THE HORSE AS AN EPIC CHARACTER 



at him, and knew him not; raising his right foot, he 

 struck the man and laid him dead beside him. The 

 citizens who saw this jeered. " That man left the 

 tavern too soon. This horse seems to belong to the 

 horses of King Arthur: he cannot endure a man but 

 must kill him. Good God! how shall we praise rightly 

 that shield which resembles the arms of Lord Esau who 

 lived a hundred years or more! " Never had such joy 

 come to Poitiers. The citizens were wicked and evil- 

 intentioned. " Tell us, sire, where will you take that 

 horse? The dogs of this town have sworn to eat his 

 flesh." Another knave ran out from a tavern; he tore 

 the bridle from Marchegai's head and started to return 

 to the drinking-shop. When Marchegai felt the bit 

 taken from his mouth, swiftly he ran after the rascal. 

 He lowered his ear, seized the man, and raising him four 

 feet from the ground, shook his head and dropped him. 

 The man fell to the earth and the blood gushed from his 

 nostrils. " Surely," said the burghers, " that is a magic 

 horse." Magic or not, no old retainer, no faithful 

 Ekkehart, could be more jealous of the honor of the 

 family which he serves than this apparently decrepit 

 steed. He is aristocratic, too, and will not tolerate 

 other horses being near him. And he knows more about 

 war than many a knight, the poet declares. When the 

 villain of this particular epic ridicules his appearance, 

 Aiol proposes a horse race; and though Marchegai is 

 heavily handicapped, he wins the race in a far more 

 legitimate fashion than the Russian steed. On one oc- 



128 



