13. TN: The sparrowhawk and parrot can only squawk
unpleasantly.
14. TN: The sudden and pointless changes in the stanza form
are of course part of Chaucer’s parody.
15. Sir Oliphaunt: literally, “Sir Elephant;” Sir John Mandeville
calls those animals “Olyfauntes.”
16. Termagaunt: A pagan or Saracen deity, otherwise named
Tervagan, and often mentioned in Middle Age literature. His
name has passed into our language, to denote a ranter or
blusterer, as be was represented to be.
17. TN: His “fair bearing” would not have been much defence
against a sling-stone.
18. TN: “Sides small”: a conventional description for a woman,
not a man.
19. Romances that be royal: so called because they related to
Charlemagne and his family.
20. TN: A knight would be expected to have a gold or silver
drinking vessel.
21. TN: The coat-armour or coat of arms should have had his
heraldic emblems on it, not been pure white
22. Charboucle: Carbuncle; French, “escarboucle;” a heraldic
device resembling a jewel.
23. Cuirbouly: “Cuir boulli,” French, boiled or prepared
leather; also used to cover shields, &c.
24. Rewel bone: No satisfactory explanation has been furnished
of this word, used to describe some material from which rich
saddles were made. TN: The OED defines it as narwhal ivory.
25. Spell: Tale, discourse, from Anglo-Saxon, “spellian,” to
declare, tell a story.
26. Sir Bevis of Hampton, and Sir Guy of Warwick, two
knights of great renown.
27. Libeux: One of Arthur’s knights, called “Ly beau
desconus,” “the fair unknown.”
28. TN: The crest was a small emblem worn on top of a knight’s
helmet. A tower with a lily stuck in it would have been
unwieldy and absurd.
29. Wanger: pillow; from Anglo-Saxon, “wangere,” because
the “wanges;” or cheeks, rested on it.
30. Destrer: “destrier,” French, a war-horse; in Latin,
“dextrarius,” as if led by the right hand.
31. Sir Percival de Galois, whose adventures were written in
more than 60,000 verses by Chretien de Troyes, one of the
oldest and best French romancers, in 1191.