The Death of King Arthur (10 page)

‘It is distressing,' Sir Oughtlake said, ‘that so great a king as you should be threatened by traitors.'

‘They will get their reward. And she will also be punished. Be sure of it. Now tell me this. How far are we from Camelot?'

‘Two days' ride, sir.'

‘I would like to go to some religious house, where I might rest and where my wounds can be healed.'

‘There is a rich abbey of nuns close by, founded by your father.'

So Arthur and Accolon took horse and journeyed to the abbey. They were tended there by good doctors, but Accolon died of his wounds four days later. He had lost too much blood. The king recovered his strength, however. He placed the body of Accolon on a horse-bier and ordered six knights to accompany it back to Camelot. ‘Bear it to my sister Morgan le Fay,' he told them. ‘Tell her that it is my gift to her. And inform her, too, that I have recovered my sword and my scabbard.'

Meanwhile Morgan le Fay, believing that the king was dead, made plans to murder her husband. She wished to govern the realm with her lover, Accolon, and gain all glory. She saw King Uriens asleep on his bed, and called for one of her maidens. ‘Fetch my lord's sword,' she said. ‘There is no better time to kill him.'

‘Madam,' the girl said, ‘if you murder your husband, there will be no escape for you.'

‘Hush. This is the time. Bring me the sword.'

So the girl left the chamber, and went straight to the queen's son. She roused Sir Uwain from sleep. ‘Get up, sir,' she told him. ‘My lady, your mother, is intent upon killing your father. She has asked me to bring his sword to her.'

‘Go on your way,' Sir Uwain replied. ‘I will deal with her.'

With quaking hands the girl brought the sword to the queen. Morgan le Fay took it with a smile and approached the bed. Just as she lifted the weapon, to smite her husband, Sir Uwain caught her hand and forced it down. ‘What kind of fiend are you!' he shouted at her. ‘If you were not my mother, I would take this sword and cut off your head! It is said that Merlin is the offspring of the devil, but I am sure that I am the son of an earthly demon.'

‘Have mercy on me, fair son. I have been tempted by a fiend, and have been led astray. I will never do anything like this again. Have pity on me. Do not denounce me to the court.'

‘As long as you keep your promise, I will not betray you.'

‘I give you my promise.'

Then the report reached her that Sir Accolon was dead, and that the king had gained his sword again. At this news she almost swooned with grief. But she did not want her sorrow to be known, and so kept her countenance. She realized well enough, however, that when Arthur returned her life would be in peril. ‘No gold will I get from him,' she said to herself. So she went quickly to the queen, Guinevere, and asked permission to leave the court on urgent business in her own country.

‘But you will wait for the return of your brother?' Guinevere asked her.

‘I cannot stay, my lady. The summons is too urgent.'

‘Then of course you must leave.'

So at dawn, on the next day, Morgan le Fay mounted her horse and rode day and night from Arthur's court. On the second day she arrived at the abbey where Arthur was resting from his wounds. When she knew that he was there, she asked how he was. ‘He is asleep now,' the abbess told her. ‘He slept little for the last three nights.'

‘Well then,' she replied, ‘I order you not to awake him before I do.'

She was scheming to steal his sword and scabbard once more. She went straight to the chamber where her brother lay, and there saw him asleep with his drawn sword in his hand. ‘I cannot take Excalibur from him without waking him,' she whispered. ‘What am I to do?' Then she saw the enchanted scabbard and, in a moment, snatched it up. She left the chamber and called for her horse.

When Arthur awoke he saw that his scabbard was missing. ‘Who has come in here while I slept?' he asked the abbess.

‘Only your sister, sire. Queen Morgan le Fay.'

‘You have failed me. You have not watched me carefully.'

‘What could I say to the queen? I did not dare to disobey her.'

‘Obey me now. Fetch me the best horse that can be found. Arouse Sir Oughtlake. Tell him to meet me, well armed and well horsed, within the hour.'

The two of them galloped off in pursuit of Morgan le Fay. After many miles they came up to a stone cross, where they found a poor cowherd. They asked him if any lady had come riding that way.

