Le Morte Darthur
hemp, and therewith the king was angry. Sir, wit ye well, said she,
that I have none so high a thing which were worthy to sustain so high a
sword, and a maid shall bring other knights thereto, but I wot not when
it shall be, nor what time. And there she let make a covering to the
ship, of cloth of silk that should never rot for no manner of weather.
Yet went that lady, and made a carpenter to come to the tree which Abel
was slain under. Now, said she, carve me out of this tree as much wood
as will make me a spindle. Ah, madam, said he, this is the tree the
which our first mother planted. Do it, said she, or else I shall
destroy thee. Anon as he began to work there came out drops of blood,
and then would he have left, but she would not suffer him, and so he
took away as much wood as might make a spindle, and so she made him to
take as much of the green tree, and of the white tree. And when these
three spindles were shapen, she made them to be fastened upon the
ceiling of the bed. When Solomon saw this, he said to his wife, Ye have
done marvellously, for though all the world were here right now, they
could not devise wherefore all this was made, but our Lord himself, and
thou that hast done it wotest not what it shall betoken. Now let it be,
said she, for ye shall hear tidings sooner than ye ween.
Now shall ye hear a wonderful tale of king Solomon and his wife.
CHAP. VII.
_A wonderful tale of king Solomon and his wife._
That night lay Solomon before the ship with little fellowship. And when
he was on sleep, him thought there came from heaven a great company of
angels, and alight into the ship, and took water which was brought by
an angel in a vessel of silver, and sprinkled all the ship. And after
he came to the sword and drew letters on the hilt. And after went to
the ship’s board, and wrote there other letters, which said: Thou man
that wilt enter within me, beware that thou be full within the faith,
for I ne am but faith and belief. When Solomon espied these letters he
was abashed, so that he durst not enter, and so drew him aback, and the
ship was anon shoven in the sea, and he went so fast that he lost sight
of him within a little while. And then a little voice said, Solomon,
the last knight of thy lineage shall rest in this bed. Then went
Solomon and awaked his wife, and told her of the adventures of the ship.
Now saith the history, that a great while the three fellows beheld the
bed and the three spindles. Then they were at certain that they were of
natural colours, without painting. Then they lift up a cloth which was
above the ground, and there they found a rich purse by seeming. And
Percivale took it, and found therein a writ, and so he read it, and
devised the manner of the spindles, and of the ship, whence it came,
and by whom it was made. Now, said Galahad, where shall we find the
gentlewoman that shall make new girdles to the sword. Fair sir, said
Percivale’s sister, dismay you not, for by the leave of God I shall let
make a girdle to the sword, such one as shall belong thereto. And then
she opened a box, and took out girdles which were seemly wrought with
golden threads, and upon that were set full precious stones, and a rich
buckle of gold. Lo lords, said she, here is a girdle that ought to be
set about the sword. And wit ye well the greatest part of this girdle
was made of my hair, which I loved well while that I was a woman of the
world. But as soon as I wist that this adventure was ordained me, I
clipped off my hair and made this girdle in the name of God. Ye be well
found, said Sir Bors, for certes you have put us out of great pain,
wherein we should have entered ne had your tidings been. Then went the
gentlewoman and set it on the girdle of the sword. Now, said the
fellowship, what is the name of the sword, and what shall we call it?
Truly, said she, the name of the sword is, the sword with the strange
girdles, and the sheath, mover of blood; for no man that hath blood in
him shall never see the one part of the sheath which was made of the
tree of life. Then they said to Galahad, In the name of Jesu Christ,
and pray you that ye gird you with this sword, which hath been desired
so much in the realm of Logris. Now let me begin, said Galahad, to
gripe this sword for to give you courage: but wit ye well it belongeth
no more to me then it doth to you. And then he griped about it with his
fingers a great deal. And then she girt him about the middle with the
sword:—Now reck I not though I die, for now I hold me one of the
blessed maidens of the world, which hath made the worthiest knight of
the world. Damsel, said Galahad, ye have done so much that I shall be
your knight all the days of my life. Then they went from that ship, and
went to the other. And anon the wind drove them into the sea a great
pace, but they had no victual: but it befell that they came on the morn
to a castle that men call Carteloise, that was in the marches of
Scotland. And when they had passed the port, the gentlewoman said,
Lords, here be men arriven that, and they wist that ye were of king
Arthur’s court, ye should be assailed anon. Damsel, said Galahad, he
that cast us out of the rock shall deliver us from them.
CHAP. VIII.
