li mm IP i iii ?! iiiSiii 11 ^¥nrtw ^rTSCPfW Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/ageofchivalryorkOObulfrich • ••*•• • » » •••••• •••o %•»••• A Knight of King Arthur's Court. o > > J ' > ■» « » : AGE OF CHlVAliRY'-- OR KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS BY THOMAS BULFINCH A NEW, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION EDITED BY REV. J. LOUGHRAN SCOTT, D.D. *' Throngs of knights and barons boldj In weeds of peace high triumphs hold. With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence and judge the prize." Milton. WITH TWENTY-THREE FULL-PAGE PLATES AND NUMEROUS " ' r"Di»rrii1iiT,iii' ~r'" text OF THE UNIVERSITY DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER, 6io SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE. nmm room Copyright, 19CX), by David McKay. TO TRUMAN J. BACKUS, LL.D. PRESIDENT OF THE PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, BROOKLYN, N. Y., '*A SELFLESS MAN AND STAINLESS GENTLEMAN," THE WINE OF WHOSE FRIENDSHIP I FIRST TASTED MANY YEARS AGO. THE EDITOR. 211194 EDITOR'S PREFACE. Two years ago, at the instance of Mr. McKay, the publisher, we edited a revised edition of Bulfinch' s ' ' Age of Fable. ' ' The ' 'Age of Chivalry ' ' may be regarded as a companion -piece to that work. As a people we have never fully appreciated our mythol- ogy or national legends. Greece and Rome have received their proper attention, but few altars have been erected to the unknown gods of our early history. The Druidical age is too indefinite to admit of much save the conjectural, but the one immediately fol- lowing is replete with traditional interest. The Roman invasion was one of conquest ; still it made way for Christianity. The age of Chivalry that immediately followed anticipated the Crusades by hundreds of years. It was an effort to enroll Mars among the saints. Chivalry was but another form of primitive Christianity. King Arthur becomes the centre of British traditions. He is the embodiment of those higher qualities that marked the ambition of the people ; Merlin was the seer and Taliesin the Psalmist of that mystic age. The actual existence of an Arthur scarcely admits of a reasonable question. This is evident for the following reasons : " The general tradition, which is too widespread to be altogether an invention ; the existence of so many places in Southwestern England and Southern Scotland that bear his name ; the fact that history records certain great Teutonic invasions at the very time and in those parts of Britain where he is said to have lived ; the persistent local traditions in Somersetshire and Devonshire, Eng- land, where even to-day the Arthurian legends are common among the peasants; the testimony of those ancient historical writers who lived too near the time and scenes to have been altogether de- ceived."^ These strange traditions for centuries lay in the sarcophagus of a dead language. The translation of the Mabinogeon marks an » W. H. Roberts, D D. (V) vi EDITOR'S PREFACE. era in the literary world. But to Geoffry of Monmouth, who lived in the twelfth century, we are indebted, more than to all others, for unearthing this mine of literary interest. To that spring went Sir Thomas Mallory three centuries later; and^ following him,Hol- linshed, Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott. Sir Thomas Mallory was the biographer not only of a man but an age. The real Ar- thur was a man ; the ideal was a descendant of the gods. He is the Ulysses of our Epic. Where there is no history the people create it ; so the name of Arthur became a page on which the people wrote their traditions. But an epic without a Homer is a harp without strings. Chaucer, Spenser and Shakespeare did much to create an interest in our early traditions, but Tennyson is the real Homer of British literature. His * ' Idylls of the King ' ' added another sovereign to the line of British monarchs. This we have sought to recognize by the most frequent quotations. The first edition of the ** Age of Chivalry" was a splendid frame- work, without the embellishments of the poets. It lacked the touch of our modern Homer. Not only Tennyson, but Scott, Dryden, Matthew Arnold, Swinburne, Lowell, Bulwer, Schiller, Mrs. Browning and Miller, all have contributed their genius to these stories of chivalry and song. No one can read this edition of the *'Age of Chivalry" without coming in contact with the \X best literature on the Arthurian legends. While retaining the old at the same time we have created a new work. The interest of these legends naturally centres abeut King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. In the case of Guinevere we have added a new section, and also enlarged the chapter that treats of Arthur and the passing of his kingdom. The names ranking next in inter- y est are those of Launcelotand Elaine ; here, too, we have written "'^ an additional section. At the close of the first part we have in- serted a chapter on Mediaeval Legends. St. George and Robin Hood attach to an importance scarcely surpassed by King Arthur himself. We have also drawn directly from Sir Thomas Mallory, especially in connection with the adventures of Sir Tor, Sir Pel- lenore, Sir Gawain, Sir Launcelot and Sir Galahad. The close affinity between the original language of the Mabino- geon and the ancient Gaelic has induced us to add a Third Part, with seven additional Chapters, consisting largely of the writings of Ossian. Whatever may have been the origin of those strange EDITOR'S PREFACE. vii bookS;^ they certainly embody more of the ancient spirit of Britain than any other similar work. The peculiar fascination which the first edition ever had for youthful readers we hope to have preserved. The word Mab- inogeon means ''boys' stories." To ignore this fact would be to sin against the very life of legendary history ; at the same time, the "Age of Chivalry," from its classic associations, is worthy a place in any library. Our illustrations are intended to beautify the pages, and also interpret their spirit. They have been prepared with great care, and we trust will gratefully serve their purpose. Beneath every myth lies a needful sentiment. Legends are but an ordinary garment with which Truth is often pleased to clothe herself. King Arthur is more than a shadow. His name is carved upon the corner-stone of our civilization, and the '' Age of Chivalry " is only limited by the age of man. J. LouGHRAN Scott. The Macdowell Church, Philadelphia, September, 1900. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGl, Introduction — Decline of the Roman Power — Chivalry — Training of a Knight — Freemen — Villains— Serfs — Clerks — Tournaments — Mail Armor — Helmets — Romances — Metrical Romances — The Mabino- geon, ........... I-I2 CHAPTER n. The Mythical History of England — Albion — Histion — Brutus — Bladud — Lear — Ferrex and Porrex — Dunwallo Molmutius — Brennus and Be- linus — Elidure — Lud — Cassibellaunus — Cy mbeline — Armorica, 1 3-24 CHAPTER ni. Merlin — Vortigern — Uther and Pendragon — The Tower — Battle of the Serpents — Vivian — Seduction of Merlin — Death of Merlin, . 25-32 CHAPTER IV. Arthur — Constans — Arlhur Chosen King — Guinevere — The Marriage of Arthur and Guinevere — How Tor Became a Knight — Gawain's Victory, 33-47 CHAPTER V. Arthur ( Continued) — Conquers France — Arthur's Coronation — He Slays St. Michael's Giant — Gets a Sword from the Lady of the Lake, 48-57 CHAPTER VI. Gawain's Adventure — The Hart, the Brachet and the Hounds — Sir Tor's Adventure — King Pellenore' s Adventure — The Return to Camelot, 58-62 CHAPTER VII. Sir Gawain — Sir Gawain's Marriage — Caradoc Brief bras or Caradoc with the Shrunken Arm — The Boy and the Mantle, . . 63-7 1 (ix) ^ X CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGB Birth of Sir Launcelot — Sir Launcelot of the Lake— He is Loved by the Queen — He Overthrows Three Knights— Sixty-four Knights Rescued from Prison— Succors Sir Kay — Slays Sir Phelot, . . . 72-84 CHAPTER IX. The Adventure of a Cart — Queen Guinevere Goes a-Maying — She is At- tacked by Sir Maleagans— A Ring is Sent to Sir Launcelot — Sir Launce- lot a Prisoner — He Escapes by the Magic of the Ring — Rescues the Queen, 85-90 CHAPTER X. / The Lady of Shalott — A Tournament at Winchester — Sir Launcelot Goes to the Castle of Shalott — He is Loved by the Lord's Daughter — Wears Her Colors — Is Wounded and Carried to the Castle — Elaine — Sir Launcelot Retires to the Forest — Is Discovered by Elaine — Returns to the Castle — Abandons Elaine and Returns to Camelot — Elaine's Despondency — Her Death, 91-100 CHAPTER XI. Queen Guinevere's Peril — Attempt to Poison Gawain at a Banquet — A Scottish Knight Eats the Fatal Apple — His Brother, Sir Mador, Accuses the Queen of Treason — Her Knights Refuse to Champion Her Cause — Sir Mador Demands the Queen's Death — Sir Launcelot Returns and Defeats Sir Mador — They Return to the Castle, which is named " La Joyeuse Garde," ...... 101-104 CHAPTER XII. Tristram and Isoude — Birth of Tristram — He is Carried into France — Is Loved by the Princess Belinda — He Slays an Irish Knight — Goes to Ireland and is Loved by Isoude the King's Daughter — They Em- bark for Cornwall — The Love Potion — Isoude Marries the King, 105-113 CHAPTER XIII. Tristtam and Isoude (Continued) — Isoude is Made a Prisoner — Tristram Fights for the King and Isoude is Liberated — He becomes Jealous of Isoude and Escapes to the Forest — Returns as a Wild Man — Is Nursed by Isoude — Rescues King Arthur — Battles with Sir Launce- lot — Goes to Camelot, 114-121 CHAPTER XIV. Sir Tristram and Sir Launcelot — Sir Tristram Battles with Nine Men — He Rescues Sir Palamedes — His Fight with Sir Launcelot — They Return to Camelot — Sir Tristram as a Sportsman, . . .122-125 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XV. PAGB Sir Tristram and the Round Table — The Seat Perilous — Daguenet the King's Fool — Isoude's Song — Breuse the Pitiless — He Carries Away Isoude — She is Rescued by Tristram — They are Welcomed at Came- lot, 126-131 CHAPTER XVI. Sir Tristram is Attacked by Sir Palamedes — Sir Palamedes is Defeated — He Embraces Christianity and is Baptized at Carlisle — King Arthur Determines on the Holy Grail, ...... 132-135 CHAPTER XVII. Sir Tristram Goes to Brittany — He Meets Isoude of the White Hands — They are Married — Tristram About to Die — Isoude the Fair Hastens to His Bedside — Tristram's Death — He and Isoude the Fair Buried Together, 136-139 CHAPTER XVIII. Perceval — His Birth — Sees a Company of Knights — Goes to Arthur's Court — Offers to Avenge an Insult to the Queen — Is Ridiculed by Sir Kay — Slays a Stiange Knight with a Pointed Stick — Goes out in Search of Adventures— Meets his Uncle, Kmg Pecheur — Four Strange Youths Enter the Hall — He Beholds the Holy Grail — En- counters and Defeats Sir Kay — Is Welcomed by King Arthur, 140-146 CHAPTER XIX. The Sangreal or Holy Grail — How the Cup Came to England — Scene at the Round Table — Sir Galahad Determines upon a Quest — He Sits in the Seat Perilous — Resemblances Between Sir Launcelot and Sir Galahad — Sir Gawain also Determines upon a Quest — He Returns and Relates what he Saw, ....... 147-154 CHAPTER XX. The Sangreal (Continued) — Sir Launcelot' s Pilgrimage — He Came upon a Chapel in the Forest — His Remorse — Vows to Reform — Sir Perce- val sets out upon his Journey — He meets a Hermit —The Vision at the Chapel — Is Captured by a Tempter — He Escapes her Charms, 155-162 CHAPTER XXI. The Sangreal (Continued) — Sir Bohort — He Meets an Old Man near a Hermitage — Rescues a Knight and Lady — Finds the Body of a Slain Knight — Battles with Sir Lionel his Brotlier — Sir Colgrevance is Slain — Reconciliation Between Sir Bohort and Sir Lionel — Sir Launcelot, xii CONTENTS. PAGE Resumed — The Castle of Carbonek — The Vision — Sir Launcelot is Smitten — Sir Galahad — The Hermitage — The Damsel — They Enter a Ship — The City of Sarras — The Cripple — Sir Galahad Becomes King — The Holy Grail is Taken Up to Heaven — King Arthur's Com- mendation, 163-173 CHAPTER XXII. Sir Agrivain's Treason — Deaths of Sir Galahad and Sir Perceval — Sir Bohort Returns from Sarras — Sir Launcelot Arrived at Camelot — Sir Agrivain Accuses the Queen — He is Joined by Modred — Sir Modred Plots Against Sir Launcelot and the Queen — Sir Launcelot Escapes and the Queen is Condemned to Die — Sir Launcelot Returns and Bears Her Away — Conference between King Arthur and Sir Launcelot — Sir Launcelot Spares the King's Life — The Year's Truce — The Attack on Sir Launcelot — He Spares Gawain — Sir Modred Becomes Ruler, 174-181 CHAPTER XXIII. Sir Modred Crowned King — King Arthur Returns to England and Disputes the Crown — The Ghost of Gawain — King Arthur's Last Battle — He is Borne from the Field — He Orders his Sword Thrown into the Sea — King Arthur is Placed upon a Barge — Three Queens Appear — He is Borne to the Vale of Avalon— The Passing of Guinevere — Guinevere Retires to a Nunnery — Her Seclusion— Visit of King Arthur — Dea'.h of the Queen — The Return of Sir Launcelot — He Meets the Queen — Becomes a Monk — His Sickness and Death — The End of La Morted' Arthur, 182-198 CHAPTER XXIV. Mediaeval Legends — St. George — He Slays the Dragon — The Lia Fail — Robin Hood — His Character — His Death — Stonehenge — The For- tunate Isles, . 199-207 PART II. CHAPTER I. Tne Mabinogeon — The Britons — The Welsh Language and Literature — The Welsh Bards— The Triads, 211-216 CHAPTER 11. The Lady of the Fountain — King Arthur at Caerleon — Kynon's Story — The Two Youths with Yellow Hair — The Man with a Mantle of Gold — The Castle with Twenty-four Maidens at the Window — CONTENTS. xm PAGB Reception of Kynon — The Banquet — The Wood-ward with One Foot and One Eye— The Marble Slab— The Shower— The Black Knight, 217-222 CHAPTER III. The Lady of the Fountain (Continued) — Owa^n's Adventure — He Visits Kynon' s Castle and Valley — The Marble Slab — The Thunder — Owain Battles with and Wounds a Knight — He Visits the Castle — Receives a Magic Ring — The Funeral of the Lord of the Castle — Owain Sees the Countess of the Fountain — Luned Interviews the Countess — Owain Marries the Countess and Defends the Foun- tain, 223-230 CHAPTER IV. The Lady of the Fountain (Continued) — Gawain's Adventure — Arthur's Sorrow at the Absence of Owain — Arthur and his Knights go in Search — They Come to the Castle — Gawain Fights with a Knight who Proves to be Owain — The Three Months' Banquet — The Ad- venture of the Lion — Owain's Adventure — He Slays the Serpent — Owain Finds Luned Imprisoned in a Cave — He Rescues the Maiden and is Defended by a Lion, ..... 231-237 CHAPTER V. Geraint — A Youth Appears Before Arthur at Caerleon — The White Stag — The Hunting Party — An Insult to Guinevere's Maid — Geraint Offers to Avenge it — He Comes to a Castle and Hears the Voice of Enid — Geraint Fights the Knight of the Sparrow- Hawk — He Redeems Enid's Fortune — She Accompanies him to Arthur's Court, . 238-248 CHAPTER VI. Geraint (Continued) — How they Hunted the Stag — Geraint Presents the Dwarf at Camelot — Enid Arrives — Geraint' s Wedding — He hears that his Dominions are Invaded and Departs to Defend them, 249-256 CHAPTER VII. Geraint and Enid — Geraint Accused of Neglecting his Subjects — He Orders Enid to Follow him in Silence — The Three Robbers — The Youth and the Pitcher — The Earl Limours — Limours Plots to Slay Geraint — He and Enid Escape — Limours Pursues and is Slain — Geraint Wounded — The Earl Doorm Removes him to his Castle — Doorm Strikes Enid and is Slain by Geraint — They Return to Arthur's Court — Death of Geraint, 257-268 xlv CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGB Pwyll, Prince of Dyved — The Feast at Narberth — The Magic Mound — Rhiannon, the Daughter of Heveydd — The Palace — The Banquet One Year Away — The Mysterious Bag — Pwyll Marries Rhiannon, 269-274 CHAPTER IX. Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr — Bendigeid Vran and the Thirteen Ships he saw — The Message of Matholch — Matholch Weds Branwen — Evnissyen Injures the King's Horses — The Bewitched Caldron — Tumult in Matholch's Kingdom — The Caldron Yields Armed Men — Bendigeid is Slain and his Head Buried under the White Tower, 275-283 CHAPTER X. Manawyddan — Pryderi, the Son of Pwyll and Rhiannon — The Mar- riage of Pryderi and Kicva — His Cousin Seizes his Estates — Rhian- non Becomes the Wife of Manawyddan — The Banquet at Narberth — What was Seen and Heard from the Mound — The Deserted Castle— The Wild Boar and the Dogs— Pryderi Enters the Castle — His Discoveries — Manawyddan and Kicva go to England — The Cordwainers Attempt to Slay Them — The Magic Wheat — The Mouse Robber — The Lord Bishop — Pryderi and Rhiannon are Released by Magic — The End of the Mabinogi— Southey's Estimate of the Mabinogeon, ........ 284 -294 CHAPTER XI. .,. Kilwich and 01 wen — Birth of Kilwich — The Briar with Two Blossoms- Death of King Doged — Kilwich Sets Out to Obtain Olwen for his Wife — He Comes to Arthur's Palace — Arthur Makes Search for Olwen — The Strange Castle — Kay Discovers the Maiden — The Magic Flax — The Harp of Teirtu, ..... 295-306 CHAPTER XII. Kilwich and Olwen (Continued) — The Black Knight — The Castle of ' Gwernach the Giant — Kay Polishes a Sword — He Slays the Giant — The Search for Eidoel — The Eagle of Gwern Abwy — The Salmon — The Wolf Gast Rhymhi — Marriage of Kilwich and Olwen, . 307-313 CONTENTS. XV PART III. CHAPTER I. PAGE Ossian — James Macpherson' s Version —Its Authenticity — Fingal — Cuchul- lin — Council of the Chiefs — Deaths of Duchomar and Cathbat — Swaran Sees the Advancing Army — CuchulHn's Chariot — The Battle — The Feast — The Story of Grudar and Brassolis, . . 3 17-33 1 CHAPTER II. The Ghost of Crugal — Connal's Vision — Cuchullin Determines upon Battle— The Conflict — Flight of Grumal — Fingal' s Fleet — Depres- sion of Cuchullin — Connal and Galvina, .... 332-340 CHAPTER III. Fingal in Lochlin— Death of Agandecca — Arrival of Calmar — Death of Calmar — Cuchullin Retires to a Cave— Fingal' s Victory — Bravery of Oscar — Advice to Oscar — Gaul, the Son of Morni, , . 341-350 CHAPTER IV. Fingal Feasts his Army — The Song of Peace — Ullin's Recitations of Trenmor — Swaran' s Departure — Fingal Finds Cuchullin in the Cave — Departure of Cuchullin, 351-360 CHAPTER V. Temora -The Landing of Fingal — Cairbar's Feast — Attack upon Oscar — Oscar "Wounded — Arrival of Fingal — Lament for Oscar— The Death of Cormac, 361-373 CHAPTER VI. Berrathon — Fingal's Voyage to Lochlin — Touches at Berrathon — King Larthmor — Imprisonment of Larthmor — Ossian and Toscar — Nina- thorma Loves Uthal — Nina-thoma Deserted — Ossian and Toscar Kill Uthal — Nina-thoma Dies of Grief — Larthmor Restored to His Throne — Soliloquy of Ossian — He Predicts His Death, . . 