The Legend of the King

by Gerald Morris

  Guinglain smiled brightly, and in a voice that for all its mildness seemed to ride the wind into the trees said, "Indeed, I had not realized we had so much. Now I am content. It is enough."

  "Enough?" gasped Dinadan.

  "More than enough. Knight, holy man, family, poet—it is all that any land could want. If the knight will be honorable, the holy man true, the family loving. And if the poet will sing. After all, someone needs to tell the story of Arthur."

  "The story of Arthur is over," Dinadan said.

  "No, the events are over," Guinglain replied. "I'm talking about the story. There's a difference." He raised his small porridge bowl and said, "Brother Adelbert, would you help me serve this sacred communion?"

  Adelbert hesitated, then admitted, "I'm ... uh ... to be honest, I'm not actually ordained."

  "That's all right," Guinglain replied. "Neither am I. You make sure everyone's served, young and old, man and woman, knight and commoner. I'll say the words." Adelbert began ladling porridge from the pot, and Guinglain said, "This food we share is the bond of life and death, holding us together. Because ... because we remember those who have gone before us, because we will not forget to honor them, we are alive and we are together and we are one."

  Rhience chuckled. "Ay. This porridge is a new covenant. Hoc est gruel."

  Dinadan sipped his porridge, probably the worst-tasting thing he had ever put in his mouth, but it warmed his throat and stomach. Then he downed the rest in two gulps, scalding his tongue, and said, "Well, blast it, if we're going to have church, we ought to have a psalm. Wait here." Rising, he retrieved his rebec, tuned it swiftly, then said, "A hymn, a sacred chant. Let's see ... how about the holy tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?"

  They separated the next morning. Rhience and Luneta returned to their home in Sussex, where they began the hard work of rebuilding a life and raising a beautiful daughter, whom they eventually christened Morganna. She learned to speak and then to sing like an angel. At Rhience's suggestion, Bede traveled north to help Luneta's steward Rowena oversee Gawain's family lands in Orkney. The last time Dinadan and Palomides visited them, Bede and Rowena had four sturdy children: Douglas, Elise, Lynet, and Terence. Guinglain returned to his hermitage, which Dinadan always thought was the loudest and busiest holy place in all England. As for Dinadan, he and Palomides rode the length and breadth of England—and every other nation—singing the tales of Arthur and his knights to everyone who would listen, in every language they could learn, for as long as they both lived.

  Incipit liber Arturi

  * * *

  Envoi

  Twenty-five years ago, in college, I read several of the medieval romances about King Arthur and his knights and discovered to my astonishment that they were good. All my previous experience with King Arthur had been in obnoxious children's retellings in which all the knights were clean-shaven, cleft-chinned paragons of oppressive nobility and virtue. As for the ladies, they were even worse—simpering wraiths of soppy sentimentality. It was all enough to make one root for the dragons.

  But, I found, the original stories of Arthur's court were nothing like that at all. The medieval romances of Chrétien de Troye and Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur and the like were filled with real people with recognizably human characters who struggled with recognizable problems. In the real Arthurian legends, honor was not about keeping the rules of some code of chivalry. Honor meant standing by friends, admitting mistakes, forgiving insults, and keeping your word—even if it cost you dearly to do so. I immediately began planning how I would retell those stories to a new generation.

  I wrote the first book in 1989 and found a publisher for it in 1996, and that began my Arthurian excursion. It was going to be a trilogy, but it got a bit out of hand. I kept reading more Arthurian tales, from England and Wales and France and Germany, and finding more stories worth retelling. Besides, everyone who knows Arthurian lore knows that the saga doesn't end nicely, and the more obscure legends I took on, the longer I was able to put off dealing with that messy conclusion.

  But the end had to come eventually. I fretted for years over how to approach it—as did my readers, in fact. Many of you wrote, begging me not to make the ending as bleak as it usually is. Others wrote to ask that I return Squire Terence, my original hero, to his former place of prominence at the end. A clergywoman from New Zealand wrote to demand that I leave open at least some of the doors to the Other World when I finally finished the story. I hope I've done right by you all. I base my own stories on the original legends, and those legends only allow a certain amount of hope amid all their oppressive tragic inevitability. But there is hope nonetheless. Hope is often reclusive but always present, in all the Worlds that might be, even this one, and if I've done my job, you'll believe that with me.

  In any case, dear readers, thank you. Thank you for sharing my excursion, joining my journey, laughing with me at absurdities (also to be found in all the Worlds that might be), and learning to care about the friends and lovers of my imaginings. I've rather enjoyed myself, all in all.

