Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles

by Patricia Terry

  In her nephew’s chambers, the queen found Gawain already armed and about to depart. If she thought it would be easy to dissuade him, she was wrong. She argued that many knights who would be eager to accompany him were away from court and that the king bitterly regretted having spoken as he did: indeed Arthur was almost beside himself with grief. Gawain replied that he would rather die than act against his honor, and that nothing whatsoever could change his mind. “If I should die on this quest, at least I will not be shamed. I will never return to the king’s presence, until I have found the Red Knight, although,” he added plaintively, “I have no idea where to look for him.”

  Guenevere saw that dissuasion would not prevail. She decided to spare her nephew needless effort by offering him a confidence. “I will tell you how to find the Red Knight, if you promise to keep it secret from everyone.”

  Gawain did not hesitate. “I swear it.”

  “He will be with Galehaut, if he is anywhere.”

  No announcement could have been more exhilarating. Gawain rushed to inform the knights who had intended to share his quest that he would proceed alone. Refusing to waste time listening to their protests, he took a hasty leave of the court and galloped away. The king was sure that he would never see him again.

  Lionel’s presence in Sorelais had at first distracted Lancelot from his unhappiness, but it was not long before his separation from the queen began once again to depress his spirits. As the weeks and months went by, he gradually lost all interest in his surroundings, until he was scarcely able to eat, drink, or sleep. He told Galehaut that he was dying.

  “Dearest friend,” said Galehaut, “would you feel better if you could see the queen?”

  “Of course I would.”

  “Then I’ll find a way to make that happen.”

  “But I know that she would send for us if it were possible, and I’d rather die than cause her any pain.”

  “I’m sure it would do no harm to have Lionel take her a message.”

  “As you think best.”

  Galehaut, meeting with Lionel privately, told him he was to travel to Arthur’s court with a message for the queen, and for her alone. He was to ask for the Lady of Malehaut, on behalf of the Lord of the Distant Isles. He would be carrying a ring that the lady would be sure to recognize as Galehaut’s. When she saw it, Lionel’s request for an interview with the queen would certainly be granted. Galehaut told him how things were between Lancelot and Guenevere. “When you see that peerless woman, take care to show yourself worthy of such an honor. If she asks who you are, tell her that your father was Bors of Gaunes, and that Lancelot of the Lake is your first cousin. If she asks about her friend, say that he cannot fare well deprived of her presence. Tell her we hope she will soon find a way for him to see her because our – yes, our – suffering is more than we can bear.”

  Lionel said he would not fail to deliver the message faithfully, not omitting a word.

  “Go then,” said Galehaut, “and let no one know whom you serve or where you are going. It could cost us our lives, and you your honor.”

  “I would let my eyes be torn out before I’d betray you!” And then he was on his way.

  But Lionel was still very young, and only a squire. One day as he rode through Logres, he saw a crowd of people running toward an enclosed field just outside the walls of Cambenic, a ducal city. Wondering what was happening, he went closer and learned that a judicial combat was in progress: an unknown knight was fighting the duke’s seneschal, who had wrongly accused an elderly man of treason. Lionel had never seen such a duel. He pushed his way through so eagerly that his horse jostled some knights who were watching the combat. One of these shouted at him to go back, but Lionel was so absorbed he did not hear him. The knight grasped Lionel’s horse by the reins, turned him around sharply, and raised a cudgel. Lionel, who had nearly fallen off, drew his sword, but a young woman cried out for him to stop: a squire must never attack a knight. The youth put his sword away, “but a knight,” he said, “should never conduct himself shamefully! I don’t care about seeing your battle – my master would have defeated both of these men without turning a hair!”

  The knight, laughing, asked who his master was.

  “You’re better off not knowing! Not for all the lands of Galehaut would you want to see him up close!”

