Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript (Oxford World's Classics)

by Malory, Thomas

  ‘Sir, ye shall not need to seek him so far,’ said the King, ‘for as I hear say, Sir Lancelot will abide me and us all within the castle of Joyous Gard; and much people draweth unto him, as I hear say.’

  ‘That may I right well believe,’ said Sir Gawain. ‘But my lord,’ he said, ‘assay your friends, and I will assay mine.’

  ‘It shall be done,’ said the King, ‘and as I suppose, I shall be big enough to drive him out of the biggest tower of his castle.’

  So then the King sent letters and writs throughout all England, both the length and the breadth, for to summon all his knights. And so unto King Arthur drew many knights, dukes, and earls, that he had a great host; and when they were assembled the King informed them how Sir Lancelot had bereft him his queen. Then the King and all his host made them ready to lay siege about Sir Lancelot where he lay within Joyous Gard. And anon Sir Lancelot heard thereof and purveyed him of many good knights; for with him held many knights, some for his own sake and some for the Queen’s sake. Thus they were on both parties well furnished and garnished of all manner of things that longed unto the war.

  But King Arthur’s host was so great that Sir Lancelot’s host would not abide him in the field; for he was full loath to do battle against the King. But Sir Lancelot drew him unto his strong castle with all manner of victual plenty, and as many noble men as he might suffice within the town and the castle. Then came King Arthur with Sir Gawain with a great host, and laid siege all about Joyous Gard, both the town and the castle, and there they made strong war on both parties. But in no wise Sir Lancelot would ride out of the castle of long time, and neither he would not suffer none of his good knights to issue out, neither of the town nor of the castle, until fifteen weeks were past.

  [11]

  So it fell upon a day that Sir Lancelot looked over the walls and spoke on high unto King Arthur and to Sir Gawain, ‘My lords both, wit you well all this is in vain that ye make at this siege, for here win ye no worship, but magré* and dishonour; for and it list me to come myself out and my good knights, I should full soon make an end of this war.’

  ‘Come forth,’ said King Arthur unto Sir Lancelot, ‘and thou darest! And I promise I shall meet thee in the midst of this field.’

  ‘God defend me,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘that ever I should encounter with the most noble king that made me knight.’

  ‘Now fie upon thy fair language!’ said the King, ‘for wit thou well and trust it, I am thy mortal foe, and ever will to my death day; for thou hast slain my good knights and full noble men of my blood, that shall I never recover again. Also thou hast lain by my queen and held her many winters, and sithen, like a traitor, taken her away from me by force.’

  ‘My most noble lord and king,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘ye may say what ye will, for ye wot well, with yourself I will not strive. But thereas ye say that I have slain your good knights, I wot well that I have done so; and that me sore repenteth. But I was forced to do battle with them in saving of my life, or else I must have suffered them to have slain me. And as for my lady Queen Guenivere: except your person of your highness and my lord Sir Gawain, there is no knight under heaven that dare make it good upon me that ever I was traitor unto your person. And where it please you to say that I have held my lady your queen years and winters, unto that I shall ever make a large answer, and prove it upon any knight that beareth the life, except your person and Sir Gawain, that my lady Queen Guenivere is as true a lady unto your person as is any lady living unto her lord; and that will I make good with my hands. How be it, it hath liked her good grace to have me in favour and cherish me more than any other knight; and unto my power again I have deserved her love, for oftentimes, my lord, ye have consented that she should have been burned and destroyed in your heat, and then it fortuned me to do battle for her, and or I departed from her adversary they confessed their untruth, and she full worshipfully excused. And at such times, my lord Arthur,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘ye loved me and thanked me when I saved your queen from the fire; and then ye promised me for ever to be my good lord, and now me thinketh ye reward me evil for my good service. And my lord, me seemeth I had lost a great part of my worship in my knighthood and I had suffered my lady your queen to have been burned, insomuch as she should have been burned for my sake. For sithen I have done battles for your queen in other quarrels, then in my own quarrel me seemeth now I had more right to do battle for her in her right quarrel. And therefore, my good and gracious lord,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘take your queen unto your good grace, for she is both true and good.’

