E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Male’ger [wretchedly thin].
Captain of the rabble rout which attack the castle of Temperance. He was “thin as a rake,” and cold as a serpent. Prince Arthur attacks him and flings him to the ground, but Maleger springs up with renewed vigour. Arthur now stabs him through and through, but it is like stabbing a shadow; he then takes him in his arms and squeezes him as in a vice, but it is like squeezing a piece of sponge; he then remembers that every time the carl touches the earth his strength is renewed, so he squeezes all his breath out, and tosses the body into a lake. (See ANTÆOS.) (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book ii. 11.)
