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I recalled how the law was first composed in the of such literary figures as the homilist and grammarian Hebrew language, and thereafter, when the Greeks Ælfric, the archbishop Wulfstan, and the scholar learned it, they translated it all into their own Byrhtferth of Ramsey; during these years a number of language, and all other books as well. And so too the deluxe decorated manuscripts were produced, and Romans, after they had mastered them, translated important works such as the Rule of St. Benedict and them all through myriad interpreters into their own the Gospels were translated into English. It is a tribute language.… Therefore it seemed better to me … to the strength of Alfred’s reforms that much of the that we too should turn certain books which are the administrative, military, and church structures he had most necessary for all men to know into a language put into place survived the conquest of England by a that we can all understand. Danish king—as, indeed, they would in part survive the conquest fifty years later by the Normans. That these Alfred’s educational program was designed primarily to conquests did not cause more destruction than they did help him govern, but one of its legacies is the relatively must also be attributed in part to the fact that these large quantity of literary, historical, legal, spiritual, and invading cultures were far from alien to English culture. political writing in English (about 30,000 lines of poetry In the centuries between the early Viking invasions and and about ten times as much prose) that has survived, the reign of Cnut, Christianity had reached Scandinavia; almost all of it in manuscripts from the tenth and whereas the early Vikings had raided and destroyed eleventh centuries. Under Alfred the Anglo-Saxon monasteries, Cnut was a Christian who continued to Chronicle was probably begun; to this year-by-year support the monasteries much as Alfred and his historical record we owe a great deal of our knowledge descendants had done. Similarly, while the Vikings had of the period. conquered Normandy in the early tenth century, by the The authority of even the most capable and time the Normans invaded Britain in 1066, the Viking ambitious rulers in the early Middle Ages was seldom culture of Normandy had largely been assimilated to able to survive long after their deaths. More often than that of Christian France. not family feuding would undo much of what had been accomplished, as happened when fighting among Charlemagne’s three sons led to the tripartite division of England after the Norman Conquest the Carolingian empire. Alfred had rather better luck with his descendants, who were able to consolidate his The Normans and Feudalism accomplishments and even extend them somewhat; his descendant Edgar (r. 959–75) commanded the The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 was the allegiance of all of the most important English lords, next in the long series of invasions and migrations— had ties to the most important families on the Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Vikings— continent, and had in his control all senior church that have shaped English culture. That it has held a appointments. Under the weaker leadership of the next special place as a focal point in English history is no generation, however, in particular Æthelred II (r. doubt partly due to its timing, almost exactly at the 978–1016), and in the face of a renewed series of Viking point where many scholars see larger forces creating a attacks (dramatically depicted in the poetic Battle of dividing line between the early and the later Middle Maldon, written some time after the actual battle in Ages. French language and culture never threatened to 991), the allegiance of the great lords and landholders to extinguish the existing A nglo-Saxon culture and English the king loosened, and the shameful decline of the language, although they did exert enormous and lasting English nobility described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle influence on them. The contrast with the Anglo-Saxon culminated in the Danish King Cnut (r. 1016–35) migrations is striking: these effectively and permanently taking the English throne. imposed an English culture on Britain, while conquest The end of the tenth century was by no means by the Normans never permanently imposed French entirely a period of decline, however; it was also a time The Medieval Period 13 Review Copy

