Arthurian Romances

by Chretien de Troyes

  ‘Friend, since you so advise me, I wish to heed your counsel, whatever it might bring.’

  He followed the boatman’s advice and, leading his horse after him, he boarded the punt and they set off and reached the other shore. The boatman’s house was near the water, and was so good and comfortable that a count would be well received there. The boatman escorted his guest and his prisoner and welcomed them as grandly as he could. My lord Gawain was served with everything befitting a gentleman: he had plover and pheasant and partridge and venison for supper; and the wines were strong and clear, both white and red, young and vintage. The boatman was very happy with both his prisoner and his guest. After they had eaten, the table was removed and they washed their hands again. That night my lord Gawain’s host and lodgings were to his liking, for he was very pleased and delighted with the boatman’s hospitality.

  In the morning, as soon as he could see the day breaking, my lord Gawain arose as he should and as was his custom. The boatman, for the sake of friendship, also arose and the two of them went quickly to lean out at the windows of a turret. My lord Gawain gazed at the countryside, which was most beautiful: he beheld the forest and the plains and the castle on the cliff.

  ‘My dear host,’ he said, ‘if you don’t object, I’d like to ask you who is lord of this land and of that castle up there?’

  And his host replied without delay: ‘Sir, I don’t know.’

  ‘You don’t know? That surprises me, because you told me you are in the service of the castle and are well paid for it, yet you don’t know who is the lord of it!’

  ‘I can truthfully tell you,’ he said, ‘that I don’t know now and never have.’

  ‘Dear host, then tell me now who defends and guards the castle?’

  ‘Sir, it is well guarded by five hundred longbows and crossbows, which are always drawn and ready. They are so ingeniously set up that if anyone were to attack they would shoot indefinitely and never be exhausted. I’ll tell you this much about the situation: there is a queen, a lady who is very noble, rich and wise, and of the highest lineage. The queen, with all her great treasures of gold and silver, came to dwell in this land and she had this strong manor built that you see before you. And she brought with her a lady she loves so much that she calls her queen and daughter; and this second lady herself has a daughter, who is in no way a shame or disgrace to her lineage – I don’t think there’s a more beautiful or gifted princess under heaven. The hall is very well protected by magic and enchantment, as you’ll soon learn if it pleases you to be told.

  ‘A learned astronomer, whom the queen brought with her, created such a great marvel in that palace upon the hill that you’ve not heard the equal of it: no knight can enter there or stop for any time at all or stay alive within it if he is filled with covetousness or has within him any stain of pride or avarice. Cowards and traitors cannot endure, nor can perjurers or recreants: these all perish so quickly that they cannot live there even for a moment. Yet there are many squires within, who have come from many lands to serve here and win their arms. There are easily as many as five hundred, some with beards, others not: a hundred without beard or moustache, another hundred with growing beards, and a hundred who shave and trim their beards every week. There are a hundred with hair whiter than lamb’s wool, and a hundred who are turning grey. And there are elderly ladies without husbands or lords, who have very wrongly been disinherited from lands and possessions after the deaths of their husbands; and there are orphaned damsels abiding with the two queens, who treat them with very great respect. Such are the people who frequent the castle, and they are all awaiting an absurd, impossible event: they are waiting for a knight who’ll come there to protect them, to restore their inheritances to the ladies, to give husbands to the maidens, and to make the squires knights. But the sea will turn to ice before they find a knight who can stay within the great hall, for he would have to be perfectly wise and generous, lacking all covetousness, fair and noble, bold and loyal, with no trace of wickedness or evil. If such a knight were to come there, he could rule in the hall and return their lands to the ladies and bring many wars to their ends. He could marry off the maidens, confer knighthoods on the squires, and in quick succession rid the hall of its magic spells.’

  This news pleased and delighted my lord Gawain immensely.

  ‘My dear host,’ he said, ‘let’s ride down there. Have my horse and arms brought to me at once, for I don’t want to tarry here any longer. I’m eager to be off.’

