Then a brave knight took hold of the sword and pulled eagerly – but he could not draw it.
‘There is no need to pull half so hard,’ said the damsel. ‘In the right man’s hand it will come out at a touch. But he must be a gentle knight, well-born and without evil in his heart.’
One after another the knights tried to draw the sword, but in turn each of them failed.
‘Alas!’ sobbed the damsel, ‘I had thought that in the Court of King Arthur I would have found one man true enough knight to draw forth my sword!’
‘By my faith,’ said Arthur, half angered at her words, ‘here are knights as good as any in the world – but they are not fated to help you, which troubles me sorely’
But it happened that a young knight named Balyn, whom no one thought much of, for he had lately been in prison for killing a cousin of King Arthur’s, came into the hall while all this was going on.
‘Fair damsel,’ he said presently, ‘I pray you, of your kindness, let me try also to draw the sword. I am but a poor knight of Northumberland, but strong and passionate. And maybe these humble garments hide a better man than they seem.’
‘You speak wisely’ said the damsel. ‘Therefore try your fortune also.’
Then Balyn took the sword by the girdle and sheath, and drew it out easily. And when he looked upon the keen, shining blade, he loved it so much that it seemed worth more than the most precious thing in the world.
Many of the knights murmured, being jealous of Balyn, but the damsel said: ‘Certainly this is a passing good knight, the best in all this land – and many great and wondrous deeds shall he do … But now, kind and courteous sir, I beg you to give me back my sword.’
‘Not so,’ answered Balyn. ‘With this sword I shall never part!’
‘You are not wise to keep it,’ said the damsel, ‘for with it you shall slay the best friend that you have and the man you love best in the world. And that sword shall be your own destruction … It is a magic weapon which the Lady of the Isle of Avalon gave to me.’
‘I will take my chances of what may come,’ replied Balyn. ‘But this sword I will not give up!’
Then the damsel made many lamentations, and departed from the Court in sorrow. And while Balyn stood to one side looking at his sword and rejoicing in it, and as the other knights crowded together talking of what had happened, the Lady of the Lake came suddenly into the hall and stood before King Arthur.
‘Sire!’ she cried. ‘I hold you to your word! When I gave you your own sword you promised to grant me a gift.’
‘That is true,’ said Arthur. ‘Therefore ask what you will, and you shall have it, if it is in my power to give.’
‘Well,’ said the Lady of the Lake, ‘give me the head of this knight who but now drew the sword which the damsel brought. I had rather that you had cut off her head – but it is too late for that.’
‘Truly,’ answered King Arthur, troubled and surprised at her words, ‘I cannot in honour grant you the life of either of them. Sir Balyn is my guest.’
‘I will take nothing else!’ cried the Lady of the Lake.
Now when Balyn heard this, a madness seemed to come over him: ‘Evil woman,’ he cried, ‘you would have my head, would you? Rather, you shall now lose your own!’ And there and then, in the presence of King Arthur, he sprang forward and cut off her head at a single stroke.
‘Alas, for shame!’ said King Arthur, while all his knights murmured with reproach and disgust. ‘Why have you done this? You have disgraced me and all my court, for this damsel came to visit me, and was a lady of high worth. Therefore I will never forgive you for this deed.’
‘Sire,’ answered Balyn, ‘be not displeased with me – for this lady was the falsest living, who had brought many brave men to their death, and women also.’
‘Whatever the cause,’ said Arthur, ‘you have done a wicked and a shameful thing. Go now from my court, and from the realm of Logres, for you are no true knight unless you may redeem your honour by some brave deed or long penance.’
Balyn went with speed, mounted his horse, and rode out of Caerleon. Beyond the gate he commanded his squire to leave him:
‘Go home to Northumberland,’ he said, ‘and tell them what has chanced. I myself shall ride in search of King Ryon and slay him, or die in the attempt: for if I slay Ryon, then surely King Arthur will be my friend again.’
But in King Arthur’s court there was great wrath and uproar. And in the midst of it a proud knight of Ireland, Sir Launceor, who was jealous of Balyn for winning the sword, asked leave of King Arthur to ride after him and seek vengeance for the ill deed which had been done.
