by Howard Pyle
The King offers forgiveness.
Quoth the King, “Nephew, if these knights will return the Queen to me, then I will forgive them, and if I forgive them cannot you also forgive? For these are Knights of the Round Table, and I must not destroy the Round Table so utterly as you advise me to do.”
Sir Gawaine said, “I cannot forgive Sir Launcelot, nor shall I ever forgive the deaths of my innocent brothers. For they were naked and unarmed, and they loved Sir Launcelot, and yet Sir Launcelot slew them. Naught can wipe this from my memory saving only the blood of him who slew those two gentlemen. Wherefore, prepare for war and I will join you.”
The King summoneth his vassals.
So King Arthur armed himself and he summoned those knights and princes, earls and barons who were dependent upon him to his assistance. And he summoned all of those knights who were still allied to him. All this he did, but he did it very reluctantly, for he wished not to wage war with Sir Launcelot and his knights.
And news of this call to arms that King Arthur had made came to Sir Launcelot, and he upon his part gave call to all of those lords and knights who were allied to him to come to him and to aid him to defend Joyous Gard. And they or many of them went to him as he bade them.
How the King cometh to Joyous Gard.
Then King Arthur led his army to Joyous Gard and it was so vast and multitudinous that it covered all the hills and valleys as it advanced. And red clouds of dust hung over it as it passed forward so that the bright and tranquil light of the sun was obscured by those clouds. And great flocks of carrion crows accompanied the army, for they smelt the blood of many carcasses as from afar, wherefore they flew accompanying that army. So this army came and settled down and about Joyous Gard, and it was like an army of locusts that had settled at that place.
And Sir Launcelot and his brother Sir Ector stood upon the parapet of the castle of Joyous Gard, and they looked out upon the hills and upon the multitude of the hosts that were there foregathered and that encompassed them. And when Sir Ector beheld the vast and limitless extent of that army, his heart failed within him and he said to Sir Launcelot, “Behold, oh brother! the vast and limitless host that surrounds us. However shall we withstand such a host as that? Would it not be better to compromise with the King and to surrender the Queen to him?” Quoth Sir Launcelot, “How talk you of compromise, Messire, and how talk you of surrendering the Queen? Wit you that to surrender the Queen at this time would be to dishonor ourselves in surrendering her to dishonor? For unless we fight for her, what terms can we now make that would insure her safety? No, brother, let us abide their coming, and defend ourselves with all our mights.”
The Queen adviseth Sir Launcelot.
That night the Queen also spoke to Sir Launcelot, and she said, “Launcelot, why do you suffer for me? Surrender me unto King Arthur and with that this war will cease. Else will there many worthy knights perish in this war. For there are a great many knights here foregathered of the Round Table, and there be many other famous and worthy knights and nobles and kings here foregathered. Is my one life then worth more than all their lives?”
Then Sir Launcelot groaned, but he said, “Lady, I will not surrender you until I am sure that your safety is insured. Let first the King assure your safety and then we shall consider whether or not you shall return to him.”
Then the Queen burst out weeping and she cried out, “Oh, woe is me that I should have brought so much trouble and sorrow upon this world!”
The King assaults Joyous Gard.
Now the army of King Arthur made assault upon Joyous Gard and they made assault upon assault. And somewhiles they made breaches in the walls; but ever those breaches were rebuilded at night so that they could not enter the castle. And the army of King Arthur lost many hundreds of men, both of knights and yeomen; but the defence of the castle lost many scores, and those scores were of greater loss to them than the hundreds that King Arthur lost. For those hundreds could be replaced by other hundreds, but the scores could not be replaced by other scores.
The friends of Sir Launcelot advise with him.
