Note 790 — Chapter VIII · THE EARLY YEARS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.[497] A.D. 1028–1051. (continued 2)
Reading edition
The anatomical precision of Wace (9222) is quite in the style of the Iliad;
“Willame verz li s’eslessa,
Un glaive tint, bien l’avisa;
Parmi li cors lez le menton,
Entre la gorge et le gotron,
Li fist passer le fer trenchant;
Ne li pout rien aveir garant,
Willame empoint è cil chaï,
Li cors envers, l’alme en issi.”
These are spirited lines; so is the whole description of the battle; yet how feebly does the Romance of Gaul, even in this its earliest and most vigorous shape, sound beside the native ring of the Ludwigslied and the Song of Maldon.