_les deux haches de pierre_. This is said figuratively and alludes
to the deeds of Attila, who ravaged the Eastern Empire and extended
his dominions almost to the Ural Mountains, whilst later on,
crossing the Rhine, he attacked 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.'