Merlin and the Grail

by Robert de Boron

  The king now sent two messengers to the people in Paris to find out what they meant to do: these messengers were King Lot of Orkney and his son Gawain, a very fine speaker and regarded as one of the wisest men in the army; he was indeed a good knight and skilful and judicious in speech – certainly, there was no finer knight in the land of Britain now that Perceval had abandoned chivalry. So they rode to Paris, and when the men on the walls saw them coming they opened the gates. Gawain and his father King Lot entered and greeted the twelve peers of France who were there in the city, and saw the knights and messengers who had arranged the combat between Arthur and King Floire. Gawain now addressed them, saying:

  ‘My lords, King Arthur bids you surrender the city as these messengers agreed. For it was decreed that Arthur and Floire would do battle on the terms I’m about to tell you – and I’ll call as witnesses these very messengers who came to our king’s tent to announce the combat. We vowed that if Arthur was defeated we would come to King Floire and pay him homage and hold our land as his vassals: such was our oath; and your messengers swore that if your king Floire was defeated, you would come to King Arthur and place yourselves at his mercy – the conditions being that you would hold your castles as his vassals and France would be under his rule. Ask your messengers, whom I believe and trust to be worthy men, if this was the agreement.’

  When the citizens heard Sir Gawain speak they were most impressed by his words, and said: ‘We’ll discuss this.’

  And they retired to a splendid chamber, where the noblest men of France said: ‘Sirs, we’re powerless to resist this British king who’s come against us, and haven’t enough provisions to sustain us for long – and you can be sure he’s not going to leave!’

  And the messengers who had arranged the combat rose and said: ‘Sirs, we wish to fulfil the promise we made to Arthur.’

  And it was agreed that they should surrender the city and pay homage and hold France as King Arthur’s vassals. Then they returned to King Lot and his son Gawain and said: ‘Sirs, we clearly can’t hold out against you, and even if we could we’d want to fulfil our promises. We will surrender France and pay homage to King Arthur, and ourselves and all we possess we place at his mercy. But in God’s name, let him rule us justly: if he does otherwise, the sin will be on his head. Let him rule us as King Floire always did.’

  ‘My lords,’ Gawain replied, ‘be assured that he will never treat you wrongly in any way.’

  Then Gawain and his father King Lot returned to Arthur and reported everything the French had said. King Arthur was delighted by the news, and immediately ordered his army to strike camp and ride to Paris. When the people of Paris saw him approaching, churchmen and bishops and abbots came out to meet him with crosses and censers and holy relics; mint and flowers were strewn in his path; and throughout the city were set tables laden with bread and meat and game, and, for the most illustrious, fine wine and rich spices. The palace where King Arthur dismounted was draped with rich silks and festooned with decorations. Then they seated Arthur on the royal throne and brought him the crown, and crowned him king of France, swearing him faithful homage and loyalty. Arthur accepted them with a loving heart; and he spent fifty days in the land of France and bestowed many rich gifts upon his knights, and the knights of France and Normandy said they had never had such a good lord. Many of the barons of France loved Arthur more dearly than they had ever loved Floire, for he was fair of speech and knew how to gain men’s affection – not with empty words but with generous favours.

  After fifty days in Paris Arthur set out across France to see if any castles were being held against him; but at every one he persuaded them to bring him the keys as he won their hearts. The news had spread throughout the land that Arthur had slain the king of France, so every castle was surrendered to him. Then King Arthur gave his nephew Gawain the march of Brittany, and to Bedivere he gave all the Vermendois, a good and fertile land; every high lord in his company was given a city or a castle. Everything was duly arranged, with governors appointed in all the castles and marches.

  With France conquered, Arthur said he would stay no longer. He took his leave of the barons of the land, who escorted him a long way before turning back. He rode to where his fleet was moored in Normandy – he had left five hundred knights to guard the vessels -and embarked with all his knights. Then the mariners set the sails, the wind filled them, and they sailed from port and across the sea to Dover, where they disembarked with all their horses and palfreys. They rejoiced to see their own land again.

  When Gawain’s brother Mordred heard that Arthur his uncle had returned, he mounted with the queen and fifty knights and rode to meet him, greeting him with joy. As the news spread throughout the land that King Arthur had returned and had conquered France there was jubilation among the common people, and the ladies and damsels whose sons and nephews had been with Arthur came to meet them: you never saw such joyous embraces as took place then! Then the king declared: ‘My lords, I wish all those present to join me at court at Carduel in Wales at the feast of Saint John this summer.’

  This was announced throughout the army, and the king summoned the highest men of his land who all vowed to be present on Saint John’s Day. ‘For I wish,’ Arthur said, ‘to make a common division of part of my wealth: even the poorest I shall make rich!’

