THE RESCUE.

So he frusshet to a freike, pat the fre led, þat sodenly he seit doun, soght out of lyue; 6580 And anoper, anon, he nolpit to ground,

Shent of po shalkes, shudrit hom Itwyn.

So fuersly he fore, and freikes pat hym halpe, bat Troilus was takyn, & turnyt furth louse, 6584 And don out of daunger for the due tyme.

The freke pen in fuerse hast ferkid on horse, Grippit to a grym sword, gird on his fos, ffor to comford the kyng, pat hym caght hade. 6588 his Xantipus soght forth with a sad dynt To Mynestaus with might, & pe mon hit, That pe freike hade ben fay but for his fyn

armur.

Then Menestaus mournyt, & mykell sorow hade, 6592 That Troilus, pe triet, was takyn of his hond,

And afforsit hys frekys to pe fight harde:

He gedrit all hys gomys in a grete hate.
be fyght was fel po frekis betwene;

6596 Mony derf, to pe deth, vndur dyntes yode;
Mony buerne on the bent bytturly wondyt;

Mony knyghtys were kyld to be cold deth!
Ector was euermore Eger with-all;

6600 Mony weghys in hys wrath welt to be ground;
Mony Slogh in pe slade purgh sleght of hys hond;

And sore greuyt þe Grekys with his grete dyntys.
Menestaus pe mighty, þat mekill was in yre,

6604 ffor he faylit of pe freke, pat he first toke,
As he rod purgh þe rout with his roid fare,
he troiens to tene with his tore strenkyth,
He met with pis Myseres at þe mene tyme,
6608 By qwom he lost pe lord, þat he laght hade.
He knew hym full lyuely by colore of his armys,
And frunt euyn to pe freke with a fell spere,
Hurlet hym to hard vrthe vndur horse fete ;

6612 But be lede vppon lyue leuyt he pen,

Book XV.

213

(seit sied dropped.) Rushing upon them, he scatters them, and sets Troilus free.

(fol. 102 b.) Menesteus, grieved that

Troilus had been rescued, urges his men to be revenged.

Menesteus meets with Miseres, who

had rescued

Troilus, and hurls

him to the earth.

Book XV.

Hupon and

Hiripisus, with

And nolpit to another, þat hym noiet at,
Gird hym vne to pe ground in hys gret yre.
ben Hupon, pe hoge kyng, highet to batell.

their companies, 6616 With mony tulkys of troy, tryet in were;
And Eripa also auntrid hym with,

hie to the battle;

and are met by

Prothenor and

Archelaus with their hosts.

Many fall on both sides.

With all pe ledys of Larris led hom betwene. And fro pe grekys com gyrdond agaynes po two, 6620 Prothenor, a prise kyng, & pert Archelaus,

With all pe buernes of Boyes, bold men of hond. ben þe fyght wex fell, & mony freke deghyt! Sone after, forsothe, o pe Cité halue,

Polydamas, son of 6624 Polidamas aprochit with a proud ost,

Antenor, drives

with his

company to assist

the Trojans.

(fol. 103 a.)

Antenor aune son abill of dedys.

He segh pe troiens so tore, & turnyt so þik,
All pyght in a place on a playn feld.

6628 Anon to anothir side naitli he dryuys,
With all be here, þat he hade, highit aboute,
And fell to pe fyght with his folke hole.
ben yssit furth also, yrfull in dedys,

Remus too, with a 6632 Remys, þe Ryche kyng, with a rught batell,

great body of

men, comes to

their aid: and

the battle becomes fierce.

Polydamus

presses to Duke

And presit in prudly with a proud wyll,

And fell to pe fyght with pe freke alse.

here was kyllyng of knyghtis, crusshyng of helmys,

6636 Bold men bakward borne of hor horses:

hat assembly was sorer of po sad knyghtis. Mony hurlit doun hedstoupis to be hard vrthe! Polidamus, pe pert, presit vnto Merion,

Merion, and hurls 6640 bat was auntrus in armys, Elan aune cosyn ;

him to the ground.

Menelaus, enraged at Remus, rushes upon him;

He was a duke in hys day, & for dere holdyn,
A 30p knyght & a 30nge, of 3eris but lite ;-
So he gird to pat greke with a grym spere,
6644 bat he seyt to be soile, & soght out of lyue.
When Menelay, be myghty, pat myschef beheld,
Myche sorow for pe syght sank in his hert;
He turnyt to be troiens his tene for to venge,

THE DEATH OF CELIDUS.

6648 With all þe bir in hys brest, for hys bale angur.

He raght vnto Remys with a roid dynt,
Alto hurlit his helme, harmyt hym euyll,
Wondyt hym wykkydly, walt hym to ground.
6652 Half ded of pe dynt, per pe duk lay!

Hys weghys all wend, for pe wale stroke,
þat þe kyng hade ben kyld, & myche care had :
Non soght hvm to socore with no sad holp,
6656 But all purpost hom playnly to pas of pe fyld.
Polidamas, prestly, pe pupull gert lenge,
And warnet vppon all wyse his weghis to go,
ffond with hor forse pe freke for to wyn,

Book XV.

wounds him severely, and dashes him to the earth.

215

His company begins to break.

Polydamas rallies them, and urges them to carry off their leader.

6660 Hurle hym fro horse fete, haue hym away,
Ber hym out fro pe batell to pe burgh euyn.
With myche wepyng & wo, weghis of his aune
Luggit hym out to be laund, lefte hym for ded; and then leave

6664 And fore agayne to pe fyght paire feris to help.

With grief they drag him forth,

him for dead.

