King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

odegrance well, and hated Ryence. So he departed with Kings Ban and Bors and twenty thousand men, and came to Camelgard, and rescued Leodegrance, and slew ten thousand of Ry

Guinevere, daughter of Leodegrance, whom in t

, ye shall not at this time, for ye have yet much to do in these lands of your own; and we with the riches we have won here by your gifts shall hire many good knights, and, by the grace of G

and Gareth. But when she saw King Arthur and his nobleness, and all the splendor of his knights and service, she forebore to spy upon him as a foe, and told him of her husband's plots against him and his throne. And the king, not knowing that she was his half-sist

hen that he himself fought with them, and that they did him mighty injuries, and wounded him nigh to death, but that at last he overcame and slew them all. When he woke, he sat in great heaviness of spirit and pensiven

hought again. And as he sat there alone, he thought he heard the noise of hounds, as it were some thirty couple in number, and looking up he saw coming towards him the strangest beast that ever he had seen or heard tell of, which ran towards the fountain and drank of the water. Its head was like

and was before long waked up by a knight on foot, who said, "Knight, full

knight, "but that is now two miles distant a

long time, and have killed my horse, and would t

saw, he earnestly prayed to be given him. "For I have followed this quest," said he,

followed the questing beast, but neit

that quest and suffer me to have it, an

is utterly in vain, for it shall never be

rse, and mounted to the saddle, cryin

ce, and I will not say nay; but till we prove whether th

ou wilt, and here by this fountain thou shalt

as quickly as they could. And when they left him all alone came Merlin, disguised as a child

e replied, "for here even now I have

thoughts; but thou art foolish to take thought, for it will not amend

rthur; "how shouldst thou kn

etter than thou how thou wast bor

," said King Arthur, and

ourscore years of age; and the king was glad at his coming, for he se

strange things to-day, and but this moment there was he

red him. But I will tell thee wherefore thou art sad, for thou hast done a thing of late for which

thur, starting up all pale, "

"and I was he in the c

elous and right fearful man, and I would

unting one, and Merlin another, they rode together to Caerleon; and Me

ttle, long and bloody, and drove him into the city, and besieged him. Then Baldulph, Colgrin's brother, came secretly with six thousand men to assail King Arthur and to raise the siege. But King Arthur was aware of him, and sent six hundred horsemen and three thousand foot to meet and fall on him instead. This therefore they did, encountering them at midnight, and utterly defeat

of Saxons, under Cheldric, on the eastern coast. At that he raised the siege, and marched straight to London, a

ain body of them turned and fled. But he pursued them hotly into the wood of Celidon, where, sheltering themselves among the trees from his arrows, they made a stand, and for a long season bravely defended themselves. Anon, he ordered all the trees in that part of the forest to be cut down, leaving no shelter or ambush; and with their trunks and bra

, they repented of their shameful flight, and turned their ships back again, and landing at Totnes, ravage

hose enemies of God and man, and had rooted them forever out of the land of Britain. Then marching hotly with his armies on to Bath, he cried aloud to them, "Since these detestable and impious heathe

ight both for their country and for Paradise, "For whoso," he said, "shall in this holy war be slain, the

e army raged with hatred, and presse

girding on Excalibur and taking in his right hand his great lance Ron, he placed his men in order and led them out against the enemy, who stood for battle on the slope of Badon Hill, r

hter such as no man had ever seen before, he drove the heathen step by step before him, bac

after, rising to his feet, set might and main with all his fellowship upon the foe, till, as a troop of lions roaring for th

sword Excalibur four hundred and seventy heathens.

beat them back when they should fly to it at last, chased them and slew them without mercy so long as he could overtake them. And though they crept with trembling hearts for shelter to the coverts of the woods and de

s, he drove them before him to a lake, which was one of the most wondrous lakes in all the world, for it was fed by sixty rivers, and had sixty islands, and sixty rocks, and on

ompelled him to retreat in terror to his land. Then he pursued his purpose, which was no less than to destroy the

he king to pray his mercy for their people. As soon as they were led before him they fell down upon their knees, and piteously besought him to spare the few survivors of their countrymen, and grant them a

bserved that holy tide; and being passing grieved to see the ruin of the churches and houses, which t

the death, and told the king that hard by in the forest was a knight who had reared up a pavilion by the fountain, "and hath slain my master, a

ung, being of the same age with King Arthur, and besought the

of age," said King Arthur, "to t

o grant his request, "Well," said Arthur, "be it then so," and knighted him forthwith. Then

wilt, my lord," r

that when thou hast jousted with this knight at the fountai

d and rode full gallop till he came to the fountain, by the side of which he saw a rich pavilion, and a great ho

r until he cast it to the ground. At that a knight came out of t

riflet, "I would

r thou art young and but lately made a knight

d Sir Griflet, "I w

plied the knight; "b

riflet and his horse fell down. But when the strange knight saw him overthrown, he was sore grieved, and hastily alighted, for he thought that he had slain him. Then he unlaced his helm and gave him air, and tended him carefully till he come out of his swoon, and leaving the tr

peror would destroy both him and his land. To whom King Arthur answered that he owed the emperor no tribute, nor would send him any; but said he, "On a fair field I will pay him his proper tribut

d bade his chamberlain tarry till he came again; but he forbore to take Excalibur, for he had given it for safety into charge of his sister, Queen Morgan le Fay. And as the king rode at a soft pace he saw suddenly three villains chasing Merl

st thou been killed, despite thy man

myself; but thou art nearer to thy death than I, for withou

knight sitting all armed on a chair in the opening of the tent. "Sir knight," said King Arthur, "for what ca

nd will follow, let whosoever will say nay, and if

d it," said

fend it," answ

et so hard that both their lances splintered into pieces. Then King Arthur drew his sword,

l," said King Arthur; "b

d the knight, and called a squire

f in his hand. Then the king again put his hand to his sword, but the knight once more cried out, "Nay, yet abid

hur's spear was shivered, but the knight's held whole, and drove so furiou

rd and said, "I will attack thee now, Sir knight,

en he saw him come on foot, he lighted from his h

s, and both so bled that all the ground around was like a marsh of blood. Thus they fought long and mightily, and anon, after brief rest fell to again, and so hurtled

o save thee or to slay. Yield therefore as defeate

; but as for yielding me to thee as a recreant because of this poo

f his helm. But the knight, being a huge man, wrestled and struggled in a frenzy with the king

onder knight, thou puttest all this realm to greater loss and damage than e

s he?" crie

upon the knight, so that he fell suddenly to the earth in a deep sleep. The

slain this good knight by thy crafts? There never lived a better k

w near thou was to death. There liveth not a better knight than he in all the world, and hereafter he shall do thee good service. His name is King Pellinore, and he shall have two so

that the king would jeopardize his person thus alone. Yet could they not hide their joy at serving u