‘Sirs,' he said, ‘there was a lady. She was with an escort of forty men. They entered the forest. Over there.'

They sped off into the forest and, after finding a path, they caught sight of Arthur's sister riding ahead of them. So they chased her through the trees. When she saw them in pursuit she spurred on her horse. She came to a lake, and stopped for a moment. ‘I do not care what may happen to me,' she said. ‘But Arthur will never have this scabbard.' She threw it with all her strength into the middle of the lake, where it sank in a moment. It was weighed down by gold and precious stones.

Then she rode into a valley of rocks, from which there was no escape. So by sorcery she changed herself, and her men, into great marble stones that lay cold and silent. Arthur and Oughtlake came into the valley soon after. ‘They have not come this way,' the king said. ‘Let us turn back to the abbey.'

As soon as they had gone Morgan le Fay undid the spell, and returned them all to their human shapes. ‘Sirs,' she said, ‘now we may go where we will.' Soon after this they came upon a knight on horseback, leading another knight bundled upon a horse; he was blindfolded, and his hands and feet were bound. Morgan le Fay stopped him. ‘What are you going to do with this knight?' she asked.

‘I am going to drown him in the fountain ahead of you.'

‘For what cause?'

‘What cause? I found him with my wife. She will die in the same way soon enough.'

‘That would be a pity,' she replied. Then she addressed the knight who was bound. ‘What do you say? Is he speaking the truth.'

‘No, lady. He lies.'

‘From where do you come? What country?'

‘I am from the court of King Arthur. My name is Manessen. I am cousin to Sir Accolon of Gaul.'

‘You have spoken well. For the love of Accolon, I will free you. You may treat your foe in the same way as he treated you.'

So Manessen was set free, and the other knight was tied and thrown into the fountain where he drowned. Then Manessen took horse and prepared to ride off. ‘Is there anything you wish me to tell Arthur?' he asked her.

‘Tell him that I rescued you for love of Accolon, not for love of him. Tell him this, too. I do not fear him as long as I can turn myself and my men into stones. He will know what I mean. And whisper this to him. I will do more, when the time comes.'

So she departed into the country of Gore, where she was richly received and welcomed. She made sure to strengthen her towns and castles. From this time forward she dreaded the wrath of her brother.

THE ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT DU LAKE

Soon after King Arthur had returned to his court, all the knights of the Round Table came together and fought many jousts and tournaments. Some proved themselves to be strong and valiant, but none more so than Sir Lancelot du Lake. He was the victor in all of his contests. He was only ever overcome by spells and enchantment. He so increased in fame that he is the first knight that the French books mention in their accounts of Arthur. He also became the favourite of the queen, Guinevere, for whose sake he fought many battles. He himself so loved the queen that, as we shall see, he saved her from false men and even from fire.

After Sir Lancelot had grown tired of tournaments he summoned his nephew, Sir Lionel. ‘We have spent too much time in games,' he said. ‘Now we must ride into the world and seek out strange adventures.' So they armed themselves and mounted their horses. Soon after they rode on to a wide plain, dotted with rocks and trees. It was noon, and the sun was beating strongly upon them. Sir Lancelot said that he felt a great desire to sleep. ‘There is an apple tree,' Sir Lionel told him. ‘By the hedge there. Why not rest in its shade?'

‘So I will. It has a fair shadow. And I have not felt so drowsy for seven years.'

They dismounted and tied their horses to the trees. Sir Lancelot laid himself down beneath the apple tree, and put his helmet beneath his head. As he slept Sir Lionel kept watch. As he watched, three knights came galloping across the plain as if in fear of their lives. They were pursued by one man alone, but he was the best proportioned and most powerful knight Lionel had ever seen. This mighty knight rode down each of the three knights in turn and struck them to the earth, senseless; then he tied them to the backs of their horses with the reins of their bridles.

Sir Lionel decided to test his own strength and, even while Sir Lancelot still slept, he mounted his horse and challenged the powerful knight. The man turned and, with his sword drawn, he charged Sir Lionel and thrust him on to the ground. Then he bound Lionel's wrists and bundled him on to his own horse. The man rode for a little way, with the other three knights helpless on their horses, and then threw all of them into a dark prison where other men lay dead or dying.

