Axe

203  Yet he wore no helmet and no hauberk either,
204  no armoured apparel or plate was apparent,
205  and he swung no sword nor sported any shield,
206  but held in one hand a sprig of holly—
207  of all the evergreens the greenest ever—
208  and in the other hand held the mother of all axes,
209  a cruel piece of kit I kid you not:
210  the head was an ell in length at least
211  and forged in green steel with a gilt finish;
212  the skull-busting blade was so stropped and buffed
213  it could shear a man's scalp and shave him to boot.
214  The handle which fitted that fiend's great fist
215  was inlaid with iron, end to end,
216  with green pigment picking out impressive designs.
217  From stock to neck, where it stopped with a knot,
218  a lace was looped the length of the haft,
219  trimmed with tassels and tails of string
220  fastened firmly in place by forest-green buttons.