From the Bayeux Tapestry (late eleventh century). This object is actually an embroidered banner, around 20 inches high and 230 feet long, rather than a woven tapestry. It was probably created by English embroiderers, who were particularly skilled in this kind of work. This section of the tapestry shows the Norman ships landing at Pevensy, Su ssex, 28 September; several ships have already landed on the beach, and horses are being unloaded from another ship that has just arrived. The text of the tapestry at this point (translated from the Latin) reads as follows: Here the horses are getting out of the ships. And here the soldiers [hurry to Hastings to seize supplies]. culture on England. But the Norman invasion helped to Parker MS: “In this year King Edward died and Earl change Britain in fundamental ways—most obviously in Harold succeeded to the kingdom, and held it forty language, but also in social and economic structure. weeks and one day; and in this year William came and For all its far-reaching consequences, the invasion conquered England. And in this year Christ Church was itself was a relatively modest affair. When Harold was built and a comet appeared on 18 April.” By contrast, a crowned as king following the death of King Edward, scribe writing a generation or more later in Peter- the succession was disputed by William, Duke of borough presents a much fuller account of how Harold Normandy, who settled the matter militarily; with a was forced to fight a Norse invader in the north of the force probably numbering no more than 8,000, he country before meeting William at Hastings, and crossed the Channel and soon defeated and killed conveys more of the immediate effects of William’s Harold in a day-long battle just outside Hastings. His conquest. Yet even here one has the sense that the death victory brought England under the rule of a French- of a local abbot is regarded as being of almost as much speaking king with substantial territorial claims in importance as the Norman invasion: France, a situation that would persist for roughly the next three hundred years. Despite this obvious shift, and And King Harold was informed [of the victory of a despite the triumphant narrative of the Bayeux Tapestry Norse king near the town of York], and he came (probably made within a generation of the battle for a with a very great force of English men and met him Norman patron), the effects of the Conquest, at Stamford Bridge, and killed him and Earl Tostig particularly as it was viewed at close range rather than and valiantly overcame all the invaders. Meanwhile Count William landed at Hastings on Michaelmas years later, apparently did not always loom so large. In Day, and Harold came from the north and fought this connection it is interesting to compare the five with him before all of the army had come and there different accounts in different manuscripts of the Anglo- he fell and his two brothers Gyrth and Leofwine; Saxon Chronicle that have come down to us. At one and William conquered this country, and came to extreme is the remarkably brief account of a scribe Westminster, and Archbishop Aldred consecrated writing at Winchester in the manuscript known as the him king, and people paid taxes to him, and gave 14 Broadview Anthology of British Literature Review Copy

him hostages and afterwards bought their land. And homage and fealty to his lord, and a kiss between the Leofric, Abbot of Peterborough, was at that cam- two then sealing their mutual obligation. paign and fell ill there, and came home and died The institution of this new system was marked in a soon after, on the Eve of All Saints. God have mercy unique way by William through the compilation of the on his soul. In his day there was every happiness and Domesday Book (so-called in reference to the “Day of every good at Peterborough, and he was beloved by Judgment” at the end of the world), an extraordinary everyone, so that the King gave to Saint Peter and survey on a county-by-county basis of all the lands held him the Abbacy of Burton and that of Coventry by the king and by his vassals, recording all the which Earl Leofric, who was his uncle, had built, obligations of the landholders. Without the sort of and that of Crowland and that of Thorne. And he commitment to record-keeping and enforcement that did much for the benefit of the monastery of Peterborough with gold and silver and vestments the Domesday Book represented (a commitment made and land, more indeed than any before or after him. possible, it must be said, by the underlying social order inherited from the Anglo-Saxons), the Normans might Significant here is the mention of people paying taxes to not have succeeded to such a great degree in imposing William and “buying” their lands. William exacted a new network of obligation on the conquered people. tribute from the conquered both in the immediate It must be noted, however, that the Domesday Book aftermath of his invasion and on an ongoing basis, was seldom used to settle disputes or clarify owner- keeping as much as a fifth of English lands for himself ship—the two functions for which, one might suppose, and dividing much of the rest among members of his such a comprehensive census would be undertaken—in family and the barons who had supported him, who in the first century of its existence. The eleventh-century turn maintained their own followers. While neither the ability to make records outpaced the development of a lords nor the peasants of Anglo-Saxon England had held system in which to exploit them, and it would take some legal title to their land in quite the way that we conceive time before the mechanisms of government could make of it today, they had in practice exercised rights over efficient use of such burdensome archives of documen ts. that land similar to those that we would describe as the It has been argued that the Domesday Book, for all the rights of ownership. Under the Normans, by contrast, impressive bureaucracy that brought it about, reflects