir Guy well. And Sir Guy passed that day in the emperor's company. And Sir Guy said to the emperor: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘I cannot take thy daughter to wife, for there is a pledge between me and the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and I would not change it till the time of my death; and I have been with thee seven years, and now I would fain have leave to depart.’ Greatly did this grieve the emperor and all the hosts of the city. Then the earl129 gave Guy three great measures of beautiful, refined gold, since he did not take any other lordship from him. And Sir Guy refused to take that, and said that he had plenty of gold and riches, and that it was not to seek anything else that he had come, but only to help the emperor. When Sir Guy did not take the gold, the emperor distributed it to Sir Guy's company. Then the emperor said: ‘Sir Heront’, said he, ‘thou art the other knight who is strongest of hand of all I have seen, — Sir Guy of Warwick and thou. And since Sir Guy has refused the damsel for his wife, {Ir. ed. page 64} I would give thee lordship and riches and treasure, O Sir Heront’, said he. Heront said: ‘If thou wouldst give me the whole empire’, said he,‘I would not take it from thee and desert Sir Guy.’ Then Sir Guy took leave of the emperor, and thereafter he departed. Thus far the adventure of Sir Guy with the Emperor of Constantinople.
As for Sir Guy and his followers, they proceeded on their way and they made no stop or delay until they came the city of Cologne in Germany. The emperor with his retinue
As for Sir Guy, then, he was not long walking in the forest when he fell asleep from the song of the birds; and this is what woke him out of his sleep, a fearful cry of distress that he heard. And he went where he heard the cry, and found a wounded knight, complaining and in peril, and his blood flowing down the steep places of the forest. Sir Guy asked him his story. The wounded knight said: ‘It will not profit thee to have my story’, said he, ‘for it is not likely thou hast the courage to hear my story,130 and my expectation does not turn to thee for help’131 Dixit Guy: ‘For the sake of the one God almighty, tell me thy own story’, said he, ‘and I will give thee aid, if I can.’ Dixit the wounded knight: ‘Pledge thy troth’, said he, ‘that thou wilt help me.’ ‘I do’, said Sir Guy. The knight looked up and said: ‘Great thanks to thee for any help’, said he, ‘for thou art a strong, brave knight; and before God who made heaven and earth, it is a pity that thou art not Guy of Warwick.’ ‘Tell me now thy story’, said Guy. ‘I will’, said the knight. ‘I am Sir Tirri, the son of Earl Aimbri; and the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine felt a strong, unendurable love for me, and I felt the same for her; and Otun, the Duke of Lombardy, came to take her; and a day was set for their wedding, namely the seventh day from today; and she sent to me to come for her {Ir. ed. page 65} in that time. And I came’, said he, ‘secretly with ten very brave knights to the city of the Duke of Louvain; and I sent messengers to the damsel and she came out to them in the bright, early morning. And I set her behind me and left the city; and the people of the city saw me setting off and raised a cry after me, and the two dukes pursued me with their hosts, and my ten knights fell before them at that time. And there fell at my hands a bold destructive band of this army; and there happened to be a great-waved arm of the sea in front of me, and I made an eager, light leap on my horse out into the sea, for I chose to be drowned in the sea than to fall at the hands of the Lombards. And the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine chose rather to be drowned than be the wife of the Duke of Lombardy. And the steed
One day Sir Guy, with his breast against the chamberwindow, was observing the city about him, and he saw a knight approaching, and a swift horse under him, and Guy asked news of him. The knight said: ‘I am of Earl Aimbri's company’, said he, ‘and I am searching for his son, Sir Tirri; and I do not get a word of news about him, and I do not know if he is alive. In revenge for the way he carried off with him the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, the Duke of Lombardy and the Duke of Louvain {Ir. ed. page 67} are pillaging and destroying the possessions of Earl Aimbri; and he135 has destroyed it all except Aimbri's city alone, and those two haughty dukes are going to the city of Gormisi136 to capture it; and that is my news’, said the knight. Dixit Sir Guy: ‘Dismount’, said he, ‘and thou shalt stay with us tonight, for it is with us that thou art more likely to get news of Sir Tirri.’ After that the knight came in, and he found Sir Tirri before him, brave and joyful, and he paid him homage and respect. Then Sir Tirri said: ‘Guy’, said he, ‘though thou hast given me much help and great honor hitherto, I have more need of thee more than ever before, for
[gap: text omitted]
to plunder and pillage my father and to rob and insult him on my account.’ Dixit Sir Guy: ‘I will bring the strength of my hand to thy aid’, said he. After that Sir Guy went into the city and collected ten hundred bold knights. And they advanced thereupon to the city of Gormisi. And Earl Aimbri and his followers paid homage and honor to Sir Tirri. Sir Tirri said: ‘It is better to pay honor and respect to Sir Guy of Warwick than to me’, said he, ‘for it is he who saved my life for me, and it is in his retinue that I am.’ When the earl and his company heard that, they