_How Galahad and his fellows came to a castle, and how they were fought
withal, and how they slew their adversaries, and other matters._
So it befell, as they spake thus there came a squire by them, and asked
what they were. And they said they were of king Arthur’s house. Is that
sooth? said he. Now by my head, said he, ye be ill arrayed; and then
turned he again unto the cliff fortress. And within a while they heard
a horn blow. Then a gentlewoman came to them, and asked them of whence
they were, and they told her. Fair lords, said she, for God’s love turn
again if ye may, for ye be come unto your death. Nay, they said, we
will not turn again, for He shall help us in whose service we be
entered in. Then as they stood talking, there came knights well armed,
and bad them yield them, or else to die. That yielding, said they,
shall be noyous to you; and therewith they let their horses run, and
Sir Percivale smote the foremost to the earth, and took his horse and
mounted thereupon, and the same did Galahad. Also Sir Bors served
another so. For they had no horses in that country, for they left their
horses when they took their ship in other countries. And so when they
were horsed then began they to set upon them. And they of the castle
fled into the strong fortress, and the three knights after them, into
the castle, and so alight on foot, and with their swords slew them
down, and gat into the hall. Then when they beheld the great multitude
of people they had slain, they held themselves great sinners. Certes,
said Bors, I ween and God had loved them that we should not have had
power to have slain them thus but they have done so much against our
Lord that he will not suffer them to reign no longer. Say ye not so,
said Galahad, for if they misdid against God the vengeance is not ours,
but to Him which hath power thereof. So came there out of a chamber a
good man which was a priest, and bear God’s body in a cup. And when he
saw them which lay dead in the hall, he was all abashed. And Galahad
did off his helm and kneeled down, and so did his two fellows. Sir,
said they, have ye no dread of us, for we be of king Arthur’s court.
Then asked the good man how they were slain so suddenly; and they told
it him. Truly, said the good man, and ye might live as long as the
world might endure, never might ye have done so great an alms-deed as
this. Sir, said Galahad, I repent me much, inasmuch as they were
christened. Nay, repent you not, said he, for they were not christened,
and I shall tell you how that I wot of this castle. Here was lord earl
Hernox not but one year, and he had three sons good knights of arms,
and a daughter the fairest gentlewoman that men knew. So those three
knights loved their sister so sore that they burnt in love, and so they
dishonoured her, maugre her head. And for she cried to her father, they
slew her, and took their father and put him in prison, and wounded him
nigh to the death, but a cousin of hers rescued him. And then did they
great untruth: they slew clerks and priests, and made beat down
chapels, that our Lord’s service might not be served nor said; and this
same day their father sent to me for to be confessed and houseled, but
such shame had never man as I had this day with the three brethren: but
the earl bad me suffer, for he said they should not long endure, for
three servants of our Lord should destroy them: and now it is brought
to an end. And by this ye may wit that our Lord is not displeased with
your deeds. Certes, said Galahad, and it had not pleased our Lord,
never should we have slain so many men in so little a while. And then
they brought the earl Hernox out of prison into the midst of the hall,
that knew Galahad anon, and yet he saw him never afore but by
revelation of our Lord.
CHAP. IX.
_How the three knights, with Percivale’s sister, came into the waste
forest, and of an hart and four lions and other things._
Then began he to weep right tenderly, and said, Long have I abiden your
coming, but for God’s love hold me in your arms, that my soul may
depart out of my body in so good a man’s arms as ye be. Gladly, said
Galahad. And then one said on high that all heard, Galahad, well hast
thou avenged me on God’s enemies. Now behoveth thee to go to the maimed
king as soon as thou mayest, for he shall receive by thee health which
he hath abiden so long. And therewith the soul departed from the body.
And Galahad made him to be buried as he ought to be.
Right so departed the three knights, and Percivale’s sister with them.
And so they came into a waste forest, and there they saw afore them a
white hart, which four lions led. Then they took them to assent for to
follow after, for to know whither they repaired; and so they rode
after, a great pace, till that they came to a valley, and thereby was
an hermitage where a good man dwelled; and the hart and the lions
entered also. So when they saw all this, they turned to the chapel, and
saw the good man in a religious weed, and in the armour of our Lord,
for he would sing mass of the Holy Ghost, and so they entered in and
heard mass. And at the secrets of the mass, they three saw the hart
become a man, the which marvelled them, and set him upon the altar in a
rich siege, and saw the four lions were changed, the one to the form of
a man, the other to the form of a lion, and the third to an eagle, and
the fourth was changed unto an ox. Then took they their siege where the
hart sat, and went out through a glass window, and there was nothing
perished nor broken, and they heard a voice say, In such a manner
entered the son of God in the womb of a maid, Mary. And when they heard
these words, they fell down to the earth, and were astonied, and
therewith was a great clearness. And when they were come to themselves
again, they went to the good man, and prayed him that he would say them
truth. What thing have ye seen? said he: and they told him all that
they had seen. Ah, lords, said he, ye be welcome, now wot I well ye be
the good knights the which shall bring the Sancgreal to an end; for ye
be they unto whom our Lord shall shew great secrets. And well ought our
Lord be signified to an hart; for the hart when he is old he waxeth
young again in his white skin: right so cometh again our Lord from
death to life, for he lost earthly flesh, that was the deadly flesh
which he had taken in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary; and for that
cause appeared our Lord as a while hart without spot. And the four that