The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

by John Steinbeck

  Then Merlin, by authority of the king, called all the available fighting men together, instructing them to come armed and armored and with provisions for the journey. Fifteen thousand men at arms answered the call, both horse and foot. They gathered on the coast with their equipment and provisions. Merlin chose ten thousand horsemen from among them and sent the rest back to help Grastian and Placidas defend the country against their enemy King Claudas.

  Then Merlin collected shipping and embarked the horses and the men at arms and his fleet crossed the Channel safely and landed at Dover. And he led his army northward by secret ways, under the cover of forests and by hidden valleys, and encamped them at Bedgrayne in a hidden valley surrounded by forest. He ordered them to remain hidden and then Merlin rode on to Arthur and the two kings and told them what he had done and how ten thousand horsemen, armed and ready, were secretly encamped in the Forest of Bedgrayne. The kings were amazed that Merlin had accomplished so much so quickly, for it seemed to them a miracle, and it was.

  Then King Arthur put his army of twenty thousand in motion, and to prevent spies from knowing his movements, he sent advance guards ahead to challenge and capture anyone who could not produce the king's seal and token. His army moved day and night without resting until they came near to the Forest of Bedgrayne, where the kings went into the hidden valley and found the well-armed secret army. And they were very glad and ordered that everyone have any food and equipment that were needed.

  Meanwhile, the lords of the north, raw from their defeat at Caerleon, had been preparing their revenge. The six original rebellious leaders gathered five others to their alliance, and all of them prepared for war and swore an oath that they would not rest until King Arthur was destroyed.

  These were the leaders and the numbers of their forces. The Duke of Cambenet brought five thousand mounted men at arms. King Brandegoris promised five thousand. King Clarivaus of Northumberland three thousand; the young King of a Hundred Knights raised four thousand horsemen. King Uryens of Gore furnished six thousand, King Cradilment five thousand; King Nentres five thousand, King Carados five thousand, and last, King Anguyshaunce of Ireland promised to bring five thousand horsemen. This then was the army of the north--fifty thousand good men at arms on horseback and ten thousand well-armed footmen. The northern host gathered quickly and moved southward with scouts flung out ahead of them. Not far from the Forest of Bedgrayne, they came to a castle and laid siege to it, and then, leaving sufficient men to keep the siege, the main body of men moved on toward where King Arthur was encamped.

  King Arthur's outriders met the scouts from the north and captured them and the scouts were forced to tell which way the northern host was moving. And men were sent out to burn and destroy the countryside ahead of the advancing army so that they could not find food or forage.

  At that time the young King of a Hundred Knights had a wonderful dream and he told it to the others. He dreamed a terrible wind thundered over the land, demolishing towns and castles, and behind it came a tidal wave that carried everything away. The lords who heard the dream said it was the presage of a great and final battle.

  The young knight's dream of wind and destroying wave was a symbol of what everyone sensed, that the outcome of the battle would decide whether Arthur would be King of England to rule with peace and justice the whole realm, or whether the chaos of little quarreling ambitious kings should continue the unhappy darkness that had fallen on the land since Uther Pendragon's death.

  Because they were outnumbered by their enemies, King Arthur and the allied kings from France considered how they could meet the northern host. Merlin sat with them in their planning. When the scouts reported the route of the approaching enemy and the place where they would encamp for the night, Merlin argued that they should attack at night, for a small and mobile force has the advantage over a resting army tired with traveling.

  Then Arthur and Ban and Bors with their good and trusty knights moved quietly out and at midnight they launched an attack against the sleeping enemy. But the sentries gave the alarm and the northern knights strove desperately to mount and defend themselves, while Arthur's men raged in the camp, cut the tent ropes, and strove to overwhelm the camp. But the eleven lords were trained and disciplined campaigners. They quickly ordered their troops and formed a battle line and the fight continued fiercely in the darkness. That night ten thousand good men were slain, but as the dawn approached the northern lords with their numbers forced a passage through King Arthur's lines and he retired before them to rest his men and to make new battle plans.