374-383 CHAPTER VII. Aideen's Grave — The Celts, 384-389 xvl CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PACK Elphin, the Son of Gwyddno — The Empty Bag — The Finding of Taliesin — Elphin a Prisoner--The Maid and the Mistress — The Poet's Silence — He Delivers Elphin — Taliesin' s Theory of Creation — Legends as History — The Fulfillment of Prophecy — The Growth of the British Race — Conclusion 390-398 Index to Poets 399 Index, .•••• 401 UNIVERSfTY L OF • /? ' KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS, CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. On the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost desti- tute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each could enforce his dominion, and occasionally those chiefs would unite for a com- mon object ; but, in ordinary times, they were much more likely to be found in hostility to one another. ** For when the Roman left us, and their law Relax'd its hold upon us, and the ways Were fill'd with rapine, here and there a deed Of prowess done redress'd a random wrong." — Guinevere. In such a state of things, the rights of the humbler classes of so- ciety were at the mercy of every assailant ; and it is plain that, without some check upon the lawless power of the chiefs, society i' (I) '3 : : ;; ;•: ,',KlNOjiUTHUIt AND HIS KNIGHTS. '*r' ***; ,*••; t^.' 'I ; : .*/. must have relapsed into barbarism. Such checks were found, first, in the rivalry of the chiefs themselves, whose mutual jealousy made them restraints upon one another; secondly, in the in- fluence of the Church, which, by every motive, pure or selfish, was pledged to interpose for the protection of the weak ; and lastly, in the generosity and sense of right which, however crushed under the weight of passion and selfishness, dwell naturally in the heart of man. From this last source sprang Chivalry, which framed an ideal of the heroic character, combining invincible strength and valor, justice, modesty, loyalty to superiors, courtesy to equals, compassion to weakness, and devotedness to the Church; an ideal which, if never met with in real life, was acknowledged by all as the highest model for emulation. The word Chivalry is derived from the French cheval, a. horse. The word knight, which originally meant boy or servant, was particularly applied to a young man after he was admitted to the privilege of bearing arms. This privilege was conferred on youths of family and fortune only, for the mass of the people were not furnished with arms. The knight then was a mounted warrior, a man of rank, or in the service and maintenance of some man of rank, generally possessing some independent means of support, but often relying mainly on the gratitude of those whom he served for the supply of his wants. In time of war the knight was, with his followers, in the camp of his sovereign, or commanding in the field. In time of peace he was often in attendance at his sovereign's court, gracing with his presence the banquets and tournaments with which princes cheered their leisure. Or he was traversing the country in quest of adventure, professedly bent on redressing wrongs and enforc- ing rights, sometimes in fulfilment of some vow of religion or of love. These wandering knights were called knights-errant ; they were welcome guests in the castles of the nobility, for their presence enlivened the dullness of those secluded abodes, and they were received with honor at the abbeys, which often owed the best part of their revenues to the patronage of the knights ; but if no castle or abbey or hermitage were at hand, their hardy habits made it not intolerable to them to lie down, supperless, at the foot of some wayside cross, and pass the night. It is evident that the justice administered by such an instru- INTRODUCTION. 3 mentality must have been of the rudest description. The force whose legitimate purpose was to redress wrongs might easily be perverted to inflict them. Accordingly, we find in the romance?, which, however fabulous in facts, are true as pictures of manners, that a knightly castle was often a terror to the surrounding coun- try ; that its dungeons were full of oppressed knights and ladies, waiting for some champion to appear to set them free, or to be ransomed with money ; that hosts of idle retainers were ever at hand to enforce their lord's behests, regardless of law and justice ; and that the rights of the unarmed multitude were of no account. This contrariety of fact and theory in regard to chivalry will ac- count for the opposite impressions which exist in men's minds respecting it. While it has been the theme of the most fervid eulogium on the one part, it has been as eagerly denounced on the other. The Training of a Knight. The preparatory education of candidates for knighthood was long and arduous. At seven years of age the noble children were removed from their father's house to the court or castle of their future patron, and placed under the care of a governor, who taught them the first articles of religion, and respect and rever- ence for their lords and superiors, and initiated them in the cere- monies of a court. They were called pages, valets or varlets, and their office was to carve, to wait at table, and to perform other menial services, which were not then considered humiliat- ing. In their leisure hours they learned to dance and play on the harp, were instructed in the mysteries of woods and rivers, that is, in hunting, falconry and fishing, and in wrestling, tilting with spears, and performing other military exercises on horse- back. At fourteen the page became an esquire, and began a course of severer and more laborious exercises. To vault on a horse in heavy armor ; to run, to scale walls, to wrestle, to wield the battle-axe, were necessary preliminaries to the reception of knighthood, which was usually conferred at twenty-one years of age, when the young man's education was supposed to be com- pleted. In the meantime, the esquires were no less assiduously engaged in acquiring all those refinements of civility which formed what was in that age called courtesy. The same castle in which they received their education was usually thronged with 4 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. young persons of the other sex, and the page was encouraged, at a very early age, to select some lady of the court as the mistress of his heart, to whom he was taught to refer all his sentiments, words, and actions. The service of his mistress was the glory and occupation of a knight, and her smiles, bestowed at once by affection and gratitude, were held out as the recompense of his valor. Religion united its influence with those of loyalty and love, and the order of knighthood, endowed with all the sanctity and religious awe that attended the priesthood, became an object of ambition to the greatest sovereigns. The ceremonies of initiation were peculiarly solemn. After undergoing a severe fast, and spending whole nights in prayer, the candidate confessed, and received the sacrament. He then clothed himself in snow-white garments, and repaired to the church, or the hall, where the ceremony was to take place, bear- ing a knightly sword suspended from his neck, which the officiat- ing priest took and blessed, and then returned to him. The candidate then, with folded arms, knelt before the presiding knight, who, after some questions about his motives and purposes in requesting admission, administered to him the oaths, and granted his request. Some of the knights present, sometimes even ladies and damsels, handed to him in succession the spurs, the coat of mail, the hauberk, the armlet and gauntlet, and lastly he girded on the sword. He then knelt again before the presi- dent, who, rising from his seat, gave him the '* accolade," which consisted of three strokes, with the flat of a sword, on the shoulder or neck of the candidate, accompanied by the words : "In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George, I make thee a knight. Be courteous, valiant And loyal." Then he received his helmet, his shield and spear ; and thus the investiture ended. Freemen, Villains, Serfs, and Clerks. The other classes of which society was composed were, first, freemen, owners of small portions of land, independent, though they sometimes voluntarily became the vassals of their more opulent neighbors, whose power was necessary for their protec- INTRODUCTION. $ tion. The other two classes, which were much the most numer- ous, were either serfs or villains, both of which were slaves. The serfs were in the lowest state of slavery. All the fruits of their labor belonged to the master whose lands they tilled, and by whom they were fed and clothed. The villains were less degraded. Like the serfs, they were attached to the soil, and were transferred with it by purchase ; but they paid only a fixed rent to the landlord, and had a right to dispose of any surplus that might arise from their industry. The term clerk was of very extensive import. It compre- hended, originally, such persons only as belonged to the clergy, or clerical order, among whom, however, might be found a mul- titude of married persons, artisans or others. But in process of time a much wider rule was established ; every one that could read being accounted a clerk, ox clericiis, and allowed the ''bene- fit of clergy," that is, exemption from capital and some other forms of punishment, in case of crime. Tournaments. The splendid pageant of a tournament between knights, its gaudy accessories and trappings, and its chivalrous regulations, originated in France. Tournaments were repeatedly condemned by the Church, probably on account of the quarrels they led to, and the often fatal results. The ''joust," or "just," was dif- ferent from the tournament. In these, knights fought with their lances, and their object was to unhorse their antagonists ; while the tournaments were intended for a display of skill and address in evolutions, and with various weapons, and greater courtesy was observed in the regulations. By these it was forbidden to wound the horse, or to use the point of the sword, or to strike a knight after he had raised his visor or unlaced his helmet. The ladies encouraged their knights in these exercises ; they bestowed prizes, and the conqueror's feats were the theme of romance and song. The stands overlooking the ground, or course, were varied in the shapes of towers, terraces, galleries and pensile gardens, magnificently decorated with tapestry, pavilions, and banners. Every combatant proclaimed the name of the lady whose servant (V amour he was. He was wont to look up to the stand, and strengthen his courage by the sight of the bright eyes that were 6 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. raining their influence on him from above. The knights also carried ''favors," consisting of scarfs, veils, sleeves, bracelets, clasps, — in short, some pieces of female habiliment, — attached to their helmets, shields, or armor. If, during the combat, any of these appendages were dropped or lost, the fair donor would at times send her knight new ones, especially if pleased with his exertions. Mail Armor. Mail armor, of which the hauberk is a species, and which de- rived its name from maille, a French word for mesh, was of two kinds, plate or scale mail, and chain mail. It was originally used for the protection of the body only, reaching no lower than the knees. It was shaped like a carter's frock, and bound round the waist by a girdle. Gloves and hose of mail were afterwards added, and a hood, which, when necessary, was drawn over the head, leaving the face alone uncovered. The hauberk was a complete covering of double chain mail. Some hauberks opened before, like a modern coat ; others were closed like a shirt. The chain mail of which they were composed was formed by a number of iron links, each link having others inserted into it, the whole exhibiting a kind of network, of which the meshes were circular, with each link separately riveted. The hauberk was proof against the most violent blow of a sword ; but the point of a lance might pass through the meshes, or drive the iron into the flesh. To guard against this, a thick and well-stuff'ed doublet was worn underneath, under which was commonly added an iron breastplate. Hence the expression ''to pierce both plate and mail," so common in the earlier poets. Mail armor continued in general use till about the fourteenth century, when it was gradually supplanted by plate armor, or suits consisting of pieces or plates of solid iron, adapted to the different parts of the body. Shields were generally made of wood, covered with leather, or some similar substance. Helmets. The helmet was composed of two parts, the headpiece and the visor, which, as the name implies, was a sort of grating to see INTRODUCTION. 7 through. Some helmets had a further improvement called a bever, from the Italian bevere, to drink. The ventayle, or air- passage, is another name for this. To secure the helmet from the possibility of falling, or of being struck off, it was tied by several laces to the meshes of the hauberk ; consequently, when a knight was overthrown, it was necessary to undo these laces before he could be put to death. Romances. In ages when there were no books, and princes themselves could not read, history or tradition was monopolized by the story-tellers. They inherited, generation after generation, the wondrous tales of their predecessors, which they retailed to the public with such additions of their own as their acquired infor- mation supplied them with. Anachronisms became of course very common, and errors of geography, of locality, of manners, equally so. Spurious genealogies were invented, in which Arthur and his knights, and Charlemagne and his paladins, were made to derive their descent from ^neas. Hector, or some other of the Trojan heroes. With regard to the derivation of the word Romance, we trace it to the fact that the dialects which were formed in Western Europe, from the admixture of Latin with the native languages, took the name of Langiie Ro7tiaine. The French language was divided into two dialects. The river Loire was their common boundary. In the provinces to the south of that river the affirma- tive, yes, was expressed by the word oc ; in the north it was called oil {oiii^ ; and hence Dante has named the southern lan- guage lajigue d' oc, and the northern langue d' oil. The latter, which was carried into England by the Normans, and is the origin of the present French, may be called the French Romane ; and the former the Provencal, or Provencial Romane, because it was spoken by the people of Provence and Languedoc, southern provinces of France. These dialects were soon distinguished by very opposite characters. A soft and enervating climate, a spirit of commerce encouraged by an easy communication with other maritime nations, the influx of wealth, and a more settled government, may have tended to polish and soften the diction of the Pro- 8 JCING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. vencials, whose poets, under the name of Troubadours, were the masters of the Italians, and particularly of Petrarch. Their favorite pieces were Sirventes (satirical pieces), love-songs and Tensonsy which last were a sort of dialogue in verse between two poets, who questioned each other on some refined points of love's casuistry. It seems the Provencials were so completely absorbed in these delicate questions as to neglect and despise the com- position of fabulous histories of adventure and knighthood, which they left in a great measure to the poets of the northern part of the kingdom, called Trouveurs. At a time when chivalry excited universal admiration, and when all the efforts of that chivalry were directed against the enemies of religion, it was natural that literature should receive the same impulse, and that history and fable should be ransacked to furnish examples of courage and piety that might excite in- creased emulation. Arthur and Charlemagne were the two heroes selected for this purpose. Arthur's pretensions were that he was a brave, though not always a successful warrior ; he had withstood with great resolution the arms of the infidels, that is to say of the Saxons, and his memory was held in the highest esti- mation by his countrymen, the Britons, who carried with them into Wales, and into the kindred country of Armorica, or Brit- tany, the memory of his exploits, which their national vanity exaggerated, till the little prince of the Silures (South Wales) was magnified into the conqueror of England, of Gaul, and of the greater part of Europe. His genealogy was gradually carried up to an imaginary Brutus, and to the period of the Trojan war, and a sort of chronicle was composed in the Welsh or Armorican language, which, under the pompous title of the History of the Kings of Britain, was translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, in the twelfth century. The Welsh critics consider the material of the work to have been an older history, written by St. Talian, Bishop of St. Asaph, in the seventh century. As to Charlemagne, though his real merits were sufficient to secure his immortality, it was impossible that his holy wars against the Saracens should not become a favorite topic for fiction. Accordingly, the fabulous history of these wars was written, probably towards the close of the eleventh century, by a monk, who, thinking it would add dignity to his work to em- INTRODUCTION. g hellish it with a contemporary name, boldly ascribed it to Tur- pin, who was Archbishop of Rheims. These fabulous chronicles were for a while imprisoned in lan- guages of local only or of professional access. Both Turpin and Geoffrey might indeed be read by eccclesiastics, the sole Latin scholars of those times, and Geoffrey's British original would contribute to the gratification of Welshmen ; but neither could become extensively popular till translated into some language of general and familiar use. The Anglo-Saxon was at that time used only by a conquered and enslaved nation ; the Spanish and Italian languages were not yet formed ; the Norman French alone was spoken and understood by the nobility in the greater part of Europe, and therefore was a proper vehicle for the new mode of composition. That language was fashionable in England before the Con- quest, and became, after that event, the only language used at the court of London. As the various conquests of the Normans, and the enthusiastic valor of that extraordinary people, had familiarized the minds of men with the most marvellous events, their poets eagerly seized the fabulous legends of Arthur and Charlemagne, translated them into the language of the day, and soon produced a variety of imitations. The adventures attributed to these monarchs, and to their distinguished warriors, together with those of many other traditionary or imaginary heroes, com- posed by degrees that formidable body of marvellous histories which, from the dialect in which the most ancient of them were