Arthurian Romances

by Chretien de Troyes

  Much abashed, the maiden returned at once to the queen, who motioned to her and asked: ‘What news, sweet granddaughter? In what state, in what mood, did you find the good lord whom God has given us?’

  ‘Ah, my lady, honoured queen, my heart is mortally wounded because the only words one can elicit from the noble and high-born knight are words of wrath and anger. Nor can I tell you the reason why, for he didn’t tell me, I don’t know, and I didn’t dare ask him. But I can well assure you that the first time I saw him today I found him so polite, so talkative, so happy that I couldn’t hear enough of his words or see enough of his handsome face. But all of a sudden he is so changed that I think he’d rather be dead, for everything he hears annoys him.’

  ‘Don’t worry, granddaughter, for he’ll calm down completely as soon as he sees me: no matter how great the anger in his heart, I’ll swiftly banish it and put great joy in its place.’

  Then the queen stirred and came into the great hall, along with the other queen who was delighted to accompany her, and after them trailed a good hundred and fifty damsels and at least as many squires. As soon as my lord Gawain saw the queen coming hand in hand with the other queen, his heart guessed and told him that this was the queen about whom he had heard tell. This was easily divined from the sight of the white tresses that hung down over her hips; and she was clad in a white-silk gown with golden flowers, delicately woven. As soon as my lord Gawain saw her he was not slow to approach her.

  He greeted her and she him, saying: ‘Sir, after you, I am lady of this palace. I yield you its lordship, for you have well merited it. But are you from the household of King Arthur?’

  ‘My lady, I am indeed.’

  ‘And are you, I’d like to know, one of the knights of the king’s watch, who have done so many deeds of prowess?’

  ‘I am not, my lady.’

  ‘As you say. Then tell me, are you a Knight of the Round Table, one of the most highly esteemed in the world?’

  ‘My lady,’ he answered, ‘I wouldn’t dare say that I’m one of the most esteemed. I don’t count myself among the best, nor do I think I’m one of the worst.’

  And she replied: ‘Noble sir, these are courteous words I hear, when you don’t accord yourself the praise due the best, nor the blame due the worst. But tell me now about King Lot: how many sons did he have by his wife?’

  ‘Four, my lady.’

  ‘Tell me their names.’

  ‘My lady, Gawain is the eldest; the second is Agravain, the Proud Knight with strong hands; Gaheris and Gareth are the names of the last two.’

  And again the queen spoke: ‘Sir, as God is my support, it seems to me those are indeed their names. Would to God they were all here with us now! Tell me now, do you know King Urien?’

  ‘Yes, my lady.’

  ‘Does he have a son at court?’

  ‘Yes, my lady, two highly renowned sons. One is called my lord Yvain, the courteous and well-mannered: I find him so wise and courteous that it makes me happier all day long when I can see him in the morning. And the other is also called Yvain, but he’s not his full brother, so they call him the Bastard, and he defeats all knights who oppose him in battle. At court they are both very noble, very wise, and very courteous.’

  ‘Good sir,’ said she, ‘and how goes it with King Arthur now?’

  ‘Better than he ever was before: he’s healthier, happier, and stronger.’

  ‘Upon my word,’ she said, ‘that’s not surprising, for he’s still a child, King Arthur. If he’s a hundred, he’s no more; he couldn’t be a day over that. But there is still more I’d like to learn from you: please tell me about the bearing and comportment of the queen, if it’s not too much trouble.’

  ‘Indeed, my lady, she is so courteous and so beautiful and so full of wisdom that God never made a land or region where so wise a lady could be found. No lady has been so esteemed since God formed the first woman from Adam’s rib. And she is so acclaimed by right: just as the wise master instructs the little children, so my lady the queen teaches and instructs everyone, for every good thing has its source and origin in her. It is impossible for anyone to depart unhappy from my lady, for she knows each person’s worth exactly and what must be done in order for her to please him. No man behaves well or honourably without having learned it from my lady, and no man, however miserable, leaves my lady’s presence sad.’

  ‘Nor will you leave my presence sad, sir.’