  Merlin said, "Now we can use the plan I have prepared. Ten thousand fresh, unwearied men are hidden in the forest. Let Ban and Bors command them and bring them to the edge of the woods, but keep them hidden from the enemy. Let King Arthur marshal his men in sight of the northern host. When they see you are only twenty thousand against their fifty thousand, they will be glad and will be overconfident and they will enter the narrow passage where your smaller force will have an equal chance."

  The three kings agreed to the battle plan and each went to his station.

  In the dawn light, when the armies could see each other, the men of the north were happy to see how small was Arthur's force. Then Ulfius and Brastias delivered the attack with three thousand men. They drove furiously into the northern host, striking right and left and causing great execution on the enemy. When the eleven lords saw how so few penetrated so deeply into their battle line, they were ashamed and mounted a fierce counterattack.

  Sir Ulfius's horse was killed under him, but he put his shield before him and continued to fight on foot. Duke Estance of Cambenet set upon Ulfius to kill him, but Sir Brastias saw his friend in danger and singled Estance out and the two ran together with such force that both of them were struck down and the horses' knees burst to the bone and both men lay stunned on the ground. Then Sir Kay with six knights drove a wedge into the enemy until they were met by the eleven lords, and Gryfflet and Sir Lucas the Butler were unhorsed. Now the battle became a confused melee of wheeling, charging, striking knights, and each man chose an enemy and engaged him as if in single combat.

  Sir Kay saw Gryfflet fighting on fast and quickly. He struck down King Nentres and took his horse to Gryfflet and mounted him. With the same spear, Sir Kay struck King Lot and wounded him. Seeing this, the young King of a Hundred Knights ran at Sir Kay and unhorsed him and took his horse to King Lot.

  Thus it went on, for it was every knight's pride and duty to help and defend his friends, and an armored knight on foot was in double danger because of the weight of his equipment. The battle raged and neither side gave ground. Gryfflet saw his friends Sir Kay and Sir Lucas unhorsed and he returned their favor. He chose the good knight Sir Pynnel and with his great spear cast him from the saddle and gave his horse to Sir Kay. The fighting continued and many men were stripped from their saddles and their horses given to dismounted men. Then the eleven lords were filled with rage and frustration because their greater army could make no headway against Arthur and their losses in dead and wounded were very great.

  Now King Arthur came into the fight with shining eager eyes and he saw Brastias and Ulfius fallen and in great peril of their lives because they were caught in the harness of their wounded horses and the threshing hooves battered them. Arthur charged at Sir Cradilment like a lion and drove his spear into the knight's left side and he grasped the reins and led his horse to Ulfius and said with the fierce and formal gaiety of fighting men, "My old friend, it seems to me that you could use a horse. Please use this one."

  And Ulfius replied, "Why, so I do. Thank you, my lord." Then King Arthur swung into the battle, striking, feinting, swerving his horse, fighting so marvelously that men watched in wonder.

  The King of a Hundred Knights saw Cradilment brought to earth and he turned on Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father, and struck him down, and took his horse. When Arthur saw Cradilment, whom he had already defeated once, riding Sir Ector's horse, his fury rose and he engag
ed again with Cradilment and gave him such a sword stroke that the blade sliced down through helmet and shield and deep into the horse's neck, so that horse and man dropped instantly to the ground. Meanwhile, Sir Kay went to the rescue of his father, unhorsed a knight, and helped Sir Ector to mount himself again.

  Sir Lucas lay unconscious under his horse and Gryfflet manfully tried to defend his friend against fourteen knights. Then Sir Brastias, newly mounted, moved in to help. He struck the first on the visor so hard that his blade went into his teeth. He caught the second at elbow with a swinging stroke and cut his arm cleanly off and it fell to the ground. He struck a third at shoulder where the armor meets gorget, and shoulder and arm were carved off. The earth was heaped with the broken killed and the struggling wounded, and mounded with dead and floundering horses, and the ground was slippery with blood. The voices of the battle echoed back from hill and forest--clash of sword on shield and crashing grunt of spearmen colliding with equal might, war cries and shouts of triumph, and yelled curses and screams of dying horses, and the sad moaning of men wounded to death.