written, were called Romances. Metrical Romances. The earliest form in which romances appear is that of a rude kind of verse. In this form it is supposed they were sung or re- cited at the feasts of princes and knights in their baronial halls. The following specimen of the language and style of Robert de Beauvais, who flourished in the thirteenth century, is from Sir Walter Scott's Introduction to the " Romance of Sir Tristrem." ♦* Ne voil pas emrni dire, Ici diverse la matyere, Entre ceus qui solent cunter, E de le cunte Tristran parler." lO KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. '* I will not say too much about it, So diverse is the matter, Among those who are in the habit of telling And relating the story of Tristran." This is a specimen of the language which was in use among the nobility of England, in the ages immediately after the Nor- man conquest. The following is a specimen of the English that existed at the same time, among the common people. Robert de Brunne, speaking of his Latin and French authorities, says : " Als thai haf wryten and sayd Haf I alle in myn Inglis layd. In symple speche as I couthe, That is lightest in manne's mouthe. Alle for the luf of symple men, That strange Inglis cannot ken." The ' ' strange Inglis ' ' being the language of the previous specimen. It was not till toward the end of the thirteenth century that the prose romances began to appear. These works generally began with disowning and discrediting the sources from which in reality they drew their sole information. As every romance was supposed to be a real history, the compilers would have forfeited all credit if they had announced themselves as mere copyists of the minstrels. On the contrary, they usually state that, as the popular poems upon the matter in question contain many lesings,' they had been induced to translate the real and true history of such or such a knight from the original Latin or Greek, or from the ancient British or Armorican authorities, which authorities existed only in their own assertion. A specimen of the style of the prose romances may be found in the following extract from one of the most celebrated and latest of them, the Morte d' Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, of fourteen hundred and eighty-five. From this work much of the contents of this volume has been drawn, with as close an adher- ence to the original style as was thought consistent with our plan of adapting our narrative to the taste of modern readers. '* It is notoyrly knowen thorugh the vnyuersal world that there 1 Falsities. INTRODUCTION. II been ix worthy and the best that ever were. That is to wete thre paynyms/ three Jewes, and three crysten men. As for the paynyms, they were tofore the Incarnacyon of Cryst whiche were named, the fyrst Hector of Troye ; the second Alysaunder the grete, and the thyrd Julyiis Cezar, Emperour of Rome, of whome thystoryes ben wel kno and had. And as for the thre Jewes whyche also were tofore thyncarnacyon of our Lord, of whome the fyrst was Due Josue, whyche brought the chyldren of Israhel into the londe of beheste ; the second Dauyd, kyng of Jheru- salem, and the thyrd Judas Machabeus ; of these thre the byble reherceth al theyr noble hystoryes and actes. And sythe the sayd Incarnacyon haue ben the noble crysten men stalled and admytted thorugh the vnyuersal world to the nombre of the ix beste and worthy, of whome was fyrst the noble Arthur, whose noble actes I purpose to wryte in this present book here folow- yng. The second was Charlemayn, or Charles the grete, of whome thystorye is had in many places bo the in frensshe and englysshe, and the thyrd and last was Godefray of boloyn. ' ' The Mab'i-no'ge-on. It has been well known to the literati and antiquarians of Europe that there exist in the great public libraries voluminous manuscripts of romances and tales once popular, but which, on the invention of printing, had already become antiquated, and fallen into neglect. They were therefore never printed, and seldom perused even by the learned, until about a century ago, when attention was again directed to them, and they were found very curious monuments of ancient manners, habits, and modes of thinking. There was a class of manuscripts of this kind which were known, or rather suspected, to be both curious and valu- able, but which it seemed almost hopeless to expect ever to see in fair printed English. These were the Welsh popular tales, called '' Mabinogeon," a plural word, the singular being Mabi- nogi, a tale. The Welsh is a spoken language among the peas- antry of Wales, but is entirely neglected by the learned, unless they a»"e natives of the principality. Of the few Welsh scholars, none were found who took sufficient interest in this branch of learning to give these productions to the English public. Southey * Pagans. 32 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. and Scott, and others who, like them, loved the old romantic legends of their country, often urged upon the Welsh literati the duty of reproducing the Mabinogeon. Southey, in the preface to his edition of Morte d' Arthur, says : ''The specimens which I have seen are exceedingly curious ; nor is there a greater de- sideratum in British literature than an edition of these tales, with a literal version, and such comments as Mr. Davies, of all men, is best qualified to give. Certain it is that many of the Round Table fictions originated in Wales, or in Bretagne, and probably might still be traced there." Sharon Turner and Sir Walter Scott also expressed a similar wish for the publication of the W^elsh manuscripts. The former took part in an attempt to effect it through the instrumentality of a Mr. Owen, a Welshman, but we judge, by what Southey says of him, that he was but imperfectly acquainted with English. It is probable Mr. Owen did not proceed far in an undertaking which, so executed, could expect but little popular patronage. It was not till a person should appear possessed of the requisite knowledge of the two languages, of enthusiasm sufficient for the task, and of pecuniary resources sufficient to be independent of the booksellers and of the reading public, that such a work could be confidently expected. Such an individual appeared in the person of Lady Charlotte Guest, an English lady united to a gen- tleman of property in Wales, who, having acquired the language of the principality, and become enthusiastically fond of its liter- ary treasures, has given them to the English reader, in a dress which the printer's and the engraver's arts have done their best to adorn. We claim no other merit than that of bringing it to the knowledge of our readers, of abridging its details, of select- ing its most attractive portions, and of faithfully preserving throughout the style in which Lady Guest has clothed her legends. For this service we hope that our readers will confess we have laid them under no light obligation. ^^^JUpm^^JP^^il^Hl^^^^ig ^^^^^^^mHp^mj CHAPTER II. THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Albion — Histion — Brutus — Bla'dud — Lear — Ferrex and Porrex — Dun'-wal'lo Mal-mu'ti-us Bren'- nus and Be-li'nus — El'i dure — Lud — Cas'si- bel-lau'nus — Cym'be-line — Ar-mor'i-ca. Albion. The early history of England is traditional. It goes back to the founding of Rome, and links us to the heroes of Troy. We have followed the account as given by John Milton in his ad- mirable history. All history must be written with broad mar- gins, while that which confesses to the traditional is but little better than ordinary fiction. According to the earliest accounts, Albion, the Son of Neptune, a contemporary of Hercules, ruled over the island, to which he gave his name. Presuming to oppose the progress of Hercules in his western march, he was slain by him. " For Albion the son of Neptune was ; Who for the proof of his great puissance, Out of his Albion did on dry foot pass Into old Gaul that now is cleped France, To fight with Hercules, that did advance ('3) 14 KINO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS, To vanquish all the world with matchless mighf ; And there his mortal part by great mischance Was slain." — SrENSF.R. Another story, but one too improbable ever to have been gen- erally believed, is that Histion, the Son of Japhet, the son of Noah, had four sons, — Francus, Romanus, Aleman- nus and Britto, from whom descended the French, Roman, German and British people. Rejecting these and other like stories, Milton gives more re- gard to the story of Brutus, the Trojan, which, he says, is supported by " descents of ancestry long con- tinued, laws and exploits not plainly seeming to be borrowed or devised, which on the common belief have wrought no small impression; defended by many, denied utterly by few." The principal authority is Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose history, written in the twelfth century, purports to be a translation of a history of Britain brought over from the opposite shore of France, which, under the name of Brittany, was chiefly peopled by natives of Britain. According to this authority, Brutus was the son of Silvius, and he of Ascanius, the son of ^neas, whose flight from Troy and settlement in Italy will be found narrated in ^'The Ageof Fable." Brutus, at the age of fifteen, attending his father to the chase, unfortunately killed him with an arrow. Banished therefor by his kindred, he sought refuge in that part of Greece where Helenus, with a band of Trojan exiles, had become established. But Helenus was now dead, and the descendants of the Trojans were oppressed by Pandrasus, the king of the country. Brutus, being kindly received among them, so throve in virtue and in arms as to win a regard above all others of his age. In conse- quence of this the Trojans not only began to hope, but secretly to persuade him to lead them the way to liberty. To encourage them, they had the promise of help from Assaracus, a noble Greek youth, whose mother was a Trojan. He had sufl'ered wrong at the hands of the king, and for that reason the more willingly cast in his lot with the Trojan exiles. THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 15 Choosing a fit opportunity, Brutus with his countrymen with- drew to the woods and hills, as the safest place from which to expostulate, and sent this message to Pandrasus : "That the Trojans, holding it unworthy of their ancestors to serve in a foreign land, had retreated to the woods, choosing rather a savage life than a slavish one. If that displeased him, then, with his leave, they would depart to some other country." Pandrasus, not expecting so bold a message, went in pursuit of them, with such forces as he could gather, and met them on the banks of the Achelous, where Brutus got the ad- vantage, and took the king captive. The result was, that the terms demanded by the Trojans were granted ; the king gave his daughter Imogen in marriage to Brutus, and furnished ship- ping, money and fit pro- vision for them all to de- part from the land. The marriage being sol- emnized, and shipping from all parts got together, the Trojans, in a fleet of three hundred and twenty sail, betook themselves to the sea. On the third day they arrived at a certain island, which they found destitute of inhabitants, though there were appearances of former habitation, and among the ruins a temple of Diana. Brutus, here performing sacrifice at the shrine of the goddess, invoked an oracle for his guidance in these lines : " Goddess of shades, and huntress, who at will Walk' St on the rolling sphere, and through the deep ; Diana of Versailles (Louvre). 1 6 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. On thy third realm, the earth, look now, and tell What land, what seat of rest, thou bidd'st me seek ; What certain seats where I may worship thee Yov aye, with temples vowed and virgin choirs." To whom, sleeping before the altar, Diana in a vision thus answered : «' Brutus I far to the west, in the ocean wide, Heyond the realm of Gaul, a land there lies, Seagirt it lies, where giants dwelt of old ; Now, void, it fits thy people : thither bend Thy course ; there shalt thou find a lasting seat ; There to thy sons another Troy shall rise, And kings be born of thee, whose dreaded might Shall awe the world, and conquer nations bold." Brutus, guided now, as he thought, by Divine direction, sped his course towards the west, and, arriving at a place on the Tyr- rhene Sea, found there the descendants of certain Trojans who, with Antenor, came into Italy, of whom Corineus was the chief. These joined company, and the ships pursued their way till they arrived at the mouth of the river Loire, in France, where the expedition landed, with a view to a settlement, but were so rudely assaulted by the inhabitants that they put to sea again, and arrived at a part of the coast of Britain, now called Devon- shire, where Brutus landed his colony and took possession. The island, not yet Britain, but Albion, was in a manner desert and inho-pitable, occupied only by a remnant of the giant race whose excessive force and tyranny had destroyed the others. The Trojans encountered these and extirpated them, Corineus in particular signalizing himself by his exploits against them ; from whom Cornwall takes its name, for that region fell to his lot, and there the hugest giants dwelt, lurking in rocks and caves, till Corineus rid the land of them. Brutus built his capital city, and called it Trojanova (New Troy), changed in time to Trinovantum, now London ; " For nob^e Britons sprong from Trojans bold, And Troynovant was built of old Troy's ashes cold." — Spenser. Having governed the isle twenty-four years, he died, leaving three sons, Locrine, Albanact, and Camber. Locrme had the THE MYTHICAL HISTOR T QF ENGLAND. i ; middle part, Camber the west, called Cambria from him, and Albanact Albania, now Scotland. Locrine was married to Guen- dolen, the daughter of Corineus ; but, having seen a fair maid named Estrildis, who had been brought captive from Germany, he became enamored of her, and had by her a daughter, whose name was Sabra. This matter was kept secret while Corineus lived ; but after his death, Locrine divorced Guendolen, and made Estrildis his queen. Guendolen, all in rage, departed to Cornwall, where Madan, her son, lived, who had been brought up by Corineus, his grandfather. Gathering an army of her father's friends and subjects, she gave battle to her husband's forces, and Locrine was slain. Guendolen caused her rival, Es- trildis, with her daughter Sabra, to be thrown into the river, from which cause the river thenceforth bore the maiden's name, which by length of time is now changed into Sabrina or Severn. Milton alludes to this in his address to the rivers, — *' Severn swift, guilty of maiden's death" ; — and in his Comus tells the story with a slight variation : ** There is a gentle nymph not far from hence, That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream ; Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure : Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine, That had the sceptre from his father. Brute. She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit Of her enraged step-dame, Guendolen, Commended her fair innocence to the flood, That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course. The water-nymphs that in the bottom played. Held up their pearled wrists and took her in, Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall." If our readers ask when all this took place, we must answer, in the first place, that mythology is not careful of dates ; and next, that, as Brutus was the great-grandson of ^neas, it must have been not far from a century subsequent to the Trojan war, or about eleven hundred years before the invasion of the island by Julius Caesar. This long interval is filled with the names of princes whose chief occupation was in warring with one another. Some few, whose names remain connected with places, or em- balmed in literature, we will mention. 1 8 KINO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. Bla'dud. Bladiid built the city of Bath, and dedicated the me waters to Minerva. He was a man of great invention, and ^ ticed the arts of magic, till, having made him wings to fly, nc fell down upon the temple of Apollo, in Trinovant, and so died, after twenty years' reign. Lear. Lear, who next reigned, built Leicester, and called it after his name. He had no male issue, but only three daughters. When grown old, he determined to divide his kingdom among his daughters, and bestow them in marriage. But first, to try which of them loved him best, he determined to ask them sol- emnly in order, and judge of the warmth of their affection by their answers. Goneril, the eldest, knowing well her father's weakness, made answer : "Sir I love you more than words can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty ; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor, As much as child e'er loved." — King Lear. *' Since thou so honorest my declining age," said the old man, ** to thee and to thy husband I give the third part of my realm." Such good success for a few words soon uttered was ample in- struction to Regan, the second daughter, what to say. She therefore to the same question replied : " I am made of the self-same metal as my sister, And prize me at her worth." — King Lear. and so received an equal reward with her sister. But Cordeilla, the youngest, and hitherto the best beloved, too honest to pro- fess in words more than she felt in her heart, was not moved from the solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer, and replied : "Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth : I love your Majesty According to my bond ; no more, nor less." — King Lear. When the old man, sorry to hear this, and wishing her to recall these words, persisted in asking, she still restrained her expres- sions so as to say rather less than more than the truth. Then Lear, all in a passion, burst forth : ■m Lear. — Thou hast her France ; let her be thine ; for we Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see That face of her's again. — Therefore be gone Without our grace, our love, our benison. King Lear, Act i. Sc. L THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 19 ** For, by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate, and the night ; By all the operations of the orbs, For whom we do exist and cease to be ; Here I disclaim all my paternal care, And as a stranger to my heart and me, Hold thee, from this, for ever." — King Lear. And without delay, giving in marriage his other daughters, Goneril to the Duke of Albany, and Regan to the Duke of Corn- wall, he divides his kingdom between them. Cordeilla, portion- less, married the prince of France, who shortly after succeeded his father upon the throne. King Lear went to reside with his eldest daughter, attended only by a hundred knights. But in a