King Arthur's Knights
lady, and when he had made proclamation, he bade her go and fetch the
falcon from its place, 'for,' said he, 'thou art the fairest of women,
and, if any deny it, by force will I defend the fame of thy beauty and
thy gentleness and nobleness.'
'Touch not the falcon!' cried Geraint, 'for here is a maiden who is
fairer, and more noble, and more gentle, and who has a better claim to
it than any.'
The stranger knight looked keenly at Geraint, and in a haughty voice
cried:
'I know not who thou art; but if thou art worthy to bear arms against
me, come forward.'
Geraint mounted his horse, and when he rode to the end of the meadow
laughter rippled and rang from the people watching him. For he bore an
old and rusty suit of armour that was of an ancient pattern, and the
joints of which gaped here and there. And none knew who he was, for his
shield was bare.
But when, thundering together, the two knights had each broken several
lances upon the shield of the other, the people eyed Sir Geraint with
some regard. When it seemed that the proud knight was the better
jouster, the earl and his people shouted, and Inewl and Enid had sad
looks.
'Pity it is,' said Enid, 'that our young knight hath but that old
gaping armour. For when they clash together, I feel the cruel point of
the proud knight's spear as if it were in my heart.'
'Fear not, my dear,' said the old dame, her mother. 'I feel that him
you have learned to love so soon is worthy a good maiden's love, and I
think that his good knighthood will overcome the other's pride.'
Then the old knight went to Geraint.
'O young chief!' he said, 'since all other lances break in thy strong
young hand, take you this. It was the lance I had on the day when I
received knighthood. It was made by the wizard smith who lives in the
Hill of Ithel, and it hath never failed me.'
Then Sir Geraint took the lance and thanked the old earl, and looked
back to where stood Enid. And his heart leaped to see how proud and
calm she stood, though her lips trembled as she smiled at him.
With that the strength seemed to course like a mountain stream through
all his body; and from the uttermost end of the meadow he pricked his
horse and rushed towards the proud knight. His blow was so mighty, and
the good lance so strong, that the shield of the proud knight was cleft
in twain, and he was thrust far beyond his horse and fell crashing to
the ground.
Then Geraint leaped from his horse and drew his sword, and the other
rising to his feet, they dashed together with the fury of wild bulls;
and so battled long and sore until the sweat and blood obscured their
sight. Once, when the proud knight had struck Sir Geraint a mighty
blow, the young knight saw, as he fought, how the maid Enid stood with
clasped hands and a pale face of terror, as if she feared for his life.
With the sight of the maiden's dread and the memory of the insult done
by the proud knight to Queen Gwenevere, Sir Geraint waxed both fiercer
and stronger; and gathering all his might in one blow, he beat with his
sword upon the crown of the knight's helm, and so fierce was it that
the headpiece broke and the sword-blade cut to the bone.
Straightway the knight fell down upon his knees and craved mercy.
'Why should I give mercy to one so full of pride and arrogance?' said
Sir Geraint. 'Thou, through thy servant, hast shamefully insulted the
queen of my lord, King Arthur.'
'Fair knight,' cried the other, 'I confess it, and I give up my
overbearing henceforth, and I crave for mercy. And if ye give me my
life, I will be your man and do your behest.'
'I will give thee mercy on one condition,' said Geraint, 'which is that
thou and thy lady and thy dwarf page go instantly and yield yourselves
into the hands of the queen, and claim atonement for your insult. And
whatsoever my lady the queen determines, that shall ye suffer. Tell me
who art thou?'
'I am Sir Edern of the Needlands,' replied the other. 'And who art
thou, sir knight,' he asked, 'for never have I met so valiant and good
a knight of his hands as thou art.'
'I am Geraint of Cornwall,' said the young knight.
'It giveth comfort to me to know that I am overcome by so noble a
knight,' said the other. Then he got upon his horse, all wounded as he
was, and with his lady and the page beside him took his way sadly to
Arthur's court.
Then the young earl rose and came to Sir Geraint, and asked him to stay
with him at his castle, for he loved all knights of great prowess and
would have them to talk to him.
'Nay, I will not,' said Sir Geraint coldly; 'I will go where I was last
night.'
'Have your will, sir knight,' replied the young earl courteously. 'But
I will ask Earl Inewl to permit me to furnish his manor as it should be
furnished for your honour and ease.'
Sir Geraint went back to the manor, conversing with Earl Inewl and his
wife, and with the maiden Enid.
When they reached the house, they found it full of the servants of the
earl, who were sweeping the hall and laying straw therein, with tables
and benches as were suitable, and soon a great fire leaped and crackled
on the stone in the centre. Then when Sir Geraint's wound had been
washed and salved and bound, and he had placed upon himself his walking
attire, the chamberlain of the young earl came to him and asked him to
go into the hall to eat. Sir Geraint asked where was Earl Inewl and his
wife and daughter.
'They are in the bower putting on robes which my lord the earl hath
sent, more befitting their station and your honour,' said the earl's
chamberlain.
Sir Geraint liked it not that the maiden should be dressed in robes
given by the man who had stripped her father of all his wealth, and he
said coldly:
'I would that the damsel do not array herself, except in the vest and
veil she hath worn till now. And those she should wear,' he said,
'until she come to the court of Arthur, where the queen shall clothe
her in garments fitting for her.'
