Book XV.

Hupon and Hiripisus, with their companies,

hie to the battle; and are met by Prothenor and Archelaus with their hosts.

Many fall on both sides.

And nolpit to another, þat hym noiet at, Gird hym vne to be ground in hys gret yre. ben Hupon, pe hoge kyng, highet to batell. 6616 With mony tulkys of troy, tryet in were; And Eripa also auntrid hym with,

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 pik,
All pyght in a place on a playn feld.

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

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

great body of

Polydamus presses to Duke

Merion, and hurls 6640

him to the ground.

Menelaus, enraged at Remus, rushes upon him;

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:
bat assembly was sorer of po sad knyghtis.
Mony hurlit doun hedstoupis to pe hard vrthe!
Polidamus, þe pert, presit vnto Merion,
hat was auntrus in armys, Elan aune cosyn ;-
He was a duke in hys day, & for dere holdyn,
A 30p knyght & a 3onge, of 3eris but lite ;-
So he gird to pat greke with a grym spere,
6644 þat he seyt to pe soile, & soght out of lyue.
When Menelay, pe 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,

Book XV.

215

wounds him severely, and dashes him to

the earth.

His company begins to break.

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

And warnet vppon all wyse his weghis to go, ffond with hor forse pe freke for to wyn, 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 And fore agayne to pe fyght paire feris to help.

6664

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 þat 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,

Book 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,
ffor to wreike of his wound, & the wegh harme;
But the freike for ferd fled of his gate,

6696 ffrusshet purgh 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 pat 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 pai 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,

Book XV.

217

Telamon, with a

great spear, bears him to the ground, wounds

Bare hym downe backward with a bir hoge,
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, pof 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, pat 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. pai 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, þat odmony slogh,
And wonderfully wroght with wepyn at the
tyme,

Hym-selfe might not suffise to pat soume hoge. 6748 His horse, in þat hete, was hurlit to dethe, And he foght vpon fote with po felle grekes,

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

Great deeds

are wrought by Hector: but his horse is slain.

Book XV.

Although on foot,

he holds the

Greeks at bay.

His brothers

missing him

assemble and

agree to search for him.

They dash through the

ranks, and wound

Telamon.

Wore hym full wightly, & myche wo did:

Was non so bold in pat batell, of po buernes all, 6752 fforto deire hym with dynt, ne pe Duke touche, Ne negh hym with noy, for nolpis of his hond. His nobill brether naturile nemly persayuit, bat pe troiens in the toile had turnyt pe backe, And segh not pere souerain, paire sorow was pe

6756

more,

Wend pere lord hade ben lost, or of lyue broght. hai assemblit on a sop sone vpon-one, ffrusshet to pe fight, þe freike for to laite. 6760 full bremly purgh the batels pe buernes can pas,

Dynadorus hurls 6764
Polixenus from

his horse, seizes

it, and leads it to

his brother

Hector, who

quickly mounts.

(fol. 105 a.)

Deiphobus leads

on his archers,

who hurt and slay many of the

Greeks.

Deiphobus

wounds Theuter

in the face.

And wan to þat worthy, pat in woche stode;
Telamon, the tore kyng, þai tenfully woundit,
Gird mony to be ground of the grekes felle.
Dynadron, a derf knight of his dere brother,
Preset to Polexuma, þat hade a proude stede,
Gird hym euyn to be ground, grippit his horse,
Raght to be Reynes, ricchit hom belyue,
6768 Broght hym his brother, pe best vpon erthe,
And he launchit o lofte with a light wille.
All the nobill anon,-po naturill brether,-
Wonderfully wroght with wepyn in hond,
Gird doun of the grekes vnto grym dethe,
And stird hom in the stoure stightly vnfaire.
Then Deffibus drogh negh with a derfe pepull,
hat by ordynaunse of Ector was etlit to hym;
6776 The prise folke of Poyeme presit hym after,
Bowmen of þe best, big in hor armys,

6772

Myche greuaunce & grem to pe grekes did.

Mony woundit po weghis & warpit to ground, 6780 Mony shalke purgh shot with pere sharpe gere, And myche hyndrit the hepe with pere hard shot. Deffibus the doughty, with a derfe wepyn,

Tachit vpon Teutro, a full tore dynt,

6784 Vne fourme in the face foule to behold.