‘I slew her,’ said Gawain sadly, and he told all the tale of his adventures, hiding nothing. ‘This has come upon me as a punishment for that I would not show mercy to the vile knight whom I meant to slay,’ he ended. ‘Hereafter I swear always to be merciful, and to spare all those who ask for mercy. Moreover I set this penance before myself: Ever in especial to fight for all damsels and all ladies who seek my aid, and to be their knight in all humbleness and honour.’
‘Well have you all learnt,’ said Merlin gently. ‘And Sir Gawain has suffered the cruellest lesson, even as he shall be in days to come the noblest, the bravest and the most merciful of knights.
‘But, behold now, on this the first day of the Round Table, I lay upon you all the Order of Chivalry. All of you, and those who shall sit afterwards at this Table, are the Knights of Logres, and for the glory of Logres, the Realm of Righteousness, do not ever depart from the high virtues of this realm. Do no outrage nor murder nor any cruel or wicked thing; fly from treason and all untruthfulness and dishonest dealing; give mercy unto those that seek it – or sit no more at this Table. And always give all the help in your power to ladies and damsels, go out to succour gentlewomen and widows, turn from all else to right any wrong done to any woman in the world – and never, on pain of death and eternal disgrace, do you any ill thing to a woman, or suffer it to be done. Nor, for love or gain, fight in any quarrel that is not just and righteous.’
‘To these things you shall swear upon the Blessed Sacrament,’ said King Arthur. ‘And every year, upon the feast of Pentecost, see that you all come hither to Camelot to swear that oath anew. Then shall we take our places all together at the Round Table. But I swear not to eat that day until some quest or some adventure has come to us.’
‘Do you even so,’ said Merlin, ‘that the realm of Logres may endure for many years as an example to all the men of after time. For be you sure that, though you all die, its fame and its example shall live for ever … But now I must depart from among you, to sleep my long sleep until the time appointed, when the next Circle of Logres shall again be formed upon the earth … These are things that you may not understand: but this you may: Break not your oaths of chivalry, nor fail in your allegiance to King Arthur, the symbol and the ruler of the realm of Logres.’
Then Merlin passed slowly down the hall and away into the night; and the Lady Nimue, she whom King Pellinore had brought to Camelot, rose quietly from her place in the hall and followed him.
4
The Magic of Nimue and Morgana le Fay
On the day following that feast of Pentecost on which the Round Table was set up in Camelot, King Arthur rode alone in the forest, sorrowing for the strange words of Merlin. And as he rode, suddenly Merlin himself stood before him.
‘I come to bid you farewell,’ said the good enchanter, ‘and to speak my last word of warning … Have good care of the sword Excalibur, and of the magic scabbard of it – and beware of the evil woman who shall steal it from you, she who shall be the mother of the Evil Knight who shall strike you down upon the Field of Camlann. Yet she shall be with you at the last, her evil purged away, and she, with others, shall bring you to Avalon … Of these others, the Ladies of Avalon, one awaits me, even the Lady Nimue. She shall bury me in the earth while I yet live …’
‘May not you escape her by your magic arts?’ asked Arthur. ‘Oh Merlin, I would not lose you!’
‘Nay, it is my fate,’ answered Merlin. ‘It is to the glory of Logres … And for you: now you must show your worth and stand alone!’
Then Merlin went on his way deeper and deeper into the forests, following the Lady Nimue; and they came to the land of Gwynedd where Pant was king, and lodged in his castle. And on the morrow, before they went on their way once more, Merlin spoke with King Pant’s wife, whose name was Elayne.
‘You have a son,’ said he, ‘a marvellous youth whom the Lady of the Lake took from you when he lay in the cradle, so that he dwelt with her many years. I would see this boy before I pass from the ways of men, for his name is Launcelot, and another Elaine in the times to be shall bear him as one called Galahad – and these two knights shall be the best of all the Round Table, and the chiefest glory of the Realm of Logres.’
And when Merlin saw Launcelot, he blessed him, and bade him ride to the Court of King Arthur before the next feast of Pentecost, and ask to be made a knight, saying that it was Merlin’s last wish before he laid himself living in his own grave.