  From their hidden position in the forest, Ban and Bors watched the conflict and kept their men quiet and in line, although many of the knights shivered and shook with eagerness to be in the fight, for the fighting lust is an infectious thing to a man of arms.

  Meanwhile, the deadly fight went on. King Arthur saw that he could not defeat his enemies. He raged as crazily as a wounded lion, ranging back and forth against any who stood against him, so that men were filled with wonder at him. Striking to left and right with his sword, he killed twenty knights and he wounded King Lot on the shoulder so severely that he had to leave the field. Gryfflet and Sir Kay fought on either side of their king and earned their greatness with their swords on the bodies of their enemies.

  Now Ulfius and Brastias and Sir Ector rode against Duke Estance, Clarivaus, Carados, and the King of a Hundred Knights and drove them back out of the fight; behind the fighting lines they gathered to consider their position. King Lot was badly wounded and his heart was heavy at the terrible losses and discouraged that no end of the battle was in sight. He spoke to the other lords, saying. "Unless we change our plan of driving through, we will be destroyed little by little in the pass. Let five of us take ten thousand men and retire to rest. At the same time the other six lords will hold the passage and cause as much damage as possible and wear them down. Then when they are weary, we will charge with ten thousand fresh and rested men. This is the only chance I can see of beating them."

  This was agreed to and the six lords went back to the battlefield and fought doggedly to bleed the enemy and wear him down.

  Now, two knights, Sir Lyonse and Sir Phariance, were in the advance guard of the hidden army of Ban and Bors. They saw King Idres alone and weary. And against orders the two French knights broke from their concealment and rode down on him. King Anguyshaunce saw the attack and he rallied the Duke of Cambenet and a band of knights and surrounded the two so that they could not retreat to the forest, and although they defended themselves well, they finally were unhorsed.

  When King Bors, watching from the forest, saw the foolish eagerness of his knights, he was grieved at their disobedience and their danger. He gathered a force and charged out so fast that he seemed to burn a black streak in the air. And King Lot saw him and knew him well from the escutcheon on his shield and Lot cried out, "Jesus defend us now against peril of death. I see yonder one of the best knights in the whole world, with a band of fresh knights."

  "Who is he?" the young Lord of a Hundred Knights asked.

  Lot said, "He is King Bors of Gaul. How can he have come into this country without our knowledge?"

  "Perhaps it was Merlin's doing," said a knight.

  But Sir Carados said, "Great he may be, but I will encounter your King Bors of Gaul and you can send rescue if I need it."

  Then Carados and his men moved slowly forward until they came within bow shot of King Bors, and only then did they put their horses to breakneck charge. Bors saw them come and he said to his godson, Sir Bleoberis, who was his standard bearer, "Now we shall see how these northern Britons bear their arms," and he called the charge.

  King Bors encountered a knight and drove his spear through him and out the other side, and then he drew his sword, fought savagely, and the knights with him followed his example. Sir Carados was struck down and it required the young lord and a large force to rescue him.

  Then King Ban and his following broke from their concealment; the shield of Ban was striped with green and gold. When King Lot saw this shield he said, "Now our danger is doubled. I see yonder the most valiant and renowned knight in the world, King Ban of Benwick. Two such brothers as the Kings Ban and Bors do not live. We must retreat or be killed, and unless we retreat wisely and defend ourselves we will be killed anyway."

  Ban and Bors, with their ten thousand fresh men, came on so fiercely that the northern reserves had to be thrown back into the fight although they were not rested. And King Lot wept with pity to see so many good knights go down in death.

  Now King Arthur and his allies, Ban and Bors, fought shoulder to shoulder and killed and slashed on and on, and many fighting men in weariness and hopeless dread left the field and fled to save their lives.