So the knights who kept the castle held a council of defence, and there were at that council Sir Bors and Sir Lionel and Sir Ector and Sir Bleoberis and Sir Blamor de Ganis, and there were other knights and worthies of the blood of Sir Launcelot. Sir Lionel said, “Why remain we here within this castle? Ever we grow weaker and weaker, and by and by our enemies will break within the castle and then we shall all be put to the edge of the sword. Let us sally forth against those who thus surround us, for so haply we may cut our way through them and thus escape to the sea-shore and to France. There we shall be safe from those who could work for us our undoing.” Sir Launcelot said, “Sir, even if we could do this thing, what blood would be spilt in doing it, and what friends would we slay in that attempt!” Quoth Sir Ector, “What matters that? Are they not seeking our lives and our blood, and are we not defending ourselves? These men are no longer our friends; they are our enemies, and are seeking our lives. Let us then go forth and assail them.” All this Queen Guinevere heard, and she wept many and very bitter tears as she listened to that council. As for Sir Launcelot, he groaned very deeply but anon he said, “Let it then be so as you say, only first I must bespeak King Arthur.”
So that afternoon he appeared upon the battlements of the castle. And he leaned out over the battlements and called out to those who were below, saying to them, “Where is King Arthur? I would speak with him.”
Those who heard him ran to King Arthur, and they said to the King, “Lord, Sir Launcelot asks to speak to thee. Haply he meaneth to surrender to thee.”
The King speaketh to Sir Launcelot.
So King Arthur hurried to that place where Sir Launcelot was: and Sir Gawaine and the King of North Wales were with him. King Arthur said to Sir Launcelot, “What wouldst thou have of me, Messires? Dost thou surrender this castle?” “Not so,” quoth Sir Launcelot, “I do not surrender it, but I would speak to you of other things.”
“Sir,” said King Arthur, “concerning what other things have you to speak to me withal?”
“Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “this is what I would say to you. What seek you here in thus assaulting this castle? Here within are many lordly knights and many knights of the Round Table who were a short time ago your friends and dependants. Some of them you yourself made knights as you made me a knight, and all of those would gladly surrender their lives for your sake. What benefit or what honor can it then be to you to slay them, who were your support and your defence, and who would be so again if you would live in peace with them? Would it be to your honor that you should slay these good, worthy honorable knights?”
“Sir,” said King Arthur, “you forget that you have seized upon my Queen and that you hold her from me in this castle. First surrender to me my Queen, and then I will consider all these things that you have to say and will reply to them as I deem to be fitting.”
“Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “thy Queen is held here in high and honorable regard. With us she is safe from harm or injury of any sort. Would she be thus free from danger of harm and dishonor if she were with you? Pledge me first that you would do her no harm or injury, and then it will beseem us as true and honorable knights to consider the surrender of her to you.”
“Am I then,” said the King, “to make treaty with you for the return to me of that wife with whom I have lived in amity for all these years? Sir, you do not consider how unfit such a treaty would be upon my part.”
Sir Gawaine accuseth Sir Launcelot.
Then up spake Sir Gawaine. “Also, Messire, you have forgot another thing, and that is that you have slain my two young brothers who stood before you defenceless and unarmed. I reckon naught of those whom you slew, armed and in battle. For I loved you well and truly for many years, and I advised them not to hazard battle with you; but they would hazard battle and so they were slain by you. But of those two others, they did not hazard battle; for they were unarmed and naked,
and they would have stood your friends; yet you slew them as though they had been enemies. This I will never forgive you, but either you will answer for it with your blood, or I will answer for it with mine.”
Then Sir Launcelot groaned, and he said, “God pity us all for our sins, and God pity you, Sir Gawaine, for your unchristian hatred.” And with that he turned away.
The defenders of the castle sally forth.
So when the next day had come, they of the castle prepared themselves for battle and for escape. They placed the Queen in their midst and they surrounded her upon all sides. Then, of a sudden, all the gates upon one side of the castle were flung wide open and they issued out in full armor. And at that time the sun shone out very brightly, and it gleamed and sparkled like flames of fire upon the brightly polished steel of those knights. Then they, the defenders of the castle, shouted very loud, and they charged against their enemies, bearing the Queen with them in their midst.