a nobles held the land that they occupied not on any mistaken idea of the nature of written obligations: permanent basis but as part of a system of exchange. William may have imagined that the island of Britain The king granted land to a nobleman as a fief; in return could be granted to him by a written charter, like any for the right to its use the nobleman was obliged to other piece of land, and that recording the disposition of perform services for the king, including making property and population would somehow fix them payments at various times and providing armed knights permanently in that state. But even if Domesday was whenever the king might demand them. The nobleman, more symbolic than useful, the imposition of feudal in his turn, would grant land—again, as a fief—to a obligations was fairly thorough in England; the Anglo- knight, who in return would owe to the nobleman Saxon nobles were quickly assimilated, dispossessed, or military service and other dues. The knight would killed, leaving William in effective control of England. typically retain a substantial portion of this land, and The Norman conquests of Wales and Scotland, then divide the rest among the peasantry. There were however, were much slower and more piecemeal, and obligations in the other direction, as well: knights were the Anglo-Norman kings never exercised very much obliged to provide protection for the peasantry, nobles control over Ireland. for the knights, and the king for the nobles. The The late eleventh century in England saw the arrival relationship at each level was, in theory at least, entirely of the Jews as well as the French invaders. Christian voluntary and often publicly proclaimed, with the disdain for moneylending—although there were “vassal” (or holder of the fief) kneeling and promising certainly Christian usurers—and the exclusion of Jews The Medieval Period 15 Review Copy from some other professions meant that Jews tended to reign. The expansion of the Crown’s legal control came become strongly associated with, and very important in, in part at the expense of the church, and provoked one the financial workings of the kingdom. In the twelfth of the most famous incidents of Henry’s reign, his clash and thirteenth centuries, until their expulsion in 1290, with Thomas Becket (1118–70), Archbishop of they served at times as a financial last resort for the king; Canterbury, who wanted the clergy to retain their right their relatively unprotected status as non-Christians to be tried in church courts independent of the secular made them vulnerable to much more severe forms of legal system. The Archbishop was subsequently mur- taxation and the abrogation of debts incurred by dered, allegedly on the orders of Henry, an event that Christians but never repaid. Another important exercised a tremendous hold on the contemporary development of the later eleventh century, which would imagination. As John of Salisbury tells the story (in the become much more central to civic life in the late earliest surviving account of the murder, written in Middle Ages, was the rise of guilds—initially merchant 1171), Becket was standing before the altar when the guilds that exercised a monopoly over the trade in a knights who had come in pursuit of him arrived and particular area, but later craft guilds that established told him that it was his time to die. John writes: regulations allowing them to control who could practice a given craft and that offered social and financial sup- Steadfast in speech as in spirit, he replied: “I am port to their members, as well as regulating the quality prepared to die for my God, to preserve justice of production. While guilds and confraternities of some and my church’s liberty. But if you seek my description, often purely religious in orientation, had head, I forbid you on behalf of God almighty existed since perhaps the seventh century, they became and on pain of anathema to do any hurt to any increasingly important in the course of the twelfth and other man, monk, clerk or layman, of high or thirteenth centuries, particularly in England, and their low degree.… I embrace death readily, so long as rise coincided with the growth of urban centers and of peace and liberty for the church follow from the new forms of religious devotion. shedding of my blood.” … He spoke, and saw that the assassins had drawn their swords; and Henry II and an International Culture bowed his head like one in prayer. His last words were “To God and St. Mary and the saints who If William was the key figure in establishing Norman protect and defend this church, and to the and feudal rule in England, his great-grandson Henry II blessed Denis, I commend myself and the (r. 1154–89) was the key figure in its preservation and church’s cause.” … A son’s affection forbids me extension through the later Middle Ages. Henry’s to describe each blow the savage assassins struck, coming to the throne in 1154 brought to an end almost spurning all fear of God, forgetful of all fealty twenty years of civil war under the disputed kingship of and any human feeling. They defiled the Stephen, in the course of which barons and church cathedral and the holy season with a bishop’s leaders had taken advantage of the collapse of royal