short time his attendants, being complained of as too numerous and -disorderly, are reduced to thirty. Resenting that affront, the old king betakes him to his second daughter; but she, instead of. soothing his wounded pride, takes part with her sister, and refuses to admit a retinue of more than five. Then back he returns to the other, who now will not receive him with more than one attendant. Then the remembrance of Cordeilla comes to his thoughts, and he takes his journey into France to seek her, with little hope of kind con- sideration from one whom he had so injured, but to pay her the last recompense he can render — confession of his injustice. When Cordeilla is informed of his approach, and of his sad con- dition, she pours forth true filial tears. And, not willing that her own or others' eyes should see him in that forlorn condition, she sends one of her trusted servants to meet him, and convey him privately to some comfortable abode, and to furnish him with such state as befitted his dignity. King Lear seems to have lost not only faith in others, but also in himself: " TrsLV, do not mock me, I am a very foolish, fond old man, Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less, And to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind." — King Lear. Cordeilla, with the king her husband, went out to meet her father, who, because of his humiliation, attempted to kneel in her presence. She repelled the honor and exclaimed : 20 KINO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS, *' O look upon me, sir, And hold your hands in benediction o'er me. No, sir, you must not kneel." — King Lear. The king permitted his wife Cordeilla to go with an army and set her father again upon his throne. They prospered, subdued the wicked sisters and their consorts, and Lear obtained the crown and held it three years. Cordeilla succeeded him, and/; reigned five years ; but the sons of her sisters, after that, re- belled against her, and she lost both her crown and life. Shakespeare has chosen this story as the subject of his tragedy of King Lear, varying its details in some respects. The mad- ness of Lear, and the ill success of Cordeilla' s attempt to rein- state her father, are the principal variations. Our narrative is drawn from Milton's History ; and thus the reader will perceive that the story of Lear has had the distinguished honor of being told by the two acknowledged chiefs of British literature. Ferrex and Porrex. Ferrex and Porrex were the sons of Gorboduc, who held the kingdom after Lear. The father, wishing to lay aside the affairs of state, resigned the crown and divided his kingdom between his sons : " My love extendeth equally to both, My land sufficeth for them both also. H umber shall part the marches of their realm ; The southern part the elder shall possess, The northern shall Porrex the younger rule. In quiet I will pass mine aged days." — Ferrex and Porrex. The elder son felt that he was entitled, by virtue of his age, to the entire kingdom : *' I marvel much what reason led the king, My father, thus without all my desert. To reave me half the kingdom, which by course Of law and nature should remain to me." — Ferrex and Porrex. A war naturally followed, and Ferrex, having been defeated, was expelled from the country. He subsequently formed an alliance with Luard, King of the Franks, and, returning, made THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 2 1 war upon Porrex. The younger brother was again victorious, and Ferrex was slain. When his mother Videna learned of her son's death she fell into a great rage, and conceived a mortal hatred against the sur- vivor : " Dost thou know that Ferrex' s mother Hves, And doth she Hve and is not 'venged on thee?" — Ferrex and Porrex. Videna carried out her purpose and became the slayer of her son. This story forms the plot of the first tragedy ever written in the English language. It was the joint product of Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, and Thomas Norton, a barrister. It was primarily entitled Gorboduc, but changed to Ferrex and Porrex in the second edition. The date of the composition is fifteen hundred and sixty -one. Dun-wal'lo Mol-mu'ti-us. This is the next name of note. Molmutius established the Molmutine laws, which bestowed the privilege of sanctuary on temples, cities, and the roads leading to them, and gave the same protection to ploughs, extending a religious sanction to the labors of the field : ** Molmutius made our laws ; Who was the first of Britain which did put His brows within a golden crown, and called Himself a king." — Cymbeline. Bren'nus and Be-li'nus, the sons of Molmutius, succeeded him. They quarrelled, and Brennus was driven out of the island, and took refuge in Gaul, where he met with such favor from the king of the AUobroges that he gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him his partner on the throne. Brennus is the name which the Roman historians give to the famous leader of the Gauls who took Rome in the time of Camillus. Geoffrey of Monmouth claims the glory of the conquest for the British prince, after he had become king of the AUobroges. El'l-dure. After Belinus and Brennus there reigned several kings of little note, and then came Elidure. Arthgallo, his brother, being king, gave great off'ence to his powerful nobles, who rose against 22 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. him, deposed him, and advanced Elidure to the throne. Arth- gallo fled, and endeavored to find assistance in the neighboring kingdoms, but found none. Elidure reigned prosperously and wisely. After five years' possession of the kingdom, one day, when hunting, he met in the forest his brother Arthgallo, who had been deposed. After long wandering he had returned to Britain with only ten followers, designing to repair to those who had formerly been his friends. Elidure, at the sight of his brother in distress, forgetting all animosities, ran to him and embraced him : *' The royal Elidure who leads the chase Hath checked his foaming courser, ♦ Can it be? Methinks that I should recognize that face, Though much disguised by long adversity.* He gazed rejoicing, and again he gazed, Confounded and amazed. * It is the King, my brother!' and, by sound Of his own voice, leaps upon the ground." — Wordsworth. He took Arthgallo home and concealed him in the palace. After this he feigned himself sick, and, calling his nobles about him, induced them, partly by persuasion, partly by force, to consent to his abdicating the kingdom and reinstating his brother on the throne. The agreement being ratified, Elidure took the crown from his own head and put it on his brother's head. Arthgallo after this reigned ten years, well and wisely, exercising strict justice towards all men. He died, and left the kingdom to his sons, who reigned with various fortunes, but were not long-lived, and left no offspring, so that Elidure was again advanced to the throne, and finished the course of his life in just and virtuous actions, receiving the name of the pious, from the love and admiration of his subjects. Lud. After Elidure, the Chronicle names many kings, but none of special note, till we come to I Aid, who greatly enlarged Trino- vant, his capital, and surrounded it with a wall. He changed its name, bestowing upon it his own, so that thenceforth it was called Lud's town, afterwards London. Lud was buried by the gate of the city, called after him Ludgate. He had two sons, but they were not old enough at the time of their father's death THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 23 to sustain the cares of government, and therefore their uncle Caswallaun, or Cassibellaunus, succeeded to the kingdom. He was a brave and magnificent prince, so that his fame reached to distant countries. Cas'si-bel-lau'nus. About this time it happened that Julius Caesar, having subdued Gaul, came to the shore opposite Britain. And having resolved to add this island also to his conquests, he prepared ships and transported his army across the sea, to the mouth of the river Thames. Here he was met by Cassibellaun, with all his forces, and a battle ensued, in which Nennius, the brother of Cassibel- laun, engaged in single combat with Caesar. After several furi- ous blows given and received, the sword of Caesar stuck so fast in the shield of Nennius that it could not be pulled out, and, the combatants being separated by the intervention of the troops, Nennius remained possessed of this trophy. At last, after the greater part of the day was spent, the Britons poured in so fast that Caesar was forced to retire to his fleet. And finding it use- less to continue the war any longer at that time, he returned to Gaul. ** The fam'd Cassibelan, who was once at point (O, giglot fortune !) to master Caesar's sword, Made Lud's town with rejoicing fires bright, And Britons strut with courage." — Cymbeline. Cym'be-line. Caesar, on a second invasion of the island, was more fortunate. Cymbeline, the nephew of the king, was delivered to the Romans as a hostage for the faithful fulfilment of the treaty, and, being carried to Rome by Caesar, he was there brought up in the Roman arts and accomplishments. Being afterwards restored to his country, and placed on the throne, he was attached to the Ro- mans, and continued through all his reign at peace with them. His sons, Guiderius and Arviragus, who make their appearance in Shakespeare's play of Cymbeline, succeeded their father, and, refusing to pay tribute to the Romans, brought on another inva- sion. *' There be many Caesars Ere such another Julius. Britain is A world by itself; and we will nothing pay For wearing our own noses." — Cymbeline. 24 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. Guiderius was slain, but Arviragus afterward made terms with the Romans, and reigned prosperously many years. Ar-mor'i-ca. The next event of note is the conquest and colonization of Armorica by Maximus, a Roman general, and Conan, lord of Miniadoc or Denbigh-land, in Wales. The name of the country was changed to Brittany, or Lesser Britain ; and so completely (was it possessed by the British colonists that the language be- came assimilated to that spoken in Wales, and it is said that to this day the peasantry of the two countries can understand each other when speaking their native language. *♦ Nevertheless a British record long concealed In old Armorica, whose secret springs No Gothic conqueror ever drank, revealed The wondrous current of forgotten things." — WORDSWORTH. The Romans eventually succeeded in establishing themselves in the island, and after the lapse of several generations they be- came blended with the natives so that no distinction existed be- tween the two races. When at length the Roman armies were withdrawn from Britain, their departure was a matter of regret to the inhabitants, as it left them without protection against the barbarous tribes, Scots, Picts and Norwegians, who harassed the country incessantly. This was the state of things when the era of King Arthur began. CHAPTER III. M er'lin — Viv'i-an. Mer'lin. Merlin was the son of no mortal father, but of an Incubus, one of a class of beings not absolutely wicked, but far from good, who inhabit the regions of the air. Merlin's mother was a virtuous young woman, who, on the birth of her son, intrusted him to a priest, who hurried him to the baptismal fount, and so saved him from sharing the lot of his father, though he retained many marks of his unearthly origin. At this time Vortigern reigned in Britain. He was a usurper, who had caused the death of his sovereign, Moines, and driven the two brothers of the late king, whose names were Uther and Pendragon, into banishment. Vortigern, who lived in constant fear of the return of the rightful heirs of the kingdom, began to erect a strong tower for defence. The edifice, when brought by the workmen to a certain height, three times fell to the ground without any apparent cause : The tower walls So fast as built fell crashing to the Earth. The king consulted his astrologers on this wonderful event, and learned from them that it would be necessary to bathe the corner-stone of the foundation with the blood of a child born without a mortal father. (25) 26 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. In search of such an infant, Vortigern sent his messengers all over the kingdom, and they by accident discovered Merlin, whose lineage seemed to point him out as the individual wanted. They took him to the king ; but Merlin, young as he was, ex- plained to the king the absurdity of attempting to rescue the fabric by such means, for he told him the true cause of the in- stability of the tower was its being placed over the den of two immense dragons, whose combats shook the earth above them. The king ordered his workmen to dig beneath the tower, and when they had done so they discovered two enormous serpents, the one white as milk, the other red as fire. The multitude looked on with amazement till the serpents, slowly rising from their den, and expanding their enormous folds, began the com- bat, when every one fled in terror except Merlin, who stood by clapping his hands and cheering on the conflict. The red dragon was slain, and the white one, gliding through a cleft in the rock, disappeared. These animals typified, as Merlin. afterwards explained, the in- vasion of Uther and Pendragon, the rightful princes, who soon after landed with a great army. Vortigern was defeated, and afterwards burned alive in the castle he had taken such pains to construct. On the death of Vortigern, Pendragon ascended the throne. Merlin became his chief adviser, and often assisted the king by his magical arts : ** Merlin, who knew the range of all their arts, Had built the King his havens, ships and halls." — ViviAN. Among other endowments, he had the power of transforming himself into any shape he pleased. At one time he appeared as a dwarf, at others as a damsel, a page, or even a greyhound or a stag. This faculty he often employed for the service of the king, and sometimes also for the diversion of the court and the sovereign. He continued to be a favorite counsellor through the reigns of Pendragon, Uther and Arthur, and at last disappeared from view, and was no more found among men, through the treach- ery of his mistress, Vivian, the Fairy, which happened in this wise. Vivien's Wiles. MERLIN AND VIVIAN. 27 Viv'i-an. Merlin, having become enamored of the fair Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, was weak enough to impart to her various im- portant secrets of his art, being impelled by a fatal destiny, of which he was at the same time fully aware. The lady, however, was not content with his devotion, unbounded as it seems to have been, but ''cast about," the Romance tells us, how she might "detain him for evermore," and one day addressed him in these terms : " Sir, I would that we should make a fair place and a suitable, so contrived by art and by cunning that it might never be undone, and that you and I should be there in joy and solace." ''My lady," said Merhn, "I will do all this." <'Then," said she : "O, Merlin, teach it me. The charm so taught will charm us both to rest. For, grant me some slight power upon your fate, I, feeling that you felt me worthy trust, Should rest and let you rest, knowing you mine." — ViVlAN. " I grant you this," said Merlin. Then he began to devise, and the damsel put it all in writing. And when he had devised the whole, then had the damsel full great joy, and showed him greater semblance of love than she had ever before made, and they sojourned together a long while. At length it fell out that, as they were going one day hand- in-hand through the forest of Breceliande, they found a bush of white-thorn, which was laden with flowers ; and they seated themselves, under the shade of this white-thorn, upon the green grass, and Merlin laid his head upon the damsel's lap, and fell asleep. Then the damsel rose, and made a ring with her wimple round the bush and round Merlin, and began her enchantments, such as he himself had taught her ; and nine times she made the ring, and nine times she made the enchantment, and then she went and sat down by him, and placed his head again upon her lap ; '* And a sleep Fell upon Merlin more like death, so deep Her finger on her lips ; then Vivian rose, And from her brown-locked head the wimple throws. And takes it in her hand and waves it over The blossomed thorn tree and her sleeping lover. Nine times she waved the fluttering wimple round, And made a little plot of magic ground." — Matthew Arnold. 28 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. And when he awoke and looked round him, it seemed to him that he was enclosed in the strongest tower in the world, and laid upon a fair bed. Then said he to the dame : *' My lady, you have deceived me, unless you abide with me, for no one hath power to unmake this tower but you alone ' ' : ** Closed in the four walls of a hollow tower, From which was no escape for evermore ; And none could find that man for evermore, Nor could he see but him who wrought the charm Coming and going, and he lay as dead." — ViVlAN. She then promised she would be often there, and in this she held her covenant with him. And Merlin never went out of that tower where his Mistress Vivian had enclosed him ; but she entered and went out again when she listed. They talked of love and fame and the stirring scenes of Sir Arthur's court. Merlin lived only in the past. He felt the spell of Vivian's charm, but was impotent to break it : *' There lived a king in the most Eastern East, Less old than I, yet older, for my blood Hath earnest in it of far springs to be. A tawny pirate anchor' d in his port, Whose bark had plunder' d twenty nameless isles. And passing one, at the high peep of dawn. He saw two cities in a thousand boats All fighting for a woman on the sea. And pushing his black craft among them all, He lightly scatter' d theirs and brought her off. With loss of half his people arrow-slain." — Vivian. This woman afterwards became the scourge of the King and his kingdom. The armies disbanded, the young men sickened, and the very beasts felt the spell of her power. The King offered a prize to any wizard who would undo the charm. Those who attempted and failed were put to death : ** And many tried and fail'd, because the charm Of nature in her overbore their own : And many a wizard brow bleach' d on the walls ; And many weeks a troop of carrion-crows Hung like a cloud above the gateway towers." — Vivian. MERLIN AND ViVlAN. 