380  ERNEST DE FRIDBERG 
 
 
form and returned to him. After a time, 
Erisichthon was reduced to feed upon 
himself.-Ovid, Metaph, viii. 2 (740 to 
end). 
   Drayton says when the .Wyre saw her 
 goodly oak trees sold for firewood, she be- 
 thought her of Erisichthon's end, who, 
 "when nor sea, nor land, sufficient were," 
 ate his own flesh.-Polyolbion, vii. 
 So Erisiethon, once fired (as men say), 
   With hungry rage, fed never, ever feeding; 
 Ten thousand dishes severed every day, 
   Yet in ten thousand thousand dishes needing. 
 In vain his daughter hundred shapes assumed; 
 A whole camp's meat he in his gorge in- 
    humed; 
 And all consumed, his hunger yet was uncon- 
    sumed. 
  Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island (1633). 
 
  Erland, father of Norna "of the Fit- 
ful Head."--Sir  W. Scott, The Pirate 
(time, William III.). 
 
  Erl-King, a spirit of mischief, which 
haunts the Black Forest of Thuringia. 
  Goethe has a ballad called the Erl- 
khnig, and Herder has translated the Dan- 
ish ballad of Sir Olaf and the Erl-King's 
Daughter. 
  In Goethe's ballad, a father, riding home 
through the night and storm with a .child 
in his arms is pursued by the Erl-king, 
who entices the child with promises of 
fairy-gifts, and finally kills it. 
 
  Er.mangarde of Baldringham (The 
Lady), aunt of the Lady Eveline Beren- 
ger "the betrothed."--Sir W. Scott, The 
Betrothed (time, Henry II.). 
 
  Er'meline (Dame), the wife of Reynard, 
in the beast-epic called Beynard the Fox 
(1498). 
 
  Ermin'ia, the heroine of Jerusalem De- 
 
 
livered. She fell in love with Tancred, 
and when the Christian army beseiged 
Jerusalem, arrayed herself in Clorinda's 
armor to go to him. After certain ad- 
ventures, she found him wounded, and 
nursed him tenderly; but the poet has 
not told us what was the ultimate lot of 
this fair Syrian.-Tasso, Jerusalem De- 
livered (1575). 
 
   Erna'ni, the robber-captain, duke of 
 Segor'bia and Cardo'na, lord of Ar6gon, 
 and count of Ernani. He is in love with 
 Elvi'ra, the betrothed of Don Ruy Gomez 
 de Silva, an old Spanish grandee, whom 
 she detests. Charles V. falls in love with 
 her, and Ruy Gomez joins Ernani in a 
 league against their common rival. Dur- 
 ing this league Ernani gives Ruy Gomez 
 a horn, saying, "Sound but this horn, 
 and at that moment Ernani will cease 
 to live." Just as he is about to espouse 
 Elvira, the horn is sounded, and Ernani 
 stabs himselfM.-Verdi, Ernani (an opera, 
 1841). 
 
 Ernest (Duke), son-in-law of Kaiser 
 Konrad II. He murders his feudal lord, 
 and goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy 
 Land to expiate his crime. The poem 
 so called is a mixture of Homeric legends, 
 Oriental myths, and pilgrims' tales. We 
 have pygmies and cyclopses, genii and 
 enchanters, fairies and dwarfs, monks and 
 devotees. After a world of hair-breadth 
 escapes, the duke reaches the Holy Sepul- 
 chre, pays his vows, returns to Germany, 
 and is pardoned.-Henry Von Veldig 
 (minnesinger), Duke Ernest (twelfth cen- 
 tury). 
 Ernest de Fridberg, "the prisoner 
 of the State." He was imprisoned in the 
 dungeon of the Giant's Mount fortress 
for fifteen years on a false charge of 
 
 
ERISICHTHON