Arthurian Romances

by Chretien de Troyes

  Now, with Erec in the forest, the others stopped over the two who lay upon the field. Fervently they affirmed and swore that they would pursue Erec with all speed for two or three days until they caught and killed him. And the count, who was badly wounded in the side, heard what they were saying. He raised himself up a little and opened his eyes just a fraction; he realized full well that it was an evil deed that he had undertaken. He ordered his knights to hold back. ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘to all of you I say, let there be not a single one of you – strong or weak, tall or short – so bold as to dare go one step further. Return speedily, all of you! I have acted basely; I deeply regret my villainy. The lady who has foiled me is very brave, sensible, and courtly. Her beauty inflamed me. Because I desired her, I wanted to kill her lord and hold her by force. Evil was certain to come to me from it; evil has befallen me, for I behaved rashly and disloyally, treacherously and madly. Never was there a better knight born of woman than this one; never will he suffer ill on my account, if I can prevent it. Now I command you to turn back.’

  They went away, sad and discouraged. They carried off the seneschal, dead, upon his upturned shield. The count lived long afterwards, for he was not mortally wounded. And so Erec was delivered.

  Erec galloped off along a path between two hedges. Emerging from an enclosed portion of the wood they found a drawbridge in front of a high tower that was enclosed within a wall and a wide and deep moat. They quickly crossed over the bridge, but they had scarcely gone any distance when the lord of that place saw them from his tower. Of him I can truly say that he was very small in stature, but bold and very courageous. When he saw Erec coming along, he came down from the tower and had a saddle with golden lions depicted on it placed on a big sorrel charger; then he ordered his shield to be brought to him, and his strong and sturdy lance, his sharp and burnished sword, his bright shining helmet, white hauberk and thrice-woven greaves, for he had seen an armed knight pass by in front of his walls, whom he wished to combat until he was exhausted, or until the other had worn himself out and declared himself defeated. His orders were carried out: his horse was led out, saddled and bridled, by a squire; another brought his arms.

  Through the gate the knight went out as fast as he could, entirely alone, for he had no companion. Erec was crossing a slope when the knight came charging across the hill and down the slope, seated on a fiery horse that was making such a racket that beneath its feet it was shattering the pebbles more freely than a mill grinds up wheat: in all directions there flew bright burning sparks, for it seemed that its four feet were all afire.

  Enide heard the din and the racket; fainting and weak, she almost fell from her palfrey. Throughout her body there was no vein in which the blood did not curdle, and her face became pale and white as if she were dead. She greatly despaired and grieved, for she dared not tell her lord, lest he threaten and blame her and order her to be silent.

  She was thwarted on both sides so that she did not know which course to choose: to speak or keep silent. She deliberated within herself; often she prepared to speak so that her tongue moved but her voice could not escape, for out of fear she clenched her teeth and withheld the words inside. Thus she controlled and restrained herself; she closed her mouth and clenched her teeth, so that the words would not get out; she battled with herself, saying: ‘I am certainly sure that my bereavement will be too great if I lose my lord here. Shall I then speak openly to him? Certainly not. Why? I wouldn’t dare, for I would anger my lord; and if my lord grows angry, he will leave me in this brushwood, alone and wretched and abandoned: then I shall be even worse off. Worse off? What does that matter to me? I shall never lack grief or sorrow again as long as I live if my lord does not escape freely from here, so that he is not mortally wounded. But if I don’t warn him soon, this knight spurring this way will have killed him before he gets his guard up, for he seems full of evil intentions. Wretch, now I have waited too long! He has indeed forbidden me to speak, but I shall not let that deter me: I can see that my lord is deep in thought, so much so that he forgets himself; therefore it is quite right that I should tell him.’ She spoke to him; he threatened her, but had no wish to harm her, for he perceived and knew full well that she loved him above all else, and he loved her with all his might.