  With that they departed, Arthur retiring to spend a while at one of his castles; and all agreed he had succeeded in a wonderful adventure, culminating in the conquest of France.

  Arthur waited while the season passed and Saint John’s Day drew near. Then all the noble men of Britain assembled at his court, so many that they were beyond all counting, and a great many knights, both rich and poor. The day arrived and the king went to hear mass, sung by the archbishop who was a great support to him; and after mass he returned to his palace and had the water brought, announced by a fanfare, and the knights sat down for the feast. King Arthur was seated at the highest table, King Lot of Orkney with him. On the other side sat the kings of Denmark and Ireland: there were seven kings at the court, all at Arthur’s command.

  Just as Arthur had taken his seat and the first course had been brought before him, he and his barons and the other kings looked up and saw twelve men come through the door of the hall. They were white-haired and richly dressed and carrying twelve olive branches. As they entered they saw the array of lords and knights in the king’s court and whispered to each other: ‘Truly, sirs, this is a great king indeed.’

  They walked past all the tables and strode aggressively up to Arthur. There they stopped, and all remained silent except one, who spoke most haughtily, saying: ‘May the God who is omnipotent and reigns over all the world protect first the emperor of Rome and then the Pope and the senators who safeguard and uphold the faith. And may that same God confound Arthur and all who follow him, for he has transgressed against God and Holy Church and the law of Rome by severing and annexing what is Rome’s by right, and by slaying in combat the king who held his land as Rome’s vassal and paid a yearly tribute. Our amazement is matched by our contempt that such base men as you, who should be despised by the whole world, and who are slaves through and through and always have been – your ancestors likewise! – should now mean to cast off slavery and live in freedom like other men.

  ‘You know very well that you were all slaves to Julius Caesar and paid him tribute, and it has been received by other kings of Rome likewise: you have never been free of servitude, and we have nothing but contempt for your plans to be so. The emperor’s disdain and scorn are such that he could not believe reports that you intended to free yourselves from your servitude. He bids and commands you by the twelve of us to send him the same tribute that your ancestors paid to Julius Caesar. If you do not, the emperor will march against you. I advise you to pay the tribute, for such is the Romans’ anger that even the lowest in the land are saying to the emperor: ‘In God’s name, sire, let us go and deal with those British curs who have destroyed France!’ I tell you, if t
he emperor let them have their way they’d be upon you now! But he can’t believe you’re so mighty as to have conquered France. Be sure of this: if he marches against you, you’ll not escape; wherever you flee he’ll turf you out. He has sworn upon his crown that he will have your skin, and all the knights of your land will be boiled in cauldrons and burned on the fire – every last one will be treated the same: they’ll be massacred.’

  Arthur flushed scarlet and shook with shame that the messengers should speak so in the presence of all his barons at the tables in the hall; he rose swiftly to his feet and said: ‘My lords, I don’t know where you were born, but you speak good French and I understand you. Sit down and eat if you’re hungry, I pray you.’

  ‘We wouldn’t eat at your court,’ they replied, ‘even if you threatened to cut off our hands: it’s inconceivable!’

  Arthur laughed at this and said: ‘Sirs, I shall discuss your request with my counsellors, and I’ll give you our answer shortly.’

  Then he summoned his barons, the kings of Ireland and Orkney and Sir Gawain and his brother Mordred and Kay the seneschal and Bedivere and others till they numbered twelve, and they withdrew to a magnificent chamber, exquisitely painted. The painting depicted the story of the three goddesses and Paris, and how, after he had been given the apple, one promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, another the greatest riches in the world, and the third to make him the finest knight in the land. After each had made her offer – imagining that the others knew nothing of it – Paris thought to himself that he was already a fine knight and one of the most valiant in all his land, and needed no greater riches than he already enjoyed, so decided his best choice would be the pleasure of the beautiful woman! So he took the apple and gave it to the goddess who had promised him the woman: she was overjoyed to win it, for the apple gave her supremacy over the other goddesses. She duly united him with a woman more beautiful than any in the world; but her beauty was to cost Paris dear. Such was the story painted on the walls of the chamber where Arthur led the twelve to take counsel.

  ‘Sirs,’ he said at once, ‘you are all my men and I am your lord. You all heard the emperor’s messengers insulting and abusing me: it was an outrage, but I didn’t show it. Now I pray you, give me your advice in all honour, and I promise I’ll do exactly as you say.’

