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

by Malory, Thomas

  ‘As for that, be as be may.’

  ‘Nay,’ said Sir Gringamore, ‘as for that threating, we will go to dinner.’

  And so they washed and went to meat, and made them merry and well at ease; because the Lady Lyonesse of the Castle Perilous was there, they made the greater joy.

  ‘Truly, madam,’ said Lyonet unto her sister, ‘well may he be a king’s son, for he hath many good tatches;* for he is courteous and mild, and the most suffering* man that ever I met withal. For I dare say there was never gentlewoman reviled man in so foul a manner as I have rebuked him; and at all times he gave me goodly and meek answers again.’

  And as they sat thus talking, there came Sir Gareth in at the gate with his sword drawn in his hand, and cried aloud that all the castle might hear, ‘Thou traitor knight, Sir Gringamore, deliver me my dwarf again, or by the faith that I owe to God and to the high order of knighthood, I shall do thee all the harm that may lie in my power.’

  Then Sir Gringamore looked out at a window and said, ‘Sir Gareth of Orkney, leave thy boasting words, for thou gettest not thy dwarf again.’

  ‘Then, coward knight,’ said Gareth, ‘bring him with thee, and come and do battle with me, and win him and take him.’

  ‘So will I do,’ said Sir Gringamore, ‘and me list, but for all thy great words thou gettest him not.’

  ‘Ah, fair brother,’ said Dame Lyonesse, ‘I would he had his dwarf again, for I would he were not wroth; for now he hath told me all my desire, I keep no more of* the dwarf. And also, brother, he hath done much for me, and delivered me from the Red Knight of the Red Launds. And therefore, brother, I owe him my service before all knights living; and wit you well that I love him before all other knights living, and full fain I would speak with him. But in no wise I would not that he wist what I were, but as I were another strange lady.’

  ‘Well, sister,’ said Sir Gringamore, ‘sithen that I know now your will, I will obey me now unto him.’

  And so therewith he went down and said, ‘Sir Gareth, I cry you mercy, and all that I have misdone I will amend it at your will. And therefore I pray you that ye would alight, and take such cheer as I can make you in this castle.’

  ‘Shall I have my dwarf?’ said Sir Gareth.

  ‘Yea, sir, and all the pleasure that I can make you; for as soon as your dwarf told me what ye were and of what kind ye are come, and what noble deeds ye have done in these marches, then I repented me of my deeds.’

  Then Sir Gareth alit, and there came his dwarf and took his horse.

  ‘Ah, my fellow,’* said Sir Gareth, ‘I have had much adventures for thy sake!’

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  And so Sir Gringamore took him by the hand and led him into the hall where his own wife was. And then came forth Dame Lyonesse arrayed like a princess; and there she made him passing good cheer, and he her again, and they had goodly language and lovely countenance. And Sir Gareth thought many times, ‘Jesu, would that the lady of this Castle Perilous were so fair as she is.’

  And there was all manner of games and plays, of dancing and singing. And evermore Sir Gareth beheld that lady; and the more he looked on her, the more he burned in love, that he passed himself far in* his reason. And forth towards night they yode unto supper; and Sir Gareth might not eat, for his love was so hot that he wist not where he was.

  All these looks espied Sir Gringamore; and then after supper he called his sister Dame Lyonesse unto a chamber, and said, ‘Fair sister, I have well espied your countenance betwixt you and this knight, and I will, sister, that ye wit he is a full noble knight; and if ye can make him to abide here I will do him all the pleasure that I can, for and ye were better than ye are, ye were well bewared* upon him.’

  ‘Fair brother,’ said Dame Lyonesse, ‘I understand well that the knight is a good knight, and come he is out of a noble house. Notwithstanding, I will assay him better, howbeit I am most beholden to him of any earthly man; for he hath had great labour for my love, and passed many dangerous passages.’

  Right so Sir Gringamore went unto Sir Gareth and said, ‘Sir, make ye good cheer, for ye shall have no other cause;* for this lady, my sister, is yours at all times, her worship saved, for wit you well she loveth you as well as ye do her, and better if better may be.’

  ‘And I wist that,’ said Sir Gareth, ‘there lived not a gladder man than I would be.’