And for awhile they carried all before them and no one could withstand them; and so they might have escaped, had it not been that the Queen was with them and retarded them in their charge and their advance. For, in a little while, owing to that delay, those of King Arthur’s army armed themselves, and in another little while the friends of Sir Launcelot were almost entirely surrounded by that vast multitude.
Then Sir Launcelot beheld that in a short time they would be shut off from return to the castle, but that as yet the way was still open to them. Wherefore he lifted up his voice and shouted, “Retreat! Retreat!”
They of the castle retreat into it again.
Then, through the roar and thunder of battle and of blows and of sword blade upon steel armor, all those who were there heard these words, “Retreat! Retreat!” And they beheld that that retreat was nearly cut off, but not quite. So they turned their horses and made their way slowly backward toward the castle again, with the Queen still in their midst. Those before turned their horses toward the castle, and those behind fought with their faces toward their foes. And many who assaulted that band tried to come to the Queen, but none could do it because of the close array of horsemen that surrounded her. Many lost their lives in that attempt, for if they penetrated the first line of horsemen they were slain by the second line of defence.
Sir Gawaine overthroweth Sir Lionel.
In that mêlée Sir Gawaine sought ever to come at Sir Launcelot, but he could not do so because that Sir Launcelot remained ever near to the person of the Queen. But Sir Gawaine charged against Sir Bors and pierced him with his lance through the shoulder; and then he charged with great violence against Sir Lionel, and in that charge he pierced through the body armor of Sir Lionel so that the point of the spear stood a hand’s breadth out behind his back. Then Sir Lionel would have fallen from his horse only that the press that surrounded him held him up and kept him from falling. And with that blow against Sir Lionel, the end of Sir Gawaine’s spear broke off, and it remained penetrated into the body of Sir Lionel, a part of it showing in front and a part of it showing behind.
Then Sir Lionel felt that he had received his death-wound, and he groaned very dolorously. And Sir Gawaine heard him groan and perceived how badly he was hurt. And he redoubled his attack, endeavoring to obtain the body of Sir Lionel. But he could not obtain that body for it was still held upright upon the horse, supported by several, and others gathered about to defend it.
Sir Lionel dieth.
Then Sir Gawaine was furious with rage and he fought as though he had gone wode. For his sword flashed like flashes of lightning, and ever as he struck he cried out in a loud and terrible voice, “That for Sir Launcelot!” and “That for Sir Launcelot!” and ever again “That and that for Sir Launcelot!” And so fierce and terrible were the blows that he gave that many fell down before them and never moved again. But in spite of his striving, they bore away Sir Lionel from his endeavor and so brought him into the castle, where that night he died in a great agony of thirst and of torment.
King Arthur is overthrown.
In that battle, King Arthur and those who were with him made many charges against the centre of Sir Launcelot’s array, and anon they had come so close to where was the Queen that the King could almost have touched her with his lance. So King Arthur came at last face to face with Sir Launcelot, and Sir Ector was beside Sir Launcelot. And ever the King strove to come at Sir Launcelot, but was unable to do so. For somewhiles Sir Launcelot warded the blows from himself, and otherwhiles those who were with him took those blows from him. Then Sir Ector perceived how the King neglected his guard in assaulting Sir Launcelot, and he arose in his stirrups and smote the King a terrible buffet upon the helmet. At that blow the King’s brains swam, and he reeled and fell off from his horse upon the earth. Then Sir Ector leaped from his horse and he said, “Here will I put a stop to this war at its fountain-head.” Whereupon he rushed off the King’s helmet and whirled his sword, and prepared to smite the head off from the King.
They spare the King his life.
But Queen Guinevere perceived the King’s danger and she shrieked out very dolorously, “Spare the King his life, Sir Ector!” And Sir Launcelot said to Sir Ector, “Sir, how is this? Would you slay your King? Remember it was he who made you a knight and who made me a knight. Haply he may forget that he made us knights, but let us not forget it.”
