The Story of King Arthur and his Knights
Upon a certain day King Arthur sat in the Royal Hall of Camelot with the
Queen and all of his Court and all of her Court. And there was great joy
and mirth at that place.
[Sidenote: _A messenger cometh to the King at Camelot._]
Whiles they sat there, there suddenly came an armed knight into the
Hall, and his armor was all covered with blood and dust, and he had a
great many wounds upon his body. Then all they who were at that place
were astonished and affrighted at the aspect of that knight, for his
appearance boded no good news to King Arthur. The knight-messenger came
to where the King was, and he was nearly fainting with weakness and with
the many wounds he had received, and he brought news unto those who were
there present that five kings, enemies to King Arthur, had suddenly come
into that land and that they were burning and harrying the country upon
every side.
And the knight-messenger said that these five kings were the King of
Denmark, the King of Ireland, the King of Soleyse, the King of the Vale,
and the King of Longtinaise. These had brought with them a great host
and were laying waste the land all around about, so that all the realm
was in sore travail and sorrow because of their devastations.
Upon this news, King Arthur smote his palms together with great
vehemence and cried out, “Alas! who would be a king! Will the time
never come when these wars and disturbances shall cease and we shall
have entire peace in this land!” Therewith he arose in great agitation
and went out from that place, and all who were there were in sore
trouble.
So King Arthur immediately sent messengers to two friendly kings who
were nearest to him--to wit, to King Pellinore and to King Uriens of
Gore--and he bade them to come to his aid without any loss of time.
Meantime he himself gathered together a large army with intent to go
forth to meet his enemies forthwith.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur asketh aid of King Uriens and of King
Pellinore._]
So he went forth and upon the third day he came with his army unto the
forest of Tintagalon and there he stayed with intent to rest for a
little until King Pellinore and King Uriens should have joined him.
But the five kings, his enemies, had news that King Arthur was at that
place, and thereupon they made a forced march through North Wales with
intent to strike him ere those other two kings could come to his aid. So
they came by night to where King Arthur was, and they fell upon him so
unexpectedly that there was great danger of his army being put to rout
before that assault.
But King Arthur drew his army together by his own courage and
large-heartedness, and so they defended themselves with a great spirit
until King Pellinore appeared with his army and joined in that battle.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur is victorious._]
So in the end King Arthur won a great victory over his enemies; for they
were put to rout and scattered in every direction. Likewise by means of
that war, and because of the submissions of these five kings, King
Arthur recovered all that realm that had once been his father’s, and
more besides.
[Sidenote: _Eight knights of the Round Table are slain in battle._]
Now in that war eight of the knights of the Round Table lost their
lives, and King Arthur mourned their loss with great dolor; for these
were the first knights of the Round Table who had lost their lives in
doing battle in his defence.
Whilst King Arthur was grieving very sorely for these eight knights,
Merlin came unto him, and said, “Be not downcast, lord, for lo! thou
hast many excellent knights still left about thee and thou canst
certainly not have a very great deal of trouble in filling those eight
places that have been thus made empty by death. Now if thou followest my
counsel, thou must choose some very worthy adviser from the
knights-companion of thy Round Table, and thou wilt consult with him in
this matter (for the counsel of two is better than the counsel of one),
and between ye ye may fill those places made vacant by war.”
This counsel appeared very good to King Arthur, so he did as Merlin
advised. For that morning he summoned King Pellinore to his privy
closet and laid the matter before him and they two communed together
thereupon. In that consultation King Pellinore advised King Arthur in
this wise: That there should be four old and worthy knights chosen to
fill four of those empty seats, and that there should be four young and
ardent knights chosen to fill the other four seats, and in that manner
all those eight seats should be filled.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur and King Pellinore choose eight old and worthy
knights for the Round Table._]
Now that advice appeared to King Arthur to be good, wherefore he said,
“Let it be that way.” So first they two chose the four old knights as
follows: There was King Uriens of Gore, and King Lac, and Sir Hervise de
Reuel, and Sir Galliar of Rouge. And from the younger knights of the
Court they chose Sir Marvaise of Leisle, and Sir Lionel, the son of King
Ban of Benwick, and Sir Cadar of Cornwall. So that there was one place
yet to be filled.
[Sidenote: _They choose three young knights for the Round Table._]
Now it was a very hard thing to determine who should fill that place,
for there were at that time two very honorable young knights at the
Court. One of these was Sir Baudemagus, a young knight, brother of Sir
Ewaine and son of King Uriens of Gore and Queen Morgana le Fay (which
lady was half-sister unto King Arthur as hath been aforetold). And the
other young knight was Sir Tor who, though late come to the Court, had
performed several very famous adventures. And Sir Tor was a son of King
Pellinore (though not of his Queen), and King Pellinore loved him a very
great deal.