  He regretted his words too late. Ashamed and confused, Lionel left the combat and hurried out of town into the forest. The knight fighting for the defense, however, had overheard the angry exchange. Anxious to question the squire, he redoubled the ferocity of his attack, and his treacherous opponent, who had thought himself close to winning, was soon defeated. The accusation of treason was thus disproved. The defendant, saved from death, had scarcely begun to express his gratitude when his champion galloped away into the forest. At a turn in the path, his horse nearly collided with the young man, now on foot. Reining in his mount, the knight shouted, “What are you doing here? What happened to your horse?”

  Lionel, however, was learning to be cautious. “First tell me, on your honor as a knight, who you are.”

  “I am Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew.” Before Lionel could respond, he went on, “I heard you mention Galehaut. I want you to know that the Lord of the Distant Isles is very dear to me. That’s why, if anyone has wronged you, I swear you’ll be avenged!”

  Lionel was visibly relieved. “Then I’ll tell you what happened,” he said. “I had scarcely left the battle and ridden into the forest when a knight, on foot, ran toward me and seized my horse. I didn’t try to fight him because he was fully armed, and because I have no right to attack a knight, but now I think I should have died trying.”

  “Which way did he go?”

  “My horse’s tracks are just over there, my lord. He’s a roan with a white blaze.”

  “Then follow me as best you can. I’ll either get your horse back for you or give you my own!”

  “How can I thank you, my lord!”

  Sir Gawain galloped through the forest into a valley where he saw two knights fighting on foot, their horses, one of which was Lionel’s, tied to a tree. “Stop, my lords! Don’t make another move before you tell me which of you rode this horse!”

  “I did,” said one of the knights; “what’s that to you?”

  “It’s something to me when a knight takes a horse from a harmless squire! You are to declare yourself his prisoner as reparation!”

  “Brave words, my friend! Let’s see how you back them up!”

  “Be careful!” said his opponent, clearly pleased with this turn of events. “That’s the best knight you’ve ever seen! He has just defeated the duke’s seneschal!”

  “Then I certainly won’t try to fight him! My lord,” he went on, seeking to placate the newcomer, “do with me as you will. It was because I really needed a mount that I took the squire’s horse. Here is my sword. I ask only that you let me know your name.”

  “I have never concealed my name from anyone who asked. I am King Arthur’s nephew, Gawain.”

  The other knight said, “Noble as you are, I won’t complain that you deprived me of my battle! It is an honor.”

  “What was your quarrel about?” asked Gawain.

  “He said he was a better fighter than I, and I wanted to prove him wrong. I won the first joust, and caught his horse who was running away. Then he found your squire in the forest.”

  Gawain, satisfied, brought the exchange to a close with a quick judgment. “If your cause was as little as that, you would do better to stay friends.”

  Then the three of them rode back to meet Lionel. Gawain said, “Dear brother, here is the knight who stole your horse. Ask him whatever you wish as reparation.”

  “Thank you, my lord! Now I know for certain that you are Sir Gawain!”

  The guilty knight returned Lionel’s horse; then he knelt before him and asked for mercy. The squire had him rise. When Gawain repeated that he could take whatever retribution he thought best, the boy said, “My lord,
I ask nothing more of him, except that he give his word as a knight never again to attack a man not in full armor, and that he will do his best to help anyone so attacked.” Sir Gawain took the man’s oath. Then he gave the two knights leave to go, and they rode away.

  As soon as they were alone, Gawain asked Lionel to give him news of Galehaut. “My lord, I am not in his service.”

  “But you do know where he is.”

  Lionel felt caught between loyalty to Galehaut and gratitude to Gawain. He paused, then said slowly and distinctly, “If he were in Sorelais, my lord, you would find it hard to reach him. You would have to fight your way in.”

  Gawain realized that he would learn nothing more but had learned enough. He commended the squire to God, and they took leave of each other. Gawain lost no time in starting out for Sorelais, and Lionel went his way toward King Arthur’s court.

  He found the king in the capital city of his realm, and there the Lady of Malehaut and the queen herself welcomed him warmly even before they learned who he was. They were glad to have news of Sir Gawain, and the youth related the knight’s successful fight with the Duke of Cambenic’s seneschal. “And my horse had been stolen, and he got it back for me. He rode with me for a while, asking where I was going, but I didn’t tell him.” Lionel gave them the message from Lancelot and Galehaut, exactly as he had been told to, and the two ladies immediately began trying to think of a way to see them. Now that they had good news of Gawain, it might be possible to introduce the idea of a tournament.

