the king’s horse and mounted it and said, “Many thanks, for now this horse is mine.”
“Well,” said the king, “you might take my horse by force, but if I were able to fight you, then we would know whether you were more worthy to have him than I.”
When King Pellinore heard him say this, he said: “Look for me here when you wish, and here near this well you will find me.” Then King Arthur bade his men to fetch another horse as quickly as they were able.
Then Merlin came by in the semblance of a fourteen-year-old boy; he saluted the king and asked him why he was so pensive.
“I may well be pensive,” said the king, “for I have seen the most marvelous sight that I have ever seen.”
“I am well aware of that,” said Merlin, “and I know your thoughts as well as you yourself do. But you are a fool to worry about things that will not do you any good. Also, I know who you are—who your father was, and of whom you were begotten. For King Uther was your father and conceived you on Igraine.”
“That is false!” said King Arthur. “How could you know that? You are not old enough to have known my father.”
“Yes,” said Merlin, “I know this better than you or any man living.”
“I will not believe you,” said Arthur, and was angry at the child. So Merlin departed and then returned again in the likeness of an old man of eighty years of age; this made the king glad, for he seemed to be a wise man.
Then the old man said, “Why are you sad?”
“It is understandable that I would be sad,” said Arthur, “for many reasons. Just now there was a child here who told me many things that it seemed to me he could not know, for he was not old enough to know my father.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “that child told you the truth, and he would have told you more if you had allowed him. But you have done a thing lately which has displeased God: you have lain by your sister and on her you have conceived a child that shall destroy you and all the knights of your realm.”
“Who are you,” said Arthur, “who can tell me these things?”
“Sir, I am Merlin, and I was he in the likeness of a child.”
“Ah!” said the king. “You are a marvelous man! But I marvel at your statement that I must die in battle.”
“Marvel not,” said Merlin, “for it is God’s will that your body should be punished for your foul deeds. But I am the one who should really be heavy-hearted,” said Merlin, “for I shall die a shameful death: I shall be put in the earth still alive. But you shall die a worshipful death.”
As they talked thus, someone came with the king’s horse. So the king mounted his horse, and Merlin mounted another, and they rode to Caerleon. When they got there, the king immediately asked Ector and Ulphius how he was begotten, and they told him how King Uther was his father and Queen Igraine was his mother.
“So Merlin told me. I would like my mother to be sent for so that I may speak with her. And if she says this herself, then I will believe it.”
So in all haste the queen was sent for, and she brought with her Morgan le Fay, her daughter, who was as fair as any lady in the land. The king welcomed Igraine politely. Then Ulphius came in and said in the hearing of the king and all who were there feasting that day, “You are the falsest lady in the world, and the most traitorous to the king’s person.”
CI.21
“Beware,” said King Arthur, “of what you say. You use strong words.”
“Sir, I am well aware,” said Ulphius, “of what I am saying. Here is my glove to prove the truth of what I say on any man who says otherwise. Queen Igraine is the cause of your great hardship and the great war; if she had, during the lifetime of Uther, explained your birth, and how you were conceived, then you would never have had to fight the mortal wars that you have. Most of the barons of your realm never knew whose son you were, nor of whom you were begotten. She that bore you in her body should have made this known openly to all the realm to enhance her worship and yours. Therefore, I claim her to be false to God and to you and to all your realm. And whoever says this is not so—I will prove this truth on his body.”
Then Igraine spoke and said, “I am a woman and may not fight in my own defense; rather than be dishonored, I would like some good man to take up my quarrel. But,” she said, “Merlin well knows—and you, too, Sir Ulphius—how King Uther came to me in Tintagel Castle in the likeness of my lord who had died three hours earlier, and he conceived a child upon me that night, and thirteen days later, he married me. By his commandment, when the child was born, it was given to Merlin and fostered by him. And I never saw the child again, nor do I know his name, and I have never known him.”
Then Ulphius said to Merlin, “You are more to blame than the queen.”
“Sir, I well know that I bore a child by my lord King Uther, but I do not know what has become of him.”
Then the king took Merlin by the hand, saying, “Is this my mother?”
“Truly, sir, yes.”
Then Sir Ector came in and bore witness as to how he had fostered Arthur by King Uther’s commandment. Then King Arthur took his mother, Queen Igraine, in his arms and kissed her, and both of them wept. Then the king proclaimed a feast that lasted eight days.
One day there came into court a squire on horseback leading a knight who was mortally wounded. He said that there was a knight in the forest who had set up a pavilion by a well and that this knight “has slain my master, a good knight. His name was Miles. Thus, I beseech you that my master might be buried and some knight will avenge my master’s death.” The news of this knight’s death then spread quickly through the court, and every man gave his opinion.
Then the young squire Grifflet sought out King Arthur and requested that the king raise him to the Order of Knighthood for all the service he had done for him. “You are young and tender of age,” said King Arthur, “to take on such an office.”
CI.22
“Sir,” said Grifflet, “I beseech you to make me a knight.”
“Sir,” said Merlin, “it would be a pity to lose Grifflet, for he will be a passing good man when he is older, and he shall stay by your side all his life. If he risks his life with yonder knight at the fountain, he will be in great peril of never returning, for that knight is one of the best knights of the world and a strong man of arms.”
“Well,” said King Arthur, “you shall be made knight as you desire. Now,” said Arthur unto Grifflet, “since I have made you a knight, you must give me a gift.”
“Whatever you would like,” said Grifflet.
“You shall promise me by the faith of your body that when you have jousted with that knight at the fountain—whether on horseback or on foot—that you will immediately return to me without pursuing the matter further.”
“I will promise you,” said Grifflet, “to do exactly as you desire.” Then Grifflet took his horse hastily and positioned his shield and took a spear in his hand, and rode a great distance until he came to the fountain. Nearby he saw a rich pavilion, and under a cloth canopy stood a horse well saddled and bridled, and on a tree hung a shield of many colors, with a great spear next to it.
Then Grifflet struck the shield with the butt of his spear so that the shield fell down. With that, the knight came out of the pavilion and said, “Fair knight, why have you struck down my shield?”
“Sir, because I would joust with you,” said Grifflet.
“Sir, it is better if you do not,” said the knight, “for you are young and just recently made a knight, and your skill is not equal to mine.”
“No matter,” said Grifflet, “I wish to joust with you.”
“I