King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
inspiration. William Morris wrote _The Defence of Guenevere_, and a host
of lesser poets tried their hands on similar themes. Swinburne told the
story of _Tristram of Lyonesse_ and the _Tale of Balen_, and James
Russell Lowell composed his beautiful poem _The Vision of Sir Launfal_.
Matthew Arnold wrote _Tristram and Iseult_. In 1850 Richard Wagner, the
great German composer, produced his opera _Lohengrin_, and followed it
with _Tristan und Isolde_ and _Parsifal_. These tell the old stories in
somewhat new form, and follow the early French romances rather than
Malory.
But the true descendant of Chrétien de Troies and Malory was Alfred
Tennyson. The great work of this poet's life was his _Idylls of the
King_, one of the finest achievements of English literature. He owed his
inspiration chiefly to Malory. "The vision of Arthur as I have drawn
him," Tennyson said to his son, "had come upon me when, little more than
a boy, I first lighted upon Malory." He covered almost the entire field
of the legends. The _Idylls of the King_ are _The Coming of Arthur_,
_Geraint and Enid_, _Merlin and Vivien_, _Lancelot and Elaine_, _The
Holy Grail_, _Pelleas and Ettarre_, _Balin and Balan_, _The Last
Tournament_, _Guinevere_, and _The Passing of Arthur_.
Tennyson gives to the stories far more allegory, far more philosophy
than the early poets gave them. His age was interested in philosophy and
so, as was the case with each of the earlier poets, Tennyson handled the
legends after the fashion of his own times. In his pages we see the
characters as actual men and women, subtly drawn, concerned with right
and wrong far more than with mere knightly adventures. Arthur and
Lancelot and Guinevere hold the center of the stage, and it is the fate
of these three that provides the great moving motive of the poems.
To Tennyson we owe the most nearly perfect version of the story that
dates back to a dim and legendary England. What verse more beautiful
than his to tell of chivalry?
"Then, in the boyhood of the year,
Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere
Rode thro' the coverts of the deer,
With blissful treble ringing clear.
She seem'd a part of joyous Spring:
A gown of grass-green silk she wore,
Buckled with golden clasps before;
A light-green tuft of plumes she bore
Closed in a golden ring."
In beauty and dignity and human interest Tennyson gives us the great
world of Arthurian legend in its most perfect form.
Malory's _Morte Darthur_ was not Tennyson's only source for the stories
of his Idylls. The adventures of Geraint he took from the _Mabinogion_,
a collection of mediæval Welsh tales translated with great charm and
accuracy by Lady Charlotte Guest, and published in 1838. Also, though to
a very limited extent, he drew some of his incidents from the history of
Geoffrey of Monmouth and the other early writers of chronicles.
The great panorama of stories that we group together under the title of
_King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table_, when they are told in
prose, are usually taken from Malory's book, the _Morte Darthur_,
condensed in size, for Malory was frequently verbose, and related in
more modern English. In this volume we have used as a basis the version
prepared by Sir James Knowles, which is an abridgment of Malory's work
as it was printed by Caxton, with a few additions from Geoffrey of
Monmouth and other sources. To this we have added the story of Sir
Gawain and the Maid with the Narrow Sleeves, which comes originally from
the poem of _Perceval_ by Chrétien de Troies.
The stories seem naturally to group themselves into four divisions, The
Coming of Arthur and the Founding of the Round Table, The Adventures of
the Champions of the Round Table, Sir Galahad and the Quest of the Holy
Grail, and The Passing of Arthur. Into these come all the great
characters of the legends and all the surpassing adventures of the king
and his knights.
The story of how a half-barbarous British Chieftain became the greatest
king of mediæval chivalry is a romance in itself. To him poets and
chroniclers of all lands added one valorous knight after another, one
amazing adventure on top of another, until the result was the greatest
collection of legends that have gathered about any king in history. The
story of the origin and growth of these world-famous legends is told in
a most delightful book, _The Arthur of the English Poets_, by Howard
Maynadier, and those who wish to get the historical background of King
Arthur should turn to its pages.
Those who love brave and knightly deeds, those who love the gorgeous
trappings of mediæval romance, come to the story of Arthur and his Round
Table, of Lancelot and Perceval and Galahad and Gawain, of Guinevere and
Elaine, and of the Quest for the Holy Grail, and there shall be found
the glories that you seek. The king and his knights ride out from
Camelot. Here shall you join them on their great adventures!
