have me back again than have all your lands.”
“Ah,” said the king, “since you know of the evil adventure that is coming, defend against it. Prevent it from happening through your craft.”
“Nay,” said Merlin, “that cannot be.” He left the king, and within a short time the damsel of the Lake departed from the court, and Merlin went with her wherever she went. Often Merlin would have whisked her magically away by his magical skill. She made him swear that he would never cast an enchantment on her—or else he should never have his desire—and so he swore.
Then she and Merlin went over the sea to the land of Benwick where Ban was king—he who had long made war against King Claudas. There Merlin spoke with King Ban’s wife, whose name was Elaine. There he saw young Lancelot, and the queen made great sorrow for the war that King Claudas was waging on her lord and her son.
“Do not worry,” said Merlin, “for this same child, young Lancelot, will avenge you on King Claudas in twenty years time in such a way that all Christendom shall speak of it. This same child shall be the greatest man of worship in the world. His baptismal name is Galahad, that I well know,” said Merlin, “and his name at confirmation was Lancelot.”
“That is true,” said the queen. “His first name was Galahad. Ah, Merlin,” said the queen, “will I live to see my son become a man of such prowess?”
“Yes, indeed, lady, I swear that you shall see it, and live many winters after.”
Soon after this, the lady and Merlin departed; along their way to Cornwall, he showed her many wonders. He was always about her, wishing to have her maidenhead, and she was growing tired of him, and wished to be free of his attentions; she was afraid of him, because he was the son of a devil. She could not get rid of him by any means.
So one time, when Merlin was showing her a wondrous and enchanted cave—the entrance to which was beneath a great stone—she, through her subtle working, persuaded Merlin to go into the cave in order to tell her of the marvels that were there. She worked a spell so that he could never get out, no matter what magic he tried, and then she departed, leaving Merlin there.
King Arthur rode to Camelot and held there a great feast, with much mirth and joy. Soon after this, he returned to Cardol, and there he received tidings that the King of Denmark and his brother, the King of Ireland, along with the King of the Vale and the King of Surluse and the King of the Isle of Longtains had entered Arthur’s lands with a great army; they burned and slew and completely destroyed all the cities and castles in their path so that it was a great pity to hear of.
CIV.2
“Alas!” said Arthur, “I have never had one month of peace since I was crowned king of this land. Now I shall never rest until I meet with those kings on the field of battle, this I swear. My true liege people shall not be destroyed through any fault of mine! Therefore, let all those who wish to, go with me; and those who wish to remain behind may do so.”
Then King Arthur had a letter written to King Pellinore, asking him in all haste to make himself ready with “such people as you may quickly gather together,” and to hurry to his side quickly. The barons were all secretly angry that the king departed so suddenly, but the king would not tarry. He wrote to all who were not there at court at that time, asking them to join him.
Then the king came to Queen Guenevere and said to her, “Madame, prepare yourself, for you shall go with me; I do not wish to be apart from you for long. You will cause me to be brave, no matter what adventure comes my way, as I will not wish for my lady to ever be in jeopardy.
“Sir,” she said, “I am yours to command, and shall be ready at any time.”
So in the morning the king and queen departed with such fellowship as they had at that time, and went into the North, into a forest beside the River Humber, and there they lodged themselves.
When this word came to the five kings mentioned before that Arthur was staying in the forest near the Humber, a knight—brother to one of the five kings—gave them this advice: “You well know that Sir Arthur has the flower of chivalry of the world with him, as was proved by the great battle he did with the eleven kings. Therefore, you should go toward him, hurrying night and day until we are near to him. The longer he stays there, the larger his army will grow, and we will become ever weaker. He is so brave that he has come into the field with very few people; therefore, let us set upon him before daybreak. We shall strike down so many of his knights that none of them will be able to help another.”
So the five kings agreed to follow this advice, and with their army they passed through North Wales and came upon Arthur at night, attacking his host as the king and his knights were in their pavilions. King Arthur was unarmed, as he had lain down to rest with Queen Guenevere.
CIV.3
“Sir,” Sir Kay had said, “it is not good for us to be unarmed.”
“We shall have no need of arms tonight,” said Sir Gawain and Sir Grifflet, who were resting in a pavilion near to the king.
But at that moment they heard a great noise, and many people cried out “Treason!”
“Alas!” said Arthur. “We are betrayed! To arms, fellows!” he then cried. So they fully armed themselves.
A wounded knight then came to the king and said, “Sir, save yourself and my lady the queen! Our host is destroyed, and many of our people slain.” At this, the king and queen and the three knights took their horses and rode toward the River Humber, intending to cross it, but the water was so rough they were afraid to attempt the crossing.
“Now you may choose,” said King Arthur, “whether you wish to stop and take the adventure on this side of the river; if you are captured, they will slay you.”
“I would rather die in this water than fall into your enemies’ hands,” said the queen, “and there be slain.”
As they stood there talking, Sir Kay saw the five kings coming toward them on horseback by themselves, with spears in their hands. “Lo,” said Sir Kay, “yonder are the five kings. Let us go to them and challenge them.”
“That is folly,” said Sir Gawain, “for there are only four of us, and they are five.”
“That is true,” said Sir Grifflet.
“No matter,” said Sir Kay. “I will take on the best two of them, and you three may take on the other three.” Then Sir Kay charged with his horse as fast as he could to encounter with one of them; he struck one of the kings through both his shield and body—almost a full fathom—so that the king fell to the earth stark dead.
Gawain saw that, and ran upon another king so hard that he smote him down and through his body with a spear, so that he fell to the earth, dead. Then King Arthur challenged another and smote him with a spear through his body, so that he fell to the earth dead. Sir Grifflet challenged the fourth king, and gave him such a blow that he fell and broke his neck. Then Sir Kay took on the fifth king and smote him so hard on the helmet that the stroke split the helmet and the head so that they fell to the earth.
“That was well struck,” said King Arthur, “and worshipfully, you have fulfilled your promise. For this, I will honor you as long as I live.”
Then they set the queen in a barge to cross the Humber. Queen Guenevere continuously praised Sir Kay for his deeds, saying, “If ever you should love a lady and she should not return your love, she would be greatly to blame. Among all ladies,” said the queen, “I shall tell of your noble fame; you made a great vow and fulfilled it worshipfully.” Then the queen departed.
Then the king and the three other knights rode into the forest, thinking to find there some who had escaped; there they found most of the king’s people, and told them how the five kings were killed. “Therefore, let us stay together until it is daylight. When their army sees that their chieftains are slain, they shall make such dole that they will be unable to defend themselves.”
And just as the king said, so it was, for when they found