  ‘Fie on thee, false recrayed* knight!’ said Sir Gawain, ‘for I let thee wit, my lord, my uncle King Arthur, shall have his queen and thee both, maugre thy visage, and slay you both and save you whether it please him.’

  ‘It may well be,’ said Sir Lancelot. ‘But wit thou well, my lord Sir Gawain, and me list to come out of this castle, ye should win me and the queen more harder than ever ye won a strong battle.’

  ‘Now fie on thy proud words!’ said Sir Gawain. ‘As for my lady the Queen, wit thou well I will never say her shame. But thou false and recrayed knight,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘what cause hadst thou to slay my good brother Sir Gareth, that loved thee more than me and all my kin? And alas, thou madest him knight with thine own hands! Why slewest thou him that loved thee so well?’

  ‘For to excuse me,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘it booteth* me not; but by Jesu and by the faith that I owe unto the high order of knighthood, I would with as good a will have slain my nephew Sir Bors de Ganis. And alas, that ever I was so unhappy,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘that I had not seen Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris.’

  ‘Thou liest, recrayed knight,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘thou slewest him in the despite of me, and therefore wit thou well, Sir Lancelot, I shall make war upon thee, and all the while that I may live be thine enemy.’

  ‘That me repents,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘for well I understand it booteth me not to seek no accord while ye, Sir Gawain, are so mischievously set. And if ye were not, I would not doubt to have the good grace of my lord King Arthur.’

  ‘I believe well, false recrayed knight, for thou hast many long days overled* me and us all, and destroyed many of our good knights.’

  ‘Sir, ye say as it pleaseth you,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘yet may it never be said on me and openly proved that ever I by forecast of* treason slew no good knight, as ye, my lord Sir Gawain, have done; and so did I never but in my defence, that I was driven thereto in saving of my life.’

  ‘Ah, thou false knight,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘that thou meanest by Sir Lamorak. But wit thou well I slew him!’

  ‘Sir, ye slew him not yourself,’* said Sir Lancelot, ‘for it had been overmuch for you, for he was one of the best knights christened of his age; and it was great pity of his death.’

  [12]

  ‘Well, well, Sir Lancelot,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘sithen thou upbraidest me of Sir Lamorak, wit thou well I shall never leave thee till I have thee at such avail that thou shalt not escape my hands.’

  ‘I trust you well enough,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘and ye may get me,* I get but little mercy.’

  But the French book saith, King Arthur would have taken his queen again and to have been accorded with Sir Lancelot; but Sir Gawain would not suffer him by no manner of mean. And so Sir Gawain made many men to blow upon* Sir Lancelot, and so all at once they called him false recrayed knight. But when Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Ector de Maris, and Sir Lionel heard this outcry, they called unto them Sir Palomides and Sir Lavain and Sir Urry, with many more knights of their blood, and all they went unto Sir Lancelot and said thus:

  ‘My lord, wit you well we have great scorn of the great rebukes that we have heard Sir Gawain say unto you; wherefore we pray you and charge you, as ye will have our service, keep us no longer within these walls; for we let you wit plainly, we will ride into the field and do battle* with them. For ye fare as a man that were afraid; and for all your fair speech it will not avail you, for wit you well, Sir Gawain wil
l never suffer you to accord with King Arthur. And therefore fight for your life and right, and ye dare.’

  ‘Alas,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘for to ride out of this castle and to do battle I am full loath.’

  Then Sir Lancelot spoke on high unto King Arthur and Sir Gawain, ‘My lord, I require you and beseech you, sithen that I am thus required and conjured to ride into the field, that neither you, my lord King Arthur, nor you, Sir Gawain, come not into the field.’

  ‘What shall we do, then?’ said Sir Gawain. ‘Is not this the King’s quarrel to fight with thee? And also it is my quarrel to fight with thee, because of the death of my brother Sir Gareth.’

  ‘Then must I needs unto battle,’ said Sir Lancelot. ‘Now wit you well, my lord Arthur and Sir Gawain, ye will repent it whensoever I do battle with you.’