  Gramercy,

  Gerald Morris

  * * *

  A Cast of Characters

  The Legend of the King and the Squire's Tales

  Abbreviations for the previous books of the series:

  ST The Squire's Tale

  SK The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady

  SD The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf

  PP Parsifal's Page

  BD The Ballad of Sir Dinadan

  PC The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight

  LK The Lioness and Her Knight

  QF The Quest of the Fair Unknown

  SQ The Squire's Quest

  (My thanks to user ninedaysaqueen of LiveJournal.com

  for simplifying discussions of my books by proposing

  abbreviations and suggesting most of the above.

  I did change QFU to simply QF.)

  (Boldface indicates characters created for the series.

  All others come from the original legends.)

  Agrivaine Second youngest son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause the Enchantress, brother of Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth. In the Squire's Tales series, Agrivaine's first significant appearance is in LK.

  Alan Captain of the Guard at Camelot. First appears in SK, where Gawain sends him to seek his fortune at Arthur's court. Appears also in SD and SQ.

  Ariel Daughter of Nimue, Lady of the Lake. Plays a major role in PP and PC. She is named for the sprite in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and not for the Little Mermaid.

  Arthur Illegitimate son of King Uther Pendragon and Igraine of Cornwall, King of All England, Hero of All Heroes, Once and Future King. One of only two characters to appear in every volume of the series, and for good reason.

  Beaufils See Guinglain.

  Beaumains See Gareth.

  Bedivere One of Arthur's kinsmen and earliest knights. In the series, plays his largest role in BD.

  Brangienne Handmaiden to Queen Iseult of Cornwall. Plays a large role in BD.

  Constans Hermit who, in PC, builds a tomb for Lancelot. I invented this name, but I used a real story for Constans's background—the knight Sir Pedwyr (Pedivere) who killed his wife and was sent to Rome by Lancelot as penance.

  Dinadan Oddest of Arthurian heroes. In Malory's Morte d'Arthur, he's an inept fighter who pops up without explanation throughout the story of Tristram and Iseult. Yet Malory, who elsewhere values skill with arms above all else, seems rather fond of Dinadan. In my series, I made Dinadan Tristram's younger brother. He appears first in SD, but plays his most significant roles in BD and SQ. I'm fond of him, too.

  Eileen The love of Terence's life and eventually his wife. Appears first and most importantly in SK, but also has significant parts in SD and SQ.

  Gaheris Second son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause the Enchantress, brother of Gawain, Agrivaine, and Gareth. Mentioned first in ST and has a small role in BD, but plays his parts mostly in SD and LK.


  Ganscotter Enchanter and ruler of the Isle of Avalon, father of Lorie and Terence. His name is borrowed from a German romance called Diu Krone, where an enchanter appears with the unfortunate name Gansguoter. In the series, appears in ST, SK, and QF, using the name Scotus in the latter book.

  Gareth Fourth son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause the Enchantress, brother of Gawain, Gaheris, and Agrivaine. Appears in SD, where he is usually called Beaumains ("Pretty Hands"), a nickname given to him by Kai.

  Gawain King Arthur's greatest knight. Oldest son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause the Enchantress, brother of Gaheris, Agrivaine, and Gareth, husband of Ganscotter's daughter, Lorie. As the primary knightly hero of the Squire's Tales series, he appears in every book except BD, which takes place while Gawain and his squire, Terence, were away on the quest that is retold in SK.

  Godwulf A gregarious hermit who appears several times in LK.

  Griflet Officially Griflet Le Fise Dieu. One of King Arthur's earliest knights. Appears within the series in ST, SD, and PC.

  Guinevere Queen of England, wife of King Arthur, daughter of King Leodegrance. Best known in Arthurian lore for her love affair with Lancelot. In this series, plays significant roles in ST, SK, PP, PC, and SQ.

  Guinglain Hermit and son of Gawain. In my own retellings, I have identified this traditional character with another—Beaufils ("Fair Son"), hero of the popular Middle English romance Lybeau Desconus ("The Fair Unknown"). Appears first in the series as the main character of QF, then again in SQ.

  Jean Le Forestier See Lancelot.

  Kai Son of the old knight Ector, who raised Arthur, and thus Arthur's foster brother. Seneschel (i.e., steward) for the king. Except for Arthur himself, Kai is the only character who appears in every volume of my series. His name is usually spelled Kay, but appears as Kai in the Welsh tales of the Mabinogion, and I liked that better.