And then, while King Pant and Queen Elayne and young Launcelot marvelled at his words, Merlin departed from among them and went away into the hills of North Wales, while Nimue went before him, playing upon the cwyth, the magic harp of Wales, and singing strange songs of weird and wonderful enchantment.
At length they came to the place appointed, and there under the shadow of a fair white hawthorn covered in flowers Nimue sat down, and Merlin laid his head upon her lap. Then, singing and playing, she wove a great magic round about him in nine circles, round Merlin and round the hawthorn bush. Merlin slept, and woke again: and now it seemed to him that he dwelt in the fairest tower in the world and the most strong. ‘Lady,’ he said, ‘you have taken from me all my magic, so that never may I come out of this tower. Stay but with me, and leave me not alone in these enchantments.’
‘I shall go forth before long,’ answered Nimue, ‘for King Arthur is in great danger, and, now that you may stand by him no longer, I must go to his aid. Morgana le Fay is weaving her wicked spells to entrap him – I must leave you and go speedily … But first I will give you rest, that you may sleep through many centuries until the day dawns when you shall wake.’
Then, as if walking in his sleep, Merlin rose to his feet and went down a narrow stairway which opened in the ground before him: down and down he went into a dark stone room beneath a great rock; and he laid himself upon a great slab of stone like a table, and fell asleep. Then Nimue by her magic closed up the passage leading to the light, and went her way swiftly towards Camelot, leaving Merlin to rest in his dark tomb. And there he lies until the day of his awakening, when the Circle of Logres shall be formed once more in this island – but whether he rests in the magic Forest of Broceliande, or in the Isle of Bards in Cornwall Crag, or beneath the Wood of Bragdon, no one can tell until that day.
Meanwhile, King Arthur hunted in the mysterious forests of South Wales with Sir Urience his brother-in-law, the husband of Morgana le Fay, and with the brave knight Sir Accolon of Gaul. Far and fast they followed a certain great hart, mile after mile until they were quite lost in the forest, so fast that at length their horses fell dead under them: and still they followed that hart, for it too was now so weary that it could hardly move.
They came out from under the trees, down a grassy bank, and saw the hart fall to earth and die. And then, looking round, they discovered that the bank sloped down to a great sheet of water, and that a small ship, all hung with rich silks, was drawing in beside the shore. The ship came right to them, running in against the sands so that they could step aboard: but there was no living thing to be seen anywhere upon that ship.
‘Sirs,’ said King Arthur, ‘let us enter this strange barque and dare the adventure of it.’
So they went aboard, and found it a passing fair ship, very richly furnished and draped with rare silks. It was evening when they came down the bank to the waterside – and the night fell rapidly after they had stepped on to the ship – so rapidly that in a few minutes it was pitch dark. Then suddenly great torches appeared all along the bulwarks, so that the decks were brilliantly lit; the ship moved across the still, dark waters, while twelve fair damsels came out from the cabins and served them with all the meats and wines that ever a man could desire. Sweet music played softly all the while, and the whole ship was fragrant with the heavy scent of strange flowers.
The King and his two companions were weary after their day’s hunting; and after they had supped and enjoyed the cool night air on the deck of that strange vessel, each of them was led be
low to a rich cabin prepared for him alone. And before long each one of them was laid in a soft comfortable bed. And that night they slept most marvellously deep.
On the morrow Urience woke to find himself at Camelot, in his own bed beside his wife the enchantress Morgana le Fay: and much he marvelled how he came two days’ journey during one night’s sleep. His wife smiled deeply and mysteriously, a strange, evil light glimmering behind her great dark eyes – but she said nothing of the matter, though well she knew.
King Arthur, however, woke to find himself in a dark and dismal prison, a damp, unwholesome dungeon beneath some great castle. And he heard in the darkness the groans of twenty knights who were also held there in cruel captivity.
‘Who are you that so complain?’ asked King Arthur.
And one of them replied: ‘We are twenty knights kept prisoner here, and there are some of us who have been here as long as eight years.’
‘How does this happen?’ asked Arthur.