  And so then they departed either from other; and then either party made them ready on the morn for to do battle, and great purveyance was made on both sides. And Sir Gawain let purvey many knights for to wait upon Sir Lancelot, for to overset him and to slay him; and on the morn at undern King Arthur was ready in the field with three great hosts. And then Sir Lancelot’s fellowship came out at the three gates in full good array. And Sir Lionel came in the foremost battle, and Sir Lancelot came in the middle, and Sir Bors came out at the third gate; and thus they came in order and rule as full noble knights. And ever Sir Lancelot charged all his knights in any wise to save King Arthur and Sir Gawain.

  [13]

  Then came forth Sir Gawain from the King’s host, and proffered to joust. And Sir Lionel was a fierce knight, and lightly he encountered with him, and there Sir Gawain smote Sir Lionel throughout the body, that he dashed to the earth like as he had been dead. And then Sir Ector de Maris and other more bore him into the castle. And anon there began a great stour,* and much people were slain. And ever Sir Lancelot did what he might to save the people on King Arthur’s party; for Sir Bors and Sir Palomides and Sir Safer overthrew many knights, for they were deadly knights, and Sir Blamor de Ganis and Sir Bleoberis with Sir Bellenger le Beau—these six knights did much harm. And ever was King Arthur about Sir Lancelot to have slain him, and ever Sir Lancelot suffered him and would not strike again. So Sir Bors encountered with King Arthur; and Sir Bors smote him, and so he alit and drew his sword and said to Sir Lancelot, ‘Sir, shall I make an end of this war?’—for he meant to have slain him.

  ‘Not so hardy,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘upon pain of thy head, that thou touch him no more! For I will never see that most noble king that made me knight neither slain nor shamed.’ And therewith Sir Lancelot alit off his horse and took up the King and horsed him again, and said thus: ‘My lord the king, for God’s love, stint this strife, for ye get here* no worship and I would do my utterance. But always I forbear you, and ye nor none of yours forbear not me. And therefore, my lord, I pray you remember what I have done in many places, and now am I evil rewarded.’

  So when King Arthur was on horseback he looked on Sir Lancelot; then the tears burst out of his eyes, thinking of the great courtesy that was in Sir Lancelot more than in any other man. And therewith the King rode his way and might no longer behold him, saying to himself, ‘Alas, alas, that yet this war began!’

  And then either party of the battles withdrew them to repose them, and buried the dead and searched the wounded men, and laid to their wounds soft salves; and thus they endured that night till on the morn. And on the morn by undern they made them ready to do battle; and then Sir Bors led the vanguard. So upon the morn there came Sir Gawain as breme* as any boar, with a great spear in his hand.

  And when Sir Bors saw him, he thought to revenge his brother Sir Lionel of the despite Sir Gawain gave him the other day. And so, as they that knew either other, fewtered their spears, and with all their might of their horses and themselves, so fiercely they met together and so feloniously that either bore other through, and so they fell both to the bare earth. And then the battle joined, and there was much slaughter on both parties.

  Then Sir Lancelot rescued Sir Bors and sent him into the castle; but neither Sir Gawain nor Sir Bors died not of their wounds, for they were well helped. Then Sir Lavain and Sir Urry prayed Sir Lancelot to do his pain, ‘And fight as they do, for we see that ye forbear and spare, and that doth us much harm; and therefore we pray you, spare not your enemies no more than they do you.’

  ‘Alas,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘I have no heart to fight against my lord Arthur, for ever me seemeth I do not as I ought to do.’

  ‘My lord,’ said Sir Palomides, ‘though ye spare them never so much, all this day they will never can you thank;* and if they may get you at avail,* you are but a dead man.’

  So when Sir Lancelot understood that they said him truth, then he strained himself more than he did beforehand; and because his nephew Sir Bors was sore wounded, he pained himself the more. And so within a little while, by evensong time, Sir Lancelot’s party the better stood, for their horses went in blood past the fetlocks, there were so many people slain. And then for very pity Sir Lancelot withheld his knights, and suffered King Arthur’s party to withdraw them aside. And so he withdrew his meinie* into the castle; and either party buried the dead and put salve unto the wounded men. So when Sir Gawain was hurt, they on King Arthur’s party were not so orgulous* as they were beforehand to do battle.