29 In this strange event Merlin read the prophecy of his own death. He withdrew entirely from the world, and was never known again to hold converse with any mortal but Vivian, ex- cept on one occasion. Arthur, having for some time missed him The Wizard's Doom. from his court, sent several of his knights in search of him, and, among the number. Sir Gawain, who met with a very unpleasant adventure while engaged in this quest. Happening to pass a damsel on his road, and neglecting to salute her, she revenged 30 KINO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. herself for his incivility by transforming him into a hideous dwarf He was bewailing aloud his evil fortune as he went through the forest of Breceliande, when suddenly he heard the voice of one groaning on his right hand ; and, looking that way, he could see nothing save a kind of smoke, which seemed like air, and through which he could not pass. Merlin then ad- dressed him from out the smoke, and told him by what misad- venture he was imprisoned there. " Ah, sir !" he added, ^* you will never see me more, and that grieves me, but I cannot remedy it ; I shall never more speak to you, nor to any other person, save only my mistress. But do thou hasten to King Arthur, and charge him from me to undertake, without delay, the quest of the Sacred Grail. The knight is already born, and has received knighthood at his hands, who is destined to accom- plish this quest. ' ' And after this he comforted Gawain under his transformation, assuring him that he should speedily be dis- enchanted ; and he predicted to him that he should find the king at Carduel, in Wales, on his return, and that all the other knights who had been on like quest would arrive there the same day as himself And all this came to pass as Merlin had said. Merlin is frequently introduced in the tales of chivalry, but it is chiefly on great occasions, and at a period subsequent to his death or magical disappearance. In the romantic poems of Italy, and in Spenser, Merlin is chiefly represented as a magical artist. Spenser represents him as the artificer of the impene- trable shield and other armor of Prince Arthur : ** Merlin, which formerly did excel All living wights in mind or magic spell, Both shield and sword and armor all he wrought For this young prince." — Faery Queen. The Fountain of Love, in the Orlando Innamorato, is de- scribed as his work ; and in the poem of Ariosto we are told of a hall adorned with prophetic paintings, which demons had ex- ecuted in a single night, under the direction of Merlin : * * This is the ancient memorable cave Which Merlin the Enchanter sage did make." — Orlando Furioso. MERLIN AND VIVIAN 3 1 The following is from the third book of Spenser's Faery Queen. The scene is laid at Caer-Merdin, Merlin's tower, where he met his tragic end : " A little while Before that Merlin died, he did intend A brazen wall in compas to compile About Caermerdin, and did it commend Unto these sprites to bring to perfect end ; During which work the Lady of the Lake, Whom long he loved, for him in haste did send ; Who, thereby, forced his workmen to forsake, Them bound till liis return their labor not to slack. In the mean time, through that false lady's train, He Mas surprised, and buried under beare. Nor ever to his work returned again." Tennyson, however, ascribes a different though no less tragic end. Merlin and Vivian had quarrelled. He had accused her of falsity, and she determined to leave him forever : •' ' But ere I leave you let me swear once more That if I schemed against your peace in this, May yon just heaven, that darkens o'er me, send One flash, that, missing all things else, may make My scheming brain a cinder, if I lie.' * ' Scarce had she ceased, when out of heaven a bolt (For now the storm was close above them) struck, Furrowing a giant oak, and javelining With darted spikes and splinters of the wood The dark earth round. He raised his eyes and saw The tree that shone white-listed through the gloom. But Vivian, fearing Heaven had heard her oath, And dazzled by the livid flickering fork. And deafen' d with the stammering cracks and claps That follow' d, flying back and crying out, ' O Merlin, though you do not love me, save, Yet save me !' *' Then in one moment, she put forth the charm Of woven paces and of waving hands, And in the hollow oak he lay as dead, And lost to life and use and name and fame." — Vivian. Merlin has been variously interpreted, and still remains a sub- ject for the antiquarian. He has ranked all the way from a myth to a seer. An ingenious book appeared in England some 3^ KING ARTHUR AND HIS ICNtGHTS. two hundred and fifty years ago, in which it was claimed that the wars, revolutions and national disasters that have come upon England were all foreshadowed in Merlin's prophecies : " Merlin, well versed in many a hidden spell, His country's omen did long since foretell." The probabilities are that the truth in this instance, as in most others, lies somewhere between the two extremes. But the real is so involved in the mythical that to discriminate at this distance is impossible. Vivien's Charm CHAPTER IV. Ar'thur—Constans — Arthur Chosen King — Guin'e- vere — The Marriage of Arthur and Guin'e- vere — How Tor Became a Knight — Ga'w^ain's Victory. Ar'thur. We shall begia our history of King Arthur by giving those particulars of his life which appear to rest on historical evidence ; and then proceed to record those legends concerning him which form the earliest portion of British literature. Arthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose country was South Wales — the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of Britain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year five hundred, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later. He is said to have gained twelve victories over the Saxons. The most important of them was that of Badon, by some supposed to be Bath, by others Berkshire. This was the last of his battles with the Saxons, and checked their progress so effectually that Arthur experienced no more annoyance from them, and reigned in peace until the re- volt of his nephew Modred, twenty years later, which led to the fatal battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, in five hundred and forty- two. Modred was slain, and Arthur, mortally wounded, was conveyed by sea to Glastonbury, where he died, and was buried. Tradition preserved the memory of the place of his interment S . (33) 34 KINO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. within the abbey, as we are told by one who was present when the grave was opened by command of Henry II. about the year eleven hundred and fifty, and saw the bones and sword of the monarch, and a leaden cross let into his tombstone, with the in- scription in rude Roman letters, "Here lies buried the famous King Arthur, in the island Avalonia." •' Or mythic Uther's deeply wounded fon. In some fair space of sloping greens. Lay dozing in the vale of Avalon, And watched by weeping queens." — Palace of Art. This story has been elegantly versified by Warton. A popular traditional belief was long entertained among the Britons that Arthur was not dead, but had been carried off to be healed of his wounds in Fairy-land, and that he would reappear to avenge his countrymen and reinstate them in the sovereignty of Britain. In Warton' s Ode a bard relates to King Henry the traditional story of Arthur's death, and closes with these lines: ** Yet in vain a paynim foe Armed with fate the mighty blow ; For when he fell, the Elfin queen, All in secret and unseen, O'er the fainting hero threw Her mantle of ambrosial blue, And bade her spirits bear him far, In Merlin's agate-axled car. To her green isle's enamelled steep, Far in the navel of the deep. O'er his wounds she sprinkled dew From flowers that in Arabia grew. There he reigns a mighty king, Thence to Britain shall return. If right prophetic rolls I learn. Borne on victory's spreading plume. His ancient sceptre to resume. His knightly table to restore. And brave the tournaments of yore.*' After this narration another bard came forward, who re- cited a different story : ARTHUR. 35 ** "When Arthur bowed his haughty crest, No princess veiled in azure ve■^t Snatched him, by Merlin's powerful spell, In groves of golden bliss to dwell ; But when he fell, with winged speed. His champions, on a milk-white steed, From the battle's hurricane, Bore him to Joseph's towered fane^ In the fair vale of Avalon ; There, with chanted orison And the long blaze of tapers clear. The stoled fathers met the bier ; Through the dim aisles, in order dread Of martial woe, the chief they led. And deep entombed in holy ground, Before the altar's solemn bound." j^: It must not be concealed that the very existence of Arthur has | been denied by some. Milton says of him: ''As to Arthur, -^■ more renowned in songs and romances than in true stories, who he was, and whether ever any such reigned in Britain, hath been ■ , doubted heretofore, and may again, with good reason. ' ' Modern critics, however, admit that there was a prince of this name, and find proof of it in the frequent mention of him in the writings of the Welsh bards. But the Arthur of romance, according to Mr. Owen, a Welsh scholar and antiquarian, is a mythological person. ''Arthur," he says, " is the Great Bear, as the name literally implies Arctos, Arcturus, and perhaps this constellation, being so near the pole, and visibly describing a circle in a small space, is the origin of the famous Round Table ' ' : ' * Dost thou know the star We call the Harp of Arthur up in heaven?" — The Last Tournament. ^ Let us now turn to the history of King Arthur as recorded by the romantic chroniclers. Constans. Constans, King of Britain, had three sons, Moines, Ambro- sius, otherwise called Uther, and Pendragon. Moines, soon after his accession to the crown, was vanquished by the Saxons, ^ Gla>tonbury Abbey, said to be founded by Joseph of Arimathea, in a spot anciently called the island or valley of Avalonia. 36 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. in consequence of the treachery of his seneschal, Vortigern, and growing unpopular, through misfortune, he was killed by his subjects, and the traitor Vortigern chosen in his place. Vortigern was soon after defeated in a great battle by Uther and Pendragon, the surviving brothers of Moines, and Pendragon ascended the throne. This prince had great confidence in the wisdom of Merlin, •- and made him his chief adviser. About this time a dreadful war arose between the Saxons and Britons : " For many a petty king ere Arthur came Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war Each upon the other, wasted all the land." —Coming of Arthur. Merlin obliged the royal brothers to swear fidelity to each other, but predicted that one of them must fall in the first battle. The Saxons were routed, and Pendragon, being slain, was succeeded by Uther, who now assumed in addition to his own name the appellation of Pendragon. Merlin next proceeded to Carlisle to prepare the Round Table, at which he seated an assemblage of the great nobles of the country. The companions admitted to this high order were bound by oath to assist each other at the hazard of their own lives, to attempt singly the most perilous adventures, to lead, when necessary, a life of monastic solitude, to fly to arms at the first summons, and never to retire from battle till they had de- feated the enemy, unless night intervened and separated the com- batants : "It was the time when the first the question rose About the founding of a Table Round." — Vivian. Soon after this institution the king invited all his barons to the celebration of a great festival, which he proposed holding annu- ally at Carlisle. As the knights nad obtained the sovereign's permission to bring their ladies along with them, the beautiful Igerne accom- panied her husband, Gorlois, Duke of Tintadiel, to one of these anniversaries. The king became deeply enamored of the Duchess, and disclosed his passion ; but Igerne repelled his ad- vances, and revealed his solicitations to her husband. On hear- CONSTANS. 37 ing this, the Duke instantly removed from court with Igerne, and without taking leave of Uther. The king complained to his council of this want of duty, and they decided that the Duke should be summoned to court, and, if refractory, should be treated as a rebel. As he refused to obey the citation, the king carried war into the estates of his vassal, and besieged him in the strong castle of Tintadiel. Merlin transformed the king into the likeness of Gorlois, and enabled him to have many stolen interviews with Igerne. At length the Duke was killed in bat- tle, and the king espoused Igerne. From this union sprang Arthur, who succeeded his father, Uther, upon the throne : The Finding of Arlhur. *< And that night the bard Sang Arthur's glorious wars, and sang the King As well-nigh more than man, and rail'd at those NVho call'd him the false son of Gorlois ; For there was no man knew from whence he came ; But after tempest, when the long wave broke All down the thundering shores of Bude and Bos, There came a day as still as heaven, and then 38 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. They found a naked child upon the sands Of dark Dundagil by the Cornish sea ; And that was Arthur ; and they foster' d him Till he by miracle was approven king : And that his grave should be a mystery From all men, like his birth." — Guinevere. Arthur Chosen King. Arthur, though only fifteen years old at his father's death, was elected king at a general meeting of the nobles. It was not done without opposition, for there were many ambitious competitors : ** For while he linger' d there A doubt that ever smoulder' d in the hearts Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm Flash' d forth and into war : for most of these Made head against him, crying, * Who is he That he should rule us ? who hath proven him King Uther's son ? for lo ! we look at him, And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice, Are like to those of Uther whom we knew." — Coming of Arthur. But Bishop Brice, a person of great sanctity, on Christmas eve addressed the assembly, and represented that it would well be- come them, at that solemn season, to put up their prayers for some token which should manifest the intentions of Providence respecting their future sovereign. This was done, and with such success that the service was scarcely ended when a miraculous stone was discovered before the church door, and in the stone was firmly fixed a sword, with the following words engraven on its hilt : " I am hight Escalibore, Unto a king fair tresore." Bishop Brice, after exhorting the assembly to offer up their thanksgivings for this signal miracle, proposed a law that who- ever should be able to draw out the sword from the stone should be acknowledged as sovereign of the Britons ; and his proposal was decreed by general acclamation. The tributary kings of Uther and the most famous knights successively put their strength to the proof, but the miraculous sword resisted all their efforts. It stood till Candlemas ; it stood till Easter, and till Pentecost, ARTHUR CHOSEN KING. 39 when the best knights in the kingdom usually assembled for the annual tournament. Arthur, who was at that time serving in the capacity of squire to his foster-brother Sir Kay, attended his master to the lists. Sir Kay fought with great valor and suc- cess, but had the misfortune to break his sword, and sent Arthur to his mother for a new one. Arthur hastened home, but did not find the lady ; but having observed near the church a sword sticking in a stone, he galloped to the place, drew out the sword with great ease, and delivered it to his master.' Sir Klay would willingly have assumed to himself the distinction conferred by the possession of the sword ; but when, to confirm the doubters, the sword was replaced in the stone, he was utterly unable to withdraw it, and it would yield a second time to no hand but Arthur's. Thus decisively pointed out by Heaven as their king, Arthur was, by general consent, proclaimed as such, and an early day appointed for his solemn coronation : ** And near him stood the Lady of the Lake,— Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. She gave the king his huge cross-hilted sword. Whereby to drive the heathen out : a mist Of incense curl'd about her, and her face Well-nigh was hidden in the minster gloom. But there was heard among the holy hymns A voice as of the waters, for she dwells Down in a deep, calm, whatsoever storms May shake the world, and, when the surface rolls, Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord." — Coming of Arthur. Immediately after his election to the crown, Arthur found himself opposed by eleven kings and one duke, who with a vast army were actually encamped in the forest of Rockingham : *' Yet Merlin thro' his craft Had Arthur crown' d ; but after, the great lords Banded, and so brake out in open war." — Coming of Arthur. By Merlin's advice Arthur sent an embassy to Brittany to solicit the aid of King Ban and King Bohort, two of the best knights 1 A similar instance is recorded of Theseus, " Age of Fable," page 191. 40 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIOHTS. in the world. They accepted the call, and with a powerful army crossed the sea, landing at Portsmouth, where they were received with great rejoicing. The rebel kings were still supe- rior in numbers ; but Merlin, by a powerful enchantment, caused all their tents to fall down at once, and in the confusion Arthur with his allies fell upon them and totally routed them : I ** When Arthur first his court began, And was approved king, By force of arms great victories won, And conquests home did bring." — Percy's Reliques. After defeating the rebels, Arthur took the field against the Saxons. As they were too strong for him unaided, he sent an embassy to Armorica, beseeching the assistance of Hoel, who soon after brought over an army to his aid. The two kings joined their forces, and sought the enemy, whom they met, and both sides prepared for a decisive engagement. ^^ Arthur him- self," as Gcjoffrey of Monmouth relates, 'Pressed in a breast- plate worthy of so great a king, places on his head a golden helmet engraved with the semblance of a dragon. Over his shoulders he throws his shield called Priwen, on which a picture of the Holy Virgin constantly recalled her to his memory. Girt with Excalibur, a most excellent sword, and fabricated in the isle of Avalon, he graces his right hand with the lance named Ron. This was a long and broad spear, well contrived for slaughter." After a severe conflict, Arthur, calhng on the name of the Virgin, rushes into the midst of his enemies, and destroys multitudes of them with the formidable Excalibur, and puts the rest to flight. Hoel, being detained by sickness, took no part in this battle. This is called the victory of Mount Badon, and, however dis- guised by fable, it is regarded by historians as a real event : " They sung how he himself at Badon bore, that day. When at the glorious goal his British scepter lay ; Two daies together how the battel stronglie stood ; Pendragon's vvorthie son, who waded there in blood, Three hundred Saxons slew with his owne valiant hand." — Drayton, • GUINEVERE. 