  Then King Lot of Orkney, a most wise and worthy man, stood up and addressed the king, saying: ‘Sire, you’ve asked for our advice and we’ll counsel you well if you’re willing to heed us. You’ve heard how the emperor of Rome’s messengers have come to abuse you, and claim that Julius Caesar conquered Rome and France and your own kingdom of Britain. Well, that’s true – but he took it by treachery, and treachery is not right. I’ll tell you a little about how he won it. There was once a king who had a brother and two fair children, and when he died he left his land to those two, but the common people felt they were too young to safeguard the kingdom and entrusted it to their uncle, who became king and made one of his nephews a duke and the other a count. This king’s name was Casibelan.21 I don’t know what his nephews had done wrong, but he summoned them to court and meant to have them killed; and when they realised their uncle hated them and had usurped their kingdom, they sent word to Julius Caesar that he could conquer England. Caesar had been twice before but had been unable to overcome Casibelan, but when he received the children’s message he was overjoyed, and returned word that they were to supply hostages as a firm assurance, which they did, and he put to sea and sailed to this land. Meanwhile the two children had assembled great armies and now joined Julius Caesar, and they marched against Casibelan and defeated him in battle. And after the victory, Julius Caesar accepted the brothers’ homage and made the elder the king and they paid him tribute. It’s because of this that the Romans claim tribute from you. And I’ll tell you something else.

  ‘There were two other brothers in Britain, one named Brenes and the other Belin,22 and such was their power that they crossed the sea and conquered France and advanced as far as Rome. When the Romans saw them approaching they were terrified, and came out to meet them and vowed to submit to their command, giving them forty hostages. Once the hostages were given, Brenes and Belin said they’d return to Britain, which they did; but as soon as the Romans saw them go they said they’d been very wrong to let their hostages be led away, and decided to head the Britons off at a narrow pass in a deep defile. They assembled fifty thousand knights and positioned them in the pass. Meanwhile Brenes and Belin had divided their troops, each taking half, and each half numbered more than a hundred thousand men. Brenes came to the defile and was about to pass through, but the Romans leapt out and launched a savage attack. Brenes, in deep dismay, came to a squire and said: ‘Dear friend, go to my brother Belin and tell him we’re betrayed! And tell him to march to the pass from behind the Romans and attack them in the rear!’ The squire took the king’s message to Belin, who was horrified; following a peasant’s directions, he rode swiftly to the end of the defile to join the battle, in which Brenes had fought almost to exhaustion. Belin roared his battle cry and charged with fifty thousand men, crying: ‘Britain!’, and Brenes cried: ‘France!’ The Romans were aghast, and the Britons slew them: every last Roman was killed. Then Brenes and Belin returned to Rome and camped outside the city, set up gibbets, and hanged all the children given by the wealthy men of Rome as hostages. Then the city was surrendered, and Brenes was crowned emperor and the Romans paid him tribute. That’s why it seems to me that you should have lordship over the Romans: you should be emperor of Rome! You both claim the same! I don’t know what more to say, other than that you should meet and see who does best: whoever does will win what he claims!

  ‘But one thing more, sire: remember how Merlin came to your court the very day you became king. He said there’d been two kings of Britain who’d been king of France and emperor of Rome. Sire, you are king of France, and I say you’ll be king of Rome if you’ve the heart to conquer it! For Merlin has never lied but has always told the truth. So summon your knights and cross the sea and join battle with the Romans! I tell you, you’ll be victorious, for you have the finest knights in all the world!’

  And all twelve of the counsellors cried: ‘Arthur, lord, ride in force and conquer Romenie and all the land of Lombardy, and we’ll help you with all our might!’

  Arthur was elated by his barons’ words and said: ‘It seems to me, sirs, that King Lot has spoken splendidly! From what he’s told me, even if the Romans hadn’t come here, I ought to go there and claim what my ancestor won!’

  With that, Arthur returned to the hall and said to the Roman messengers: ‘Sirs, know this: I am amazed the emperor has the nerve to demand the outrageous tribute that you claim. I assure you, I mean to free myself of servitude to him. You can tell him that before eight months are out my army will be within a javelin’s throw of Rome, unless he comes to meet me. And I’m willing to fight him man to man or army to army.’

  ‘We assure you,’ the messengers replied, ‘that the emperor will meet you with two hundred thousand men or more.’

  And with that they haughtily strode from the hall without asking leave. They made their way to the sea and sailed across and rode day after day until they reached Rome and found the emperor. They told him how they had fared, and how the Britons were a proud and strong people and had gathered the finest knights in the world at a Round Table they had established.

  ‘We gave Arthur your message and he said he’d take counsel. He took twelve of his barons to his chamber and they discussed it at great length. Their decision amounts to this: Arthur sends you word that within eight months his army will be within a javelin’s throw of Rome unless you go to meet him.’