RUPERT S. HOLLAND.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
THE COMING OF ARTHUR AND THE FOUNDING OF THE ROUND TABLE
I MERLIN FORETELLS THE BIRTH OF ARTHUR
II THE CROWNING OF ARTHUR AND THE SWORD EXCALIBUR
III ARTHUR DRIVES THE SAXONS FROM HIS REALM
IV THE KING'S MANY AND GREAT ADVENTURES
V SIR BALIN FIGHTS WITH HIS BROTHER, SIR BALAN
VI THE MARRIAGE OF ARTHUR AND GUINEVERE AND THE FOUNDING OF THE ROUND
TABLE
VII THE ADVENTURE OF ARTHUR AND SIR ACCOLON OF GAUL
VIII ARTHUR IS CROWNED EMPEROR AT ROME
IX SIR GAWAIN AND THE MAID WITH THE NARROW SLEEVES
THE CHAMPIONS OF THE ROUND TABLE
X THE ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT
XI THE ADVENTURES OF SIR BEAUMAINS OR SIR GARETH
XII THE ADVENTURES OF SIR TRISTRAM
SIR GALAHAD AND THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAIL
XIII THE KNIGHTS GO TO SEEK THE GRAIL
THE PASSING OF ARTHUR
XIV SIR LANCELOT AND THE FAIR ELAINE
XV THE WAR BETWEEN ARTHUR AND LANCELOT AND THE PASSING OF ARTHUR
KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
THE COMING OF ARTHUR AND THE FOUNDING OF THE ROUND TABLE
I
MERLIN FORETELLS THE BIRTH OF ARTHUR
King Vortigern the usurper sat upon his throne in London, when,
suddenly, upon a certain day, ran in a breathless messenger, and cried
aloud--
"Arise, Lord King, for the enemy is come; even Ambrosius and Uther, upon
whose throne thou sittest--and full twenty thousand with them--and they
have sworn by a great oath, Lord, to slay thee, ere this year be done;
and even now they march towards thee as the north wind of winter for
bitterness and haste."
At those words Vortigern's face grew white as ashes, and, rising in
confusion and disorder, he sent for all the best artificers and
craftsmen and mechanics, and commanded them vehemently to go and build
him straightway in the furthest west of his lands a great and strong
castle, where he might fly for refuge and escape the vengeance of his
master's sons--"and, moreover," cried he, "let the work be done within a
hundred days from now, or I will surely spare no life amongst you all."
Then all the host of craftsmen, fearing for their lives, found out a
proper site whereon to build the tower, and eagerly began to lay in the
foundations. But no sooner were the walls raised up above the ground
than all their work was overwhelmed and broken down by night invisibly,
no man perceiving how, or by whom, or what. And the same thing happening
again, and yet again, all the workmen, full of terror, sought out the
king, and threw themselves upon their faces before him, beseeching him
to interfere and help them or to deliver them from their dreadful work.
Filled with mixed rage and fear, the king called for the astrologers and
wizards, and took counsel with them what these things might be, and how
to overcome them. The wizards worked their spells and incantations, and
in the end declared that nothing but the blood of a youth born without
mortal father, smeared on the foundations of the castle, could avail to
make it stand. Messengers were therefore sent forthwith through all the
land to find, if it were possible, such a child. And, as some of them
went down a certain village street, they saw a band of lads fighting and
quarreling, and heard them shout at one--"Avaunt, thou imp!--avaunt! Son
of no mortal man! go, find thy father, and leave us in peace."
At that the messengers looked steadfastly on the lad, and asked who he
was. One said his name was Merlin; another, that his birth and parentage
were known by no man; a third, that the foul fiend alone was his father.
Hearing the things, the officers seized Merlin, and carried him before
the king by force.
But no sooner was he brought to him than he asked in a loud voice, for
what cause he was thus dragged there?
"My magicians," answered Vortigern, "told me to seek out a man that had
no human father, and to sprinkle my castle with his blood, that it may
stand."
"Order those magicians," said Merlin, "to come before me, and I will
convict them of a lie."
The king was astonished at his words, but commanded the magicians to
come and sit down before Merlin, who cried to them--
"Because ye know not what it is that hinders the foundation of the
castle, ye have advised my blood for a cement to it, as if that would
avail; but tell me now rather what there is below that ground, for
something there is surely underneath that will not suffer the tower to
stand?"
The wizards at these words began to fear, and made no answer. Then said
Merlin to the king--
"I pray, Lord, that workmen may be ordered to dig deep down into the
ground till they shall come to a great pool of water."
This then was done, and the pool discovered far beneath the surface of
the ground.
Then, turning again to the magicians, Merlin said, "Tell me now, false
sycophants, what there is underneath that pool?"--but they were silent.
Then said he to the king, "Command this pool to be drained, and at the
bottom shall be found two dragons, great and huge, which now are
sleeping, but which at night awake and fight and tear each other. At
their great struggle all the ground shakes and trembles, and so casts
down thy towers, which, therefore, never yet could find secure
foundations."
The king was amazed at these words, but commanded the pool to be
forthwith drained; and surely at the bottom of it did they presently
discover the two dragons, fast asleep, as Merlin had declared.
But Vortigern sat upon the brink of the pool till night to see what else
would happen.
Then those two dragons, one of which was white, the other red, rose up
and came near one another, and began a sore fight, and cast forth fire
with their breath. But the white dragon had the advantage, and chased
the other to the end of the lake. And he, for grief at his flight,
turned back upon his foe, and renewed the combat, and forced him to
retire in turn. But in the end the red dragon was worsted, and the white
dragon disappeared no man knew where.
When their battle was done, the king desired Merlin to tell him what it
meant. Whereat he, bursting into tears, cried out this prophecy, which
first foretold the coming of King Arthur.
"Woe to the red dragon, which figureth the British nation, for his
banishment cometh quickly; his lurking-holes shall be seized by the
white dragon--the Saxon whom thou, O king, hast called to the land. The
mountains shall be leveled as the valleys, and the rivers of the valleys
shall run blood; cities shall be burned, and churches laid in ruins;
till at length the oppressed shall turn for a season and prevail against
the strangers. For a Boar of Cornwall shall arise and rend them, and
trample their necks beneath his feet. The island shall be subject to his
power, and he shall take the forests of Gaul. The house of Romulus shall