As for Sir Tirri, then, he went boldly and valiantly to meet those battle-brave warriors and ten hundred soldiers, fierce and bold and proud-hearted, were set against him, and they fought each other madly, eagerly and savagely. Ten bold warriors fell at Sir Tirri's hands in the first onslaught, and not long afterwards {Ir. ed. page 68} two hundred, discomfited and wounded, fell round about him. After this a thousand fierce, proud knights were set to fight against him, and Sir Tirri fought the battle anew at that time, and six hundred of them fell quickly before him. Then two thousand knights, heroic and hardy, were set to fight against Sir Tirri, and Sir Tirri was in the battlefield from bright, early dawn until mid-day without having help from anyone but himself and his two hundred knights, and it was hard for him then because of the number of the Lombard warriors about him. Sir Heront said: ‘Guy’, said he, ‘let us bear138 aid and assistance now to Sir Tirri.’ ‘We will’, said Guy. Then Sir Guy with his two hundred knights went to Tirri's aid, and Guy said to him: ‘Tirri’, said he, ‘give up the fight now, and go into the city, and leave the battle to me for the rest of the time.’139 Thereupon Tirri went into the city, wounded and victorious in battle, and Sir Guy went into the fight, fiercely and resolutely,140 and burst upon them like a lion, eagerly and bravely. Sir Guy, moreover, was fighting that battle fiercely and valiantly from midday until night, and the length of the night without cessation cutting down the warriors, until sunrise of the next day and the length of the second day until noon; so that at that time there did not remain alive any of them except sixty of them as prisoners, bound and fast fettered, and twenty more maimed and injured, cross-wounded and deadly pale(?),141 to go to the two dukes with the news. One of them
As for Sir Guy, on the next morning he went to hear mass, and left the church afterwards, and saw the companies and detachments of a good army approaching the city. Sir Guy said to Tirri: ‘The strong, brave hosts are coming against us, and let us go out on the smooth plains and into the open country to fight and give them hard battle.’ They went at once, and they fought a long, brave battle with each other. Then came the strong, brave Duke of Lombardy and Sir Heront together in the battle-field, and Sir Heront said: ‘Envious and fratricidal duke’, said he, ‘thou hast unjustly deceived me and my lord.’ And he spoke thus, and gave the duke a hard, bold blow, so that he knocked half of the helmet, set with jewels and tight-bound,142 from the duke's head and he made a wide deep wound in his shoulder, and threw him violently to the ground, and leaped down upon him to cut off his head. And then came a hundred brave Lombards between them, and took the duke away from Sir Heront, and Sir Heront pursued him through the troop. Then numerous warriors of Lombardy collected about Sir Heront, and killed his horse, and his sword was broken. And then a manly, valiant French knight, who was in the retinue of the Duke of Lombardy, came up and said: ‘Sir Heront,’ said he, ‘give thyself up to me now, for thou hast no strength to defend thyself.’ ‘What is thy name?’ said Heront. ‘Sir Gailiard is my name,’ said he. Sir Heront said: ‘I would give myself up to thee, if thou wouldst give thy pledge to save me.’ ‘I give it’, said Gailiard. Then Heront gave himself was taken in captivity to the duke. Then Sir Guy
Then the Duke of Lombardy with his company pursued Sir Guy, when he saw him alone without a host, for there was no one with Sir Guy at that time but Sir Tirri and Sir Heront. Sir Guy spurred his steed through the very midst of the Lombard host, and neither Tirri nor Sir Heront expected ever to see him; and the Duke of Lombardy met Sir Guy on that battle-field, and he gave the duke a strong, hard, violent blow, and the duke bent before that blow, and the back part of his helmet was struck off him, and Guy pierced the armor on his back, and through it he cut his fair golden garment and the strong-limbed gelding143 with a single blow; and Guy escaped from them in spite of him, and put the banner of St. George on a staff, and he would fain have attacked the army. The Duke of Lombardy said: ‘The men yonder have done us much harm today’, said he, ‘and they have now attacked
As for the Duke of Lorraine, then, he sent a bishop of high rank to Earl Aimbri with his followers, and promised them peace and an alliance, and said that a banquet, long and bountiful, was prepared for them. Earl Aimbri rejoiced at these words. Dixit Sir Guy: ‘Earl Aimbri,’ said he, ‘believe not those sweetly-false, pleasant words. Duke Otun has betrayed me twice before, and it is he who is counsellor to the Duke of Lorraine, and I would believe that he would do it the third time if he could.’ Dixit Earl Aimbri: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘have no fear or terror, for we do not desire peace with the two dukes there more than they desire it with us, and they will not betray us.’ Sir Guy said: ‘If you go there’, said he, ‘take strong battle-armor with you.’ Dixit Earl Aimbri: ‘We will not take it’, said he; ‘if we go to make peace, there should not be a challenge to battle upon us.’ Then Earl Aimbri went with his followers to the castle of the Duke of Lorraine, without weapon or armor, but with splendid gowns of silk and fur about them. Then they saw the Duke of Lombardy coming toward them with an army, armed and equipped, which took captive Tirri and Heront and the rest of the company besides. As for Sir Guy, he was strong and bold in the midst of the enemy, smiting them
As for Sir Guy, then, he went to Earl Aimistir Amunndae,146 and the earl made Sir Guy welcome. Dixit the earl: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I am thine, and all my possessions.’ Then Sir Guy told how he had been betrayed, and how Earl Aimbri and his son Sir Heront had been taken, and all the hosts besides. Earl Aimistir made complaint and heavy lamentation at this news. Sir Guy was in the city three days, sad and melancholy, and he said: ‘Earl Munndae,’ said he, ‘it is sad for us to be like this.’ Earl Munndae said: ‘There is a great,147 rich city near us here, and it is said that the third part of the world is in its possession. And the Turk, mighty and powerful, is lord and chief there; and no man ever went against him who came back afterwards alive; and single combat or double is held there, or the number that anyone desires.’ Sir Guy said that he would go himself into that city. ‘Do not go’, said Earl Aimistir, ‘for thou wilt not come back from there alive over the same road.’ Sir Guy said: ‘I would not fail to go there for an abundance of wealth, and I will not take any man with me.’ ‘Indeed I will go with thee’, said Gailiard, ‘for I will not leave thee till the day of my death.’ They went on their way then into the forest, and Sir Guy blew a strong, powerful blast on