  Lamorak In Malory, knight of the Round Table and consort to Morgause the Enchantress. In the series, appears in BD as the infatuated lackey of an unnamed "faery beauty."

  Lancelot A French knight, son of King Ban of Benouic, who came to England to become one of Arthur's greatest knights. Today, probably the most famous of all the Round Table. Best known for his love affair with Queen Guinevere. In the series, plays his largest roles in SK, SD, and PC. In SD, he appears as a recluse whom I named Jean Le Forestier.

  Laudine Wife of Ywain and minor enchantress in LK.

  Lorie Daughter of Ganscotter the Enchanter who marries Gawain. Half sister of Terence. The name Lorie is one of the names occasionally used for the Loathly Lady who appears in a traditional Gawain romance. Another is Dame Ragnall. For one reason or another, I went with Lorie. Appears in ST, SK, and QF.

  Luneta Daughter of Lynet and Gaheris and heroine of LK. I borrowed her from the French romance Yvain: The Knight with the Lion, where her name appeared as Lynete—probably intended to be the same character as Lynet. Since I already had a Lynet in the series (SD), I altered the spelling and made Luneta Lynet's daughter.

  Lynet A fascinating character from Book VII of Malory, a strong-willed young woman who sets out on her own to rescue her castle from a besieging knight. She is so atypical for Arthurian ladies that Malory calls her a "Savage Damsel." Marries Gaheris in SD and appears again as Luneta's mother in LK.

  Lyonesse Older and much less interesting sister of Lynet. Appears in SD.

  Mordred Son of Arthur, who was seduced through magic by the Enchantress Morgause. On his mother's side, then, is half brother to Gawain, Gaheris, Agrivaine, and Gareth. Appears first in QF, then again in SQ.

  Morgan Usually Morgan Le Fay. The grand lady of Arthurian literature, a powerful enchantress, and a very complex character indeed. As the daughter of Queen Igraine of Cornwall, she is sister to Morgause and half sister to Arthur. Sometimes presented as villainous (as is nearly everyone whose name begins with Mor-; ever notice that?), but occasionally is painted in more sympathetic colors. In my series, most important in ST, SK, SD, PC, and SQ.

  Nimue A standard Arthurian character, the Lady of the Lake. Her name is often given as Vivian, which may actually be the original name. In my series, Nimue is one of the great ladies of the Isle of Avalon in ST and SK and the mother of Ariel in PP and PC.

  Palomides A Moorish (i.e., Muslim from Spain or North Africa) knight who appears in Malory's version of the Tristram and Iseult tale. In this series, plays a significant role in BD.

  Parsifal The original Grail knight of Arthurian legend. The name is spelled Perceval in Chrétien de Troyes's unfinished tale Perceval, and Parzival in Wolfram von Eschenbach's brilliant retelling and completion. In the Squire's Tales, appears first in SK, then as the knightly hero of PP.

  Piers A blacksmith who appears first in my series acting as a page boy to Parsifal on his quest in PP. Plays a significant role later in PC.

  Rhience A former knight and seminarian, who accompanies Ywain and Luneta, in fool's clothes, on their quest in LK.

  Robin An elfish sprite (and spritely elf), close friend of Terence. Also Robin Goodfellow and Puck. Not, strictly speaking, a traditional character in Arthurian lore, but familiar from legend and from Shakespeare, which is close enough. Appears in ST, SK, SD, PC, LK, and SQ.

  Sarah Lady Sarah of Milrick, niece of Morgan and Morgause and kinswoman of Arthur. Heroine of PC. I've identified her with an obscure lady of Arthurian lore named Alcina, but allowed her to choose her own name, which is where we get Sarah. Also appears in SQ, my retelling of Chrétien de Troyes's romance Cligés, where I've assigned her the role played in the original by a character named Soredemors.

  Terence Ultimately the hero of the Squire's Tales. For most of the series, acts as squire to Gawain, though he is also the son of Ganscotter the Enchanter and half brother of Lorie, which makes him an august personnage in the World of Faeries: the Duke of Avalon. Marries Eileen. Appears in every volume of the series except BD, which is set during a time when he and Gawain were absent from court.

  Tor One of Arthur's early knights, son of Aries the Cowherd. Appears in ST and SK.

  Ywain Cousin to Gawain and his brothers, hero of Chretién's Yvain: The Knight with the Lion, which forms the basis for LK.

  * * *