a gift and I will give it to you.”
“Thank you,” said the damsel. “I ask for the head of this false knight, Abellus, for he is the most outrageous knight who lives, and the greatest murderer.”
“I am loath,” said Sir Tor, “to give you the gift I have promised you. Let him make amends for whatever trespass he has committed against you.”
“Now,” said the damsel, “I may not, for he slew my own brother right before my eyes, who was a better knight than he, if he had only had good fortune. I kneeled half an hour before him in the mud, asking that he save my brother’s life—who had done him no harm!—but only fought with him by happenstance in arms. But for all I did, he still struck off his head. Therefore, I require you, as you are a true knight, to give me my gift, or else I will shame you throughout the court of King Arthur. This is the falsest knight living, and a great destroyer of men—particularly of good knights.”
When Abellus heard this, he was afraid and yielded and asked for mercy.
“I cannot grant it now,” said Sir Tor, “because then I would be false of my promise. Earlier I would have granted you mercy but you would not ask for it unless you had the brachet again, which was my quest.” Then he took off his helmet, and the knight got up and fled. Sir Tor went after him and struck his head cleanly off.
“Now sir,” said the damsel, “it is almost night. I pray you, come and lodge with me at my home nearby.”
“I will gladly,” said Sir Tor, “for my horse and I have had difficult going since we departed from Camelot.” So he rode with her and had good cheer with her. She had a courteous older knight for her husband, and he welcomed him and took care of both his horse and him. In the morning he heard mass and broke his fast, and when he took his leave of the knight and the lady, they asked him to tell them his name.
“Truly,” he said, “my name is Sir Tor, and I was just recently made a knight. This was the first quest of arms that I have ever undertaken, to bring back what this knight Abellus took away from King Arthur’s court.”
“Now fair knight,” said the lord and lady, “if you come into our lands, our lodging, poor as it is, will always be available at your commandment.”
So Sir Tor departed and came to Camelot three days later at noon. The king and queen and all the court were happy at his return, and made great joy that he had come back; for he had left the court with little in the way of knightly equipment, except an old courser which King Pellinore, his father, had given him, and sword and armor which King Arthur had given him. Apart from this he had no knightly equipment, and rode forth alone.
Then on the advice of Merlin, the king and queen made him swear to tell of his adventures. So he told them, showing the proof of his deeds as has been related before, and the king and the queen made great joy.
“Nay, nay,” said Merlin, “these are but small tricks that he has done. He will prove to be as noble a knight of prowess as are few men alive today. He will be noble and courteous with good qualities and true to his word, and he shall never commit outrage.” Because of Merlin’s words, King Arthur gave Sir Tor an earldom and lands, and here ends the quest of Sir Tor, King Pellinore’s son.
9 The Adventure of King Pellinore
Then King Pellinore armed himself and mounted his horse. He rode some distance after the lady that the knight had led away, and as he was riding through the forest he saw in a valley a damsel sitting by a well with a wounded knight in her arms.
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King Pellinore called out and greeted her, and when she was aware of him, she cried out loudly and said, “Help me, knight, for Jesus’ sake!” But King Pellinore would not stop, he was so eager to pursue his quest, even though she cried out for help a hundred times.
When she saw he would not stop, she prayed to God to put him in a position where he would need as much help as she did, so that he might feel as she felt before he died. Then, as the book tells, the wounded knight died, and the lady killed herself with his sword out of grief.
As King Pellinore was riding in that valley he met a poor man, a laborer, and asked him, “Have you seen a knight riding this way with a lady?”
“Yes, sir,” said the man. “I saw that knight with a lady who was making great dole. Yonder in the valley you shall see two pavilions; one of the knights of the pavilions challenged the knight for that lady, saying that she was his close cousin, and so he would not allow him to lead her any further. So they fought over that—one said that he would have her by force, and the other said that he had the right to oversee her, for he was her kinsman and would have brought her to her kin. So I left them fighting in this quarrel, and if you ride a short distance you will find them fighting, and the lady will be in the pavilions with two squires attending her.”
“By God, thank you!” said King Pellinore. Then he rode a distance until he had sight of the two pavilions and the two knights fighting. He rode up to the pavilions and saw that the lady who was his quest was there, and he said, “Fair lady, you must go with me to the court of King Arthur.”
“Sir knight,” said the two squires, “yonder are two knights who fight for this lady. Go out there and separate them, and if you can reach an agreement with them, then you may have her as you like.”
“You say well,” said King Pellinore. Then he rode out between them and parted them, and asked them why they fought.
“Sir knight,” said one, “I shall tell you. This lady is my close kinswoman, my aunt’s daughter, and when I heard her complain that she was with this knight against her will, I challenged him to a battle.”
“Sir knight,” said the other one, whose name was Outlake of Wentland, “I took this lady by the prowess of my hands and weapons today at Arthur’s court.”
“That is not true,” said King Pellinore, “for you entered suddenly when we were all at the high feast and took away this lady before any man could make himself ready to challenge you. It was made my quest to bring her back and you as well, or else that one of us should die contesting over her. Therefore, this lady shall go with me, or else I will die in the attempt to take her, for I have promised King Arthur to do so. Therefore, fight no more, for neither of you shall have her at this time. And if you wish to fight me for her, I will defend her.”
“Well,” said the knights, “prepare yourself, and we shall assail you with all our power.” And as King Pellinore moved to put his horse away from him, Sir Outlake ran his horse through with his sword and said, “Now you are afoot, as are we.”
When King Pellinore saw that his horse was slain, he quickly leapt off the horse, pulled out his sword, raised his shield in front of him, and said, “Knight, guard yourself well; you shall have a serious buffet for the slaying of my horse.” So King Pellinore gave him such a stroke upon the helmet that he split his head down to the chin, and the knight fell down dead to the earth.
Then he turned to the other knight, who was sorely wounded; when he saw the blow King Pellinore gave to Sir Outlake, he would not fight, but rather kneeled down and said, “Take my cousin, this lady, with you, as that is your quest; but I require you, as you are a true knight, that you put her to no shame nor villainy.”
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“What?” said King Pellinore. “Will you not fight for her?”
“No,” said the knight, “I will not fight with a knight of such prowess as you.”
“Well,” said King Pellinore, “I promise you she will have no villainy from me, as I am a true knight. But now I am lacking a horse,” said King Pellinore, “so I will take Outlake’s horse.”
“Sir, you do not need to do that,” said the knight, “for I shall give you a horse that will please you greatly if you will lodge with me tonight, for it is almost dark.”
“I will gladly,” said King Pellinore, “abide with you tonight.”