  Erec rushed at the other knight who was summoning him to battle. They met at the head of the bridge. There they came together and challenged one another; with their iron-tipped lances they both attacked with all their strength. The shields hung at their shoulders were not worth two bits of bark: the leather broke and the wood split and the mail of their hauberks broke, so that both of them were run through right into their entrails, and their chargers were thrown to the ground. They were not mortally wounded, for the barons were very strong. They threw their lances on to the field; from their scabbards they drew their swords, and struck each other with great fury. They heaved and pulled at one another, sparing each other nothing. They struck great blows on their helmets so that sparks flew from them as their swords rebounded. Their shields split and flew apart; their hauberks were battered and broken. In many places the swords penetrated all the way to their naked flesh, so that they grew very weak and tired; and had their swords both remained whole longer, they would not have drawn back and the battle would not have ended until one of them was killed.

  Enide, who was watching them, nearly went mad from distress. Anyone who saw her in such a sorrowful state, wringing her hands, tearing her hair, with tears falling from her eyes, would have recognized a loyal lady; and anyone seeing her would have been most cruel if they had not been seized by great pity.

  Each dealt the other great blows; from mid-morning till mid-afternoon the battle raged so fiercely that no man, by any means, could have told with certainty which of them had the better of it. Erec strove to do his utmost: his sword penetrated the other’s helmet all the way to the coif of mail, so that he quite caused him to reel, but he managed to keep from falling. Then he attacked Erec in turn and struck him with such force on the rim of his shield that his good and precious blade was broken when he drew it back. When he saw his sword was broken, in fury he flung as far away as he could the part that remained in his hand. He was afraid and was obliged to draw back, for a knight without a sword cannot do much in battle or attack.

  Erec pursued him and the other begged him for God’s sake not to kill him. ‘Have mercy,’ he cried, ‘noble knight! Don’t be savage and cruel towards me! Since my sword has failed me, you have the force and the right to kill me or take me alive, since I have nothing with which to defend myself.’

  Erec replied: ‘Since you beseech me, I want you to say that you are utterly beaten and defeated. I shall attack you no more if you place yourself in my power.’ But the other delayed in speaking.

  When Erec saw him delay, to frighten him the more he made another attack; he ran upon him with his sword drawn, and the other, terrified, cried out: ‘Pity, my lord! Consider me defeated, since it cannot be otherwise.’

  Erec replied: ‘I demand more, for you won’t get off with so little. Tell me your name and your situation, and I shall tell you mine.’

  ‘My lord,’ said he, ‘what you say is fair. I am the king of this land. My liegemen are Irish; every one of them pays me tribute. And my name is Guivret the Short. I am very rich and powerful, for in this land in all directions every baron whose land borders on mine obeys my command and does exactly as I wish. All my neighbours fear me, however arrogant or brave they may be. I should very much like to be your confidant and friend from this time forward.’

  Erec replied: ‘I in turn boast that I am quite a noble man; Erec, son of King Lac, is my name. My father is king of Estre-Gales. He has many rich citadels, beautiful halls, and strong castles; no king or emperor has more, except for King Arthur alone: in truth I set him apart, for no one is his equal.’

  When Guivret heard this, he was astonished and said: ‘My lord, this is wondrous news; nothing else has ever brought me such joy as making your
acquaintance. You may count on me, and if you wish to stay in my land or my domain you shall be greatly honoured. However long you may wish to stay here, you will be my overlord. We both have need of a doctor, and one of my castles is near here: it’s no more than six or seven leagues away. I wish to take you there with me, and we shall have our wounds tended.’

  Erec replied: ‘I am grateful to you for what you have said. I shall not go with you, by your leave, but I ask just this of you: that if any need should befall me and the news reach you that I needed help, then you should not forget me.’

  ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘I promise you that, as long as I live, whenever you need my help, I will quickly come to aid you with all the resources at my command.’

  ‘I wish to ask no more of you,’ said Erec; ‘you have promised me much. You are my lord and friend, if your deeds match your words.’

  Each of them kissed and embraced the other. Never from such a fierce battle was there such a sweet parting, for moved by love and generosity each of them cut long, broad bands from the tail of his shirt, and they bound up each other’s wounds. When they had bandaged each other, they commended one another to God. They separated in this way: Guivret came back alone; Erec, who was badly in need of dressing to care for his wounds, resumed his journey.