4I Guin'e-vere. Merlin had planned for Arthur a marriage with the daughter of King Laodegan of Carmalide : ** Leodogran, the King of Cameliard, Had one fair daughter, and none other child ; And she was fairest of all flesh on earth, Guinevere, and in her his one deUght." • — Coming of Arthur. By his advice Arthur paid a visit to the court of that sovereign, attended only by Merlin and by thirty-nine knights whom the magician had selected for that service. On their arrival they found Laodegan and his peers sitting in council, endeavoring, but with small prospect of success, to devise means of resisting the impending attack of Ryence, King of Ireland, who, with fifteen tributary kings and an almost innumerable army, had nearly surrounded the city. Merlin, who acted as leader of the band of British knights, announced them as strangers, who came to offer the king their services in his wars ; but under the express condition that they should be at liberty to conceal their names and quality until they should think proper to divulge them. These terms were thought very strange, but were thank- fully accepted, and the strangers, after taking the usual oath to the king, retired to the lodging which Merlin had prepared for them : *' A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas — Ye come from Arthur' s court : think ye this king — So few his knights, however brave they be — Hath body enow to beat his foemen down ?' ' ■ — Coming of Arthur. A few days after this the enemy, regardless of a truce into which they had entered with King Laodegan, suddenly issued from their camp and made an attempt to surprise the city. Cleodalis, the king's general, assembled the royal forces with all possible despatch. Arthur and his companions also flew to arms, and Merlin appeared at their head, bearing a standard on which was emblazoned a terrific dragon. Merlin advanced to the gate and commanded the porter to open it, which the porter refused to do without the king's order. Merlin thereupon took 42 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. up the gate, with all its appurtenances of locks, bars and bolts, and directed his troop to pass through, after which he replaced it in perfect order. He then set spurs to his horse, and dashed, at the head of his little troop, into a body of two thousand Pa- gans. The disparity of numbers being so enormous, Merlin cast a spell upon the enemy, so as to prevent their seeing the small number of their assailants; notwithstanding which the British knights were hard pressed. But the people of the city, who saw from the walls this unequal contest, were ashamed of leav- ing the small body of strangers to their fate, so they opened the gate and sallied forth : '* And Guinevere Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass j But since he neither wore on helm or shield The golden symbol of his kinglihood, But rode a simple knight among his knights, And many of these in richer arms than he, She saw him not, or mark'd not, if she saw, One among many, tho' his face was bare. But Arthur, looking downward as he past, Felt the light of her eyes into his life." — Coming of Arthur. The numbers were now more nearly equal, and Merlin revoked his spell, so that the two armies encountered on fair terms. Where Arthur, Ban, Bohort, and the rest fought, the king's army had the advantage ; but in another part of the field the king himself was surrounded and carried off by the enemy. This sad sight was seen by Guinevere, the fair daughter of the king, who stood on the city wall and looked at the battle. She was in dreadful distress, tore her hair, and swooned away. But Merlin, aware of what passed in every part of the field, suddenly collected his knights, led them out of the battle, inter- cepted the passage of the party who were carrying away the king, charged them with irresistible impetuosity, cut in pieces or dispersed the whole escort, and rescued the king. In the fight Arthur encountered Caulang, a giant fifteen feet high, and the fair Guinevere, who already began to feel a strong interest in the handsome young stranger, trembled for the issue of the contest. But Arthur, dealing a dreadful blow on the slioulder of the monster, cut through his neck so that his head hung over GUINEVERE. 43 on one side, and in this condition his horse carried him about the field, to the great horror and dismay of the Pagans. Guin- evere could not refrain from expressing aloud her wish that the gentle knight, who dealt with giants so dexterously, were des- tined to become her husband, and the wish was echoed by her attendants : *' She saw, Wet with the mists and smitten by the lights, The Dragon of the great Pendragonship Blaze, making all the night a steam of fire." — Guinevere. The enemy soon turned their backs, and fled with precipitation, closely pursued by Laodegan and his allies. After the battle Arthur was disarmed and conducted to the bath by the Princess Guinevere, while his friends were attended by the other ladies of the court. After the bath the knights were conducted to a magnificent entertainment, at which they were diligently served by the same fair attendants. Laodegan, more and more anxious to know the name and quality of his generous deliverers, and occasionally forming a secret wish that the chief of his guests might be captivated by the charms of his daughter, appeared silent and pensive, and was scarcely roused from his reverie by the banters of his courtiers : ** Fear not to give this king thine only child, Guinevere : so great bards of him will sing Hereafter, and dark sayings from of old Raging and ringing thro' the minds of men. And echo'd by old folk beside their fires For comfort after their wage-work is done. Speak of the king," — Coming of Arthur. Arthur, having had an opportunity of explaining to Guinevere his great esteem for her merit, was in the joy of his heart, and was still further delighted by hearing from Merlin the late ex- ploits of Gawain at London, by means of which his immediate return to his dominions was rendered unnecessary, and he was left at liberty to protract his stay at the court of Laodegan. Every day contributed to increase the admiration of the whole court for the gallant strangers, and the passion of Guinevere for their chief; and when at last Merlin announced to the king that the object of the visit of the party was to procure a bride for 44 J^INO ARTHUR AND HIS KNIOHTS. their leader, Laodegan at once presented Guinevere to Arthur, telling him that, whatever might be his rank, his merit was suf- ficient to entitle him to the possession of the heiress of Car- malide : ** And could he find a woman in her womanhood ' As great as he was in his manhood — The twain together might change the world." — Guinevere. i Arthur accepted the lady with the utmost gratitude, and Merlin then proceeded to satisfy the king of the rank of his son-in-law ; upon which Laodegan, with all his barons, hastened to do homage to their lawful sovereign, the successor of Uther Pen- dragon. The Marriage of Arthur and Guinevere. The fair Guinevere was then solemnly betrothed to Arthur, and a magnificent festival was proclaimed, which lasted seven days : " The king That morn was married, while in stainless white, The fair beginners of a nobler time, And glorying in their vows and him, his knights Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy. And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake, * Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee, And all this Order of thy Table Round Fulfil the boundless purpose of their king." — Coming of Arthur. King Arthur, as was customary at royal weddings, granted boons to all his subjects, which leads us to relate How Tor Became a Knight. One day during the wedding festivities of the king a poor peasant came into his court riding upon a lean horse. He was accompanied by a fair young man of eighteen years. The peasant asked of each one whom he met, ''Where shall I find King Arthur?" ''Yonder he is," was the reply ; "wilt thou anything with him?" "Yea," said the poor man ; " therefore came I hither." He then approached the king and cried : " O King Arthur, the flower of all knights and kings, I beseech Guinevere. l\^- HOW TOR BECAME A KNIGHT. 45 Jesus save thee. Sir, I was told that at this time of thy mar- riage thou wouldst grant any request except it were unreason- able." " Such is true," said the king, ''and so will I do jf it touch not my estate or my kingdom." ''Ye say well," ex- claimed the peasant, "and I ask nothing else but ye will make my son here a knight." " It is a great thing ye ask of me," said the king; "but what is thy name?" "Sir," re- plied the poor man, "my name is Aries the Cowherd." "Whether cometh this of thee or thy son?" asked the king. " Nay, sir," said Aries, " this desire cometh of my son, and not of me." He then told the king that he had thirteen sons, all of whom were willing to labor save Tor, who refused to do any work whatever, but only delighted in fighting, shooting, and had no wish but to be a knight. " What is thy name ?" asked the king of the young man. " Sir," he replied, "my name is Tor." The king then ordered Aries the Cowherd to bring his thir- teen sons before him, which he did. They all resembled their father but Tor, who bore him no resemblance at all. " Now," said the king unto Aries, "where i§ -the sword, that he shall be made a knight withal ?" "It is here," said Tor. The king ordered him to dismount and request knighthood. This the young man did ; and kneeling before the king prayed that he might be made one of the Round Table. King Arthur smote him upon the neck and said : " Be ye a good knight, so I pray God, and if ye be found worthy ye shall belong to the Round Table." The king then turned to Merlin and demanded whether or no Tor would prove himself a good knight. "Yes, sir, he ought to," Merlin replied, " for he is of kingly blood." " How so ?" asked King Arthur. Then Merlin told the king that Aries the Cowherd was of no kin to the boy, but his father was none other than Pellenore himself. The next day King Pellenore came to the court, and was overjoyed to see his son and know that he had been knighted by Sir Arthur. So Tor was the first knight made by the king in honor of his marriage with Queen Guinevere. He was a brother to the unfortunate Elaine, the plain, blunt man of all the court. ** Then the rough Tor began to heave and move, And bluster with stormy sobs." — Elaine. 46 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. Ga'wain's Victory. We must now relate what took place at and near London while Arthur was absent from his capital. At this very time a band of young heroes were on their way to Arthur's court for the purpose of receiving knighthood from him. They were Gawain and his three brothers, nephews of Arthur, sons of King Lot, and Galachin, another nephew, son of King Nanters. King Lot had been one of the rebel chiefs whom Arthur had defeated, but he now hoped by means of the young men to be reconciled to his brother-in-law. He equipped his sons and his nephew with the utmost magnificence, giving them a splendid retinue of young men, sons of earls and barons, all mounted on the best horses, with complete suits of choice armor. They numbered in all seven hundred, but only nine had yet received the order of knighthood ; the rest were candidates for that honor, and anxious to earn it by an early encounter with the enemy. Gawain, the leader, was a knight of wonderful strength ; but what was most remarkable about him was that his strength was greater at certain hours of the day than at others. From nine o'clock till noon his strength was doubled, and so it was from three to even-song ; for the rest of the time it was less remarkable, though at all times surpassing that of ordinary men. After a march of three days they arrived in the vicinity of London, where they expected to find Arthur and his court ; and very unexpectedly fell in with a large convoy belonging to the enemy, consisting of numerous carts and w^agons, all loaded with provisions, and escorted by three thousand men, who had been collecting spoil from all the country round. A single charge from Gawain' s impetuous cavalry was sufficient to dis- perse the escort and recover the convoy, which was instantly despatched to London. But before long a body of seven thou- sand fresh soldiers advanced to the attack of the five princes and their little army. Gawain, singling out a chief named Choas, of gigantic size, began the battle by splitting him from the crown of the head to the breast. Thus they kept the great army of assailants at bay, though hard pressed, till of a sudden they perceived a strong body of the citizens advancing from London, where the convoy which htad been recovered by Gawain had O A WAIN'S VICTORY. 47 arrived, and informed the mayor and citizens of the danger of their deliverer. The arrival of the Londoners soon decided the contest. The enemy fled in all directions, and Gawain and his friends, escorted by the grateful citizens, entered London, and were received with acclamations. CHAPTER V. Ar'thur (continued) — His Coronation — He Slays St. Michael's Giant — Gets a Sword from the Lady of the Lake. Ar'thur. After the great victory of Mount Badon, by which the Saxons were for the time effectually put down, Arthur turned his arms against the Scots and Picts, whom he routed at Lake Lomond, and compelled to sue for mercy. He then went to York, and employed himself in restoring the Christian churches which the Pagans had rifled and overthrown. The fol- lowing summer he conquered Ire- land, and then made a voyage with his fleet to Iceland, which he also subdued. The kings of Goth- land and of the Orkneys came vol- untarily and made their submis- sion, promising to pay tribute. Then he returned to Britain, where, having established the kingdom, he dwelt twelve years in peace. During this time he invited over to him all persons whatsoever that were famous for valor in foreign nations, and augmented the number of his domestics, and introduced such politeness into his court as people of the remotest countries thought worthy of their imitation. So that there was not a nobleman who thought him- U8J ARTHUR. 49 self of any consideration unless his clothes and arms were made in the same fashion as those of Arthur's knights. Finding himself so powerful at home, Arthur began to form designs for extending his power abroad. So, having prepared his fleet, he first attempted Norway, that he might procure the crown of it for Lot, his sister's husband. Arthur landed in Norway, fought a great battle with the king of that country, de- feated him, and pursued the victory till he had reduced the whole country under his dominion and established Lot upon the throne. Then Arthur made a voyage to Gaul and laid siege to the city of Paris. Gaul was at that time a Roman province, and governed by Flollo, the Tribune. When the siege of Paris had continued a month, and the people began to suffer from famine, Flollo challenged Arthur to single combat, proposing to decide the conquest of the province in that way. Arthur gladly ac- cepted the challenge, and slew his adversary in the contest, upon which the citizens surrendered the city to him : " I conquered all Gallya, That now is called France, And slew the hardye Floll in feild My honor to advance." — Percy's Reliques. After the victory Arthur divided his army into two parts, one of which he committed to the conduct of Hoel, while he with the other part should endeavor to subdue the other provinces. At the end of nine years, in which time all the parts of Gaul were entirely reduced, Arthur returned to Paris, and, calling an assembly of the clergy and people, established peace and the just administration of the laws in that kingdom. Then he bestowed Normandy upon Bedver, his butler, and the province of Ande- gavia upon Kay, his steward,' and several other provinces upon his great men that attended him : **What doest thou, scullion, in my fellowship? Deem' st thou that I accept thee aught the more Or love thee better, that by some device Full cowardly, or by mere unhappiness, 1 This name, in the French romances, is spelled Queux, which means head cook. He is the Seneschal or Steward, his duties also embracing those of chief of the cooks. 