Then the said Merlin thanked the King for the beautiful offer he made to him, and he, who knew all things, knowing the time past, by his arts, and the time to come, by the good will of God, asked and obtained leave from the good King Arthur and was carried away by his good will to the highest mountain in the East; and with him he took a bag, which was full of the blood of Lancelot du Lac, which he had collected from his wounds after he had tourneyed or fought against any knight. Moreover he carried the cut nails of the digits of the beautiful Queen Guinevere, wife of the noble King Arthur, which weighed about twelve or thirteen pounds. Moreover he carried certain secret relics: know that it was the foam of the fountain in which Genius comes to spread the sweet brew of creation, all spermatized with transfixing sighs; and when the said Merlin saw himself on the top of this mountain, he made a steel anvil as big as the tower of Montlehéry and a suitable number of hammers for this, up to three. Which, by these arts, he caused them to strike so impetuously on the said anvil that it seemed as if it were lightning which descended from the sky.

The Tale of Gargantua and King Arthur, p. 5-6