One finds in this last verse the same inspiration that is found in the
celebrated passage of the Iliad, verses 2 and 5: "Anger which caused ten
thousand Achaeans to send to Hades numerous souls of heroes, and to make
food of them for the dogs and birds of prey." It is thus that the Arab poet
expresses his ante-Islamic "Antarah":

"My pitiless steel pierced all the vestments,
The general has no safety from my blade,
I have left him as food for savage beasts
Which tear him, crunching his bones,
His handsome hands and brave arms."[1]

[1] Mo'allagah, v. 49, 50.

The Scandinavian Skalds have had the same savage accents, and one can
remember a strophe from the song of the death of Raynor Lodbrog:

"I was yet young when in the Orient we gave the wolves a bloody
repast and a pasture to the birds. When our rude swords rang on the
helmet, then they saw the sea rise and the vultures wade in
blood."[2]

[2] Marmier, Lettres sur l'Islemde.

Robbery and pillage under armed bands, the ambuscade even, are celebrated
among the Touaregs with as great pleasure as a brilliant engagement:

"Matella! May thy father die!
Thou art possessed by a demon,
To believe that the Touaregs are not men.