Tristan may be safe for the moment,
but as yet you haven't heard
what he's going to try next.
And that you certainly should know,			8900
lest you lose all interest in the story.
It goes on to tell about
a very dangerous serpent
that inhabited the country.
This wicked renegade
had overwhelmed land and people
with depredations so severe
and wrought so much destruction
that the king took a solemn vow
upon his royal truth and word:
to him who should kill the thing
he would give his only daughter,
provided he be a noble knight.
This widely known challenge
and the maiden, so desirable,
had already led thousands 
who came from far and wide to try it
only to a miserable end.
The stories were told everywhere,
and Tristan too knew them well.
From this alone he resolved
to undertake the journey,
it being by far his best assurance,
in the absence of any other hope.
And the time is now.  Have at it!


Very early the next morning
he armed himself as thoroughly
as does a man facing danger.
Mounted on a sturdy charger,
he took from his squires a spear
as heavy and as solid
as could be found in the ship,
the stiffest and the best.
He then set out on his way
across fields and countryside.
He took many a twist and turn
in passing through that wilderness.
As the sun began to climb,
he sped on purposefully
toward the vale of Anferginan,
where the dragon had its lair,
as you can read in the legend.
In the distance he caught sight
of four men in full armor
going at a flying gallop
(rather faster than a canter)
across the fields and the rough.
Of these four, one of them
was seneschal to the queen.
He also proudly aspired to be			8950
suitor for the young princess,
although much against her will.
Whenever anyone rode out
in search of manly adventure,
this enthusiast was there,
no matter when, no matter where,
in order that it would be said
he was always on the scene
whenever others took a chance.
But that was about the size of it,
because at the first sign of the dragon
he stormed away in retreat.


To Tristan it was obvious
from the speed of their flight
that the dragon lurked somewhere near.
So he explored in that direction
and had not ridden very far
before a sight smote his vision—
the frightfully revolting serpent!
Spurting from its gaping jaws
a blast of smoke and flames
worthy of the devil's kind,
it advanced straight at him.
Tristan levelled his great spear
and took his horse with the spurs.
His charge carried with such force
that the spear, tearing through its jaws,
penetrated down its throat
very nearly to the heart.
Rider and horse together
collided with the beast so hard
that the horse was killed by the impact
and the rider was lucky to survive.
The dragon ravaged the dead horse
with slashing teeth and flames
until this monster had consumed
the half of it before the saddle.
But now the spear in its gut
began to cause it such agony
that it left the carcass that remained
and fled toward its stony lair.
But Tristan, its real opponent,
followed hot on its trail.
The fiend went raging on ahead
with such violent impetus
while ripping through the underbrush
and scorching it to ashes
that the entire forest resounded
with its frightful roaring.
But at the climax of its rampage			9000
its painful wound overcame it
and it wedged itself for refuge
deep beneath a stony cliff.

Tristan, approaching, drew his sword,
hoping to find it exhausted.
Not at all—the fight grew worse
than ever it had been before.
Yet never did it get so fearsome
as to deter Tristan from attack.
The dragon fought back ferociously,
putting the man to such great peril
he thought it would be his end.
Still he diverted its worst assaults,
or it quickly would have left him
without attack or defenses.
Nor was this viper a simple foe—
it brought as allies into battle
not only smoke and vapors
but other armaments as well,
fire and things to strike with,
huge teeth and fearsome claws
acute as though honed
to a point and cutting edge
sharper than a razor.
Brandishing these weapons
the dragon chased him around,
dodging trees and through the bush—
he had to take whatever cover
might give him some protection,
for now it had him on the run.
While doing his best to parry
the worst of its onslaughts,
his shield had been scorched to cinders
almost down to his hand,
since trying to repel the flames
had left him almost no escape.
But then the tide began to turn—
that bloodthirsty serpent
began to reach the point 
where its vigor had to slacken.
The embedded spear, working deeper,
finally brought the creature down
where it lay in twisting agony.
Tristan swiftly took his chance,
driving straight in for the kill.
Next to the spear, he plunged his sword
right through the heart, up to his hand.
At this the fiendish scourge
burst out with one last howl
as awesome and so dire				9050
from deep within its dismal gullet
as at the collapse of earth and heaven,
and this final mortal shriek
echoed across hills and fields—
Tristan himself was horrified.


But when he saw the fallen dragon
had at last relaxed in death,
he tore its vile maw asunder
with all the strength at his command.
And out of its boiling throat he sliced
the tongue away, with his sword,
as far down as he could reach.
Sequestering it under his vest of mail
he forced the jaws together again.
Then he retired to the wilderness,
his purpose being only this:
he meant to find a respite there,
to spend a day in recovering
as much of his strength as possible,
and then as evening would fall
to return again to his countrymen.
The heat, however, bore him down,
both from his great exertions
and from the dragon's exhalations.
He nearly yielded to fatigue,
a lethargy so oppressive
that he might never have recovered.
He vaguely saw the shimmer
of a pool, small and narrow,
fed at one end by a brook
flowing from a massive cliff.
In full armor, he fell in
and sank straight to the bottom,
leaving only his mouth showing.
There he lay that day and night,
for the noxious tongue he still carried
had robbed him of all his vigor.
It gave off fumes that stunned him,
which alone were quite enough
to render him pale and powerless,
so that he didn't emerge again
until the queen pulled him out.