I’ve been struggling to figure out what exactly is going on in these lines. I have looked at various translations but I’m still a bit unclear so some assistance would be greatly appreciated! Here’s the section + my translation/questions.
Emicat hic impune putans et corpore toto
alte sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem (1)
et ferit; exclamant Troes trepidique Latini,
arrectaeque amborum acies. at perfidus ensis
frangitur in medioque ardentem deserit ictu,
ni fuga subsidio subeat. (2)
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This seems to translate as “Turnus rose with his whole body, having been lifted high onto his sword”, but that doesn’t make sense - is there an alternative way to interpret “in ensem” (and “alte”)? I can see all the separate components of this part, I just can’t find a way to make it coherent when it’s put together.
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“but the treacherous sword shattered in the middle of the blow and his passion would have failed him, if flight had not come to help”
I assumed that “ni” is a conditional clause (or something like that) but since “deserit” is indicative I can’t quite figure out what’s going on - I thought it would have to be subjunctive? I also can’t figure out how “ictu” fits into the phrase - is it “in the middle of the blow”, or could it be “was broken in the middle by the blow”? I’m confused by all parts of this bit, to be honest - I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure it out (and looked at various notes/translations) but I just can’t figure it out!