As for Sir Guy, after he had been nine days in the company of the earl, he said: ‘It is a long time’, said he, ‘that I have been without going to get news of Sir Tirri and Sir Heront; and I am afraid they are slain, and I will go now to find out.’ Earl Munndae said: ‘I will send ten hundred knights of my company with thee.’ Guy said that it would delay him long to wait for them, and that he would not take anyone with him. ‘I will go with thee’, said Sir Gailiard. And they went on their way then, and Guy said to Gailiard: ‘Mount thy horse’, said he, ‘and take this good horse beside thee’; and Gailiard did so. As for Guy, now, he rubbed black stain {Ir. ed. page 74} on them both, and put a black, dingy, unrecognisable color on them, and in that shape they went to meet the Duke of Lombardy. Guy said: ‘It is a long way, I have come to thee out of the land of
As for the duke, the next morning he put Uisin on a clear white mule to go to the temple. And Sir Guy followed them on his steed, and strong, indestructible armor upon him, and a warrior's weapons in his hand; and he overtook them, and said: ‘Duke Otun’, said he, ‘I am Sir Guy of Warwick; and now be on thy guard, for thou hast deceived me three times, and hast slain my knights in the wilderness of this land.’ Then Sir Guy drove a spear eagerly and boldly through the duke's body, and afterwards gave him a blow with his sword, and struck off his head, and split him as far as the navel. And he took the duke's head with him, and put the daughter of the Duke of Louvain behind Gailiard, and in this way they left the city. Bold warriors of the Lombards bore down upon them, and the brother of the duke said: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘treacherously hast thou killed the Duke of Lombardy, and thou thyself art a poor compensation for him.’ Guy said: ‘There is nothing better for thee than to let him go his way(?),152 for the duke deserved to be killed by me many times over.’ {Ir. ed. page 76} Guy turned to the duke's brother, and struck off his head with one blow, and killed ten more of the Lombards along with him, and they left the Lombards thus. When the daughter of the Duke of Louvain had put away her fear, she said: ‘It is a sad deed the Lombards will do now, namely, to kill Tirri without mercy.’ Guy said:
As for Sir Guy, then, he said that he would go to find Sir Heront. ‘I will go with thee, and five hundred knights’, said Earl Aimistir. Thereupon they set out, and they pillaged and laid waste every city and castle that they came upon in the possession of the Duke of Louvain, until they came to the city of Gormisi where Earl Aimbri was; and great joy seized Earl Aimbri when he saw his son and Sir Guy approaching, and a swoon and a fainting-fit came upon him through the excess of his joy. Then Sir Guy put the head of the Duke of Lombardy on the top of a stake at a cross-road in the city of Gormisi, and he called Sir Gailiard to him and said to him: ‘Noble and honorable knight’, said he, ‘I will give thee command and leadership of my army, and do thou take six hundred bold knights with thee, and bring me prisoners as a pledge for Heront.’
As for Sir Gailiard, then, he went on to Louvain, and he was destroying it without mercy, and he captured fifteen castles there, and seven earls and ten barons. {Ir. ed. page 77} This news came to the Duke of Lorraine, and fear and terror seized him, and he went to his own steward, and took counsel with him. The duke said: ‘My realm has been laid waste and pillaged’, said he, ‘and the armies and great troop of Guy of Warwick are coming to capture from me this city in which I am; and which is better for me, to mount a swift horse and take flight, or to stay and be captured or re-captured?’ 153 The steward said: ‘Take my advice’, said he, ‘if thou desirest to act for thine own profit; for Guy of Warwick struck off the head of the Duke of Lombardy and put that head on a stake at the cross-road of the market in the city of Gormisi; and he took Sir Tirri, the son of Earl Aimbri, with him, and Uisin, thy own daughter. Battle or combat against him is not possible, and he will take the world if he wishes to; and furthermore, thou hast in thy hands a brave, victorious knight of his company, Sir Heront; and do thou let him out in honor of Sir Guy, and all the other prisoners along with him, and give them their own possessions,
As for Sir Gailiard, he advanced with his six hundred knights to the city of Gormisi, and Sir Guy was in consultation that day on the top of a hill over against the city of Gormisi; and there was no one with him but Sir Tirri and Earl Aimistir. Aimistir said: ‘I do not know who the hosts are yonder’, said he; ‘for if they are an army bent on war and battle, they are too near us; and I will go myself on my horse to meet them.’ And he went then, and recognised Sir Heront, and they bade each other a friendly welcome. {Ir. ed. page 78} Sir Heront said: ‘Aimistir’, said he, ‘I beg thee, ask Sir Guy for me to give promise of peace to the Duke of Lorraine, for I am indebted to him, and I partook of food and drink at his table, and he did not put bond or fetter on me; and not a bit of harm has come to me or to any of the other prisoners, and great is our gain from what he has given us.’ They went on then to meet Guy and Tirri, and all together they begged for peace for the Duke of Lorraine; and Guy refused to give them that. Sir Heront went upon his knees in Guy's presence, and the eight hundred knights along with him, and they all together begged Guy to give assurance of peace to the Duke of Lorraine. Guy said: ‘I will grant you that request, though it is hard for me.’
As for Gailiard, now, he and his hosts were at that time laying waste and devastating Louvain, and a messenger was sent to him, and he was brought back to the city of Gormisi. And another messenger was sent to the Duke of Lorraine to ask him to prepare a wedding-feast for his daughter, to give her to Sir Tirri, the son of Earl Aimbri. After this they went together to the city of the Duke of Lorraine, and they made peace and an alliance, and celebrated the wedding. And thus was waged the war of the two dukes with Sir Guy of Warwick.
