‘I haven’t yet avenged the outrage this vassal permitted when his dwarf struck me in the woods!’ His wrath renewed itself within him; he called out angrily to the knight. ‘Vassal,’ he cried, ‘I call upon you to begin our battle anew. We have rested too long; let us resume our combat!’

The other replied: ‘I have no objection.’

Then they went at each other anew. Both of them knew about fighting: at that first attack, if Erec had not covered himself, the knight would have wounded him. The knight struck him such a blow above the shield, where he was unprotected, that he sliced off a piece of his helmet, the sword cutting down to the white coif, splitting the shield down to the boss, and taking off more than a hand’s breadth from the side of his hauberk. Erec might have been badly injured: the cold steel cut right to the flesh of his thigh. But God protected him that time: if the blade had not been deflected outward, it would have sliced right through his body. Erec was not at all dismayed; he paid in full whatever the other lent him. Very boldly he returned the assault, striking him across the shoulder. Erec gave him such an attack that his shield could not resist and his hauberk was worthless as the sword went right to the bone; it made the crimson blood stream downwards all the way to his belt.

Both knights were very fierce and were so evenly matched that one could not gain a foot of ground over the other. Their hauberks were badly broken and their shields were so hacked up that they had nothing left whole – it is no lie – with which to cover themselves: they were striking one another openly. Each was losing a lot of blood and both were growing very weak.

The other knight struck Erec, and Erec struck him; he gave him such a blow, unimpeded, on his helmet, that he quite stunned him. He struck him freely again and again: he gave him three blows in quick succession, broke the helmet completely apart and sliced the coif beneath. The sword went all the way to his skull; it sliced through one of the bones in his head, but did not touch his brain. He slumped and staggered; while he was staggering Erec shoved him and he fell on to his right side.

Erec pulled him by the helmet, forcibly tore it from his head and untied his ventail; he removed the armour from his face and head. When he remembered the outrage that his dwarf had committed in the wood, Erec would have cut off his head had the other not cried out for mercy. ‘Ah! Vassal,’ he said, ‘you have vanquished me. Mercy! Do not kill me! Since you have defeated me and taken me prisoner, you would gain no glory or esteem if you went on to kill me; you would commit a very unknightly act. Take my sword; I surrender it to you.’

But Erec did not take it, and said: ‘All right, I won’t kill you.’

‘Ah, noble knight, many thanks! For what injury or what wrong have you borne me this deadly hatred? I have never seen you before, to my knowledge, nor was I ever responsible for wronging you, nor did I cause you shame or outrage.’

Erec replied: ‘Yes, you did.’

‘Ah, sir, then do tell me! I have never seen you before, to my knowledge, and if I have wronged you, I shall place myself at your mercy.’

Then Erec said: ‘Vassal, it was I who was in the forest yesterday with Queen Guinevere, when you allowed your ignoble dwarf to strike my lady’s maiden. It is a vile thing to strike a woman! And then he struck me afterwards. You held me in very low esteem and you behaved far too haughtily when you allowed such an outrage and were not displeased to see such a dwarfish freak strike the maiden and me. Because of this injury I must hate you, for you committed too great an offence. You must render yourself my prisoner, and immediately without delay go directly to my lady, for you will certainly find her at Cardigan, if you go there. You will easily reach there before nightfall; it is less than seven leagues, I believe. Into her hands you will deliver yourself and your maiden and your dwarf, to do her bidding. And tell her that I send this message: that I shall joyfully arrive tomorrow, bringing along a maiden, so beautiful and so wise and so worthy that her equal is nowhere to be found; you can tell her so in truth. And now I want to know your name.’

Then the other was forced to reveal it: ‘Sir, my name is Yder, son of Nut. This morning I did not believe that a single man could better me by his knighthood; now I have found and encountered a better man than I. You are a very valiant knight. Here I solemnly promise you that straight away, without further delay, I shall deliver myself to the queen.