  ‘Upon my worship,’ said Sir Gringamore, ‘trust unto my promise. And as long as it liketh you ye shall sojourn with me, and this lady shall be with us daily and nightly to make you all the cheer that she can.’

  ‘I will well,’ said Sir Gareth, ‘for I have promised to be nigh this country this twelvemonth. And well I am sure King Arthur and other noble knights will find me where that I am within this twelvemonth, for I shall be sought and found if that I be alive.’

  [22]

  And then Sir Gareth went unto the lady Dame Lyonesse and kissed her many times, and either made great joy of other; and there she promised him her love certainly to love him and none other days of her life. Then this lady Dame Lyonesse by the assent of her brother told Sir Gareth all the truth what she was, and how she was the same lady that he did battle for, and how she was lady of the Castle Perilous; and there she told him how she caused her brother to take away his dwarf, ‘for this cause, to know the certainty what was your name, and of what kin ye were come.’

  And then she let fetch before him her sister Lyonet, that had ridden with him many a wildsome way. Then was Sir Gareth more gladder than he was before. And then they troth-plight, other to love and never to fail while their life lasteth. And so they burnt both in hot love that they were accorded to abate their lusts secretly. And there Dame Lyonesse counselled Sir Gareth to sleep in no other place but in the hall, and there she promised him to come to his bed a little before midnight.

  This counsel was not so privily* kept but it was understood; for they were but young both, and tender of age, and had not used such crafts before. Wherefore the damosel Lyonet was a little displeased, and she thought her sister Dame Lyonesse was a little over-hasty, that she might not abide the time of her marriage; and for saving of her worship she thought to abate their hot lusts. And she let ordain by her subtle crafts that they had not their intents either with other as in their delights, until they were married.

  And so it passed on at after-supper was made a clean avoidance,* that every lord and lady should go unto his rest. But Sir Gareth said plainly he would go no further than the hall, for in such places, he said, was convenient for an errant knight to take his rest in. And so there was ordained great couches and thereon feather beds, and there laid him down to sleep. And within a while came Dame Lyonesse, wrapped in a mantle furred with ermine, and laid her down by the side of Sir Gareth; and therewith he began to clip* her and to kiss her.

  And therewith he looked before him and saw an armed knight with many lights about him; and this knight had a long giserne* in his hand, and made a grim countenance to smite him. When Sir Gareth saw him come in that wise, he leapt out of his bed, and got in his hand a sword and leapt toward that knight. And when the knight saw Sir Gareth come so fiercely upon him, he smote him with a foin through the thick of the thigh, that the wound was a shaftmon* broad and had cut a-two many veins and sinews. And therewith Sir Gareth smote him upon the helm such a buffet that he fell grovelling; and then he leapt over him and unlaced his helm, and smote off his head from the body. And then he bled so fast that he might not stand, but so he laid him down upon his bed, and there he swooned and lay as he had been dead.

  Then Dame Lyonesse cried aloud, that Sir Gringamore heard it and came down. And when he saw Sir Gareth so shamefully wounded he was sore displeased, and said, ‘I am shamed that this noble knight is thus dishonoured. Sister,’ said Sir Gringamore, ‘how may this be, that this noble knight is thus wounded?’

  ‘Brother,’ she said, ‘I can not tell you, for it was not done by me, nor by my assent; for he is my lord, and I am his, and he must be my husband. The
refore, brother, I will that ye wit I shame not to be with him, nor to do him all the pleasure that I can.’

  ‘Sister,’ said Gringamore, ‘and I will that ye wit it, and Gareth both, that it was never done by me, nor by my assent this unhappy deed was never done.’

  And there they staunched his bleeding as well as they might, and great sorrow made Sir Gringamore and Dame Lyonesse. And forthwith came Dame Lyonet, and took up the head in the sight of them all, and anointed it with an ointment there as it was smitten off; and in the same wise she did to the other part there as the head stuck. And then she set it together, and it stuck as fast as ever it did; and the knight arose lightly up, and the damosel Lyonet put him in her chamber. All this saw Sir Gringamore and Dame Lyonesse, and so did Sir Gareth; and well he espied that it was Dame Lyonet, that rode with him through the perilous passages.

  ‘Ah well, damosel,’ said Sir Gareth, ‘I weened ye would not have done as ye have done.’

