' 
a 
SOUTHEY’S AMADIS DE GAUL. 
made them distinguished, and assuming 
others which were till then unknown. 
_He even comes to the assistance of Lis- 
-vard when sorely distressed by his ene- 
mies, and with his father and brethren 
aids him in procuring a decisive vic- 
tory. But Lisvard, hardenin» his heart 
‘against conviction, refuses to receive 
Amadis to favour, and he leaves Bri- 
tain in despair, narrowly escaping the 
snares of Arcalaus, by whom he was 
‘again imprisoned. Meanwhile Oriana 
is secretly delivered of a son, named 
Fsplandian. {he infant is carried off 
by a lion, but is finaily reared by a holy 
hermit, called Nasciano. Amongst the 
subsequent adventures of Amadis, that 
of the Endriago is distinguished for its 
wildness. This monster was born of a 
giantess, by incestuous commerce with 
her own father. The idols whom its 
parents glutted with human sacrifices 
conferred on their: unnatural offspring 
the strength and courage of a lion, the 
wings and talons of a griffin, and the 
free-will of a human being. Its first 
exercise of its privileges was to suck 
some five or six nurses to death, shortly 
after it slew its parents, and finally it 
Jaid waste the island where it was born, 
which from that time was called the 
~Devil’s Island, the body of this monster 
being tenanted by a fouldemon. Ama- 
dis, on hearing this history, landed on 
the isle, and, attended by his squire 
Gandalin, went in quest of the monster. 
“ The Endriago came bounding over the 
rocks, but fiercer and more terrible than 
“ever; and the reason was, that the devils 
seeing how this knight put more trust in his 
mistress Oriana than in God, had power 
thereby to enter it andgmake it more terri- 
ble, thinking that if that knight perished 
there would be none other so bold as to at- 
tack this monster. ‘The Endriago came on, 
breathing smoke and fiames of fire in its 
fury, and gnashing its teeth, and foaming 
and rustling 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 mon- 
ster bounded towards them more eagerly, 
_ because it was long since it had seen a living 
man. But the horses took fright at secipg 
it, and ran away in spite of all the knight 
and Gandalin could do: so the knight dis- 
mounted .nd said, * Brother, keep you aloof 
that we may not both perish, and see what 
success God will give me against this dread- 
ful devil; and pray to him to help me,‘that 
I may restorg this island to his service, or if 
Jd am to die here to haye merey upon my 
601 
soul: for the rest, do as I have said before.” 
But Gandalin could not answer for exceed~ 
ing agony, for assuredly he thought his mag 
ter’s death was certain, unless it pleased God 
miraculously to deliver him. The green- 
sword knight then took his lance, and co- 
vered himself with his shield, and went 
against the Endriago as a man already dead, 
bui without fear. The devil seeing him 
come, snorted out fire and smoke so black 
and thick that they could scarcely see one 
another; 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 stave re+ 
mained driven in through its tongue and the 
skin of the throat, for it had sprung on upon 
it, thinking to seize the knight, but he de~ 
fended 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 ran down its 
throat and almost choaked it, so that it could 
neisher close its mouth nor bite with it. 
The knight then drew his green sword and 
struck atit, but the blow fell upon its scales 
and felt as though it had fallen upon a rock, 
and it made no impression; the Endriago 
thought then to grasp him, but only cau hie 
his shield, which it plucked so fiercely that 
he fell upon his hands, but he recovered, 
while with its talons the monster rent the 
shield to pieces. He then, seeing that his 
shield was gene, and that his good sword 
availed him nothing, knew that he had no 
hope unless he could strike the other eye. 
Now the Endriago was faint and weak with 
its wound, and our Lord having wrath that 
phe wicked one had so long had the domi- 
ion over'those who, sinners as they were, 
believed his holy catholic faith, was pleased 
to give the knight strength and especial grace 
to perform what else, by course of nature, 
could not have been done. He aimed his 
sword at the other eye, but God guided it to 
one of the nostrils, for they were large and 
spreading, and so hard he thrust that it 
reached the brain, the Endriago itself fore- 
ing it on, for seeing him so near it grappled 
with him and plucked him towards itself, 
and with its dreadful talons rent away the 
arms from his back, and crushed the flesh and 
bones to the very entrails: but being then 
suffocated with its own blood, and the sword 
being in its brain, and above all the sentence 
of God being passed upon it, its grasp re- 
leased and it fell like one dead, and the knight 
lucked out his sword, and thrust it down 
Pe throat till he killed the monster. But 
before its soul departed, the devil flew from 
its mouth, and went through the air with a 
great thunderelap.” 
After this horrible adventure, in which 
we acknowledge the bold imagination of 
the old romancer, Amadis continues to 