Then King Pellinore said to King Arthur, “Lord, there are certainly but
two knights in all thy Court to choose from for to fill this eighth seat
at the Round Table: one of these is thy sister’s son, Sir Baudemagus,
and the other is my son, Sir Tor. Now I may not advise thee in this
matter, wherefore do thou, Lord, choose the one or the other of these
young knights to fill that place. But this I may say, that it will
please me very greatly if thy favor should fall upon Sir Baudemagus, for
then will all the world believe that I have been above reproach in my
dealings in this affair, whereas should Sir Tor be chosen all men would
say that I favored mine own son.”
[Sidenote: _King Arthur chooseth Sir Tor for the Round Table._]
Then King Arthur meditated upon this matter for a long while and by and
by he spoke and said, “Sir, I have weighed this whole affair, and it is
my belief that Sir Tor is the better knight of those twain. For he hath
performed several very excellent adventures, whilst Sir Baudemagus,
though a worthy knight, hath not yet made manifest any very great
achievement in the fields of chivalry. So, in God’s name, let Sir Tor
be seated as companion of the Round Table.”
Then King Pellinore said, “So be it,” and thereupon they both arose and
went forth from that place.
And, lo! that very moment the names of those eight worthies so chosen
appeared each upon the back of the seat at the Round Table that
appertained unto him, and so the decision of those two knights was
confirmed in the sight of all the world in that manner.
[Sidenote: _Queen Morgana le Fay is affronted with King Arthur._]
Now when the word of all this reached the ears of Queen Morgana le Fay
she was greatly affronted that Sir Baudemagus, her son, should have been
passed by and that another should have been chosen in his stead.
Wherefore she cried out against King Arthur in the hearing of several
people, saying: “Ha! how is this! is blood and kinship of no account in
the eyes of this King that he passes by so worthy a knight as his own
nephew to choose one who is not of lawful birth in his stead? Now, my
husband’s house has suffered many grievous ills at the hands of King
Arthur, for, lo! he hath taken away our royal power and hath made us all
little better than captives in his own Court. This in itself is as great
an affront as though we were his bitter enemies instead of his nigh of
kin. But this that he hath now done to my son in thus passing him by is
a greater affront than that other.”
And Queen Morgana le Fay spake in this wise not only to King Uriens, who
was her husband, but to Sir Ewaine and to Sir Baudemagus, who were her
sons. But King Uriens of Gore rebuked her for her speech, for he had
grown to love King Arthur very much because of the high nobility of his
nature, and likewise Sir Ewaine rebuked her saying that he would listen
to no ill thing said of King Arthur, for that not only did he love King
Arthur better than anyone else in all the world, but that the King was
at once the looking-glass of all knighthood and likewise the very
fountain-head of honor.
So spake these two; but Sir Baudemagus hearkened to what his mother
Queen Morgana said, for he was very angry with King Arthur because the
King had passed him by. Wherefore he took his departure from the Court
without asking leave of King Arthur and went errant in quest of
adventure, and at this King Arthur was very sorry.
Now, as aforesaid, Queen Morgana le Fay spake her indignation to several
other people of the Court, so that word thereof came at last to the ears
of King Arthur and grieved him a very great deal. So when Queen Morgana
came to him one day and besought his leave for to quit the Court, he
spake to her with great sadness of spirit, saying, “My sister, I am
very sorry that you are not pleased with what I have done in this
matter, for God knows that I have endeavored to do to the best of my
power. And though I would rather a great deal that Sir Baudemagus were
fellow of the Round Table, yet it was my very honest belief that, for
several reasons, Sir Tor had the best right to a seat at that Table. Now
if I chose otherwise than according to my right judgment, what virtue
would the Round Table have, seeing that I should have shown favor unto a
man because of his kinship to me?”
Then Queen Morgana le Fay said with great heat, “Sir, all that you say
only adds to the affront that our house hath sustained at your hands.
For now you not only deny my son that seat, but you belittle him by
comparing him to his disadvantage with this low-born knight whom you
have chosen. Now, the only pleasure that I can have in talking to you is
to beseech you to let me go away from this place.”
Then King Arthur, speaking with great dignity, said, “Lady, it shall be
as you would have it, and you shall go whithersoever it pleases you. For
God forbid that I should stay you in your wishes. Moreover, I shall see
to it that you shall not depart from this place without such a Court for
company as may very well befit one who is the wife of one king and the
sister of another.”
[Sidenote: _Queen Morgana le Fay leaveth the Court of King Arthur._]
And so he did as he said he would do, for he sent Queen Morgana le Fay
away from his Court with great honor and in high estate of circumstance.
But the more patient King Arthur was with her and the more he showed her
favor, the more angry Queen Morgana le Fay was with him and the more she
hated him.
So she betook her way to an estuary of the sea and there she dismissed
those whom the King had sent with her and embarked with her own Court in
several ships, betaking her way to that enchanted isle, hight Avalon,
which was her home.
This island of Avalon was a very strange, wonderful land, such as was
not to be seen anywhere else in all the world. For it was like a
Paradise for beauty, being covered all over with divers gardens of
flowers, intermingled with plantations of fair trees, some bearing fruit
and others all a-bloom with blossoms. And besides these were many