‘The lord of this castle,’ answered the knight, ‘is an evil man called Sir Damas, who wrongfully holds the castle and lands from his elder brother, the good knight Sir Outlake. And he takes captive all those who come to the castle and shuts them in this miserable dungeon …’
As they were talking, there came a damsel bearing a lamp, and said to King Arthur:
‘What cheer, sir?’
‘I hardly know,’ he answered. ‘Nor can I tell how I came to be in this evil place.’
‘Sir,’ said she, ‘you shall be set at liberty and win the freedom of all these knights also, if you will but fight for my lord. For his brother will this day send a champion to do battle for him, and whoso wins shall become lord of all these lands.’
‘Now,’ said Arthur, ‘you have set me a hard question. Your lord, Sir Damas, is an evil knight, and I would not strike a blow in his defence. Yet had I rather die in battle than linger to my death in this dungeon … If Sir Damas will release all those who lie prisoned here, I will do battle to the death in his quarrel.’
‘It shall be so,’ said the damsel.
‘Then I am ready’ said Arthur, ‘if I had but a horse and armour.’
‘You shall lack neither,’ she assured him. ‘Do but follow me.’
They came up from the dungeon and out into the clear sunlight of the courtyard …
‘Surely, damsel, I have seen you before,’ said King Arthur. ‘Were you ever at King Arthur’s court?’
‘No,’ answered the damsel, ‘I never came there in all my life. I am but the daughter of Sir Damas, lord of this castle.’
But she spoke falsely when she said this, for she was one of the damsels who served Queen Morgana le Fay.
At the same moment that Arthur found himself in the dungeon beneath Sir Damas’s castle, Sir Accolon of Gaul woke also from his charmed sleep, and found himself lying in a pleasant courtyard, but at the very edge of a deep well so that if he had moved but a little he would have fallen into it and found his death many, many feet beneath.
When Sir Accolon found where he was, he blessed himself and said: ‘Now may God save King Arthur and King Urience – for those damsels in the ship have betrayed us. Surely they were fiends and not women: if ever I escape from this adventure I will slay all women who deal thus in black magic and wicked enchantments.’
While he was thinking this there came a dwarf with a great mouth and a flat nose, and saluted Sir Accolon, saying: ‘I come from your lady, Queen Morgana le Fay, and she greets you well as her dear love, and begs you for her sake to fight for her this day with a strange knight. And for this she sends you King Arthur’s own sword, Excalibur, and its scabbard, and bids you fear not, but do battle to the death without any mercy as she has instructed you … She bid me also tell you that her husband lies dying, wounded to the death by a traitor’s hand, and that you shall wed her and be King of Gorre in his stead.’
‘I did indeed promise to fight for her,’ said Sir Accolon, ‘and you come truly from her, since you bear the sword Excalibur. All these enchantments must be her doing, so that I might do battle against her unknown enemy and slay him.’
‘Sir, it is even as you say,’ answered the dwarf. ‘And you do well to fight in this battle.’ Then he drew Sir Accolon from the side of the well, and afterwards led him to the hall of the castle, where Sir Outlake awaited him with six squires. When Sir Accolon had eaten and drunk, these armed him in strong armour, set him upon a mighty war-horse, and led him to the field of battle, midway between the castles of Sir Outlake and Sir Damas, in a fair green meadow.
Meanwhile six squires of Sir Damas had led Arthur also to the hall of their master’s castle, given him food and drink, armed him well, and led him out of the gate. As Arthur rode from the castle another damsel came to him, bowed low, and said:
‘Sir, your sister, my mistress, Queen Morgana le Fay, greets you. And she sends me to bring you your sword Excalibur which you left in her keeping, for she hears that this day you must engage in battle. Here is the sword, and the scabbard also: and my mistress kneels even now in prayer for your safety.’
King Arthur thanked the damsel, and went towards the battle with a lighter heart now that he had his own sword, and the magic scabbard the wearer of which would never lose much blood, however sorely he was wounded.
These two knights, King Arthur and Sir Accolon, in strange armour with closed vizors and no devices on their shields to show who they were, met together in the green meadow, neither knowing the other. They jousted with their spears first of all – so mightily that neither might sit his horse. Then they drew their swords, and went eagerly to battle, smiting many great strokes. But always King Arthur’s sword failed to bite as Accolon’s did: for Accolon’s sword bit through King Arthur’s armour at every stroke, until his blood ran down and dyed all the meadow. But Accolon bled scarcely at all, though Arthur had wounded him once or twice.