THE DETHE OF CELIDIS THE KYNG BY POLIDAMUS.

Kyng Celidis, forsothe, semliest of knightes,
All folke in pat filde, of fairhed he past,
Of whom Daries, in his dytyng, duly me tellus
6668 All the shap of pat shene, in his shire boke:

The qwene of femyné þat freike so faithfully
louyt,

More he sat in hir soule pen hir-selfe ay.
This Celidis, forsothe, fought with a speire,

6672 Polidamas to put doun, & his pride felle ;
And he, wode of his wit for pe wale dynt,
Corve euyn at the kyng with a kene sword,
Hurlit þurghe the helme & the hed bothe,
6676 That he braid ouer backward & on bent light.
Honerable Ector, euer vppon-one

ffell of po fuerse men, & purgh the fild rode:
Mony batels he broke, buernes he slough,

6680 And made wayes full wide purgh the wale ost.

(fol. 103 b.)

King Celidus,the fairest of all the kings,addresses him to Polydamas, and smites him with a spear:

but Polydamas smites him to the earth with a sword.

Hector, who had
been beating
down and slaying
all over the field,
cuts his way
to Thessalus,

Pook XV.

leader of the

people of Salamis, who had sorely vexed the

Trojans :

when Theuter wounds him sorely with a spear.

(fol. 104 a.)

Hector is surrounded by

the Greeks, when

Theseus warns

him to leave the battle.

Hector thanks him courteously.

Menelaus and
Telamon attack
Polydamas.

ben he soght to a syde, pere salamé folke Were fightyng full fell with the fuerse troiens, With Thessall the tried kyng, & hor true hede, 6684 That was lord of pe lond, & the ledes aght. This Thessall, in the toile myche tene wroght, Tyrnit doun Troiens with mony toure dynttes: Mony woundit the wegh, & warpit to ground, 6688 Myche dere he hom did with dynttes of hond. pen Teuser, with tene turnyt to Ector,

Sparrit to hym with a speire spitusly fast;
Woundit hym full wickedly in his wild yre;

6692 Hurt hym full hidiously, hastid away.

Ector richit his reyne, the Renke for to mete, for to wreike of his wound, & the wegh harme; But the freike for ferd fled of his gate,

6696 ffrusshet þurgh the folke forth of his sight.

Then for wrath of his wound, & for wild shame,
He gird to a greke, þat was a grym syre,
With a swyng of his sword swappit hym of lyue,
6700 And mony other martrid at the mene tyme.
A gret nowmber of grekes gedrit hym vmbe,
Hym tyte for to take, or tyrne vnto dethe.
Among all the meny was mighty Teseus,
6704 þat onestly to Ector pus esely said:-

"Sir, buske fro the batell er you bale worthe,
Lest you happyn with hond here to be slayne:
Of soche a mon were a mysse þurgh the mekyll
world."

6708 Ector full onestly pat onerable panket:

And yet the batell on bent was breme to behold!
The Troiens with tene turnyt to the grekes.
Polidamas, with prise, prestly can fight,
6712 With his Enmeis full egurly, euer vpon-one.
Menelay the mighty, in the mene tyme,
And Telamon, the tore kyng, tally to-gedur:
To Polidamas þai preset all in pure angur,

HECTOR RESCUES POLIDAMAS.

6716 The freike for to felle, & ferke out of lyue. Telamon hym tacchit on with a tore speire,

Bare hym downe backward with a bir hoge,

Book XV.

217

Telamon, with a

great spear, bears him to the

ground, wounds

Preset hym with payne, & with proude strokes, him severely, and

6720 Tokyn hym full tyte, pof hym tene thoght. Brokon was the blade of his big sword,

His helme of hurlit, & his hed bare.

takes him
prisoner.

pai led hym furth lightly, þof hym loth thught,
6724 To the tentes full tomly, paire entent was.
But Ector, as aunter fell, euyn was beside,
Segh the grekes with pat gome gedrit full picke; those who
The prise knight put doun the pepull among,

6728 Takon with torfer, hym tenyt full euyll.
He hurlet forth vnhyndly, harmyt full mony,
Of pe ledis, þat hym led, luskit to ground;
Made waies full wide, wan to the knight,

6732 And xxx in the throng thrucchit to dethe;
The remnond full radly rid hym the gate,
fflagh all in fere, and the freike leuyt.
He highit of pere hondes, and his horse toke,

6736 Wan on hym wightly, & of woche past.

The kyng Bisshop the bold, byg Menelaus,

But Hector, dashing upon

guard him,
hurls them right
and left;

cuts down thirty
of them;
puts the rest to
flight, and

rescues the
prisoner.
(fol. 104 b.)

And Thelamon the tore kyng, with theire tite Menelaus and batels,

All assemblit on a sop in a sad hast,

6740 And fell to the frigies in a fuerse wille.
þai foghton so felly with the freikes pen,
Derit hom with dynttes, delt mony woundes,
Hurlet hom on hepis, hurt of hor knightes,

6744 fferket hom to flight fuersly by-dene.
All-pof Ector was on, pat odmony slogh,

And wonderfully wroght with wepyn at the

tyme,

Telamon collect
their forces, press
the Trojans
furiously, and
put them to
flight.

Hym-selfe might not suffise to pat soume hoge. Great deeds

6748 His horse, in þat hete, was hurlit to dethe,

And he foght vpon fote with po felle grekes,

are wrought by Hector: but his horse is slain.