[279.] and Nereus crownes with cups, and Nereus drinks bumpers in his honor. Nereus was a sea-god, son of Ocean and Earth.
[282.] from ground, from the land.
[297.] Sans loy symbolizes the pagan lawlessness in Ireland. There is also a wider reference to the struggles between the Turks and the allied Christian powers, which had been going on since the siege of Vienna in 1529.
[309.] vainly crossed shield, Archimago's false cross lacked the protecting power of St. George's charmed true cross.
[321.] Lethe lake, a lake or river of Hades, whose water brought oblivion or forgetfulness to all who drank of it.
[322.] Refers to the ancient custom of sacrificing an enemy on the funeral altar to appease the shade of the dead.
[323.] The blacke infernall Furies, the Erinyes, or goddesses of vengeance, who dwelt in Erebus. They were robed in black, bloody garments befitting their gloomy character.
[325.] In romance it was customary for the victor to unlace the helmet of the knight whom he had unhorsed before slaying him. Friends and relatives were sometimes discovered by this precaution.
[342.] Ne ever wont in field, etc., was never accustomed to fight in the battle-field or in the lists of the tournament.
[xliii.] Contrast Sansloy's rude treatment of Una with the chivalrous respect and courtesy always shown by a true knight to woman.