  ‘My lord Sir Gareth,’ said Lyonet, ‘all that I have done I will avow* it, and all shall be for your worship and us all.’

  And so within a while Sir Gareth was nigh whole, and waxed light and jocund, and sang and danced, that again Sir Gareth and Dame Lyonesse were so hot in burning love that they made their covenants at the tenth night after, that she should come to his bed. And because he was wounded before, he laid his armour and his sword nigh his bed’s side.

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  And right as she promised she came; and she was not so soon in his bed but she espied an armed knight coming toward the bed, and anon she warned Sir Gareth. And lightly through the good help of Dame Lyonesse he was armed; and they hurled together with great ire and malice all about the hall. And there was great light as it had been the number of twenty torches both before and behind. So Sir Gareth strained him, so that his old wound brast again on bleeding; but he was hot and courageous and took no keep,* but with his great force he struck down the knight, and voided his helm and struck off his head. Then he hewed the head upon a hundred pieces, and when he had done so he took up all those pieces and threw them out at a window into the ditches of the castle. And by this done, he was so faint that uneath he might stand for bleeding; and by then he was almost unarmed, he fell in a deadly swoon on the floor. Then Dame Lyonesse cried, that Sir Gringamore heard her; and when he came and found Sir Gareth in that plight he made great sorrow, and there he awaked Sir Gareth, and gave him a drink that relieved him wonderly well. But the sorrow that Dame Lyonesse made there may no tongue tell, for she so fared with herself as she would have died.

  Right so came this damosel Lyonet before them all, and she had fetched all the gobbets of the head that Sir Gareth had thrown out at the window, and there she anointed it as she did before, and put them to the body in the sight of them all.

  ‘Well, damosel Lyonet,’ said Sir Gareth, ‘I have not deserved all this despite that ye do unto me.’

  ‘Sir knight,’ she said, ‘I have nothing done but I will avow it, and all that I have done shall be to your worship, and to us all.’

  Then was Sir Gareth staunched of his bleeding; but the leeches said there was no man that bore the life should heal him thoroughly of his wound but if they healed them that caused the stroke by enchantment.*

  So leave we Sir Gareth there with Sir Gringamore and his sisters, and turn we unto King Arthur, that at the next feast of Pentecost there came the green knight and fifty knights with him, and yielded them all unto King Arthur. Then there came the red knight his brother, and yielded him to King Arthur with three score knights with him. Also there came the blue knight his brother with a hundred knights, and yielded them to King Arthur; and the green knight’s name was Sir Pertolepe, and the red knight’s name was Sir Perimones, and the blue knight’s name was Sir Persant of Inde. These three brethren told King Arthur how they were overcome by a knight that a damosel had with her, and called him Sir Beaumains.

  ‘Jesu,’ said the King, ‘I marvel what knight he is, and of what lineage he is come. Here he was with me a twelvemonth, and poorly and shamefully he was fostered; and Sir Kay in scorn named him Beaumains.’

  So right as the King stood so talking with these three brethren, there came Sir Lancelot du Lake and told the King that there was come a goodly lord with five hundred knights with him. Then the King was at Caerleon, for there was the feast held; and thither came to him this lord and saluted the King with goodly manner.

  ‘What would ye,’ said King Arthur, ‘and what is your errand?’

  ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I am called the Red Knight of the Red Launds, but my name is Sir Ironside. And sir, wit you well, hither I am sent to you from a knight that is called Sir Beaumains, for he won me in plain battle hand for hand, and so did never knight but he that ever had the better of me these twenty winters. And I am commanded to yield me to you at your will.’

  ‘Ye are welcome,’ said the King, ‘for ye have been long a great foe of ours, to me and to my court, and now I trust to God I shall so entreat you that ye shall be my friend.’

  ‘Sir, both I and these five hundred knights shall always be at your summons to do you such service as may lie in our powers.’

  ‘Gramercy,’ said King Arthur, ‘I am much beholden unto that knight that hath so put his body in devoir* to worship me and my court. And as to thee, Sir Ironside, that is called the Red Knight of the Red Launds, thou art called a perilous knight; and if thou wilt hold of me I shall worship thee and make thee knight of the Table Round—but then thou must be no man-murderer.’