  However, while the ladies were discussing how best to proceed, messengers arrived with news of war in Scotland. A plan to play at war was thus suddenly displaced by the reality of war! Saxon and Irish invaders were ravaging the land and massacring large numbers of people. Already they held much of the country, and were threatening an important castle near Arestel.

  King Arthur, dismayed by the news, sent urgent messages to his vassals, directing them to present themselves at Carduel with all the forces they could muster. They were to be there within two weeks. Lionel, on the queen’s order, set out for Sorelais. He was to inform Lancelot and Galehaut of the invasion, and tell them where to meet the king in Scotland. They were to travel in disguise. She sent Lancelot a red silk pennon for his helmet, so that she could recognize him in his armor, and also a ring from her finger as a token of her love. After the boy had left, King Arthur asked Guenevere whether he should seek to have Galehaut join him. She seemed to reflect for a moment, then suggested that he wait until he knew how much help he would really need, since “you don’t want him to think you are afraid.”

  Both Gawain and Lionel were riding, separately, toward Sorelais, the one knowing the way, but the other well in the lead. Gawain had the help of a hermit who was able to give useful directions. The hermit explained that Galehaut, intent on protecting the inhabitants of Sorelais from those who might want to rob or otherwise injure them, had established guard posts at the only two points of entry. Those who crossed the bridges would be challenged by a skilled knight, backed by men-at-arms. The Lord of the Distant Isles believed that anyone who defeated such a defender would have proven worthy of confidence and so allowed to pass. Thus it was not too long before Sir Gawain came to the first causeway over the Severn. It was massive, high, and extremely long and dangerous. In the distance he could see the imposing tower of the castle guarding the entry to Sorelais. A squire had accompanied him, riding a fine palfrey and leading Gawain’s warhorse. Gawain said the warhorse would be all he would need from now on. He made a gift of the palfrey to the squire, and told him that he was free to go. The young man, out of gratitude, waited to see what would happen on the causeway, climbing a nearby hill to have a better view.

  Down below, a well-armed knight rode out to meet Gawain and said that if he planned to enter the country, he would have to fight him first.

  “I certainly plan to enter,” answered Gawain.

  “And, should you defeat me, you will have to deal with my ten men-at-arms.” These were already arriving, armed with axes as well as swords.

  “I want simply to be sure that only these ten will be involved.”

  “They will be quite enough! But if you should defeat us, custom demands that you guard the causeway until a replacement arrives.”

  Gawain accepted the conditions, more concerned about the delay than the odds. The ten men-at-arms withdrew and stood close together, as Gawain rode back along the causeway to where he could turn and gallop at full speed toward the knight who came rushing toward him. In the shock of their encounter, Gawain’s lance shattered his opponent’s shield. Then, with his lance still unbroken, he whirled around and struck the knight full in the center of his chest, though the weapon did not penetrate far past the chain-mail hauberk. The knight fell unconscious to the ground, and Gawain, not wanting to dismount for fear of losing his horse, drew his sword, approached the knight, who was just reviving, and told him he would die unless he surrendered. The sight of blood streaming over his body made him fear that he would die without confession, so, asking Gawain for mercy, he declared himself vanquished. But even as he was handing over his sword, the ten men-at-arms, lowborn knaves awkward even in light armor, rushed forward to attack, striking heavy blows with their axes and swords. In no time they had killed Gawain’s horse, but they could not injure the knight himself.

  At that point, the squire, who had been watching all the while, spurred his horse and galloped out onto the causeway, shouting, “Bastards! Every one of you will hang if you kill Sir Gawain! He’s the greatest knight in the world and King Arthur’s nephew!”

