XCVI
And Gerins strikes Malprimis of Brigal
So his good shield is nothing worth at all,
Shatters the boss, was fashioned of crystal,
One half of it downward to earth flies off;
Right to the flesh has through his hauberk torn,1265
On his good spear he has the carcass caught.
And with one blow that pagan downward falls;
The soul of him Satan away hath borne.
AOI.
XCVII
And his comrade Gerers strikes the admiral,
The shield he breaks, the hauberk unmetals,1270
And his good spear drives into his vitals,
So well he’s pinned him, clean through the carcass,
Dead on the field he’s flung him from his hand.
Says Oliver: “Now is our battle grand.”
XCVIII
Sansun the Duke goes strike that almacour,1275
The shield he breaks, with golden flowers tooled,
That good hauberk for him is nothing proof,
He’s sliced the heart, the lungs and liver through,
And flung him dead, as well or ill may prove.
Says the Archbishop: “A baron’s stroke, in truth.”1280
XCIX
And Anséis has let his charger run;
He goes to strike Turgis of Turtelus,
The shield he breaks, its golden boss above,
The hauberk too, its doubled mail undoes,
His good spear’s point into the carcass runs,1285
So well he’s thrust, clean through the whole steel comes,
And from the hilt he’s thrown him dead in dust.
Then says Rollant: “Great prowess in that thrust.”
42