  ‘My lady,’ he said, ‘I can well believe you, because before I saw you I didn’t care what I did, I was so sad and downcast. But now I am as happy and joyful as I could possibly be.’

  ‘Sir, by the God who gave me life,’ said the queen with the white tresses, ‘your happiness will double and your joy constantly increase, and never again will they desert you. And now that you are cheered, dinner has been prepared. You may eat whenever you are ready and whenever you please: you may eat up here if you wish or, if you prefer, you may come down to eat in the chambers below.’

  ‘My lady, I would not like to trade this hall for any chambers, for I have been told that no knight ever sat or ate here.’

  ‘No, my lord, none ever emerged alive or stayed alive for even a short while.’

  ‘My lady, then I shall eat here if you give me your permission.’

  ‘Sir, I give it gladly, and you will be the first knight ever to eat here.’

  At that the queen departed, leaving a good hundred and fifty of her most beautiful maidens with him. They dined beside him in the great hall, and served and provided him with whatever he desired. More than a hundred squires served at dinner, some of whom were completely white-headed, others were greying and others not. Still others had neither beard nor moustache, and two of these latter knelt together before him, one carving his meat for him and the other pouring his wine. My lord Gawain had his host the boatman sit beside him to eat; and the dinner was not short: it lasted longer than one of the days around Christmas,27 for dark night had fallen and many large torches were lit before the meal was finished. During dinner there was much conversation and afterwards, before going to bed, many rounds were danced; they all wearied themselves making merry over their dearly beloved lord. And when Sir Gawain was ready for bed, he lay down upon the Bed of Marvels. A damsel placed a pillow under his head which helped him sleep comfortably.

  The next day when he awoke they prepared for him a robe of ermine and samite. The boatman came to his bedside in the morning and had him arise, dress, and wash his hands. Clarissant, the worthy, the beautiful, the comely, the wise, the eloquent was also present at his rising. Then she went to the chamber of her grandmother the queen, who hugged her and asked: ‘Granddaughter, by the faith you owe me, has your lord arisen yet?’

  ‘Yes, my lady, long ago.’

  ‘Where is he, my beautiful granddaughter?’

  ‘My lady, he went up into the turret and I don’t know whether he’s come back down.’

  ‘Granddaughter, I wish to go to him and, if it pleases God, today he will experience only joy, happiness, and pleasure.’ The queen stood up immediately, eager as she was to go to him. She found him high up gazing from the windows of a turret and watching a maiden and a fully armed knight who were making their way across a meadow. As he was watching them, the two queens came up side by side behind him; they found my lord Gawain and the boatman each at a window.

  ‘Good morning to you, sir,’ said both of the queens. ‘May the Glorious Father who made His daughter His mother bring you a happy and joyful day.’

  ‘My lady, may He who sent His Son to earth to save mankind accord you great happiness. But if you will, come here to this window and tell me who that maiden coming this way, accompanied by a knight with a quartered shield, can be?’

  ‘I’ll gladly tell you,’ said the queen as she looked. ‘May the fires of Hell burn her: it’s the one who came here last evening with you. But don’t pay any attention to her, for she’s excessively proud and wicked. And I pray you not to pay any mind
to the knight she’s brought with her either, for without a doubt he is the boldest knight of all: when he fights it is not for sport, because I’ve seen him defeat and kill many a knight at this port.’

  ‘My lady,’ he said, ‘with your permission, I’d like to speak to the maiden.’

  ‘Sir, may it not please God for me to permit you to harm yourself. Let the malevolent maiden go about her own business. So help me God, you’ll not leave your hall on such a foolish mission. And you must never again leave here unless you wish to do us wrong.’

  ‘Heavens, noble queen! Now you’ve upset me greatly. I shall never be happy in this hall if I cannot leave it when I will. May it not please God for me to remain a prisoner here too long!’

  ‘Ah, my lady,’ said the boatman, ‘let him do whatever he wants. Don’t keep him against his will, for he might die of grief.’

  ‘Then I will let him leave,’ said the queen, ‘provided he swears that, if God protects him from death, he will return here this very night.’