  He never ceased riding until he came to a meadow beside a tall forest full of stags, does, and fallow deer, roe deer and game animals, and every other wild beast. King Arthur and the queen and the best of his barons had come there that day; the king wanted to stay three or four days in the forest for his amusement and sport, and he had ordered tents and pavilions to be brought.

  Into the king’s tent had come my lord Gawain, very tired from a long ride. In front of his tent was a hornbeam from which he had hung, suspended from a branch by the shoulder-strap, his ashen lance and a shield with his coat of arms, and to which he had tied his horse, saddled and bridled, by the reins. The horse had been there some while when the seneschal Kay came riding very rapidly in that direction. As if to play a trick, he took the horse and mounted it: no one opposed him; then he took the lance and the shield that were there nearby beneath the tree. Galloping on Gawain’s horse Gringalet, Kay went off along a valley until by chance it happened that Erec came to meet him. Erec recognized the seneschal and the arms and the horse, but Kay did not recognize him, for on his armour appeared no identifiable markings: he had taken so many blows on it from sword and lance that all the paint had fallen off.

  And the lady very cleverly put her wimple over her face, just as she would have done to protect herself from heat or dust, because she did not want Kay to see or recognize her. Kay came rapidly forward and immediately, without greeting him, seized Erec’s reins; before allowing him to move, he questioned him most haughtily. ‘Knight,’ he said, ‘I want to know who you are and where you’re from.’

  ‘You are mad to hold me like this,’ said Erec; ‘you’ll not learn it today.’

  And Kay replied: ‘Don’t let it trouble you, for it is for your good that I inquire. I can clearly see that you are wounded and injured. Take my lodgings this night! If you will come with me, I shall see that you are richly treated, honoured, and cared for, for you have need of rest. King Arthur and the queen are nearby in a small wood, encamped in tents and pavilions. In good faith I advise you to come with me to see the queen and the king, who will welcome you warmly and show you great honour.’

  Erec replied: ‘You speak well, but I would not go there for anything. You do not know my need; I still have further to go. Let me go, for I have delayed too long; there is still plenty of daylight left.’

  Kay replied: ‘You speak very unwisely in refusing to come along, and you may well regret it. I think you will both come, you and your wife, just as the priest goes to the synod: either willingly or not. This night you will be badly served, if you want my opinion, unless you are properly introduced. Come along quickly, for I’m taking you.’

  Erec was greatly disdainful of this. ‘Vassal,’ he said, ‘you are quite mad to drag me after you by force. You have taken me without challenge. I say that you have acted wrongly, for I believed myself secure from danger; I was not on my guard against you.’ Then he put his hand to his sword, saying: ‘Vassal, let go of my bridle! Draw back! I consider you excessively haughty and daring. If you pull me after you any more, be assured that I will strike you. Let me go!’

  And Kay did so; he galloped away across the field, then turned around and challenged Erec like a man full of great wickedness. They turned to attack one another, but since the other wore no armour Erec behaved nobly by reversing the head of his lance and holding the butt in front. None the less Erec gave him such a blow on his shield at the widest part that it struck him on the temple and pinned his arm against his chest; Erec stretched him out prostrate on the ground.

  Then he came to the charger and took it; by the reins he gave it to Enide. He wanted to take it with him, but the other, who was very skilled in flattery, begged him to return it out of generosity. Artfully he flattered and blandished him. ‘Vassal,’ he said, ‘God protect me, I have no right to this charger; rather it belongs to that knight in whom in all the world the greatest prowess abounds, my lord Gawain the brave. So on his behalf I ask you to send him his charger, so that you may gain honour thereby; you will be acting both nobly and wisely, and I shall be your messenger.’

  Erec replied: ‘Vassal, take the horse and return it; since it belongs to my lord Gawain, it is not right that I should take it.’