  ‘Sir, which way? As God is your protection, stay with me today, tomorrow, and a few days more.’

  ‘Dear host, I cannot stay at this time, but may your house be blessed! I’ll go instead, with God’s aid, to see the ladies up there and wonder at the marvels of the hall.’

  ‘Silence, my lord! Please God, you mustn’t do anything so rash! Take my advice and stay here.’

  ‘Enough, dear host, you must think I am weak and cowardly! May God forsake my soul if I accept such advice!’

  ‘Upon my word, sir, I’ll say no more, for it would be wasted effort. Since you’re so intent upon going, you’ll go, though it upsets me; and it is I who must escort you, for I assure you that no other escort would be of any use to you. But I wish to ask a boon of you.’

  ‘What boon, dear host? I’d like to know.’

  ‘First you must grant it.’

  ‘Dear host, I’ll do your will as long as it does not cast shame upon me.’

  Then he ordered them to bring him his horse from the stable, saddled and readied to ride, and he called for his arms, which were brought to him. He armed himself, mounted and set off, and the boatman in turn mounted upon his palfrey, for he intended to give him a loyal escort to where he himself was so loath to go. They rode to the foot of the stairs in front of the great hall, where they found a peg-legged man sitting alone upon a pile of freshly cut grass; his artificial leg was of silver, finely inlaid with gold and striped with alternating bands of gold and precious stones. The hands of the peg-legged man were not idle, for he was holding a knife with which he was busily whittling a branch of ash. The man did not address those who passed in front of him, nor did they say a word to him.

  The boatman drew my lord Gawain to him and asked: ‘Sir, what do you make of this peg-legged man?’

  ‘His artificial leg is not aspen wood, I’d swear,’ said my lord Gawain. ‘From what I see, it is quite beautiful.’

  ‘In the name of God,’ said the boatman, ‘the peg-legged man is wealthy, with large and handsome properties! You would already have heard some news that would have been most distressing were I not accompanying you and serving as your escort.’

  So the two of them passed by him and came to the great hall, with its very high entry-way. Its gate was splendid and beautiful, for the hinges and catches were of pure gold, as the source testifies. One of the doors was ivory, with beautifully carved panels, the other door was ebony, likewise with carved panels, and each was highlighted by gold leaf and magical gems. The stone paving of the floor of the great hall was of many diverse colours, carefully worked and polished: green and red, dark blue and black. In the middle of the hall was a bed, in which there was not a speck of wood, for everything was gold except for the cords alone, which were entirely of silver. I am not lying about the bed, for at each point where the cords crossed there hung a little bell; over the bed was spread a large embroidered samite cover. To each of the bedposts was affixed a carbuncle, which cast as much light as four brightly burning candles. The bed’s legs were carved figures of little dogs with grimacing jowls, and the dogs were set on four wheels which rolled so easily that you could push the bed with one finger and roll it all the way across the room. To tell the truth, the bed was so unusual that none like it had ever been made for count or king, nor ever would be. The hall was hung all around with silk, and I want you to believe me when I say the walls were not of soft plaster but marble, with such clear glass windows set high in them that if you were to look through the glass at
tentively, you could see everyone entering the hall and passing through the door. The glass was stained with the most costly and refulgent colours one could conceive of or create. But I do not wish to describe or tell about everything. The hall had some four hundred closed windows, and a hundred open.

  My lord Gawain carefully inspected the hall from top to bottom and from every side. When he had seen it all, he called to the boatman and said: ‘Good host, I don’t see anything here that would make one fear to enter this hall. Now tell me what you meant when you warned me so insistently not to come and see it. I wish to sit and rest a little upon this bed, for I’ve never seen such a splendid one.’

  ‘Ah, my dear lord! May God keep you from going near that place! If you do approach it, you’ll die the most horrible death that any knight ever experienced.’

  ‘Good host, then what should I do?’