  ‘My lady,’ he said, ‘do not worry, for I’ll return if I am able. But I ask and request a boon of you, if you are willing to grant it: that you don’t ask my name for seven days, if you don’t mind.’

  ‘Since that is your pleasure, my lord,’ replied the queen, ‘I’ll refrain from asking, for I do not wish to incur your hatred. Yet had you not forbidden me to, the first thing I would have requested would have been for you to tell me your name.’

  So they climbed down from the turret and squires ran up bringing his body armour, and his horse was led forth. He mounted upon it fully armed and rode to the port accompanied by the boatman, and together they boarded a boat and crossed so swiftly that soon they reached the other shore, where my lord Gawain disembarked.

  And the other knight addressed the merciless maiden: ‘Tell me, my friend, do you know this knight who’s coming towards us fully armed?’

  And the maiden said: ‘Not at all, but I do know he’s the one who escorted me to this place yesterday.’

  And he responded: ‘So help me God, he’s the one I was looking for! I was very much afraid he had escaped me, for no knight born of woman has ever crossed the frontier of Galloway and lived to boast anywhere of his return, if I see him or find him in front of me. This knight too will be captured and held prisoner, since God has let me see him.’

  The knight immediately grasped his shield, spurred his horse, and charged without a word of defiance or warning. And my lord Gawain headed towards him and struck a blow that gravely wounded him in the arm and side; but he was not fatally injured, for his hauberk held so well that the iron could barely penetrate it, though a finger’s length at the very tip did enter his body and knocked him to the ground. He got up worried, when he saw his blood gushing over his white hauberk from his arm and side. He rushed at Gawain with his sword, but became wearied so quickly that he could not sustain the combat and had to beg for mercy. My lord Gawain accepted his oath of surrender and turned him over to the awaiting boatman. Meanwhile the malevolent maiden had dismounted from her palfrey.

  Gawain came up to her and greeted her, saying: ‘Mount up, fair friend, I’m not going to leave you here; no, I’m taking you back with me over this river I must cross.’

  ‘Ah, knight!’ she said. ‘Look at how happy and proud you are! But you’d have had more than you could handle if my friend had not been weakened by old wounds: your proud words would have been silenced, your babbling tongue hushed, and you’d have been as silent as a checkmated king in the corner. Now tell me the truth; do you think you’re more worthy than him because you’ve defeated him? It often happens, as you well know, that the weak overcome the strong. But if you were to leave this port and come with me to that tree and undertake a task that my friend, whom you’ve taken prisoner in the boat, did for me whenever I wanted, then I would truly acknowledge that you were more worthy than he, and would no longer bear you ill-will.’

  ‘If I have to go no further than that tree, maiden,’ he replied, ‘nothing will prevent my doing your will.’

  And she said: ‘May it please God that I never see you return alive!’

  At that they set off on the way, she in front and he behind. And the maidens and ladies in the palace tore their hair, and ripped and scratched themselves, saying: ‘Ah, wretched women, why are we still alive when we watch the knight who was to have been our lord going to his death and disgrace? The malevolent maiden, that vile creature, is leading and escorting him to the place whence no knight returns! Alas! How soon we are wretched again after just finding happiness, for God had sent us a knight of unsurpassed goodness, lacking no virtue, whether courage or anything else.’

  In this manner the ladies lamented for their lord whom they saw following after the evil damsel. She and my lord Gawain arrived beneath the tree, and as they reached there my lord Gawain called to her. ‘Maiden,’ he said, ‘tell me now whether I’ve fulfilled my obligation: if you want me to do more, I’ll do so if I’m able, rather than lose your good graces.’

  Then the maiden said to him: ‘Do you see that deep ford there, with the very steep banks? My friend used to cross there.’

  ‘I don’t know where the ford is: the water’s too deep, I’m afraid, and the bank is too steep all around for one to go down it.’

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t dare enter the ford,’ said the maiden. ‘I certainly never supposed that you’d be brave enough to dare to cross it, for this is the Perilous Ford that only the bravest of the brave dare cross.’