Once when Sir Guy went to the hunt in Lorraine, a wild boar started up before him, and he set his dogs upon it and followed it on his horse; and Guy parted from his company at that time, and pursued the boar through many well-defended and prosperous lands. And he overtook it at last, as it was killing his dogs; and he dealt the boar a strong, bold blow, and killed it, and gave its heart to his dogs, and blew a loud blast upon the end of the horn that was hanging at his neck, to proclaim the slaughter 154 of the boar that had fallen before him. And the blast of that horn was heard in the city which was called Florentine, and Duke Florentine bade that the man who blew that horn in his forest be brought to him in dishonor. The son of Duke Florentine went to Sir Guy, and struck him boldly with his fist. Sir Guy said: ‘Thou hast struck me unjustly for killing the boar that I have pursued through many lands.’ The duke's son said: ‘I will inflict death upon thee for that’, said he. When Guy heard this, he struck the son of Duke Florentine on the head with the end of the horn, swinging it by his girdle, {Ir. ed. page 79} and he died. As for Sir Guy then, he proceeded through the forest, and saw the city of Florentine before him, and went into it, and asked food of Duke Florence155 for the love of God, because he had been three days and three nights without food, or drink, or sleep, in pursuit of that boar. The duke ordered food to be given to Guy, and plenty was given him and he was eating it. Then Guy heard a cry of sorrow and lamentation in the city, and he saw a body laid on the floor in the royal hall, and the duke was asking what body they had. ‘Thy son’, they said, ‘who has been killed.’ ‘Who killed him?’ said the duke. ‘It seems likely to us’, said they, ‘that the knight who is eating at the table yonder killed him.’ When the duke heard this, he seized a broad-trenched, warlike sword, and drew it out, and struck at Guy with it; and Guy dropped behind the shelter of the table and let the blow go by. As for Sir Guy then, he seized a sharp-edged dagger that was at his side, and was defending himself bravely; and all the people of the city collected around him, and six of them fell at his hands. Guy said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘it is nothing but treachery on your part to kill in your house a single knight or a single man to whom you have given food; and if thou 156 art a true nobleman, give me leave to go out through the gate of the city on my horse, and give me my sword and my shield, and thou shalt have leave to follow me, and it will be less >disgrace for you 157 to kill me like that than to kill me like this.’
After Guy had accomplished this feat, the king of the English said: ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘I will give thee thy choice of the dukedoms in England, besides gold and silver and an abundance of all riches in addition.’ Sir Guy said: ‘If I had desired it, my lord’, said he, ‘I might have taken the empire of Constantinople, besides every other possession that was offered to me, and I might have taken a dukedom in Germany, and I might have taken an earldom in France, and I might have taken an earldom in Britanny, and I did not take anyone of them, and I will not take this from you, my lord’, said he; ‘and much honor be thine.159 And my father has died’, said he, ‘and I will go to see my own domain now.’ Guy took leave of the king, and went to his own home, and he found an abundance of gold and silver and precious stones besides sent from the king because he had not taken any other domain from him. Guy said: ‘Sir Heront’, said he, ‘it is long that thou hast followed me, and much of my evil fortune that thou hast had, and thou hast no lordship of thy own; and I give thee this manor, and to thy heirs after thee, and a thousand pounds besides every year.’ And in this way he gave away his whole domain to his knights, and said that the earldom of Warwick
Thereupon Guy went to the earl. And the earl asked Guy what kept him without a wife. Guy said: ‘I have felt unendurable love for a woman since my youth, and if I do not obtain that woman, I will never take a wife’, said he. The earl said: ‘Wilt thou be pleased with my daughter, together with all my possessions? For I have no son or daughter but her, and if it should seem fitting to thee to take her there is no son-in-law in the world that we would rather have than thee.’ Guy said: ‘It is thy daughter who is the one woman I choose to marry in all the world.’ That saying gave the Earl great joy. The earl went to Felice and asked her what kept her unmarried, and plenty of noblemen wooing her; or whether she chose to be always without a husband. Felice said: ‘I have loved a man since my youth, and I will take no husband till the time of my death unless I get him.’ The earl said: ‘Does Sir Guy of Warwick please thee?’ said he. ‘He does indeed’, said the lady, ‘for he is my choice for a husband.’ Sweet was this answer to the earl. The earl went to Guy, and set the time for the marriage on the seventh day from that day. And the earl and Sir Guy went to the hunt every day during that time in preparation for the wedding. Then messengers were sent from him to the English nobles, both laity and clergy; and the king of the English, and the queen, and the prince came to that wedding; and there came bishops and archbishops and abbots and herenachs, and friars of the orders, and canons, and monks; and that wedding was nobly celebrated. And after this they enjoyed the wedding-feast, and Sir Guy distributed gold and silver and garments of silk and gold-thread and gems of crystal and carbuncle and all kinds of treasures besides. And to all who desired a gift or a reward Guy gave it [...]161 to the door of the house that day of gold and silver and virtuous stones. And there were a multitude of knights, gracious and
As for Sir Guy, after this he was forty days and nights with the daughter of the Earl of Warwick. At the end of that time Guy went one day to hunt, and many wild creatures were killed by him that day. And though that was pleasant, it was not there that his mind was, but upon his own sins, for the fear of the Lord was upon him. And it was his desire to make amends for his youth. Sir Guy sent messengers at that time to Johannes de Alcino, a holy father, and he came to him at once. Guy said: ‘Holy father’, said he, ‘I put the charge of my soul upon thee; and hear thou my confession quickly in honor of three Persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. For many are my sins; for until the sands of the sea are counted, and the grass of the field, and the leaves of the forest, and the stars of the sky, there will not be made a count or an estimate162 of the men and the innocent lives that fell at my hands because of my love for this world, to get myself honor and high repute, and to put my fame above everyone; and yet I never killed a man from love of God.’ Dixit Johannes de Alcino: ‘If thou hadst done a third of that for the love of God, God would be satisfied with thee and would forgive thee thy sin.’ Johannes de Alcino said:163 ‘Sir Guy’, said he, ‘do thou now take my advice: keep the ten commandments which Christ left on earth with Moses in the tablets; love God beyond every love in heaven and earth, et cetera; avoid the mortal sins, pride, anger, sloth, envy, lust, gluttony, avarice and backbiting; and be merciful, humble, prayerful, pitiful, compassionate, grateful and full of benediction.’ Johannes said: ‘Observe, Guy’, said he, ‘how the saints who are in heaven attained the kingdom: part of them by fasting and prayer, by pilgrimages and vigils, by frequent confession and many alms; others by suffering, by pain, by purgatory in this life,164 by burning, by crucifixion, by the distress of every disease and every pain, for the love of Jesus.’ And Johannes said: ‘Guy’, said he, ‘make thy confession clean, and be humble before God, {Ir. ed. page 84} and be ashamed of thyself, and know that our parents were without sin in Paradise only three hours because of the deception of the adversary. And they were driven out
When Guy had completed forty days in his wife's company, he was there one night, and the daughter of the earl, with their breasts against the chamber window, and Sir Guy said: ‘Felice’, said he, ‘thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and name him Roighnebron, and he shall be a good son; and give him to Sir Heront to be brought up. And Felice’, said he, ‘not more numerous are the stars thou seest in the firmament than the men who have fallen at my hands because of my love for thee; and if it had been for the love of God that I had done it, He would be satisfied with me; and now I will do service unto God.’ Felice said: ‘Guy’, said she, ‘build monasteries and temples and chapels and bridges and other spiritual works, and make a house of hospitality for the Lord's poor, and still abide here.’ ‘I will not do it’, said Guy: ‘but I will go to traverse the land that my Lord Jesus traversed.’