4 50 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. Thou hast overthrown and slain thy master — thou ! — Dish-washer and broach -turner, loon ! — to me Thou smellest all of kitchen as before," — Gareth and Lynette. And, having settled the peace of the cities and countries, he re- turned back in the beginning of spring to Britain. Arthur's Coronation. Upon the approach of the feast of Pentecost, Arthur resolved, during that season, to hold a magnificent court, to place the crown upon his head, and to invite all the kings and dukes under his subjection to the solemnity. And he pitched upon Caerleon, the City of Legions, as the proper place for his purpose. For, besides its great wealth above the other cities,^ its situation upon the river Usk, near the Severn sea, was most pleasant and fit for so great a solemnity. For on one side it was washed by that noble river, so that the kings and princes from the countries be- yond the seas might have the convenience of sailing up to it. On the other side the beauty of the meadows and groves, and magnificence of the royal palaces, with lofty gilded roofs that adorned it, made it even rival the grandeur of Rome. It was also famous for two churches, whereof one was adorned with a choir of virgins, who devoted themselves wholly to the -service of God, and the other maintained a convent of priests. Be- sides, there was a college of two hundred philosophers, who, being learned in astronomy and the other arts, were diligent in observing the courses of the stars, and gave Arthur true predic- tions of the events that would happen. In this place, there- fore, which afforded such delights, were preparations made for the ensuing festival. Ambassadors were then sent into several kingdoms to invite to court the princes both of Gaul and of the adjacent islands. Accordingly there came Augusel, King of Albania, now Scot- 1 Several cities are allotted to King Arthur by the romance-writers. The principal are Caerleon, Camelot and Carlisle. Caerleon derives its name from its having been the station of one of the legions during the dominion of the Romans. Camelot is thought to be Winchester, Shalott is Guildford. Hamo's Port is Southampton. Carlisle is the city still retaining that name, near the Scottish border. ARTHUR'S CORONA TION. 5 1 land ; Cadwallo, King of Venedotia, now North Wales ; Sater, King of Demetia, now South Wales ; also the archbishops of the metropolitan sees, London and York, and Dubricius, Bishop of Caerleon, the City of Legions. This prelate, who was primate of Britain, was so eminent for his piety that he could cure any sick person by his prayers. There were also the counts of the principal cities, and many other worthies of no less dig- nity. From the adjacent islands came Guillamurius, King of Ire- land ; Gunfasius, King of the Orkneys ; Malvasius, King of Ice- land ; Lot, King of Norway ; Bedver, the butler, Duke of Nor- mandy ; Kay, the sewer, Duke of Andegavia ; also the twelve peers of Gaul, and Hoel, Duke of the Armorican Britons, with his nobility, who came with such a train of mules, horses and rich furniture as it is difhcult to describe. Besides these, there remained no prince of any consideration on this side of Spain who came not upon this invitation. When all were assembled, upon the day of the solemnity, the archbishops were conducted to the palace in order to place the crown upon the king's head. Then Dubricius, the archbishop, inasmuch as the court was held in his diocese, made himself ready to celebrate the office. As soon as the king was invested with his royal habiliments, he was conducted in great pomp to the metropolitan church, having four kings, viz., of Albania, Cornwall, Demetia and Venedotia, bearing four golden swords before him. On another part was the queen, dressed out in her richest ornaments, conducted by the archbishops and bishops to the Church of Virgins ; the four queens, also, of the kings last mentioned, bearing before her four white doves, according to ancient custom. When the whole procession was ended, so transporting was the harmony of the musical instruments and voices, whereof there was a vast variety in both churches, that the knights who attended were in doubt which to prefer, and therefore crowded from the one to the other by turns. At last, when divine service was over at both churches, the king and queen put off their crowns, and, putting on their lighter orna- ments, went to the banquet. When they had all taken their seats according to precedence, Kay, the sewer, in rich robes of ermine, with a thousand young noblemen all in like manner 52 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. clothed in rich attire, served up the dishes. From another part Bedver, the butler, was followed by the same number of attend- ants, who waited with all kinds of cups and drinking-vessels. And there was food and drink in abundance, and everything was of the best kind and served in the best manner. For at that time Britain had arrived at such a pitch of grandeur that in riches, luxury and politeness it far surpassed all other king- doms. As soon as the banquets were over, they went into the fields without the city to divert themselves with various sports, such as shooting with bows and arrows, tossing the pike, casting of heavy stones and rocks, playing at dice, and the like, and all these inoffensively and without quarrelling. In this manner were three days spent, and after that they separated, and the kings and noblemen departed to their several homes. After this Arthur reigned five years in peace. Then came ambassadors from Lucius Tiberius, Procurator under Leo, Em- peror of Rome, demanding tribute : " Then at the marriage feast came in from Rome, The slowly fading mistress of the world, Great lords, who claimed the tribute as before. But Arthur spoke : * Behold, for these have sworn To fight my wars and worship me, their King, The old order changeth, yielding place to new ; No tribute will we pay.' So those great lords Drew back in wrath." — Coming of Arthur. But Arthur refused to pay tribute, and prepared for war. As soon as the necessary dispositions were made, he committed the government of his kingdom to his nephew Modred and to Queen Guinevere, and marched with his army to Hamo's Port, where the wind stood fair for him. The army crossed over in safety, and landed at the mouth of the river Barba. And there they pitched their tents to wait the arrival of the kings of the islands. As soon as all the forces were arrived, Arthur marched forward to Augustodunum, and encamped on the banks of the river Alba. Here repeated battles were fought, in all which the Britons, under their valiant leaders, Hoel, Duke of Armorica, and Ga- wain, nephew to Arthur, had the advantage. At length Lucius ARTHUR SLAYS GIANT OF ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT. 53 Tiberius determined to retreat, and wait for the Emperor I.eo to join him with fresh troops. But Arthur, anticipating this event, took possession of a certain valley, and closed up the way of re- treat to Lucius, compelling him to fight a decisive battle, in which Arthur lost some of the bravest of his knights and most faithful followers. But, on the other hand, Lucius Tiberius was slain and his army totally defeated. ** The fainting Romans quit their ground, Their trumpets languish in the sound, , They fly, they fly, they fly, they fly ; Victoria! Victoria! the bold Britons cry." — Dryden. Arthur stayed in those parts till the next winter was over, and employed his time in restoring order and settling the govern- ment. He then returned into England and celebrated his vic- tories with great splendor. Then the king stablished all his knights, and to them that were not rich he gave lands, and charged them all never to do outrage nor murder, and always to flee treason ; also, by no means to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asked mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of their worship and lordship ; and always to do ladies, damosels and gentlewomen service upon pain of death. Also that no man take battle in a wrongful quarrel, for no law, nor for any world's goods. Unto this were all the knights sworn of the Table Round, both old and young. And at every year were they sworn at the high feast of Pentecost. " And wide were through the world renowned The glories of the Table Round. Each knight who sought adventurer's fame, To the bold court of Britain came. And all who suffered causeless wrong From tyrant proud or faitour strong, Sought Arthur's presence to complain. Nor there for aid implored in vain." — ScOTT. King Arthur Slays the Giant of St. Michael's Mount. While the army was encamped in Brittany, awaiting the arri- val of the kings, there came a countryman to Arthur and told him that a giant, whose cave was on a neighboring mountain. 54 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. called St. Michael's Mount, had for a long time been accustomed to carry off the children of the peasants to devour them. *' And now he hath taken the Duchess of Brittany as she rode with her attendants, and hath carried her away in spite of all they could do." *'Now, fellow," said King Arthur, *' canst thou bring me there where this giant haunteth?" ** Yea, sure," said the good man; *Mo, yonder where thou seest two great fires there shalt thou find him, and more treasure than I suppose is in all France beside." Then the king called to him Sir Bedver and Sir Kay, and commanded them to make ready horse and harness for himself and them ; for after evening he would ride on pil- grimage to St. Michael's Mount. So they three departed, and rode forth till they came to the foot of the mount. And there the king commanded them to tarry, for he would himself go up into that mount. So he as- cended the hill till he came to a great fire, and there he found an aged woman sitting by a new-made grave, making great sorrow. Then King Arthur saluted her, and demanded of her wherefore she made such lamentations. To whom she answered : ** Sir knight, speak low, for yonder is a devil, and if he hear thee speak he will come and destroy thee. For ye cannot make re- sistance to him, he is so fierce and so strong. He hath murdered the Duchess, which here lieth, who was the fairest of all the world, wife to Sir Hoel, Duke of Brittany." **Dame," said the king, * ' I come from the noble conqueror. King Arthur, to treat with that tyrant." " Fie on such treaties," said she ; *' he setteth not by the king, nor by no man else." **Well," said Arthur, **I will accomplish my message for all your fearful words." So he went forth by the crest of the hill, and saw where the giant sat at supper, gnawing on the limb of a man, and baking his broad limbs at the fire, and three fair damsels lying bound, whose lot it was to be devoured in their turn. When King Arthur beheld that, he had great compassion on them, so that his heart bled for sorrow. Then he hailed the giant, saying, '* He that all the world ruleth give thee short life and shameful death. Why hast thou murdered this Duchess ? Therefore come forth, thou caitiff, for this day thou shalt die by my hand." ** Come forth, thou villain, from thy lair, This day shall be thy last. ' ' ARTHUR GETS SWORD FROM LADY OF THE LAKE. 55 Then the giant started up and took a great club, and smote at the kingj and smote off his coronal ; and then the king struck him with his sword, and made a fearful wound. Then the giant threw away his club and caught the king in his arms, so that he crushed his ribs. Then the three maidens kneeled down and prayed for help and comfort for Arthur. And Arthur weltered and wrenched, so that he was one while under and an- • other time above. And so weltering and wallowing they rolled down the hill, and Arthur smote him with his dagger ; and it fortuned they came to the place where the two knights were. And when they saw the king fast in the giant's arms they came and loosed him. Then the king commanded Sir Kay to smite off the giant's head, and to set it on the truncheon of a spear, and fix it on the barbican, that all the people might see and be- hold it. This was done, and anon it was known through all the country, wherefor the people came and thanked the king. And he said, " Give your thanks to God; and take ye the giant's spoil and divide it among you." And King Arthur caused a church to be builded on that hill in honor of St. Michael. King Arthur Gets a Sword from the Lady of the Lake. One day King Arthur rode forth, and on a sudden he was ware of three churls chasing Merlin to have slain him. And the king rode unto them and bade them flee. Then were they afraid when they saw a knight, and fled. '*0 Merlin," said Arthur, ''here hadst thou been slain, for all thy crafts, had I not been by." *' Nay," said Merlin, ''not so, for I could save my- self if I would ; but thou art more near thy death than I am." So, as they went thus talking. King Arthur perceived where sat a knight on horseback, as if to guard the pass. " Sir knight," said Arthur, " for what cause abidest thou here?" Then the knight said, " There may no knight ride this way unless he just with me, for such is the custom of the pass." " I will amend that custom," said the king. Then they ran together, and they met so hard that their spears were shivered. Then they drew their swords and fought a strong battle, with many great strokes. But at length the sword of the knight smote King Arthur's sword in two pieces. Then said the knight unto Arthur, "Thou art 56 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. in my power, whether to save thee or slay thee, and unless thou yield thee as overcome and recreant, thou shalt die." ** As for death," said King Arthur, '^welcome be it when it cometh; but to yield me unto thee as recreant, I will not. ' ' Then he leapt upon the knight and threw him down ; but the knight was a passing strong man, and anon he brought Arthur under him, and would have razed off his helm to slay him. Then said Mer- lin, *' Knight, hold thy hand, for this knight is a man of more worship than thou art aware of." '' Why, who is he?" said the knight. ''It is King Arthur." Then would he have slain him for dread of his wrath, and lifted up his sword to slay him ; and therewith Merlin cast an enchantment on the knight, so that he fell to the earth in a great sleep. Then Merlin took up King Arthur and set him on his horse. "Alas !" said Arthur, ''what hast thou done. Merlin ? hast thou slain this good knight by thy crafts?" " Care ye not," said Merlin ; " he is wholer than ye be. He is only asleep, and will wake in three hours." Then the king and he departed, and went till they came to a hermit, that was a good man and a great leech. So the hermit searched all his wounds and applied good salves ; and the king was there three days, and then were his wounds well amended, that he might ride and go. So they departed, and as they rode Arthur said, " I have no sword." " No matter," said Merlin ; " hereby is a sword that shall be yours. ' ' So they rode till they came to a lake, which was a fair water and broad. And in the midst of the lake Arthur was aware of an arm clothed in white samite, that held a fair sword in the hand. " Lo !" said Merlin, " yonder is that sword that I spake of. It belongeth to the Lady of the Lake, and, if she will, thou mayest take it ; but if she will not, it will not be in thy power to take it." So Sir Arthur and Merlin alighted from their horses and went into a boat. And when they came to the sword that the hand held. Sir Arthur took it by the handle and took it to him, and the arm and the hand went under the water : " And Arthur row'd across and took it, — rich With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt, Bewildering heart and eye, — the blade so bright That men are blinded by it, — on one side, Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, ARTHUR GETS SWORD FROM LADY OF THE LAKE. 57 ' Take me,' but turn the blade and you shall see. And written in the speech ye speak yourself, * Cast me away !' and sad was Arthur's face Taking it, but old Merlin counsell'd him, * Take thou and strike ! the time to cast away Is yet far off.' " — Coming of Arthur. Then they returned into the land and rode forth. And Sir Arthur looked on the sword and liked it right well. So they rode unto Caerleon, whereof his knights were passing glad. And when they heard of his adventures, they marvelled that he would jeopard his person so alone. But all men of wor- ship said it was a fine thing to be under such a chieftain as would put his person in adventure as other poor knights did. CHAPTER VI. Ga'wain — Tor — PeVle-nore and their Strange Adventures. Ga'wain's Adventure. At the marriage of King Arthur the seats about the table were blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with great ceremony. When this had been done Merlin said, ''Fair sirs, ye must all arise and come unto King Arthur and do him honor, after which ye will have the better wills to enjoy the feast." And so they arose to do him homage. After they had gone Merlin found stamped upon every seat in letters of gold the name of its knightly occupant, all but two, these were vacant. Young Gawain hearing of this went to the king and asked that he might be made a knight. '' I will do it with a good will," said the king, ''and render you all the honor I may, for you are my sister's son." Tor had already been created a knight, so he and Gawain completed the number at Sir Arthur's table. In the midst of the feast Merlin astonished all the knights by assuring them that they were about to see ' ' a strange and marvellous adventure." Just then a white hart came running into the hall pursued by a small white brachet.^ These were fol- lowed by sixty black hounds. The hart, bitten by the brachet, leaped over the table and bounded through the door. A knight seized the brachet and rode away. Presently a lady came to the castle mounted upon a palfrey and claimed the brachet as hers. Soon a strange knight appeared, and seizing the claimant, ^ A small hound. US) SIR TOR'S ADVENTURE., 59 carried her away by force. Sir Arthur at once organized a company to go in pursuit. Sir Gawain was to bring back the hart, Sir Tor the brachet, while King Pellenore was to rescue the lady and return her captor dead or alive. Sir Gawain fol- lowed the hart, lead on by the baying of the hounds, until he came to a great river. On the opposite side stood a knight who dared him to pursue the hart further. ''Sir knight, come not over after the hart unless thou dost fight with me." Sir Gawain made his horse swim the river, and encountered the knight. "What is thy name?" said Gawain. **Iam Allardin of the Isles," he replied. Sir Gawain smote him through the helmet and left him dead. He followed the hart unto a castle, where it was slain. A knight then came rushing out of the castle chamber, and killing Sir Gawain' s hounds, set up a great lamen- tation. '' O, my white hart, it repenteth me that thou art dead, for my sovereign lately gave thee to me, and evil have I kept thee. ' ' He then retired to his chamber and came forth armed to fight Sir Gawain. "What!" exclaimed Sir Gawain, "hast thou slain my hounds ? I had rather ye had worked your anger upon me than these poor dumb beasts." "Thou sayest truth," replied the knight, "and so will I do to thee." Sir Gawain smote his foe to the earth, and when about to strke him dead, a lady from the castle threw herself upon his body and received the blow. Sir Gawain was filled with remorse. He spared the knight's life, and demanded that he repair to Camelot that King Arthur might know the truth. On his way he was set upon by four knights who wounded him sore, and only spared his life at the request of four ladies who came to his rescue. He was compelled to return to Camelot mounted on his horse and carry- ing the dead form of the lady whom he had slain. The king and the queen were much displeased, and made command that ever after he must espouse all ladies' quarrels, ever be courteous, and never refuse mercy to him that asked it. Sir Tor's Adventure. As Sir Tor rode from the castle he suddenly came upon a dwarf who smote his horse with his staff. "For what intent dost thou smite my horse?" said Sir Tor. " That thou should not pass this way until thou hast fought with the knights that 6o KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. abide in yonder pavilions that thou seest," said the dwarf. Sir Tor looked and saw two great pavilions before which were great spears and shields, but he declared that he was on a pursuit and could not tarry. Thereupon the dwarf blew his horn and a knight immediately appeared upon horseback ready to give Sir Tor battle. Sir Tor smote him hard until he cried for mercy. *' But, sir," he said, '' I have another knight in yonder pavilion that will have adoe with you anon." ^' He shall be welcome," said Sir Tor. Sir Tor at once engaged him in battle until he, too, cried for mercy. The dwarf then came to Sir Tor and offered to show him where the knight with the white brachet lived. And so they rode through the forest until they came to two pavil- ions by a priory, before which were two shields, one of which was white and the other red. Sir Tor alighted, and entering one of the pavilions saw three ladies lying asleep. He then entered the other pavilion, where he saw a lady asleep with the brachet at her feet. The knight seized the brachet to bear it away. ** What," said the lady, ^' will ye take my brachet from me?" "Yea," replied Sir Tor, '*this brachet I have sought from Sir Arthur's court." The lady told him that he would yet regret what he had done. Sir Tor and the dwarf then set out for Came- lot. The next day they were overtaken by a knight, who de- manded that he return the brachet which he had taken from his lady. Sir Tor prepared to give him battle. He proved a valiant knight, and refused to yield, although at the mercy of Sir Tor. With that came a lady riding upon a palfrey and crying unto Sir Tor. ** What will ye with me ?" said the knight. '* I beseech ye for King Arthur's love give me a gift." Sir Tor promised, and the lady asked the head of the knight at his feet. Sir Tor was sorry for his promise, but the lady insisted that he was a murderer and must die. Sir Tor hesitated until the knight attempted to escape, when he cleft his head in twain. He then returned to Camelot, and was welcomed with much joy at the castle. King Pel'le-nore's Adventure. As King Pellenore went out in obedience to Sir Arthur's com- mand, he entered a forest, w^here he saw a damsel sitting by a well with a wounded knight by her side. '*Help me. Sir Knight," she cried. The king told her that he was on a mission KING PELLENORBS AD VENTURE. 