These taunts enraged the giant. He was determined to pay him back in full, so gripped by fury that the very ground shook and quaked; and clutching his club, which was far from light, he launched himself at Perceval, aiming to kill him with a massive blow unless God saved him. He had to dodge aside; the giant tried to bowl him over, wielding his weapon with amazing speed, dealing four flailing blows in quick succession: how he hated Perceval! But he couldn’t touch him: Perceval showed his agility as he ducked and dodged and covered himself; the giant kept battering furiously, raging, blazing with wrath and loathing. Again he gripped his mighty club and, with all his strength behind it, he aimed a ferocious blow at Perceval’s head; but alert as ever, he dodged and ducked; down swept the blow with dreadful might, but it missed Perceval and landed on a stone that lay between them, smashing off a chunk of club – three and a half feet of it! The giant nearly went wild with grief when he saw his club in two; and Perceval attacked him with his drawn sword, hammering and harassing him and landing a blow on his cheek that cut away more than a hand of flesh beside the ear.

‘You’ve gone bright red!’ he said to the devilish creature.

‘I’ll make you pay!’ the giant cried. ‘You wretched scum!’

He rushed at him, intending to grab him by the arms; but he wasn’t quick enough: Perceval went at him with his sword, bent on killing him. The giant flailed with the stump of his club, faster than the wind, but none of the blows properly landed, and he was losing heart and spirit as he failed to take control. Then Perceval dashed and recovered his lance, lying on the ground; he was frustrated that the giant had lasted so long, and that he’d had to endure so much.

Gerbert's Continuation of Perceval