APPEXHTX. :> 1 ] 



"Thy (Paris's) blood was poured out by these barbarians, who came i\ 

 board of seven hundred sailing vessels, and innumerable smaller .ships 

 commonly called barques. The deep-water bed of the Seine was so roven-d 

 by them that its waters could not be seen for a space of more than six miles : 

 one asked with astonishment in what cave the river had hidden its. If; it 

 could not be seen; the pine, the oak, and the alder entirely concealed its 

 surface." 



"The Danes then make, astonishing to see, three huge machines, mounted 

 on sixteen wheels monsters made of immense oak trees bound ti.'_ r etlier. 

 upon each was placed a battering ram, covered with a high roof in the 

 interior and on the sides of which could be placed and concealed, they said, 

 sixty men armed with their helmets. The besiegers had already linished one 

 of these machines of suitable form and size; a second was soon made, and 

 they were at work on a third ; but from the tower they shot accurately, with 

 the whole force of the bowstring and javelin against the workers on them. 

 Thus they were the first to receive the death they were preparing for us ; and 

 when one of these cruel machines was destroyed, the other soon followed. 



" From the nide torn from the neck and back of young bulls, the Danes then 

 made a thousand large bucklers, which a Latin writer would call /,/i/fms 1 or 

 crates, 2 each one of which would cover four or six men even. During the 

 night, the enemy gave themselves no rest, and not a moment of sleep ; they 

 sharpened, repaired, and forged swift missiles, strengthened their old shields, 

 and made new ones. . . . (At sunrise) suddenly the Danes, the progeny of 

 Satan, armed with their formidable missiles, rushed furiously from their camp, 

 and like light bees, ran toward the tower. Born for our misfortune, they 

 advanced with their backs bent under the bows ; the missiles quiver on their 

 shoulders, their swords cover the ground, their shields hide from sight the 

 waters of the Seine ; thousands of leaden balls, scattered like a thick hail in 

 the air, fall upon the city, and powerful catapults thunder upon the forts 

 which defend the bridge. Mars, rea waking his fury, extends in every direc- 

 tion his fierce empire. The citizens are terrified, the trumpets give i'<rth 

 violent bursts, and fear seizes on those who guard the towers. Still there 

 were seen many great and bold men ; above all, the prelate Gozlio shone con- 

 spicuous ; then his nephew, the brave Abb<i Ebble ; admirable also were 

 Robert, Eudes, Ragenaire, Ulton, Herilang ; all these were counts ; but the 

 most noble of all was Eudes, who laid low as many Danes as he threw 

 javelins. . . ." 



January 29, 886. "The fierce Dane divided his army into three bodies, 

 ranged in the form of a wedge. The largest he opposed to the tower, and the 

 two others, borne on painted ships, he directed against the bridge ; thinking 

 that, if he could gain possession of the bridge, the tower would soon be in his 

 power. . . . The tower, reddened with blood, groans under the blows which 

 strike it. ... At its base are seen at a distance only the painted shields 

 which cover the ground and hide it from sight; in every direction can be seen 