  With that he struck one of them so hard he fell down dead. The others took flight, some toward the tower, some to the river bank. There was a tense silence. The squire dismounted and secured the wounded knight’s charger for his lord. One of the men who had fled into the tower came out with the keys of the castle, which he presented to Gawain saying, “Welcome, sir! You have nothing to fear from us!” The wounded knight was comforted to know who had defeated him, and Gawain accompanied him back to the castle, after saying farewell to the squire.

  They inscribed Gawain’s name on a stone slab commemorating those who had crossed the causeway. There were only five names, the first of them, dating from long before, King Arthur’s. The vanquished were also recorded, and Elinant, just defeated by Gawain, was one of the best knights in Galehaut’s kingdom.

  A squire had already left the causeway, carrying word to Galehaut that an unknown knight had defeated Elinant and the men-at-arms. Galehaut declared he was eager to meet a warrior so valiant, but Lancelot was determined to fight him. He had nothing to do but wait for Lionel to return, and a challenging battle would be a most welcome relief from frustration. Hunting was no substitute for jousting! “We might as well be in prison here! We are wasting our time and our youth, doing nothing worthy of knights.”

  Galehaut smiled at this, but resolved to prevent any such confrontation. That evening one of his knights, Elias of Ragres, asked if he could have the command of the causeway, and Galehaut, knowing his valor, gave permission.

  Thus Gawain was relieved of his obligation. He ordered Elinant to present himself to King Arthur, and to inform the king and queen that he would return as soon as he could. Then he started into the interior of Sorelais. Elinant too set out immediately, although it was painful for him to travel. Arthur and Guenevere welcomed him, very glad to have news of Gawain, but the king was troubled to learn that his nephew had not yet accomplished his quest. Aided by neither Gawain nor the Red Knight, it was only with great reluctance that he was going to war in Scotland. The queen made sure that Elinant’s wounds were treated skillfully, and when he was well enough, he joined King Arthur’s household.

  Galehaut had persuaded Lancelot to accompany him to an island in the middle of the Severn, where he had a fine castle with a high stone tower. The place was connected to the mainland by a drawbridge but was otherwise so isolated that it was called Lost Island. Though the surroundings we
re beautiful, Lancelot, endlessly longing to see the queen, took no pleasure in them. He spent his time in the tower, brooding and watching the river day after day, with nothing to relieve the monotony or his sadness – until, one morning, not long after the news of the causeway, he noticed a knight on the opposite bank! Sure that this must be the one who had crossed the Severn, he could not contain his excitement. He rushed down the stairs to tell Galehaut, who quickly dispatched a servant to find out what the stranger wanted. “But be sure,” he warned, “that you don’t tell him I am here!”

  After his victory at the entry to Sorelais, Gawain had wandered through the countryside, asking people everywhere for news of their lord Galehaut. One day he had encountered a girl on horseback who said she would help him, “if you will grant me a boon when I ask it of you.” When he had promised her that he would, she led him to the top of a high hill and pointed to Lost Island. “My lord is there, but wants to see no one.”

  Gawain, now so close to his goal, refused to accept this discouraging statement. He was sure that no reclusiveness would stop Galehaut from receiving Gawain himself, and with pleasure. He had, though, to conceal his identity for a while if he was to succeed as he wished with the Red Knight, and succeed in more than one way.

  Ever since he had witnessed the Red Knight’s astonishing feats on the battlefield, Gawain had harbored a keen, unspoken ambition to match his own prowess against the strength and combat skill of the stranger. There had been no earlier opportunity, but now Gawain had recovered from his last injuries and was filled with energy. How better to express his admiration for the Red Knight than to face him in a duel?

  But the Red Knight, having fought in defense of King Arthur, might be unwilling to oppose the king’s nephew. No, thought Sir Gawain, he had to keep his name a secret. The combat had to take place, moreover, for another, more practical reason. However supportive of the king the unknown knight had been, he had, in the end, chosen to remain unidentified and to have nothing further to do with Arthur’s court. Gawain, to achieve his quest, had not only to find the Red Knight but also to lead him back to the king. This might be possible only if the knight were defeated in battle. So Gawain felt fully justified in provoking an armed encounter.