‘Do your best,’ said Arthur, ‘for I am much angered with Balyn. I would that we might wipe out the shame that has fallen upon Logres by reason of that cowardly blow.’
Sir Launceor went from court with all the haste he might, and it was not long before he overtook Balyn.
But meanwhile Merlin came suddenly to the King and said:
‘Evil has come into Logres and greater shall follow. The damsel who brought the sword has set the seeds of great and terrible things. That sword she had, by false means, from the Lady of the Isle of Avalon – and in that sword dwells a curse which must be borne to the end that in after days a blessing may come upon Logres by that sword in the hand of Galahad, truest knight of Logres. But alas for Balyn, for the curse is upon him who would have been of the bravest and best of your knights. He goes to his death, and naught can save him … Yet I will follow and see what good I may bring to him.’
While this was happening, Sir Launceor had come up with Balyn, who was riding up into the hills of Wales.
‘Stay awhile!’ he shouted as soon as he might be heard,
‘or I will make you stay, whether you mean to or not! The shield you carry before you shall not help you – for I am after you!’
‘Maybe you would have done better to stay at home,’ said Balyn, turning to meet him. ‘Whence come you, and for what reason?’
‘I am from the Court of King Arthur,’ answered Launceor. ‘And I come to punish you for the evil stroke that you struck this day in his presence.’
‘It grieves me much to have offended the best of kings,’ said Balyn. ‘But that damsel whom I slew was the wickedest in the world.’
‘Make you ready, base knight!’ was all that Launceor would reply. So the two of them fought there upon the hillside; and the end of it was that Balyn smote Sir Launceor through the body so that he fell to the ground dead.
Balyn stood beside him and was filled with sorrow at the death of a brave knight. But greater sorrow was to follow: for as he stood, a lovely maiden on a white horse came riding full speed up the hill. When she saw Launceor lie bleeding on the road, she cried aloud in great sorrow, and came and flung herself on the ground beside him.
‘Ah, Balyn!’ she sobbed. A sad stroke have you stricken! You have slain two bodies with one heart, and two hearts in one body, and two souls are lost by it!’
Then she took up Balyn’s sword, which lay on the ground, and before he could stop her, flung herself upon the point of it and fell dead across the body of Sir Launceor whom she had loved better than life.
If Balyn was sad before, he was doubly sad now that he had caused the death of two such true lovers. And he would not be comforted, even when his brother Balan found him there – Balan whom he loved better than any in the world.
‘Many sad things have indeed befallen you,’ said Balan, ‘but we must endure even the hardest adventures that God sends us.’
‘That is so,’ said Balyn. ‘And now let us ride on, for I would find and slay the wicked Ryon of North Wales so that King Arthur may pardon me for the death of the Lady of the Lake.’
‘I will come also,’ said Balan, ‘and put my body in adventure with you, as a brother ought to do.’
Deeper and deeper into the hills they went, through thick forests and by gloomy passes – and on a sudden they met Merlin, but Merlin disguised so that they d
id not recognize him.
‘Whither do you ride?’ asked Merlin.
‘We do not tell our business to strangers,’ said the two knights, Balyn adding: ‘But tell us who you are that ask it.’
‘At this time I will not tell you,’ replied Merlin.
‘That is an evil sign,’ said Balyn. ‘surely you are no true man if you will not tell us your name.’ And he put his hand to his sword.
‘But I will tell you your name,’ answered Merlin quietly. ‘You are Balyn, the Knight of the Sword, and this is Balan your brother. And you go now to meet with King Ryon … But your quest will be of little use unless you are advised by me.’
‘Ah,’ said Balyn, bowing reverently. ‘You are Merlin! We will indeed be ruled by your wisdom.’