  Immediately my lord Gawain led his horse to the bank and looked at the deep water below and the sheer vertical banks. But the river was narrow, and when my lord Gawain saw it he said to himself that his horse had leapt over many wider chasms and he recalled having heard it said in many places that the knight who could cross over the deep waters of the Perilous Ford would be reckoned the best in the world. So he drew back from the river, then came springing forward at a gallop to jump over; but he failed, for he had not made a good jump, and fell right into the middle of the ford. But his horse swam until it felt solid footing for all four hooves; it gathered itself for a jump, heaved, and leapt to the top of the steep bank. Once it had reached the top it was so tired it could not stir at all. My lord Gawain was obliged to dismount and found his horse to be completely exhausted. As soon as he had dismounted he decided to remove the saddle, which he turned on its side to dry. After the blanket had been removed, he wiped the water from his horse’s back, sides, and legs. Then he resaddled his steed, remounted, and rode along at a walking pace until he saw a lone knight hunting with a sparrow-hawk. Preceding the knight through the meadow were three small bird-hunting dogs. The knight was more handsome than can be described in words.

  When he approached him, my lord Gawain greeted him and said: ‘Good sir, may the God who made you more handsome than any other creature grant you joy and good fortune.’

  And he was swift to reply: ‘You are handsome and good yourself! But tell me, if you don’t mind, how you managed to leave that malevolent maiden alone over there. Where did her companions go?’

  ‘Sir,’ said Gawain, ‘a knight with a quartered shield was escorting her when I met her.’

  ‘What did you do to him?’

  ‘I defeated him in armed combat.’

  ‘And what became of the knight then?’

  ‘The boatman led him away, for he told me he was to have him.’

  ‘Indeed, good sir, he told you the truth. The maiden was my sweetheart, not that she would ever deign to love me or to call me her lover; nor did she ever favour me in anything, for I loved her against her will after having taken her from a lover she took everywhere with her: I killed him and brought her with me and strove to serve her. But my services were to no avail, for as soon as she was able she found the occasion to leave me and made that knight from whom you’ve just taken her her friend. He is not a knight to be scorned, so help me God: he is very bold, yet he was not one who ever dared to come anywhere he thought he might encou
nter me. Today you have done something no knight ever before ventured; since you dared do it, your great prowess has won you praise as the best knight in the world. It took tremendous courage to leap into the Perilous Ford, and you can be sure that no knight had ever come out of it before.’

  ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘then the damsel lied to me when she said, and convinced me as true, that her friend crossed it once a day out of love for her.’

  ‘Did the liar say that? Ha! She should be drowned herself, for she is possessed of the devil to tell you such a monstrous lie! She hates you, I can’t deny it, and that devil – may God damn her! – wanted to have you drowned in the deep and treacherous waters. Now give me your oath here and I will give you mine: if you wish to ask anything of me, I’ll never hide from you the truth, if I know it, whether it be to my joy or sadness; and you will likewise swear never to lie to me about anything I wish to ask of you if you are able to tell the truth to me.’

  Both swore this oath, and my lord Gawain began by asking the first question. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I wish to ask you about a citadel I see over there: who does it belong to and what is its name?’

  ‘Friend,’ he said, ‘I’ll tell you the truth about that citadel: it is so completely mine that I owe nothing to anyone else and gave homage for it to God alone. It is called Orqueneles.’

  ‘And what is your name?’

  ‘Guiromelant.’

  ‘Sir, I’ve heard it said that you are brave and worthy, and lord over a vast land. And what is the name of the maiden of whom no good is spoken, either near or far, as you yourself bear witness?’

  ‘I can truly attest,’ he replied, ‘that it’s best to stay far from her, for she’s very wicked and full of scorn; that is why she is called the Haughty Maid of Logres, where she was born, and from whence she was brought as a child.’

  ‘And what is the name of her friend who went, whether he wished to or not, as the boatman’s prisoner?’

  ‘Friend, I assure you that that man is a fabulous knight called the Haughty Knight of the Stone at the Narrow Way, and he defends the passes into Galloway.’