  ‘What, sir? I’ll tell you, since I see you’re eager to stay alive. When you decided to come to this place, I asked you for a boon before we left my house, but you didn’t know what it was. Now I wish to collect the boon: you are to return to your land and tell your friends and the people of your country that you’ve seen a hall more splendid than any you know, more splendid than anyone knows!’

  ‘Though you seem to be saying this for my benefit, good host, still it would be like admitting I had lost God’s favour and been disgraced as well. But nothing will prevent me from sitting on the bed and seeing the maidens I beheld last evening leaning out over those window-ledges.’

  Like a man drawing back to deliver a harder punch, the boatman replied: ‘You’ll not see a one of those maidens you’ve mentioned! Go back out, now, just as you entered, for no good at all will come to you in seeing them; yet, so help me God, the damsels, the queens, and the ladies who are in those rooms can see you even now through these glass windows.’

  ‘By my faith,’ said my lord Gawain, ‘at least I’ll sit upon the bed if I cannot see the maidens, because I do not believe that such a bed was made except for a worthy man or noble lady to lie upon; so by my soul I’ll sit upon it, whatever the outcome may be!’

  When the boatman saw he was unable to stop him, he said no more; but he could not bear to remain in the hall long enough to watch him sit upon the bed, so he went on his way saying: ‘My lord, I’m very distressed and saddened you must die, for no knight has ever sat upon this bed and lived, because it is the Bed of Marvels, whereon no one sleeps or dozes or rests or sits and then arises alive and well. It is a great pity that you will offer your life in pledge without hope of ransom or recovery. Since neither affection nor argument can persuade you to leave this place, may God have mercy on your soul, for my heart could never bear it were I to see you die.’

  With that he departed from the great hall. And my lord Gawain sat upon the bed in his full armour, with his shield strapped over his shoulders. As he sat down the cords screeched and all the bells rang, filling the whole hall with noise. All the windows flew open, and the wonders were revealed and the enchantments appeared, for bolts and arrows flew in through the windows and more than five hundred struck my lord Gawain’s shield yet he did not know who had attacked him! The enchantment was such that no one could see from which direction the bolts came, nor the archers who shot them. And you can well imagine the great racket made by the stretching of so many crossbows and longbows. At this moment my lord Gawain would have given a thousand marks not to have been there. But in an instant the windows closed again without anyone touching them, and my lord Gawain began to pull out the bolts that were stuck in his shield, several of which had wounded his body and caused the blood to gush forth. Before he had pulled them all out, he was subjected to another trial: a peasant struck a door with a club, and the door opened and a very ravenous, strong, fierce, and astonishing lion leapt from a room through the door and attacked my lord Gawain with great viciousness and savagery; it thrust its claws full length into my lord Gawain’s shield as if it were wax and drove him to his knees. But he jumped up at once and drew his trustworthy sword from his scabbard and struck such a blow that he cut off its head and both forepaws. My lord Gawain was delighted to see both its paws hanging to his shield by the claws – he could see the paws on one side and the claws sticking through on the other.

  After killing the lion, he sat back down upon the bed and his host returned to the hall with a beaming face, found him sitting on the bed and said: ‘Sir, I assure you you have nothing more to fear. Remove all your armour, because the marvels of the great hall have been for ever stilled by your coming here. You will be served and honoured by young and old herein, may God be praised!’

  At that floods of squires came up, all very handsomely clad in tunics; they all fell to their knees saying: ‘Dear good kind sir, we offer you our services; you are the one we have long been awaiting and hoping for, though it seems that you have been a very long time coming to us.’

  Immediately one of them came forward and began to remove his armour, and others went to stable his horse, which was still outside. And as he was removing his armour, a very beautiful and attractive maiden, who had a golden band upon her head and whose hair was as blonde as gold, or more so, entered the room. Her face was white, and Nature had highlighted it with a pure and rosy tint. The maiden was very graceful, beautiful and elegant, tall and erect; and she was followed by other very noble and beautiful maidens. And there came a single young squire, who had a robe over his shoulders, a cloak, mantle, and surcoat. The mantle was lined in ermine and sable that was black as mulberries, and the outside was of splendid red material. My lord Gawain marvelled at the maidens he saw approaching, and could not stop himself from leaping to his feet to greet them, saying: ‘Welcome, fair maidens!’