Guy gave Felice his sword, and told her to keep it for his son; and he said that there was not in the world a sword that was better than this; and he cut short his spear and made a staff of it. Felice said: ‘There is a woman in another land who is dearer to thee than I am, and it is to her thou art going.’ ‘There is none’, said Guy, ‘and yet we will surely not stay and abandon this journey.’ And then they kissed each other, {Ir. ed. page 85} and thereupon they fell in a swoon; and Guy got up after this, and set out on his way. ‘Art thou surely pleased to go?’ said she. ‘I am in truth’, said he. ‘Take half of this ring with thee’, said she; and Guy took the ring, and broke it, and left half of the ring wth her and took the other half himself. And Guy said: ‘Do not believe that I have met death until thou get
As for the earl's daughter, after Sir Guy had left her she was three days and three nights in her chamber without food or sleep; and she took Sir Guy's sword and she would gladly have driven it through herself. And she said: ‘I would kill myself’, said she, ‘but that I fear it would be said that Sir Guy killed me.’ And she went to her father after that and told him that Guy had departed. The earl said: ‘It is to test thee he has done that.’ ‘Not so indeed’, said Felice, ‘and I shall never see him again.’ As for the earl, after he had heard this news, he fell down in a swoon. And afterwards he sent to Sir Heront and related the news to him. Sir Heront said that he would explore the world until he found Sir Guy. He set out again, and he did not leave unexplored a land of those he had traversed before with Guy; and he searched in Rome for him, and got no news of him, and they came together in another city, and Sir Heront did not recognise Sir Guy after his change of name (Poor John, namely, he was calling himself), and his body emaciated165 with fasting and his hair grown long; and Guy did not betray his identity to Heront. Sir Heront returned to England, and reported that he had not found a word of news about Guy, and great were the lamentations the English made in mourning him. Thus far the sorrow of the English for Guy, and Sir Heront's search.
As for Sir Guy, he made a praiseworthy pilgrimage of the world to the city of Jerusalem, and from there to Alexandria, and he was three years? travelling in those cities. And outside of the city he came upon an old man, advanced in years, weeping sorrowfully. And Guy asked him the cause of his grief, and he did not tell him. Guy said: {Ir. ed. page 86} ‘I beg thee for the sake of Christ's passion to tell me thy story.’ ‘I will do so now’, said the old man. ‘Earl Jonutas is my name’, said the old man, ‘and I am a Christian; and Craidhamar,166 the King of Alexandria came with his followers to lay waste my land and my city, and I fought a battle with them, and defeated them, and we were slaying them mercilessly as far as this city. And they made an ambush for us in the woods yonder, and we were deceived, and I was captured, and my fifteen sons, and my followers were slain; and we have been here seven years, and we have not had our half portion of food or drink in that time. And it is a fixed custom with the Sultan every year to celebrate a feast
After that they went into the city, and Craidhamar came upon them, and he asked news of Earl Jonutas, whether he had found a man whom he could ask to undertake the battle. Earl Jonutas said: ‘There is a pilgrim with me who promised to win169 it.’ The king looked at Guy, and made but little of him, and asked him what his country was. Guy said: ‘I am John the Englishman’, said he. The king said: ‘I like it the worse that thou art an Englishman’, said he, ‘for from that land were the two knights that I liked least of all that ever came, Sir Guy of Warwick and Sir Heront; for it is Sir Guy who killed the Sultan, my brother, and Eiliman of Tyre, my father; and I was near the place myself when he struck off the Sultan's head. And yet if Sir Guy should come to me now, and settle the combat yonder for me;170 I would give him assurance of peace.’ And the king said: ‘Old man’, said he, ‘how wilt thou expect to fight the battle yonder? For if thou shouldst fight with the champion of the Sultan, thou wouldst be killed instantly by terror before him; for such is the warrior, — black, horrible, huge, bold and unconquerable.’ Guy said: ‘I have never felt fear yet’, said he, ‘of anything I have seen.’ As for Guy then, service and attendance was given him, frequent baths and food and drink, to the end of forty days and forty nights. When the time had passed the King of Alexandria said: {Ir. ed. page 88} ‘Old man’, said he, ‘on what terms dost thou wish to fight the battle yonder?’ He said: ‘I wish thee’, said he, ‘to release Earl Jonutas and his children, if I am the stronger; and if I am defeated in the battle, do thy will with Earl Jonutas.’ The king said: ‘I will do that with a good heart’, said the king; ‘and all the Christian prisoners that I hold bound I will let out, if thou art the stronger; and I will not make war upon a Christian till the time of my death, if the victory in the battle there is with thee.’ Guy said: ‘Get me strong weapons and armor of the same kind.’ The king said: ‘I have them, if a strong, brave man were found who could carry them, and no such man has been found since the men who owned them came to their death, — the breast-plate of Hector, the son of Priam, and his sword, and the helmet of Alexander, the son of Philip the Blind.’171 ‘Give them to me’, said Guy. The armor was
After this they returned to the city of Alexandria, the King and Earl Jonutas and Sir Guy, and Earl Jonutas was given his children and all his followers with all their possessions, and they went then to the city of the earl. And Sir Guy was with the earl fifteen days, and Earl Jonutas offered Sir Guy an abundance of possessions; and Guy refused {Ir. ed. page 90} this, and set out to depart, and the earl went to a place apart with him. The earl said: ‘For the love of Christ’, said he, ‘tell me who thou art.’ ‘I will’, said he, ‘and do not tell of me to anyone else, for I am Guy of Warwick.’ And thereupon he left his blessing with him. As for Guy, he fasted and prayed and made a pilgrimage in every land in which Christ had journeyed, and the story does not speak of him for another while.
