cked the Goths of Southern France and
Spain.

_Lusace_, Latin Lusatia, German Lausitz, was a district between the
Elbe and the Oder, in what is now the kingdom of Saxony. But the
name has no significance. The personages and places in the poem are
in reality all imaginary.

_la griffe_ is the claw of a beast or bird of prey; _la serre_ is
the foot of a bird of prey.

_Sortent de leur tenaille_. A somewhat obscure expression.
Apparently _tenaille_ is used in the sense of 'vice', and the words
mean 'are of their manufacture or moulding.'

L. 291. i.e. the Emperor is the superior in rank.

_dromons_. See note on AYMERILLOT, L. 39.

_l'ordre teutonique_, the Order of Teutonic Knights. Originally
founded to protect the Christians in Palestine, the Teutonic
Knights received domains in Italy and Germany from the Pope and
Emperor, conquered Prussia (1228), and established there a military
power which lasted four centuries.

_hydre_. In Greek legend the hydra was a serpent with seven heads,
and, when one of them was cut off, two grew in its place. It is
Hugo's favourite figure for cruelty or tyranny.

_Lusace_ consisted of two margraviates, the upper and the lower.

_elle a peur du fleuron_, i.e. she is afraid to be marchioness. The
flower-shaped ornaments in a crown are called _fleurons_. A
marquis's coronet was adorned with 'fleurons' alternating with
pearls and the contrast between the pointed 'fleuron' and the round
pearl suggests the figure employed in the next line.

_tribunaux d'amour_, or _cours d'amour_, were the celebrated courts
of the Middle Ages, presided over by ladies of high rank, which gave
judgement in cases of love and gallantry and laid down laws for
lovers. They existed principally in France, especially in Southern
France.

L. 369. The Wends were a Slav people who lived in Lusatia, but the
name Thassilo is Bavarian.

_Nemrod_. See note on PLEINE MER, l.107.

_Fenris_: the great wolf of Scandinavian mythology whose growth was
such that the gods in fear chained him to a rock. Some day his upper
jaw will touch the sky, while his lower still rests on earth, and
then Odin will tremble for his throne.

_le serpent Asgar_. This serpent is probably of Hugo's invention and
its name taken from the mythical city of the Scandinavians, Asgard,
built by the gods and in which they often resided.

_l'archange Attila_. This is not the king of the Huns, nor is he one
of the known archangels. However, as th