The Knight of the Dragon blazed with excitement when he saw Perceval, so fearless, charging with such speed and fury; and as they closed they levelled their lances, aiming to strike with all their might with the sharp steel heads. But the foul and ghastly fire that burst from the dragon’s maw burned the whole of Perceval’s lance – even the head! – for it was the fire of Hell, which consumes whatever it touches. The knight with the dragon on his grim, dark shield met Perceval with such a ferocious blow that he smashed his lance into ten pieces; but it didn’t do a farthing’s worth of damage to his shield! The horses were running straight and swift, at such unstoppable speed that they collided head to head. Now hear what great good fortune God bestowed on Perceval: as the horses crashed head on, the fire, so the book informs me, seared and scorched their heads and necks – and they’d both been handsome beasts; and the knights, too, met with such force that they almost crashed head to head and their shields, for certain, smashed together. Both the watching host and the people in the castle were terrified, and when they saw the fire erupt they were sure Perceval was burnt along with his horse. But he wasn’t – just listen to this wonder: the wood within the shield’s red cross, which came from the true cross on which God was crucified,
protected him from the scorching fire and he suffered no harm at all; and when the cross clashed with the demon it created mighty chaos: the cross’s power made the demon leap from the dragon – it had no strength against the cross and dared abide no longer! It flew away in the shape of a black, black crow, accompanied by such claps and bolts of thunder that Perceval and the Knight of the Dragon were both knocked senseless, and stayed so for a long while.

Gerbert's Continuation of Perceval