  Kay took the horse and remounted; he came to the king’s tent and told him the truth, keeping nothing hidden. And the king called Gawain. ‘Dear nephew Gawain,’ said the king, ‘if ever you were noble or courteous, go speedily after him; ask him in a friendly way about himself and his business. And if you can persuade him so that you can bring him back with you, be sure you do not fail to do so.’

  Gawain mounted his Gringalet, and two squires followed him; they soon caught up with Erec, but they did not recognize him at all. Gawain greeted Erec and Erec him. Then my lord Gawain, who was full of great nobility, said: ‘My lord, King Arthur sends me on this path to you. The queen and the king send you greetings and beg and request that you come and take pleasure with them. They wish to help you, not to harm you, and they are not far from here.’

  Erec replied: ‘I sincerely thank both the king and the queen, and you too, who seem to be of noble birth and well bred. I am not at all in good health, for my body is wounded, but yet I will not stray from my road to take lodgings. You need wait no longer; I will thank you to go back.’

  Gawain was very clever. He drew back and whispered to one of the squires to go quickly and tell the king that he should take immediate measures to have his tents taken down, then proceed three or four leagues in front of them and have his linen tents set up right on the road. ‘That is where he must spend this night, if he wants to meet and give lodging to the best knight he ever saw, for he absolutely refuses to abandon his path to seek lodging.’

  The squire left and delivered his message. The king had his tents taken down without any delay. They loaded the packhorses and left. The king mounted Aubagu and next the queen mounted upon a white Norwegian palfrey. My lord Gawain, meanwhile, kept on delaying Erec, who said to him: ‘I went much further yesterday than I shall go today. Sir, you are annoying me; let me go. You have greatly disrupted my day’s travel.’

  And my lord Gawain said to him: ‘I wish to accompany you a little further, if you don’t mind, for there is still plenty of time before nightfall.’

  They spent so much time talking that all the tents were set up ahead of them, and Erec saw them; he saw clearly that he was to be lodged. ‘Oh ho, Gawain!’ he said. ‘I am dumbfounded by your great cleverness; you have very craftily detained me. Since that’s the way things are, I shall tell you my name at once; hiding it would do me no good. I am Erec, who used to be your companion and friend.’

  Gawain heard this and went to embrace him; he lifted up his h
elmet and untied his ventail; for joy he embraced him again and again, and Erec for his part did likewise. Then Gawain parted from him, saying: ‘Sir, this news will be very pleasing to my lord the king. My lady and my lord will be delighted, and I shall go ahead to tell them. But first I must embrace and welcome and comfort my lady Enide, your wife; my lady the queen is very eager to see her – I heard her speak of it only yesterday.’

  Then Gawain drew near her and asked her how she was, whether she was quite healthy and well; she replied with appropriate courtesy: ‘My lord, I should have neither pain nor sorrow were I not extremely concerned for my lord, but it frightens me that he has scarcely a single limb without a wound.’

  Gawain replied: ‘This concerns me deeply. It shows very clearly in his face, which is pale and colourless. I might well have wept at seeing him so pale and wan; but joy extinguishes sorrow: he brought me such joy that I forgot my sorrow. Now come along at an easy pace; I shall go swiftly ahead to tell the queen and king that you are coming after me. I know well that they both will be overjoyed to learn this.’

  Then he left and came to the king’s tent. ‘Sire,’ he said, ‘now you should be joyous, you and my lady, for Erec and his wife are coming here.’

  The king sprang to his feet for joy. ‘Truly,’ he said, ‘I am very glad. No other news could give me so much joy.’

  Then the king left his tent. They met Erec quite close at hand. When Erec saw the king coming, he immediately dismounted, and Enide got down in turn. The king embraced and greeted them, and the queen likewise sweetly kissed and embraced them; everyone welcomed them joyfully. Right there on the spot they removed Erec’s armour, and when they saw his wounds their joy turned to anger. The king sighed deeply, then had an ointment brought which his sister Morgan had made. The ointment that Morgan had given Arthur was so wonderfully effective that the wound to which it was applied, whether on nerve or joint, could not fail to be completely cured and healed within a week, provided it was treated with the ointment once a day. They brought the ointment to the king and it brought great relief to Erec.