As for Felice, the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, after Sir Guy left her she bore a son at the end of her pregnancy, and he was baptised, and was named Roighnebron, and was brought to Sir Heront for his education. As for Felice then, she built monasteries and chapels and other good works for the soul of Guy of Warwick. As for Roighnebron, at the end of his twelfth year there was not a lad of eighteen in England who was larger than he. Then there came a rich vessel to trade in that land, and they went to the king, and gave him great treasures in return for the privilege of trading. Now Sir Heront had charge of the harbors on the south shore of England at that time, and those merchants brought him many gifts in return for helping them. And they went to Sir Heront's castle, and saw the fierce-spirited lad, soldierly and proud, among the household, and asked information as to who he was. Sir Heront said: ‘That is the son of the best knight that ever walked the earth, Sir Guy of Warwick.’ And not long after that he left the castle, and part of the merchant ship's company stayed behind him in the city. The ship's people stole Roighnebron, after promising him a great treasure if he would go out with them, and he went with them in this way, and they gave another reward to the gate-keepers for letting him out with them. They went aboard their boat, and set forth, and came to a harbor in Africa, and they gave Roighnebron to the King of Africa, and told him that he was the son of Guy of Warwick. When Heront discovered the loss of his ward, he
As for Sir Guy of Warwick after he had made a praiseworthy pilgrimage of the world, he thought of returning
And after that they set out on their way. And Tirri said that he longed for sleep, and Sir Guy said: ‘Sleep and put thy head on my bosom’, said he. And Tirri put his head on Guy's bosom, and sleep fell upon him; and Sir Guy saw the likeness of a dove or a pure white weasel coming out of Tirri's mouth and going into a hole in the ground in a strong rocky crag on the side of a great hill; and the creature came back again, and went into Sir Tirri's mouth, and wakened Tirri from his sleep. And he said: ‘It is a pity before Him who made heaven and earth that the vision I saw is not true.’ ‘What is that?’ said Guy. ‘I saw’, said he, ‘how I should go, and Guy of Warwick, into the hill thou seest175 yonder before thee, and
The next morning Guy said: ‘I will go to mass’, said he, ‘and do thou stay here, Tirri, until I come to thee’, said he. And Guy went to the temple, and heard mass, and went on his way to meet the emperor, and paid him homage, and asked alms of the emperor. And he said: ‘Follow me to the palace’, said he, ‘and take thy share there, and thou shalt receive alms.’ As for Guy then, he went to the emperor's palace, and the emperor asked him: ‘Hast thou made a great pilgrimage?’ said he. ‘I have’, said Guy, ‘for there is no praiseworthy pilgrimage in the world that I have not made’, said he. The emperor said: ‘Hast thou heard talk of me in those lands?’ said he. Guy said: ‘I have heard good and ill spoken of thee’, said he. ‘What is the reason for speaking ill of me?’ said he, ‘for it is fitting to speak well of me.’ Guy said: ‘That thy proud steward, the Duke of Lombardy, captured Earl Tirri, and took away his domain, and that thou hast suffered that and hast given him more besides.’ Duke Berard said: ‘I swear by the one God,’ said he, ‘that I came near seizing thee by the beard and breaking thy teeth in thy throat.’ Guy said: ‘I give my word that if thou shouldst do that, I would strike my scrip and my staff together on the top of thy head, till I drove thy brains through thy skull.’ The duke said: ‘I had rather {Ir. ed. page 94} than a great part of the wealth of the world that the man who would say that of me should come and prove it against me!’ Guy said: ‘I would come to prove it against thee!’ said he, ‘and here I am in the power of the emperor as a pledge that I will fight that battle tomorrow morning’, said he. Then the Duke of Lombardy gave a pledge and sureties for himself that he would come to combat with the pilgrim on the next morning. Thus passed the night with them. Guy rose in the bright, early dawn of the morning, and asked the emperor for armor, and got his supply of weapons and
As for Guy, after that he went on his way to England, and he asked information where King Caulog, the King of England, was. Someone told him that the king was at Winchester, — ‘and the king of the Norsemen is coming to capture England and sixty thousand knights along with him; and there is a fierce, ill-boding champion with him; and the Norsemen and the English have staked their cause and their rights on a
Sir Guy came to Winchester. Then in the night an angel came to the king and said to him: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘arise early tomorrow and go to the temple, and a poor religious man whom thou shalt find there, him shalt thou ask in honor of Christ's passion to fight the battle for thee against Colobron.’ Now the king arose early in the morning and went to the temple, and found Sir Guy praying with crossed hands before the (altar) of the temple imploring the Creator. The king gave Guy a blessing, and Guy answered humbly and looked at the king, and when he recognised him he paid him homage and asked alms of him. The king said: ‘Thou shalt have it’, said he, ‘and do thou grant me a request.’ ‘If it is in my power’, said Guy. ‘Win the battle of Colobron for me’, said he. ‘That is no suitable request to make of me’, said Guy, ‘for I am an old man, infirm and timid’, said he. {Ir. ed. page 97} Then the king fell on his knees, and the English nobles with him, both clergy and laity, and they all besought Sir Guy to conquer Colobron for them. The noble man was overcome with confusion because of the urgent pressure the English put upon him. Then Guy said that he would go to the combat in honor of Jesus, — ‘and get me armor for the fight’; and many suits of armor were brought him, and everyone of them he broke apart by shaking it. And Guy said: ‘Bring me the armor of Guy of Warwick’, said he, ‘for he was a comrade of mine, and his arm or would fit me, and it is in keeping in his wife's possession; and do not on any account leave the sword.’ Sir Guy's battle-armor was brought to the place, and the old man put it on, and mounted easily into the saddle of the steed without anyone else to hold it for him. And there was great wonder among the English at the strength of the leap which the old man took into the saddle, and at the weight of the armor that was on him. And he proceeded to the place of battle, and dismounted there, and fell upon his knees, and prayed God fervently, and said: ‘O Lord’, said he, ‘if the right is on my side, save me from this danger with thy great miracles, as thou didst save Enoch from death, and Isaac from the sword and Joseph from prison, and the people of Moses from Egypt, and David from Golias, and