6 1 and could not stop. A little further on he met a poor laboring man, and asked him if he had seen a knight riding and leading away a lady. The man told him he had, and they were just be- low in the valley. He told him further that the lady's cousin had challenged the knight to battle, and already they were fight- ing for her possession. Sir Pellenore hastened to the scene, and there in a pavilion sat the damsel guarded by two squires. '^ Fair lady," he ex- claimed, " ye must come with me to Sir Arthur's court." "Sir Knight," said the squires who were with her, " two knights fight for this lady ; go and part them." "Ye say well," replied the king. So he rode between the knights and demanded to know the cause for which they fought. One said that she was his cousin, while the other declared that she belonged to him, as he had captured her at Sir Arthur's court. "That is truly said," replied Sir Pellenore, "and for that reason I have come to bear her thither again." Sir Pellenore slew his antagonist, while the other knight gladly yielded his cousin to his care. So King Pellenore and the lady set out together for Camelot. But darkness coming on, they alighted, and prepared to wait for the morning. About midnight they heard the clattering of horses' hoofs. "Be still," said King Pellenore, "and we shall hear of some ad- venture. ' ' Two knights, one from Camelot and the other from the north, approached each other. " What tidings at Camelot?" said one. " By my head," replied the other, " I have been and espied the court of King Arthur, and am going to the north to tell our chieftains of his fellowship and cheer." "And I," said the other, "have a remedy. This is the greatest poison in the world, and to Camelot I will with it, for I have a friend near to the king who has promised our chieftains that he shall secure it." "Beware," said the other, " of Merlin ; he knows all things by the craft of Satan." The next day Sir* Pellenore and the damsel came to the well where the young lady implored help for the wounded knight. To his grief he discovered that they had been eaten by lions, all save the lady's head. "Alas!" said Sir Pellenore, " her life I might have saved. I wot not but my heart mourneth sore for the death of this lady. " " Now 62 KING ARTHUR AJ^D HIS KNIGHTS. shall ye do as I advise," said his companion. "Bury this knight in a hermitage and bear this young lady's head to the court of Sir Arthur. " This Sir Pellenore did. When he re- turned to Camelot he was sworn upon the four Evangelists to tell the truth of his adventures. **Ah, Sir Pellenore," said the queen, "ye are greatly to blame that ye saved not the lady's life." "Madam," replied Sir Pellenore, " I was so furious in my quest that I would not abide, and repenteth me all' the days of my life." "True," said Merlin, "ye ought to repent it, for that lady was your own daughter and the knight was her lover. His name was Miles of the Launds, and hers was Elaine. And because ye failed to help her, ye shall see your best friend fail you when in your greatest distress." "I believe it will be so, ' ' said Sir Pellenore, * ' but God may well order our desti- nies." And so the lady, the hart and the brachet were all returned to Sir Arthur's court, and he gave his knights great riches, and enjoined them, on the penalty of the loss of their knighthood, that they should always be courteous to the ladies and fight no battles on behalf of injustice or wrong. And every year they were sworn at Pentecost to abide his authority. " And not a knight of Arthur's host, Save that he trod some foreign coast, But at this feast of Pentecost Before him must appear," — Scott, CHAPTER VII. Sir Ga'wain — Sir Ga'wain's Marriage — Ca-ra'doc Brief- bras or Ca-ra'doc with the Shrunken Arm — The Boy and the Mantle. Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain, as we have seen, was nephew to King Arthur, by his sister MorLrana, married to Lot, king of Orkney, who was by Arthur made5|cg of Norway. Sir Gawain was one of the most famous knig»t^)f the Round Table, and is characterized by the romancers as the sage and courteous Gawain. His brothers were Agravain, Gaharet, and Gareth. Sir Gawain's Marriage. Once upon a time King Arthur held his court in merry Car- lisle, when a damsel came before him and craved a boon. It was for vengeance upon a caitiff knight, who had made her lover captive and despoiled her of her lands. ** When wine and mirth did most abound, And harpers played their blithest round, A shrilly trumpet shook the ground, And marshals cleaved the ling. A maiden on a palfrey white Heading a band of damsels bright. Paced through the circle to alight And kneel before the king. Faltering, yet gracefully, she said, * Great Prince ! behold an orphan maid, (63) 64 KING ARTHVR AND HtS KNIQHT8, In her departed mother's name, A father's vowed protection claim.' At once the king the suppliant raised, And kissed her brow her beauty praised. His vow he said should well be kept. Ere in the sea the sun was dipped," — Scott. King Arthur commanded to bring him his sword, Excalibur, and to saddle his steed, and rode forth without delay to right the lady's wrong. Erelong he reached the castle of the grim baron, and challenged him to the conflict. But the castle stood on magic ground, and the spell was such that no knight could tread thereon but straight his courage fell and his strength de- cayed. King Arthur felt the charm, and before a blow was struck, his sturdy limbs lost their strength, and his head grew faint. He was fain to yield himself prisoner to the churlish knight, who refused to release him except upon condition that he should return at the end of a year, and bring a true answer to the question, '* And he rode east, and he rode west, And did of all enquire. What thing it is all women crave, And what they most desire." — Percy's Reliques. In default of an answer he should surrender himself and his lands. King Arthur accepted the terms, and gave his oath to return at the time appointed. During the year the king rode east, and he rode west, and inquired of all whom he met what thing it is which all women most desire. Some told him riches ; some, pomp and state ; some, mirth ; some, flattery ; and some, a gallant knight. But in the diversity of answers he could find no sure dependence. The year was well nigh spent, when one day,l as he rode thoughtfully through a forest, he saw sitting beneath a tree a lady of such hideous aspect that he turned away his eyes, and when she greeted him in seemly sort, made no answer. " What wight art thou," the lady said, '' that will not speak to me? It may chance that I may resolve thy doubts, though I be not fair of aspect." ''If thou wilt do so," said King Arthur, "choose what reward thou wilt, thou grim lady, and it shall be given thee." ''Swear me this upon thy faith," she said, and mB GA WAIN'S MARUIA GE. 6 5 Arthur swore it. Then the lady told him the secret, and de- manded her reward, which was that the king should find some fair and courtly knight to be her husband. King Arthur hastened to the grim baron's castle and told him one by one all the answers which he had received from his vari- ous advisers, except the last, and not one was admitted as the true one. ''Now yield thee, Arthur," the giant said, *'for thou hast not paid thy ransom, and thou and thy lands are for- feited to me." Then King Anhur said : ** Yet hold thy hand, thou proud baron, I prny thte held thy hand, And give me leave to speak once more In rescue of my land. This morn, as I came over a moor, I saw a lady set, Between an oak and a green holly, All clad in red scarlett. She says all women would have their will — This is their chief desire ; Now yield, as thou art a baron true, That I have paid my hire." '*Itwas my sister that told thee this," the churlish baron exclaimed. ''Vengeance light on her! I will some time or other do her as ill a turn." King Arthur rode homeward, but not light of heart ; for he remembered the promise he was under to the loathly lady to give her one of his young and gallant knights for a husband. He told his grief to Sir Gawain, his nephew, and he replied, " Be not sad, my lord, for I will marry the loathly lady." King Arthur replied : •' Now nay, now nay, good Sir Gawaine, My sister's son ye be ; The loathly lady 's all too grim, And all too foule for thee." But Gawain persisted, and the king at last, with sorrow of heart, consented that Gawain should be his ransom. So, one day, the king and his knights rode to the forest, met the loathly lady, and brought her to the court. Sir Gawain stood the scoffs 66 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIOHTS. and jeers of his companions as he best might, and the marriage was solemnized, but not with the usual festivities, "There was no joye ne feste at alle ; There n' as but hevinesse and mochel sorwe, For prively he wed her on the morwe, And all day after hid him as an ovvle, So wo was him his wife loked so foule !" — Chaucer. When night came, and they were alone together. Sir Gawain could not conceal his aversion ; and the lady asked him why he sighed so heavily and turned away his face. He candidly con- fessed it was on account of three things — her age, her ugliness, and her low degree. The lady, not at all offended, replied with excellent arguments to all his objections. She showed him that with age is discretion, with ugliness security from rivals, and that all true gentility depends, not upon the accident of birth, but upon the character of the individual. Sir Gawain made no reply ; but, turning his eyes on his bride, what was his amazement to perceive that she wore no longer the unseemly aspect that had so distressed him. She then told him that the form she had worn was not her true form, but a disguise imposed upon her by a wicked enchanter, and that she was con- demned to wear it until two things should happen : one, that she should obtain some young and gallant knight to be her husband. This having been done, one half of the charm was removed. She was now at liberty to wear her true form for half the time, and she bade him choose whether he would have her fair by day and ugly by night, or the reverse : ♦♦Now gentle Gawain choose, saith she, And make the choice with care, "Whether by night or else by day Shall I be foul or fair." — Percy's Reliques. Sir Gawain would fain have had her look her best by night, when he alone should see her, and show her repulsive visage, if at all, to others. But she reminded him how much more pleasant it would be to her to wear her best looks in the throng of knights and ladies by day. Sir Gawain yielded, and gave up his will to hers. This alone was wanting to dissolve the charm. The CARADOC BRIEF BRAS. 67 lovely lady now with joy assured him that she should change no more ; but as she now was, so would she remain by night as well as by day. " Sweet blushes stayned her rudred cheek, Her eyen were black as sloe, The ripening cherrye swelled her lippe, And all her neck was snow. Sir Gawain kist that ladye faire Lying upon the sheete, And swore, as he was a true knight, The spice was never so swete." Sir Gawain, accompanied by his bride, returned to Camelot, and in all the kingdom there was no knight happier than he. The dissolution of the charm which had held the lady also re- leased her brother, the grim baron, for he, too, had been impli- cated in it. He ceased to be a churlish oppressor, and became a gallant and generous knight as any at Arthur's court : ** With so high reverence and observance, As well in speeche as in contenance, That Gawain, with his olde curtesie, Though he were come agen out of faerie, Ne coude him not amenden with a word." — Chaucer. Ca-ra'doc Brief-Bras; or, Ca ra'doc with the Shrunken Arm. Caradoc was the son of Ysenne, the beautiful niece of Arthur. He was ignorant who his father was till it was discovered in the following manner : When the youth was of proper years to re- ceive the honors of knighthood. King Arthur held a grand court for the purpose of knighting him. On this occasion a strange knight presented himself, and challenged the knights of Arthur's court to exchange blow for blow with him. His proposal was this : to lay his neck on a block for any knight to strike, on con- dition that, if he survived the blow, the knight should submit in turn to the same experiment. Sir Kay, who was usually ready to accept all challenges, pronounced this wholly unreasonable, and declared that he would not accept it for all the wealth in the world. And when the knight offered his sword, with which 6S KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. the operation was to be performed, no person ventured to accept it, till Caradoc, growing angry at the disgrace which was thus incurred by the Round Table, threw aside his mantle and took it. *' Do you do this as one of the best knights?" said the stranger. " No," he replied, *' but as one of the most foolish." The stranger lays his head upon the block, receives a blow which sends it rolling from his shoulders, walks after it, picks it up, re- places it with great success, and says he will return when the court shall be assembled next year, and claim his turn. When the anniversary arrived, both parties were punctual to their en- gagement. Great entreaties were used by the king and queen, and the whole court, in behalf of Caradoc, but the stranger was inflexible. The young knight laid his head upon the block, and more than once desired him to make an end of the business, and not keep him longer in so disagreeable a state of expectation. At last the stranger strikes him gently with the side of the sword, bids him rise, and reveals to him the fact that he is his father, the enchanter Eliaures, and that he gladly owns him for a son, having proved his courage and fidelity to his word. But the favor of enchanters is short-lived and uncertain. Eli- aures fell under the influence of a wicked woman, who, to satisfy her pique against Caradoc, persuaded the enchanter to fasten on his arm a serpent, which remained there sucking at his flesh and blood, no human skill sufficing either to remove the reptile or alleviate the torments which Caradoc endured. Caradoc was betrothed to Guimier, sister to his bosom friend Cador, and daughter to the King of Cornwall. As soon as they were informed of his deplorable condition, they set out for Nantes, where Caradoc' s castle was, that Guimier might attend upon him. When Caradoc heard of their coming, his first emo- tion was that of joy and love. But soon he began to fear that the- sight of his emaciated form, and of his suff'erings, would disgust Guimier; and this apprehension became so strong that he de- parted secretly from Nantes, and hid himself in a hermitage. He was sought far and near by the knights of Arthur's court, and Cador made a vow never to desist from the quest till he should have found him. After long wandering, Cador discovered his friend in the hermitage, reduced almost to a skeleton, and ap- parently near his death. All other means of relief having already THE BOY AND THE MANTLE. 69 been tried in vain, Cador at last prevailed on the enchanter Eli- aures to disclose the only method which could avail for his rescue. A maiden must be found, his equal in birth and beauty, and loving him better than herself, so that she would expose herself to the same torment to deliver him. Two vessels were then to be pro- vided, the one filled with sour wine and the other with milk. Caradoc must enter the first, so that the wine should reach his neck, and the maiden must get into the other, and, exposing her bosom upon the edge of the vessel, invite the serpent to forsake the withered flesh of his victim for this fresh and inviting food. The vessels were to be placed three feet apart, and as the ser- pent crossed from one to the other, a knight was to cut him in two. If he failed in his blow, Caradoc would indeed be deliv- ered, but it would be only to see his fair champion suffering the same cruel and hopeless torment. The sequel may be easily foreseen. Guimier willingly exposed herself to the perilous ad- venture, and Cador, with a lucky blow, killed the serpent. The arm, in which Caradoc had suffered so long, recovered its strength, but not its shape, in consequence of which he was called Caradoc Brief- Bras, Caradoc of the Shrunken Arm. Caradoc and Guimier are the hero and heroine of the ballad of the * ' Boy and the Mantle. ' ' The Boy and the Mantle. A boy is said to have appeared at the court of King Arthur with a magic mantle. No lady could wear it whose life was not blameless. One after another put it on only to see it shrink to nothing. " And first came Lady Guinevere, The mantle she must try. This dame she was new-fangled And of a roving eye. '*When she had taken the mantle, And all with it was clad, From top to toe it shivered down, As though with shears beshred. " Down she threw the mantle, No longer would she stay ; But, storming like a fury. To her chamber flung away. 70 KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS, *• Sir Kay called forth his lady, And bade her to come near : * Yet dame, if thou be guilty, I pray thee now forbear.' * * Down she threw the mantle, No longer bold or gay, But, with a face all pale and wan, To her chamber slunk away. "Then forth came an old knight A pattering o'er his creed. And proffered to the little boy Five nobles to his meed : " A saint his lady seemed, "With step demure and slow. And gravely to the mantle With mincing face doth go. '* Ah ! little did her mincing, * Or his long prayers bestead ; She had no more hung on her Than a tassel and a thread. "Sir Cradock called his lady. And bade her to come near : * Come win this mantle, lady, And do me credit here.' «