"...Up spring spears twenty feet in height
Out go the swords as the silver bright
The helms they set to hewing and to shred
Out bursts the blood with stern streams red,
With mighty maces the bones they cause to burst
He, through the thickest of the throng, can thrust
There, the strong steed stumble, and down goes all.
He rolls underfoot as does a ball."
-- Chaucer, The Knights Tale
