Help for two points

[lorenya]

Hi.
I need to understand the following first two lines of the "Ode". It is about death of King Arthur:
"Yet in vain a paynim foe
Armed with fate the mighty blow:
For when he fell, the Elfin queen,
All in secret and unseen,
O'er the fainting hero threw
Her mantle of ambrosial blue."


Can someone explain it in prose? Do you think it means that a pagan foe tries to kill Arthur who is armed with fate and who is a mighty man?


The other sentence is:
"... the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, mount over the many kings of Britain."


Couldn't understand what he means by "mount over" here.




Thanks in advance for your help.

[J&K Tutoring]

Yet in vain a paynim foe
Armed with fate the mighty blow:

Means that, even though the opposing fighter knocked him down and could have killed him, Arthur was saved because he was hidden by the Elfin Queen.

"... the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, mount over the many kings of Britain."

Mount over means to 'rise above'. He was to rule over the other kings.

[5jj]

"... the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, mount over the many kings of Britain."

Mount over means to 'rise above'. He was to rule over the other kings.

Shouldn't that be 'paramount over' ?

[J&K Tutoring]

Isn't 'paramount over' redundant?

[5jj]

Isn't 'paramount over' redundant?

Perhaps, though I don't think so. It seems to me to make more sense than 'mount over'. It is also the word in the original:

Arthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose country was South Wales, the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of Britain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year 500, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later.

IV. Arthur. King Arthur and His Knights. Vol. III: The Age of Chivalry. Bulfinch, Thomas. 1913. Age of Fable

[lorenya]

I discovered that some words are incomplete in the copy I use. Thank you for your help.