2129. This is the 're Licurgo' of the Teseide, vi. 14; and the Lycurgus of the Thebaid, iv. 386, and of Homer, Il. vi. 130. But the description of him is partly taken from that of another warrior, Tes. vi. 21, 22. It is worth notice that, in Lydgate's Story of Thebes, pt. iii., king Ligurgus or Licurgus (the name is spelt both ways) is introduced, and Lydgate has the following remark concerning him:-- 'And the kingdom, but-if bokes lye, Of Ligurgus, called was Trace; And, as I rede _in another place_, He was the same mighty champion To Athenes that cam with Palamon Ayenst his brother (!) that called was Arcite, Y-led in his chare with foure boles whyte, Upon his bed a wreth of gold ful fyn.' The term _brother_ must refer to l. 1147 above. See further, as to Lycurgus, in the note to Leg. Good Women, 2423, in vol. iii. p. 344. 2134. '_kempe heres_, shaggy, rough hairs. Tyrwhitt and subsequent editors have taken for granted that _kempe_ = _kemped_, combed (an impossible equation); but _kempe_ is rather the reverse of this, and instead of smoothly combed, means bristly, rough, or shaggy. In an Early English poem it is said of Nebuchadnezzar that "Hol_gh_e (hollow) were his y_gh_en anunder (under) _campe hores_." Early Eng. Alliterative Poems, p. 85, l. 1695. _Campe hores_ = shaggy hairs (about the eyebrows), and corresponds exactly in form and meaning to _kempe heres_,'--M. See Glossary. 2141. I. e. the nails of the bear were yellow. In Cutts, Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, p. 345, the bad guess is hazarded that these 'nails' were metal studs. But Chaucer was doubtless thinking of the tiger's skin described in the Thebaid, vi. 722:-- 'Tunc genitus Talao uictori tigrin inanem Ire iubet, fuluo quae circumfusa nitebat Margine, et extremes auro mansueuerat _ungues_.' [85] Lewis translates the last line by:--'The sharpness of the claws was dulled with gold.' 2142. _for-old_, very old. See next note. 2144. _for-blak_ is generally explained as _for blackness_; it means _very black_. Cf. _fordrye_, very dry, in F. 409. 2148. _alaunts_, mastiffs or wolf-hounds. Florio has: '_Alano_, a mastiue dog.' Cotgrave: '_Allan_, a kind of big, strong, thickheaded, and short-snowted dog; the brood where-of came first out of Albania (old Epirus).' Pineda's Span. Dict. gives: '_Alano_, a mastiff dog, particularly a bull dog; also, an _Alan_, one of that nation.' This refers to the tribe of _Alani_, a nation of warlike horsemen, first found in Albania. They afterwards became allies, first of the Huns, and afterwards of the Visi-Goths. It is thus highly probable that _Alaunt_ (in which the _t_ is obviously a later addition) signifies 'an Alanian dog,' which agrees with Cotgrave's explanation. Smith's Classical Dict. derives _Alanus_, said to mean 'mountaineer,' from a Sarmatian word _ala_.