So with that Sir Ector put up his sword again, and he and Sir Launcelot lifted the King and set him upon his horse once more. And the King wept bitter tears to see how noble and knightly was Sir Launcelot, and he said, “Ah, Launcelot, Launcelot, that this should be!”
So after that Sir Launcelot withdrew into the castle with the Queen and the gates were closed behind him. But ever King Arthur sat still weeping and saying, “Ah, Launcelot, Launcelot, that this should be!”
Then the friends of Sir Launcelot wist not what they should do in this extremity, for there were they within the castle again, and could not come out thence because of those who besieged them in that place. And ever they were growing weaker with each assault, but the armies of King Arthur were not growing weaker.
The Bishop of Rochester cometh to the King.
At this extremity there came the Bishop of Rochester to the camp of King Arthur, and the purpose of the Bishop was to make peace betwixt these parties. So the Bishop came to where King Arthur was, and he found King Arthur sunk in grief. For already three-and-twenty Knights of the Round Table had lost their lives in these wars and contentions, and King Arthur grieved for them very sorely. For there were no more knights like those first knights foregathered about the Round Table, nor have there ever been such knights as they were from that day to this.
Then the Bishop stood before the King, and the King looked at him remotely as though he were a great distance away, for his eyes were dimmed with weeping. And the Bishop said to the King, “Lord, let this quarrel cease between you and Sir Launcelot, and let there be peace in the land. For now is the entire land distracted with this quarrel. For friend fighteth against friend, neighbor against neighbor; — yea, even brother against brother. As for you, my lord, these knights are of your Round Table and of your making; what pleasure or what honor then can it be to you to destroy them?”
The King said to him, “Sir, this war was not of my forming or my seeking, but of Sir Launcelot’s. For first Sir Launcelot resisted arrest in a just cause, and then he resisted the arrest of the Queen. So he and his fellows took the Queen away from me, and they have her in this castle. Let them then deliver the Queen to me and there shall be peace betwixt the friends of Sir Launcelot and my friends.”
The Bishop intercedes for the Queen.
The Bishop said, “They will not deliver the Queen to thee, Lord, excepting thou wilt declare upon thine honor that no harm shall befall her. For it is said of all that the life of the Queen is in danger from thee. Yet she is an honorable lady and as pure to thee as the day upon which she came to thee. For she is free from sin or from guilt of any sort. Wherefore, unless thou wilt declare t
hat no harm shall befall the life of the Queen and wilt declare that same in writing, she will not be returned, but otherwise they will lay down their lives to guard her safety.”
Then the King sat with his fist upon his forehead, and he considered for a long time what the Bishop had said, and at last he said, as in a smothered voice, “Well, then, let the Queen be delivered to me at Camelot, and I upon my part shall promise that no harm shall be done to her life, either to threaten it or to deprive her of it.” The Bishop said, “Let me have that in writing.” And the King said, “I will do so.”
So the King called to him his scribe and he had him write those words; to wit, that if the Queen would return to him, no harm should befall or threaten her life in any way. And the King signed and sealed that document and the Bishop took it with him and entered the Castle of Joyous Gard.
The Bishop grieveth for the Queen.
Thus the Bishop came before Sir Launcelot and his kindred, and Queen Guinevere was with them at that time. And the Bishop looked at the face of the Queen and he beheld that it was all white and wan with sorrow and that her eyelids were red with continual weeping. And the Bishop was very sorry for the Queen and for her sadness. So the Bishop came to her and took her by the hand and he said to her, “Lady, stint thy sorrow, for the time of sorrow is passed. For here am I with this document that saith that no harm or injury of any kind shall be meditated against thy life, but if thou wilt return to the King all shall be forgiven thee. For wit you well that the King is determined that you shall return to him, even if it cometh to the tearing down of this castle stone from stone.”
Then the Queen took the document that the Bishop had and she read it very carefully, and when she had ended she said, “Lord Bishop, how is this? I see here that mine own safety is provided for, but that the safety of no one else is mentioned. How of those good worthy knights and gentlemen who have endangered their safety in my behalf; where is their safety provided for in this parchment?”