Alderic thus decided: he would take no horse down to the river's edge,
he would not row along it in a boat, and he would go alone and by way
of the Forest Unpassable.

How pass, you may say, the unpassable? This was his plan: there was a
dragon he knew of who if peasants' prayers are heeded deserved to die,
not alone because of the number of maidens he cruelly slew, but
because he was bad for the crops; he ravaged the very land and was the
bane of a dukedom.

Now Alderic determined to go up against him. So he took horse and
spear and pricked till he met the dragon, and the dragon came out
against him breathing bitter smoke. And to him Alderic shouted, "Hath
foul dragon ever slain true knight?" And well the dragon knew that
this had never been, and he hung his head and was silent, for he was
glutted with blood. "Then," said the knight, "if thou would'st ever
taste maiden's blood again thou shalt be my trusty steed, and if not,
by this spear there shall befall thee all that the troubadours tell of
the dooms of thy breed."

And the dragon did not open his ravening mouth, nor rush upon the
knight, breathing out fire; for well he knew the fate of those that
did these things, but he consented to the terms imposed, and swore to
the knight to become his trusty steed.

It was on a saddle upon this dragon's back that Alderic afterwards
sailed above the unpassable forest, even above the tops of those
measureless trees, children of wonder. But first he pondered that
subtle plan of his which was more profound than merely to avoid all