It was so done, and the maiden sat in her poor robes while the other
knights and ladies in the young earl's company glittered and shone in
satin and jewels. But she cared not for this, because Sir Geraint had
bidden her.
When meat was done and mead was served, they all began to talk, and the
young earl invited Sir Geraint to visit him next day.
'It may not be,' said Sir Geraint; 'I will go to the court of my lord
Arthur with this maiden, for I will not rest while Earl Inewl and his
dame and daughter go in poverty and rags and trouble. And it is for
this I will see my lord, so that something may be done to give them
maintenance befitting their station.'
Then, because the young earl admired Sir Geraint for his knightly
strength, his nobility of manner and his prowess, there was sorrow in
his heart for the old Earl Inewl.
'Ah, Sir Geraint,' he said, 'I am sorry if your heart is sore because
of my kinsman's poor condition; and if you will give me your
friendship, I will abide by your counsel and do what you think I should
do of right.'
'I thank thee, fair sir,' said Geraint, 'and I will ask ye to restore
unto the Earl Inewl all the possessions that were rightly his, and what
he should have received up to this day.'
'That I will gladly do for your sake,' said the young earl.
Thus it was agreed; and such of the men in the hall who held lands
which rightly belonged to Earl Inewl came and knelt before him and did
homage to him. And next morning the lands and homesteads and all other
his possessions were returned to Earl Inewl, to the last seed-pearl.
Thereafter Sir Geraint prepared to return to the court of King Arthur,
and the Earl Inewl came to him with the maiden Enid, whose gentle face
went pale and red by turns. Putting her hand in the hand of Sir
Geraint, the old man said:
'Fair sir, your pursuit of that knight, Sir Edern, and your revenge for
his insult, I shall bless until the last day of my life. For you have
done more goodness and justice than I can ever repay you. But if this
my daughter, for whom ye fought yesterday, is pleasing unto you, then
take her for your wife, with the blessing of myself and my countess.'
Sir Geraint clasped the hand of the young maiden, and said:
'My lord, I thank thee, and if my lord King Arthur shall give this
maiden unto me for wife, then will I love her and cherish her all the
days of my life, if she in her heart would choose me for her husband.'
'My lord,' said the maiden, raising her frank eyes and flushing face to
him, 'I have never known a knight to whom I gave so great goodwill as I
find in my heart for thee. And if thy lord Arthur shall give me unto
thee, I will plight thee my love and loving service till I die.'
Thereupon they proceeded on their way to the court of King Arthur, and
what had seemed a long journey to Geraint when he had followed Sir
Edern, now seemed too short, for he and the maid Enid passed it in much
pleasant converse.
Towards evening they arrived at Caerleon-upon-Usk, and Queen Gwenevere
received Sir Geraint with great welcome, calling him 'her glorious
knight and champion,' and telling him that Sir Edern had yielded
himself into her hands to do such atonement as seemed fitting, when he
should have recovered from his wounds.
At the beauty of the maid Enid all the court marvelled; and the queen
hastened to clothe her in robes of satin, rich and rare, with gold upon
her hair and about her throat. And when she was so dressed, all were
glad that one of so sweet a dignity and rare a beauty had come among
them.
King Arthur gave her to Sir Geraint with many rich gifts, and Enid and
Geraint were married in the abbey church, and the court gave itself up
to feasting and sport, and acclaimed her one of the three most lovely
ladies in all the isle of Britain.
When a year had passed in great happiness, ambassadors came from King
Erbin of Cornwall, with a request to King Arthur that he should let Sir
Geraint go home to his father.
'For,' said the messengers, 'King Erbin waxes old and feeble, and the
more he ageth the more insolent and daring are the barons and lords on
his marches, trying to wrest parts of his lands to add to their own.
Therefore,' said they, 'the king begs you to let his son Sir Geraint
return home, so that, knowing the fame of the strength of his arm and
his prowess, the turbulent lords would desist, and if they would not,
Sir Geraint would hurl them from his boundaries.'
King Arthur, though very reluctant to let so great an ornament of his
court depart, let him go, and Geraint and Enid went with a great party
of the best knights of the Round Table, and rode to the Severn Shore,
and there took ship to the shores of Cornwall.
When they reached there, all the people came from their villages
welcoming Sir Geraint and his lovely bride, for the fame of his
prowess, and the way in which he had won his wife, had spread over all
the land. And King Erbin welcomed his son and was glad of his coming,
and the next day all the chief subjects, the lords and barons holding
land or offices, and the chief tenants of common degree, came into the
hall, and, kneeling before Sir Geraint, did honour to him and swore
fealty.
Then, with a great company of his chief warriors, Sir Geraint visited
all the bounds of his territory. Experienced guides went with him, and
old men learned in the marks of the boundaries, and priests, and they
renewed the mere-marks that were broken down, and replaced those which
had been wrongfully moved.
Thereafter men lived peacefully in the land, and on all the borders,
for under the shadow of the strong young chief no border lords dared to
invade the land, and no fierce baron used oppression.
Then, as had been his wont at the court of Arthur, Sir Geraint went to