The endriago came on breathing smoke and
flames of fire in its fury, and gnashing its teeth
and foaming, and ruffling its scales and clapping
its wings, that it was horrible to see it ; and when
the knight saw it, and heard its dreadful voice,
he thought all that had been told him was nothing
to what the truth was, and the monster bounded
towards tbem more eagerly because it was long



DESCRIPnTE. 377

since it had seen liying man. Bat the horses
took fright at seeing it, and ran away in spite of
all the knight and Oandalin could do, so the
knight dismounted, and said, Brother, keep you
aloof that we may not both perish, and see what
success Gi)d will give me against this dreadful
devil, and pray to him to help me that I may
restore this island to his service, or if I am to
die here, to have mercy upon my soul ; for the
rest, do as I have said before. But Gandalin
could not answer for exceeding agony, for assur-
edly he thought his master's death was certain,
unless it pleased God miraculously to deliver
him. The Ore^ Sword Knight then took his
lance, and covered himself with his shield, and
went against the endriago as a man already
dead, but without fear. The devil seeing him
come on, snorted out fire and smoke so black
and thick that they could scarcely see one ano-
ther, and he of the Green Sword went on through
the smoke, and drove at the monster with his
lance, and by great good fortune pierced it in
the eye ; it caught the lance with its talons, and
bit it into pieces, and the iron and a fragment of
the sta^e remained driven on through its tongue
and the skin of the throat, for it had sprung on
upon it, thinking to seize the knight; but he
defended himself with good heart, seeing his
exceeding peril ; and the shock of this wound
repelled the monster, and the blood ran fast,
and with the shrieks it gave it ran down its
throat and almost choked it, so that it could
neither close its mouth nor bite with it; the
knight then drew his green sword, and struck at
VOL. in. 3 c



S78 ELEGANT BXTRACTS. P« VI.