Meanwhile Sir Ector de Maris had learned that Lancelot had left the court in search of noble adventures. Thoroughly ashamed of being left behind, he set off on a similar quest. He had been riding a long time in a deep wood when he met a man who resembled a forester. ‘Fair fellow,' he called to him, ‘do you know where I might find an adventure?'

‘I know this country well,' the man replied. ‘If you ride for a mile or two you will find a large manor house with a moat around it; to the side of it there is a ford where your horse might drink its fill. Over this ford there grows a tree, from the branches of which hang the shields of many good knights dead or defeated in combat. There is also a basin, made of silver, hanging there. Strike that basin with the butt of your spear three times. You will see what you will see.'

‘I thank you,' Sir Ector replied and rode off at once. He came up to the manor house, a dwelling of thick stone; its windows were small and inset, as if the place were a castle. He stopped before it, and then saw the tree by the ford. But what was this? He was surprised to see the shields of many knights of the Round Table hanging from its branches. He took it hard that among them was that of his brother, Sir Lionel, and he promised to himself that he would avenge him. Then he beat furiously upon the silver basin, as if he had gone out of his wits, and led his horse to the side of the ford. Before long he heard the voice of someone calling out to him. He turned, and faced a knight, strong and serious. This was the knight who had pursued and captured the three men upon the plain. His name was Sir Tarquin. ‘Take your horse from the water,' Tarquin said to him, ‘and prepare to fight me.'

So Ector galloped towards him and gave the warrior such a buffet with his spear that he spun around with his horse. ‘That was well done,' the man said. ‘But see what I shall do to you.' He went for him with sword and spear, bearing Ector out of his saddle and seizing him before he had a chance to escape. Then Tarquin took him into his castle and threw him down upon the floor. ‘You have fought me better than any other knight in these last twelve years,' he told him. ‘So I will spare your life, on condition that you become my prisoner.'

‘I will never agree to that,' Ector replied.

‘All the worse for you.' He stripped him of his armour, and then beat him with thorns before throwing him into the same deep prison where Lionel lay.

Ector recognized Lionel at once. ‘Dear brother, what are you doing here? And where is Sir Lancelot?'

‘I left him sleeping beneath an apple tree. I do not know what has become of him.'

‘We need his help to deliver us from this place. Only Lancelot will be able to defeat the knight who has imprisoned us.'

Now we will leave these knights and return to Lancelot sleeping beneath the tree. As he lay there, four queens of great estate approached him. One of them was Morgan le Fay, the wicked sister of Arthur. They were riding on four white mules, and four knights in white armour carried a canopy of green silk above them to shield them from the heat of the sun. As they came up they recognized Sir Lancelot at once, and each of them declared that they would strive with the others to win his love.

‘There is no need for us to fight each other,' Morgan le Fay said to them. ‘I will cast a spell on him that will last seven hours. In that time we will take him to my castle. When he awakes from the enchantment, he will choose one of us for himself.' So they led him to Castle Chariot, where they placed him in a cold chamber. After the seven hours were past a young lady brought him supper. She greeted him and asked him how he was.

‘I cannot tell you, lady,' he replied. ‘I do not know how I come to be in this place. Perhaps I was taken here by magic.'

‘Be cheerful, sir,' she replied. ‘I will tell you in the morning.'

So he lay there all that night, confused and restless. At dawn the four queens came into his chamber and greeted him. He looked up at them in surprise. ‘Good morning, fair ladies. Can you tell me what I am doing here?'

Morgan le Fay spoke out. ‘You must be aware, sir, that you are our prisoner. We know you. You are Sir Lancelot du Lake, son of King Ban. We also know that you are the noblest knight in the world. You love Guinevere above all others, but she is married now to my brother, Arthur. So you must choose one of us to be your paramour. I am Morgan le Fay, queen of the land of Gore. Here are the queens of North Wales, of East Land and of the Outer Isles. Which of us will it be? If you refuse us, then you will remain here as my prisoner until your death.'