‘Follow me,’ said Merlin, ‘and you shall do a knightly deed … But unknightly deeds have been done by the Knight of the Sword, yet good as well as evil shall come of them to Logres … Sir Launceor lies dead, and with him his beloved, the Lady Columba: King Mark of Cornwall has found them, and will build a fair tomb above their bodies. And in days to come the greatest battle ever fought between two knights shall fall out just there – between Launcelot and Tristram, whom the land knows not yet – and King Mark shall find sorrow there also. But woe to you, Balyn, for you shall strike the Dolorous Stroke: yet for the healing of that stroke shall the Holy Grail come to Logres, and the good knight Sir Galahad shall achieve it: and thereafter shall the darkness fall once more upon Logres.’
These things which the good enchanter told to them filled Balyn and Balan with awe and wonder, and they rode on in silence until the fall of night.
‘Dismount now,’ said Merlin, ‘unbridle your horses, leave them and follow me.’
In the midst of a dark wood they came to a little glade filled with soft moonlight.
‘Abide hereby,’ said Merlin, ‘for at midnight King Ryon comes here secretly with but a few men to take by force the Lady of Vaunce who is to pass this way with two knights, in search of her lord.’
King Ryon came with twenty armed men, and Balyn and Balan attacked them with such fury that many were slain and the rest fled. But King Ryon turned to fight with Balyn, and after a great battle he fell wounded to the ground.
‘Brave knights,’ said Ryon, ‘I pray you, slay me not. You may gain much by my life, but little by my death.’
‘You speak truth,’ said Balyn. ‘You shall come yet living to King Arthur.’
‘I will lead him to Caerleon,’ said Merlin, ‘for here you must abide till the great battle that is to be, when you shall do King Arthur good service.’
Merlin came to Caerleon as Arthur was about to march into North Wales. ‘I bring you your worst enemy’ he said. ‘But he was overcome and taken by two good knights whom you shall know at the great battle you go now to fight. It shall be before the walls of Castle Tarabil, and there you shall conquer twelve kings.’
King Arthur marched onward, and the twelve kings made ready for him. King Ryon was with them no longer, but Lot of Orkney had been persuaded by evil counsel to join them, which was a sad thing, for he was a brave man and a good and noble king, and the husband of Morgawse, Arthur’s half-sister.
All through one long day the battle of Castle Tarabil was fought, and for long it seemed that Arthur must lose. But on a sudden two knights came riding out of the forest and entered the battle from behind, striking such blows and fighting so furiously, that the twelve kings thought that a new army was come against them, and broke and fled.
In the evening only King Lot remained alive of the twelve kings, and only his followers still fought on – for none could overcome King Lot. Then on a sudden came King Pellinore, following the Questing Beast across the world as his fate was, and he fought with Lot, and struck him such a mighty blow with his sword that Lot fell to the ground and died, and the hosts of Orkney fled into the darkness.
‘You have won a great battle for Logres,’ said Merlin, ‘but the victory belongs to the Knight of the Sword and his brother, and to the Knight of the Questing Beast.’
‘And who are these?’ asked Arthur. ‘King Pellinore I know, but not the others.’
‘It is Balyn, who drew the damsel’s sword,’ said Merlin, ‘and Balan his brother. Balyn you will meet once again, but Balan never. They shall die both on the same day, a sorrowful, unholy death. The tale of Balyn and Balan shall be the saddest of any, for he who drew that sword is the most unfortunate of all knights.’
‘Alas,’ said King Arthur, ‘that is a pity indeed, for I owe him much gratitude for his deeds this day – and I have little deserved what he has done for me.’
After the battle Arthur marched on through the great forests which covered so much of Britain in those days, to make war against the Saxons in the north. And one day when they had pitched camp in the forest and King Arthur was resting in his pavilion in an open glade near by, he heard the sound of a horse’s hooves, and looking out he saw a knight ride slowly by who sighed and lamented loudly as if some dreadful ill had befallen him.
‘Stay a while, fair sir!’ cried Arthur, ‘and tell me wherefore you sorrow thus.’
‘You can do nothing to help me,’ said the knight, and he rode sadly on his way.
A little while later came Balyn, and knelt to King Arthur. ‘Now by my head!’ said the King, ‘you are right welcome.’
‘I may not abide,’ said Balyn, ‘for a sore curse is upon me and evil will come upon all those who are with me for long. But I pray you, my good lord king, give me some quest to follow, so that I may strive for the making of Logres before the evil overtakes me.’