And when King Arthur saw his blood upon the grass, and felt how the sword in his hand bit not into the steel as it was wont to do, while Accolon’s drew blood at every stroke, he felt that there had been treason and black magic used to change the swords. For he became more and more certain that in Accolon’s hand gleamed the true Excalibur.
‘Now, sir knight, beware, for I am going to hit you again!’ taunted Sir Accolon. Arthur, without replying, struck so hard that he went staggering back; but Accolon struck once and Arthur fell to the ground.
He was soon up again, however, and they struck many more great strokes at one another: but always King Arthur lost so much blood that it was a marvel that he still stood on his feet – and only so brave a knight could have fought on while enduring such pain.
At last the two of them paused to rest, and all those who had gathered to watch the battle spoke well of them, but lamented that one of two such brave knights was doomed to die. And amongst those who watched was the enchantress, Lady Nimue of Avalon, she who had put Merlin under the stone, and who had arrived only after the battle had begun.
‘This is no time for me to suffer you to rest!’ exclaimed Sir Accolon suddenly; and thereat he came fiercely against Arthur once more. But Arthur, wild with rage and pain, whirled up his sword and smote Accolon so hard upon the helmet that he fell to the earth. But at that stroke the sword broke to pieces in his hand, leaving only the hilt and cross bar.
Accolon sprang up again and rushed at King Arthur, who defended himself with his shield, though certain that now there was no escape.
‘Knight!’ jeered Accolon. ‘Yield you to me as craven and vanquished – or else I will smite off your head with my sword!’
‘Nay,’ said Arthur. ‘I cannot so shame my vows. If it were possible for me to die a hundred times, I would rather that. For though I lack weapon, yet shall I lack no honour – and if you slay me weaponless, it is you who will be shamed.’
‘I’ll take the risk of that!’ cried Accolon. ‘Run away now – for you are no better than a dead corpse already!’ He slashed at Arthur again; but the King took the blow on hi
s shield, and hit Accolon across the vizor with the broken sword so hard that he staggered back three paces.
And as he did so, Nimue by her magic loosened the scabbard at his side, so that it fell to the ground in front of Arthur, who caught it up and buckled it to his belt. Accolon came on once more, struck a stroke that might have cleft Arthur’s head to the chin: but Nimue waved her hand once more and the sword twisted from Accolon’s fingers and landed point downwards in the ground.
Arthur leapt forward, took the sword in his hand – and knew at once by the feel of it that it was his own Excalibur. ‘Ah-ha!’ he cried. ‘You have been from me all too long, and you have done me much damage.’ And then to Accolon:
‘Sir knight, it is you who stand near to death – for this my own sword shall reward you well for the pain I have endured and the blood I have lost.’
Therewith he leapt at Sir Accolon and smote him to the ground so hard that the blood burst out from his mouth and nose and ears; and he stood over him with Excalibur raised to strike, crying: ‘Now will I slay you!’
‘Slay me you well may,’ gasped Accolon, ‘for never will I yield. I also vowed by my knighthood never to yield with life. Slay me therefore, since I will not live shamed.’
‘You are a brave knight, and an honourable,’ said Arthur, lowering his sword. ‘Tell me of what land you are, and who you serve.’
‘Sir, I am of the royal court of King Arthur, and Accolon of Gaul is my name.’
‘Tell me – who gave you the sword?’ asked the King, much dismayed as he remembered the magic of the ship.
‘A sorrowful sword it has been,’ said Accolon, ‘for by it I have got my death.’
‘That may well be,’ said the King. ‘But how came it into your hands?’
‘From Queen Morgana le Fay,’ answered Accolon sadly. ‘I have loved her long, and she me. And I promised to fight and slay whom she would, even though it were Arthur the King: for which reason she sent me the sword this day, telling me that her husband King Urience was dead, and I should be king indeed if I conquered in this battle. But tell me, who are you that she would have had me slay?’
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table Page 6