blood and with slaughter. authority to expand local powers. Many of them began to encroach on land claimed by the Crown, and to build It remains unclear whether or not Henry ordered private castles to protect their domains. Henry put a Becket’s murder. What is clear is that the outcry was so stop to these practices, taking back the lands, tearing great that Henry was forced to perform public down the castles, and reorganizing royal authority in a penance—and to accept that the church would, to some fashion that was increasingly supported by standardized extent, remain outside the realm of royal authority. records and documents. Central authority over legal Becket’s martyrdom created the Canterbury shrine that matters, which had previously been largely restricted to was the destination of Chaucer’s pilgrims, among many capital cases, was now extended to legal matters of all others. sorts; the first legal textbook was composed in Henry’s 16 Broadview Anthology of British Literature Review Copy

Plan for Canterbury Cathedral, c. 1160. Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the English Church, is a kind of time capsule of Christianity in Britain since Anglo-Saxon times. The earliest church known to have stood on this site was that of St. Augustine of Canterbury, who arrived as a missionary in 597 CE; traces of this building are believed to lie beneath the current structure. An Anglo-Saxon church was built over that of Augustine in the ninth or tenth century; it was destroyed by fire in 1 067 and rebu ilt by the N orm ans sh ortly afterward, and this construction still forms the basic fabric of the existing church, although it was modified and decorated further in the succeeding centuries. The plan shows the extensive monastic buildings as well as the cathedral itself. The lines shown connecting the buildings represent the p lu m b in g sy st em . A t the top left the vineyard and orchard are indicated. The murder of St. Thomas Becket, then Archbishop, in the Cathedral’s altar, made Canterbury a major pilgrimage shrine. The Medieval Period 17 Review Copy

centuries, Lincoln Cathedral shows some of the classic features of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The Gothic Galilee Porch dates from c. 1230.

Durham Cathedral, begun in 1093, is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Europe; this style, a form of the Romanesque, is characterized by round arches (as here, along the sides of the nave) and vast but relatively spare interiors. Durham also displays some features (such as the Salisbury Cathedral (thirteenth century). With a spire of 404 pointed vaulting) that came to characterize the Gothic feet, this was until the 1960s the tallest building in England. style of many later cathedrals. It is a classic example of the high Gothic style, with its pointed arches, flying buttresses to support a higher vault, and greater intricacy of design, including decorative features such as exterior sculpture and stained glass windows.

If Henry’s extension of the power of the English throne throughout the realm was unprecedented— though not, as the example of Becket suggests, entirely unopposed—so too was his extension of that power beyond the British Isles. Like previous Anglo-Norman monarchs, Henry controlled much of what is now northern France as well as England. With his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152 he had acquired control of much of south ern France; he also exerted control over most of Scotland and Wales, and in 1171 he invaded and took control of Ireland, where he quickly imposed the same feudal structures and judicial system on the Lincoln Cathedral, Galilee Porch. Begun in 1072 and Irish people as he had on the English. Despite England’s substantially rebuilt in the late twelfth and early thirteenth 18 Broadview Anthology of British Literature Review Copy political control over Ireland—which itself was of The period around the Norman Conquest also varying strength over the next centuries—there was coincided with important developments in learned relatively little cultural assimilation, and the English culture. England had produced outstanding scholars at nobles ruling in Ireland formed to a large extent a self- various points in the early Middle Ages—among them contained enclave. Like Scotland and Wales, with which Bede, the Latin poet Aldhelm, Ælfric, Byrhtferth, and it formed intermitten t alliances, Ireland throughout this most famously Alcuin of York, a monk who became period pursued its own political strategies in the British master of Charlemagne’s palace school—and in the Isles and on the continent. And despite the efforts of eleventh century was home to the illustrious Anselm of Henry and the kings who followed him, the English Bec (1033–1109), one of the founders of scholastic presence in France was far less enduring than its thought, whose career demonstrates the international presence in Ireland. By 1453, at the close of the culture of the church and the schools, both of which Hundred Years’ War between France and England, the used Latin, an international language. Born in Italy, port town of Calais was the only remnant of English Anselm became abbot of a monastery in Normandy and control over France. was eventually appointed