le Grand Dormant: Frederick Barbarossa, who, tradition says, never died, but is still sleeping in a cave.
roture, i.e. his position as a peasant. Roture is derived from the Latin ruptura, the action of breaking the earth, and is the base of the common word roturier.
relève, used in its feudal sense of 'to hold of'; the castle was not feudally dependent on the city.
L. 214, i.e. the castle reflects the history of the ancient kings.
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.'
L. 291. i.e. the Emperor is the superior in rank.
dromons. See note on AYMERILLOT.