And Sir Guy mounted his steed again, and went to meet Colobron, and they fought a bloody, angry, venomous fight for a space and a while. Sir Guy gave Colobron a keen, bold thrust of the spear, and broke the two-fold armor that was on him, and gave him himself a bloody, unsightly wound. Colobron dealt Guy a powerful blow, and struck him to the ground; and Sir Guy arose quickly, and gave Colobron a hard, strong sword-blow on the shoulder, and made a deep wound in him after cutting his armor. Colobron gave him a powerful blow in the head, and cut the precious talismanic stones that were in his helmet, and that stroke glanced to the ground and did not harm him; and Guy's sword was broken in that fearful onslaught. Colobron said: ‘Give thyself up now’, said he, ‘for thou hast no power to defend thyself since thy sword is broken; and let the English give tax and tribute to the {Ir. ed. page 98} Norsemen forever.’ Guy said: ‘Colobron’, said he, ‘dost thou see the brave knight coming with arms to me?’ Colobron looked around to prevent the arms from being given to Guy. It was then that Guy rushed to the cart in which Colobron's arms were, for he had a cart full of arms, and Sir Guy snatched a broad-headed axe out of it, and struck Colobron a mighty blow with it, and struck him a second time, and at last beheaded him, and took his head away from him, and brought it into the king's presence.
The king came, and the nobles of his retinue, and the clergy of the city, in a procession to meet Guy; and the king took him by the hand, and bade him welcome, and led him thus by the hand into the city. And the king offered Guy his choice of the dukedoms in England, and Guy refused to take it, and he remained three days with the king, and then he asked leave to depart; and thereupon he set out, and the king went a little way apart with him. The king said: ‘O servant of God’, said he, ‘tell me who thou art and what is thy land.’ Guy said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘if thou wouldst give me thy pledge not to tell my story for forty days, I would tell thee my story.’ The king gave him that assurance. The old man said: ‘I am Sir Guy of Warwick’, said he; and thereafter he parted from the king. Thus far the battle of Colobron and Sir Guy.
As for Sir Guy then, he proceeded to Warwick, and found Felice in the door of the hall, and twelve beggars supported by her for the love of God and the soul of Sir Guy of Warwick. And Sir Guy asked an alms of the lady like all the other beggars; and Felice looked at him, and felt love and strong, irresistible affection for the old man, and she did not recognise him. And she said to him: ‘Come with me into the hall’, said she, ‘and thou shalt have thy sustenance there today with me.’ Sir Guy went to the hall, and he received honor at the lady's hands and a pittance from her own table. Felice said: ‘Servant of God’, said she, ‘thou art infirm, and now thou art not strong enough to travel; and do thou stay with me to be supported for the love of God and for the sake of Sir Guy of Warwick.’ Sir Guy said: ‘May the true God, the glorious, reward thee for that honor, lady’, said he, ‘and I will accept that alms from thee; and I will go into this forest beside us’, said he, ‘to pray and implore my God and my Creator, for there is no place for religion in the midst of a great company; and I will send my servant to the city every day for my food.’ ‘Thou shalt have that {Ir. ed. page 99} with all my heart’, said the countess.
As for Sir Guy then, he went into the forest, and found a hermit there in an oratory praying to the Creator, and Sir Guy greeted him and begged him for part of the oratory till the end of his life. The hermit looked at him and said: ‘It seems to me’, said he, ‘that there was once a time when thou wert worthy of honor,177 and thou shalt have a share of it with me so long as thou shalt live.’ Guy thanked the hermit for that. After this Guy quickly bowed his knees. The angel spoke above his head, and said: ‘O Guy, prepare thyself to meet thy Lord, thy heavenly Father, on the eighth day from today.’ ‘Deo gracias’, said Guy.
It was thus with him till the end of the eighth day, and at that time he sent his lad to Felice, and said to him: ‘Bear my nine blessings to the lady, and give her this half-ring as a token, and tell her that I shall meet death in this hour; and ask her to pray to God for me, and let her come if she would visit me alive.’178 The lad went quickly to Felice, and told her Guy's message, and gave her the half-ring; and she recognised it and knew that it was Guy who was in the oratory in the guise of a poor man. As for the countess then, she set out swiftly on her way179 to the oratory, and she found Guy stretched on the floor of the oratory, and his face to the east, and he yielding up his life; and the lady cried out bitterly and lamented when she recognised
As for Felice, after that she made herself ready, and she died at the end of thirty days from the completion of the monastery; and she was buried alone beside Sir Guy, after they had won the victory of the world and the devil; and their bodies are still resting in the land of the monastery180 and their souls are in heaven with the angels. Thus ended the life of the one knight who was least evil of all who lived in his time.