  So of this war that was between King Arthur and Sir Lancelot it was noised through all Christian realms; and so it came at last by relation unto the Pope. And then the Pope took consideration of the great goodness of King Arthur and of the high prowess of Sir Lancelot, that was called the most noblest knight of the world. Wherefore the Pope called unto him a noble clerk that at that time was there present—the French book saith it was the Bishop of Rochester; and the Pope gave him bulls under lead and sent them unto the King, charging him upon pain of interdicting of all England* that he take his queen again and accord with Sir Lancelot.

  [14]

  So when this bishop was come unto Carlisle he showed the King his bulls; and when the King understood them, he wist not what to do, but full fain he would have been accorded with Sir Lancelot. But Sir Gawain would in no wise suffer the King to accord with Sir Lancelot; but as for the Queen, he consented. So the bishop had of the King his great seal and his assurance, as he was a true and anointed king, that Sir Lancelot should go safe and come safe, and that the Queen should not be said unto* of the King nor of none other for nothing done of time past; and of all these appointments the bishop brought with him sure writing to show unto Sir Lancelot. So when the bishop was come to Joyous Gard, there he showed Sir Lancelot how he came from the Pope with writing unto King Arthur and unto him. And there he told him the perils if he withheld the Queen from the King.

  ‘Sir, it was never in my thought’, said Sir Lancelot, ‘to withhold the Queen from my lord Arthur. But I keep her for this cause: insomuch as she should have been burned for my sake, me seemed it was my part to save her life and put her from that danger till better recovery might come. And now I thank God,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘that the Pope hath made her peace. For God knoweth,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘I will be a thousandfold more gladder to bring her again than ever I was of her taking away, with this:* I may be sure to come safe and go safe, and that the Queen shall have her liberty, and never for nothing* that hath been surmised before this time that she never from this stand in no peril. For else,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘I dare adventure me to keep her from a harder shower* than ever yet I had.’

  ‘Sir, it shall not need you,’ said the bishop, ‘to dread thus much. For wit you well, the Pope must be obeyed; and it were not the Pope’s worship, nor my poor honesty, to know you distressed nor the Queen, neither in peril nor shamed.’ And then he showed Sir Lancelot all his writing both from the Pope and King Arthur.

  ‘This is sure enough,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘for full well I dare trust my lord’s own writing and his seal, for he was never shamed of his promise. Therefore,’ said Sir Lancelot unto the bishop, ‘ye sh
all ride unto the King before, and recommend me unto his good grace; and let him have knowledging that this same day eight days, by the grace of God, I myself shall bring the Queen unto him. And then say ye to my most redoubted king that I will say largely for* the Queen, that I shall none except for dread nor for fear but the King himself and and my lord Sir Gawain; and that is for the King’s love more than for himself.’

  So the bishop departed and came to the King to Carlisle, and told him all how Sir Lancelot answered him; so that made the tears fall out at the King’s eyes. Then Sir Lancelot purveyed him a hundred knights, and all well clothed in green velvet, and their horses trapped in the same to the heels; and every knight held a branch of olive in his hand in tokening of peace. And the Queen had four-and-twenty gentle-women following her in the same wise; and Sir Lancelot had twelve coursers following him, and on every courser sat a young gentleman, and all they were arrayed in white velvet with sarpes of gold about their quarters,* and the horses trapped in the same wise down to the heels, with many owches* set with stones and pearls in gold to the number of a thousand. And in the same wise was the Queen arrayed and Sir Lancelot in the same, of white cloth of gold tissue. And right so as ye have heard, as the French book maketh mention, he rode with the Queen from Joyous Gard to Carlisle; and so Sir Lancelot rode throughout Carlisle and so into the castle, that all men might behold them. And there was many a weeping eye. And then Sir Lancelot himself alit and voided his horse, and took down the Queen, and so led her where King Arthur was in his seat. And Sir Gawain sat before him, and many other great lords. So when Sir Lancelot saw the King and Sir Gawain, then he led the Queen by the arm, and then he kneeled down and the Queen both.

  Wit you well, then was there many a bold knight with King Arthur that wept as tenderly as they had seen all their kin dead before them. So the King sat still and said no word.