  And the one who came first bowed to him and said: ‘Good noble lord, my lady the queen sends you greetings and has ordered all her people to consider you their rightful lord and told one and all to come and serve you. I offer you my service before all others without deceit, and these maidens coming here all consider you their lord, for they have long hoped for your coming. Now they are happy to behold the best of all gentlemen. Sir, there is nothing more to say, for we are all prepared to serve you.’

  With these words they all knelt down and bowed to him, for they had all pledged themselves to his service and glory. He had them arise at once and be seated, for they were very delightful to behold not only because they were beautiful but more especially because they had made him their prince and their lord. He was happier than he had ever been for the honour God had bestowed upon him.

  Then the maiden came forward, and said: ‘My lady sends you this robe to put on before she sees you, because she believes, being filled as she is with courtesy and wisdom, that you have undergone great sufferings and tribulations. So put it on, and see if it is a good size for you, because it is prudent to dress warmly against the cold after the heat of exercise, lest one become numb and chilled. That is why my lady the queen sends you an ermine robe: so that the cold won’t harm you, for blood congeals in the veins when a man shivers after the heat of exercise, just as water turns to ice.’

  And my lord Gawain replied like the most courteous man in the world: ‘May the all-perfect Lord save my lady the queen, and you too, for your kind words, your courtesy, and your charm. I believe the lady who has such a courteous messenger must be wise indeed; she is well aware of what a knight needs and requires when she sends me a robe to wear, and I thank her for it. Please thank her sincerely for me.’

  ‘I assure you I shall gladly do so,’ said the maiden. ‘And while you are waiting, you may dress and gaze out over the countryside through these windows; or, if you like, you can climb up into this tower to observe the forests, plains, and rivers until I have returned.’

  With that the maiden departed. My lord Gawain dressed himself in the very costly robe and fastened the neck with a clasp that was hanging at the collar. Then he wished to see the view from the tower. Accompanied by the boatman, he climbed a spiral staircase along
the wall of the vaulted hall until they reached the top of the tower and could see the surrounding countryside, which was more beautiful than words can describe.

  My lord Gawain gazed at all the rivers and flatlands, and the forests full of wild game; then he looked at the boatman and said: ‘Dear host, so help me God, I’d love to stay here to go hunting and shooting in these nearby forests.’

  ‘My lord, you’d do well to speak no more of this,’ said the boatman, ‘for I’ve often heard it told that it was vowed and determined that the man so dearly loved by God that the people of this castle proclaimed him their master and lord and protector would never again, whether rightly or wrongly, be able to leave this manor. Therefore you must not speak of hunting or shooting. Here is where you’ll stay: you’ll never leave this castle again.’

  ‘Dear host,’ he said, ‘speak no more of this! You’ll drive me out of my mind if I hear you say that again! So help me God, I could no more live here for seven days than for seven score years if I didn’t have the opportunity to leave whenever I wanted.’

  At that he came down and went back into the great hall very angry and upset; he sat back down upon the bed with a sorrowful and downcast face, until the maiden who had been there before returned. When my lord Gawain saw her, he stood up to meet her and greeted her at once, though he was still ill-tempered. She saw that his words and countenance were greatly altered, and it certainly appeared from his face that something had vexed him; but she did not dare to reveal that she knew, and said: ‘Sir, whenever you please my lady will come to see you. The dinner is prepared and you can eat, if you wish, either down here or up there.’

  My lord Gawain replied: ‘My fair one, I don’t wish to eat. May I be cursed if I eat or have any pleasure before I’ve heard other news, which I really need to hear to cheer me up.’