  Of the northern force King Lot and Morganoure and he of a Hundred Knights kept their men together and fought on bravely and well. The young lord saw the execution King Ban did and he tried to take him out of action. He couched his spear and rode at Ban and stuck him on the helm and stunned him. But King Ban shook his head and the battle rage took him and he spurred after his opponent, who, seeing him come, put up his shield and met the charge. King Ban's great sword cut through the shield and through the coat of mail and through the steel trappings of the horse and lodged in the horse's spine, so that in falling the sword was dragged from King Ban's hand.

  The young lord stepped free from his fallen horse and with his sword he stabbed King Ban's horse in the belly. Then Ban leaped for his lost sword and struck the young lord on the helm so mightily that he fell to the ground, and the weary slaughter of good knights and footmen went on and on.

  Into the press King Arthur came and found King Ban on foot among dead men and dead horses, fighting like a wounded lion, so that into the circle his sword would reach no man entered without a wound.

  King Arthur was fearful to see. His shield was covered with blood so that his device could not be recognized and his sword was caked and dripping with blood and brains. Arthur saw a knight nearby well mounted on a good horse, and he ran at him and drove his sword through helmet and teeth and brain, and Arthur led his good horse to King Ban and said, "Dear brother, here is a horse for you. I am sorry for your wounds."

  "They are soon arranged," said Ban. "I trust in God that my hurts are not as great as some I have given."

  "That I know," said Arthur. "I saw your deeds from a distance, but I could not come to your aid at the time."

  The slaughter went on until at last King Arthur called a halt, and with difficulty the three kings forced their men to disengage with the enemy and to withdraw into the forest and then across a little river, where the men fell down and slept in the grass, for they had had no rest for two days and a night.

  And on the bloody battlefield the eleven northern lords and their men gathered together in sadness and misery. They had not lost, but neither had they won.

  King Arthur marveled at the toughness of the northern knights and he too was angry because he also had neither lost nor won.

  But the French kings advised him in courtesy, saying, "You must not blame them. They have done only what good men ought to do." And King Ban said, "By my faith, they are the bravest knights and the best fighting men of great worth." Ban continued, "If they were your men, no king in the world could boast of such a following."

  Arthur said, "Even so, do not expect me to love them. It is their intention to destroy me."

  "This we know well, for we have seen it," sai
d the kings. "They are your mortal enemies and they have proved it. But they are such good knights, it is a pity they are against you."

  The eleven lords meanwhile assembled on the field of blood and destruction and King Lot addressed them, saying, "My lords, we must find some new attack or the war will continue as it has. You see around you our fallen men. I believe that a large part of our failure can be blamed on our footmen. They move too slowly so that the mounted must wait for them or be killed trying to save them. I advise that we send the foot soldiers away in the night. The forests will conceal them and the noble King Arthur will not trouble himself with footmen. They may well save themselves. Meanwhile, we will keep the horses together and make a rule that anyone who tries to run away will be executed. It is better to kill a coward than through a coward to be slain. What do you say to this?" Lot said, "Answer me--all of you."

  "You say well," said Sir Nentres, and the other lords agreed with him. Then they swore to stick together in life and in death. After their solemn decision they mended their harnesses and cleaned and straightened their equipment. And then they mounted and set new spears upright against their thighs and they sat their horses rigid and unmoving as rocks. When Arthur and Ban and Bors saw them sitting there, they were forced to admire them for their discipline and knightly courage.

  Then forty of King Arthur's best knights asked permission to ride against the enemy and break up their battle line. And these forty spurred their horses to great speed, and the lords lowered their spears and met them in full course, and the deadly willful fight went on. Arthur and Ban and Bors rejoined the fight and killed men to the right and left of them. The field was littered with broken men and the horses slipped in blood and were reddened above their fetlocks. But slowly Arthur's men were forced back by the unyielding discipline of the northerners until they recrossed the little river over which they had come.