‘It grieves me that you cannot stay to follow me,’ said King Arthur. ‘But Merlin has told me of your fate. And as for a quest – but now a knight rode by, crying and lamenting some great sorrow. Wherefore I desire you to follow him and bring him to me that we may help him if any help is to be found in man.’
Balyn rode on as fast as he could, and before long found the knight riding beside a damsel in the forest. ‘sir knight!’ he cried, ‘you must turn round and come back with me to King Arthur to tell him the cause of your sorrow!’
‘That I will not,’ said the knight, ‘for it will harm me greatly and do me no good.’
‘Sir,’ said Balyn, ‘I pray you, make ready to obey me, for otherwise I will fight with you, and bring you by force.’
‘Will you promise me safe-conduct if I come?’ said the knight. ‘There is much evil abroad in this forest – yet from black enchantment I cannot fly.’
‘Surely I will give you safety,’ said Balyn, ‘or else die for it!’
They rode back after this, the damsel waiting in the forest, until they came to the King’s pavilion. But there, right in front of it, in the very presence of King Arthur, there came one invisible and smote the knight who rode with Balyn through the body with a spear.
‘Alas!’ said the knight, ‘even under your safe-conduct am I slain. That was the false knight Garlon who, by black magic, rides invisible. The evil has come upon me as I feared it would. But mount now my horse, which is faster than your own, ride back to the damsel in the forest and follow the quest that I was on as she will lead you, till you have avenged my death.’
Then the knight fell dead to the ground, and in great sorrow Balyn mounted his horse and rode to the damsel, whom he told of all that had happened.
Together they rode on towards the Castle of Meliot, but before they reached it they overtook another knight who was returning from hunting. They rode with him on his way, but in a little came Garlon the invisible knight and smote him as well, so that he fell down and died.
‘For this also shall I do vengeance upon Garlon the coward and traitor,’ said Balyn; and they came to the gateway of Castle Meliot. Balyn strode first over the drawbridge into the castle, with the damsel behind him: but as soon as he had passed under the gateway, the portcullis was let down, so that there was a grating of iron and wood between him and the damsel.
Then many men
ran together and took the damsel, and it seemed to Balyn that they were about to kill her. He could not break through the portcullis, but instead he ran up the nearest stairway and jumped twenty feet from a window into the dry moat, and fell upon the men with drawn sword.
‘Fair knight,’ said the leader of them, ‘we will not fight with you, nor would we do harm to you or to the damsel. But the lady of this castle has lain sick this many a year, and the custom of the land is that all damsels who pass this way must seek to heal her, which may be done with the blood of a pure maid of noble birth – and the maid shall not suffer therefrom.’
‘Well,’ said Balyn, ‘if the damsel wills it, you may take blood from her: but do her no harm, for I would not for my life that any ill should befall her.’
Then they came within the castle, and the damsel gave of her blood in a silver dish: but it did not heal the lady, for only the sister of the pure knight Sir Percivale could do that when, in days to come, she and her brother should pass that way in quest of the Holy Grail.
After this, the Knight of Meliot, who was lord of the castle, made Balyn and the damsel welcome to a good feast and comfortable lodgings. But as they sat at supper, Balyn heard in the next room the sound of a man groaning as if in great pain.
‘What is that noise?’ he asked.
‘But a little while ago,’ said the Knight of Meliot, ‘I jousted at Castle Carbonek, and twice I smote down a knight of King Pelles’ following. Then this villain knight swore to be revenged by hurting the one I loved best; and the next day he rode invisible and smote my son, who may not now be healed of his grievous wound until I have that knight’s blood – whose name ever I know not.’
‘Ah,’ said Balyn, ‘that knight is Garlon, who has slain two knights in like manner: indeed I am now in quest of him that I may slay him to avenge the wrong he has done to this damsel.’
‘I will tell you how to find him!’ cried the Knight of Meliot. ‘King Pelles will shortly hold a great feast in Castle Carbonek to which any knight may come, but each must bring with him his chosen damsel. And there you shall find this Garlon – your enemy and mine.’
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table Page 3