  ‘Sir, as to that, I have made my promise unto Sir Beaumains never more to use such customs, for all the shameful customs that I used I did it at the request of a lady that I loved. And therefore I must go unto Sir Lancelot and unto Sir Gawain, and ask them forgiveness of the evil will I had unto them; for all those that I put to death was all only for their love of Sir Lancelot and of Sir Gawain.’

  ‘They be here’, said the King, ‘before thee: now may ye say to them what ye will.’

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  And then he kneeled down unto Sir Lancelot and to Sir Gawain, and prayed them of forgiveness of his enmity that he had against them. Then goodly they said all at once, ‘God forgive you, and we do. And we pray you that ye will tell us where we may find Sir Beaumains.’

  ‘Fair lord,’ said Sir Ironside, ‘I cannot tell you, for it is full hard to find him; for such young knights as he is, when they be in their adventures be never abiding in no place.’

  But to say the worship that the Red Knight of the Red Launds and Sir Persant and his brethren said by him, it was marvel to hear.

  ‘Well, my fair lords,’ said King Arthur, ‘wit you well I shall do you honour for the love of Sir Beaumains, and as soon as ever I may meet with him I shall make you all upon a day knights of the Table Round. And as to thee, Sir Persant of Inde, thou hast been ever called a full noble knight, and so have evermore thy three brethren been called. But I marvel,’ said the King, ‘that I hear not of the black knight your brother: he was a full noble knight.’

  ‘Sir,’ said Pertolepe the green knight, ‘Sir Beaumains slew him in an encounter with his spear: his name was Sir Perard.’

  ‘That was great pity,’ said the King, and so said many knights; for these four brethren were full well known in King Arthur’s court for noble knights, for long time they had held war against the knights of the Round Table.

  Then Pertolepe the green knight told the King that at a passage of the water of Mortaise there encountered Sir Beaumains with two brethren that ever for the most part kept that passage, and they were two deadly knights. And there he slew the eldest brother in the water, and smote him upon the head such a buffet that he fell down in the water, and there he was drowned; and his name was Sir Garrard le Breuse. And after he slew the other brother upon the land; his name was Sir Arnold le Breuse.

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  So then the King went to meat and were served in the best manner. And as they sat at the meat there came in the Queen of Orkney with ladies and knig
hts a great number. And then Sir Gawain, Sir Agravain, and Sir Gaheris arose and went to their mother and saluted her upon their knees and asked her blessing, for of fifteen years before they had not seen her. Then she spake upon high to her brother King Arthur, ‘Where have ye done my young son Sir Gareth? For he was here amongst you a twelvemonth, and ye made a kitchen knave of him, the which is shame to you all. Alas, where have ye done mine own dear son that was my joy and bliss?’

  ‘Ah, dear mother,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘I knew him not.’

  ‘Nor I,’ said the King. ‘That now me repents! But thanked be God he is proved a worshipful knight as any that is now living of his years; and I shall never be glad till that I may find him.’

  ‘Ah, brother,’ said the queen unto King Arthur, ‘ye did yourself great shame when ye amongst you kept my son in the kitchen and fed him like a hog.’

  ‘Fair sister,’ said King Arthur, ‘ye shall right well wit that I knew him not, neither no more did Sir Gawain nor his brethren. But sith it is so,’ said the King, ‘that he thus is gone from us all, we must shape a remedy to find him. Also, sister, me seemeth ye might have done me to wit* of his coming, and then if I had not done well to him ye might have blamed me; for when he came to this court, he came leaning upon two men’s shoulders, as though he might not have gone.* And then he asked me three gifts; and one he asked that same day, and that was that I would give him meat enough that twelvemonth. And the other two gifts he asked that day twelvemonth, and that was that he might have the adventure of the damosel Lyonet; and the third, that Sir Lancelot should make him knight when he desired him. And so I granted him all his desire. And many in this court marvelled that he desired his sustenance for a twelvemonth, and thereby we deemed, many of us, that he was not come out of a noble house.’

  ‘Sir,’ said the Queen of Orkney unto King Arthur her brother, ‘wit you well that I sent him unto you right well armed and horsed and worshipfully beseen of his body, and gold and silver plenty to spend.’