As for Sir Heront, he went to search throughout the world for his ward, namely, Roighnebon, the son of Sir Guy of Warwick; and he was captured in Africa, and he was seven years in prison there. And one day he said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘it is a pity thou didst not put me to death before I was in this prison. Many are the brave deeds I have done in the past, though I have fallen into this prison.’ The jailer was listening to these words, and he went to Ambrail,181 and told him that news, and said that it seemed to him likely that the prisoner could overcome the young knight who was pillaging and laying waste the country. ‘Bring him to us quickly’, said Ambrail. He was quickly brought up, and Ambrail asked information about him, and what his country was. Sir Heront sard: ‘I am an Englishman’, said he. Ambrail said: ‘Didst thou
When Sir Heront heard that, he dismounted at once, and kissed Roighnebron fondly, fervently, and faithfully. Heront said: ‘Roighnebron’, said he, ‘dost thou recognise me?’ ‘I do not’, said Roighnebron. ‘I am Sir Heront, thy fosterfather’, said he, ‘and the charge was made against me in England that I had sold thee to a merchant-ship. And I have travelled over a great part of the world in search of thee; and I have been held seven years in captivity by Ambrail in this city beside thee, and it is he who sent me today to fight on his behalf.’
As for Roighnebron, when he had heard this story, his joy was immeasurable. And those two made peace between Argus, the King of Africa, and Ambrail, who was of lower rank than a king and was greater than a duke; and those two gracious and noble kings released all whom they held as prisoners on both sides in honor of those two knights. And Sir Heront said that it was from him that Roighnebron had been
{Ir. ed. page 102} As for Roighnebron and Heront, they proceeded for a while on their way through wildernesses broad and vast, and they did not see either man or animal, and both they themselves and their horses were tired and hungry at the end of the day. And they saw before them a strong tower of stone, and a firm, impregnable palisade about it, and a broad forest beside this castle; and they asked to have the door opened before them, and the keeper inquired who was there. And they replied: ‘Only two knights alone’; and their request was granted, and they were let in, and their horses were taken from them and their feet were washed, and a supply of food and drink was given them, and they partook of what they needed.
Roighnebron inquired what made that whole land a wilderness. The lady replied: ‘A haughty, fiendish, wicked king made war upon us’, said she, ‘and our followers were slain by him, and he took away from us all our possessions, and captured or killed the lord of this land. And that lord was my husband, Earl Aimistir Amundae, and Sir Guy of Warwick has always defended him hitherto, for he was a young follower of Guy.’ Roighnebron said: ‘I will go in search of husband for thee’, said he, ‘for he was a follower of my father.’
Roighnebron arose the next morning, and set out, and he did not let Sir Heront go with him, but went alone; and he was a long time travelling on his way, and he came upon the mouth of a cave, and he went into it, and proceeded three miles under the earth; and as he left the cave a brilliant light rose before him, and he found a swift, strong stream, and thirty feet of depth in it; and Roighnebron found no way across it. And he committed himself to the protection of the Trinity, and made a bold leap upon his horse into the stream, and it bore him across; and he saw a broad, strong city, and went into it, and explored the whole city, and he found no man in it; and after that he went into the great royal hall, and found a single large man, wretched and weak, sitting in the hall, and many irons on him. And he greeted him, and the young warrior answered the greeting. And he said: ‘Young knight’, said he, ‘it is a pity for thee to go into this city to thy death’, said he. ‘Who art thou?’ said Roighnebron. ‘I am Earl Aimistir {Ir. ed. page 103} Amundae’, said he, ‘and I have been here six years in captivity; and Sir Guy of Warwick made a knight of me, and it was his retainer that I was.’ Roighnebron said: ‘Mount behind’ said Roighnebron, ‘and I will take thee with me’, said he. ‘If thou wilt go’, said the earl, ‘take with thee
And they advanced on their way then, and they saw the King of the Sidh184 approaching them, and the king cursed Roighnebron. Roighnebron said to Earl Aimistir: ‘Dismount’ and he did so thereupon; and Roighnebron and the King of the Sidh fought a hard, bitter battle with each other from the very beginning of the bright, early morning until midday; and it was not known in that time which of them would win the victory in the battle. Then Roighnebron gave the king of the Sidh a violent, venomous blow, and struck him to the ground, and leapt down upon him to behead him. And the king said: ‘My lord’, said he, ‘take me as a retainer, and grant me my life, and I will yield myself and my possessions to thee; and I thought there was no man in the world who would conquer me, except Guy of Warwick or some one of his kin.’ Roighnebron granted the king his life, and the King of the Sidh released Earl Aimistir his prisoner to Roighnebron and returned to the earl all his possessions, and conveyed them across the stream. And they went to Sir Heront, and to Earl Aimistir's wife, and the lady rejoiced to see her husband with his followers after they had been seven years where she could not see them, and she gave Roighnebron a kind and friendly welcome. Thus far how Roighnebron overcame the King of the Sidh.
After achieving this great feat, Roighnebron then proceeded on his way, and Sir Heront along with him, and they made no stop until they came to the land of Burgundy; and they found it deserted and without cultivation, and its cities in broken and dismantled ruins. And Roighnebron asked what brought the land to that state. Some one185 told him: ‘Earl Salua’, said he, ‘has destroyed the dominion of the Duke of Burgundy; and there has been with him for some time a single knight, young, brave and famous, {MS page 104} and there has not come a knight equal to him since the beginning of the world; and it is he who has plundered and laid waste this land. And he is on the summit of the hill yonder before you, keeping the road, and he does not let a living creature pass him without killing it, and there are two thousand dead knights around him who have fallen at his hands.’ ‘I will go myself to fight with him’, said Roighnebron. ‘I will go with thee’, said Sir Heront; and then they went to the top of the hill, and they were not long there before they saw the knight, brave and resolute, approaching them, and