Archbishop of Canterbury— the leading church position in England. His develop- ment of the ontological argument for the existence of God in his Why God Became Man (starting from the premise that God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived) is a good example of scholastic ways of thinking, proceeding on the basis of deductive logic to new theological conclusions. While there were outstand- ing individual thinkers at this time, however, the universities were still in their infancy; in most of Europe, schools had existed for the most part only in association with cathedrals or monasteries and their chief purpose was to provide training for clerics. In the wake of monastic and ecclesiastical reform in the tenth and eleventh centuries, these schools began to expand their curricula to provide a more highly educated clergy at all levels. Already by the end of the eleventh century there was some form of instruction taking place at Oxford, and by the end of the twelfth century it was a substantial enough center of learning to have attracted its first foreign student and to benefit when Henry II forbade English scholars to study at the University of Paris. The University of Bologna was also already in existence at this time, and these three were soon followed by others across Europe. The British Isles in the twelfth century also saw the Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine sailing across the rise of new modes of historical writing, including works English Channel. Detail of illustration from Matthew such as William of Malmesbury’s Gesta Regum Anglorum Paris, Historia Major (c. 1240). The king and queen or “Deeds of the English Kings,” Henry of Hunting- made the crossing many times as they traveled between don’s Chronicle, and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia their French and English kingdoms. Regum Britanniae or “History of the Kings of Britain.” These writers’ approach to history emphasized, as their The Medieval Period 19 Review Copy titles suggest, the deeds of kings and the rise and fall of the individual achievements of knights and on romantic nations; in this they departed from predecessors more (sometimes adulterous) love, creating a considerably interested in depicting the Christian framework of greater role for female characters. Their works took their history. The period also illustrates the political uses of name from the language in which they were written, literature. While Henry II—unlike, for example, King roman (French, from which we derive the modern Alfred—is not particularly remembered for his own literary term romance as well as the name for the literary activities, numerous works in Anglo-Norman are romance languages), as opposed to Latin, a choice that associated with him as a patron or dedicatee, and his reflected the growing audience for vernacular poetry in desire to solidify and extend his claims on both French the European courts. and English lands was one of the things that made him A form closely related to the romance, and also an important figure for literary history. Henry and his written in the vernacular, was the Breton lay, a short descendants are known as the Angevin (or Plantagenet) narrative with, usually, a significant element of the kings, a reference to Henry’s father, Geoffrey “Planta- marvelous and a central emphasis on a romantic genet” of Anjou, and this designation accurately repre- relationship rather than large-scale political or military sents their ongoing political and cultural interest in events. The lays’ emphasis on the supernatural, which is France. Henry’s reign saw the production and wide often attributed to their origin in the Celtic culture of dissemination of numerous literary and historical works Brittany, is reminiscent at times of the early twelfth- that proved foundational for British literature, especially century prose tales of the Mabinogi from medieval the development of the Arthurian legend. Wales—which, however, also show notable chivalric and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History, completed around courtly features. By far the most famous medieval lays 1139, offers an account of the history of the realm going are those by an Anglo-Norman author who calls herself back to its mythical Trojan founder, Brutus (from simply “Marie” and who apparently wrote in England in whom the name Britain supposedly derived), and Henry’s time; her twelve short tales—two of which are provided the foundation for the Arthurian stories of the set in the world of Arthurian legend—offer particularly later Middle Ages. Henry II, the descendant of careful attention to women’s roles in the conflicts of Normans who, like the mythical British under Arthur, loyalty that often characterize romance narratives, and had battled the Saxons for control of Britain, was only are among the relatively few medieval works by a named the first in a long line of kings to find this legend, with female author. The Marie who wrote the lays is usually its potential to offer an authoritative and legitimizing identified with the “Marie de France” who composed a history, an appealing subject; Arthur’s imperial ambi- collection of fables and an account of a knight’s tions, as told in this version of the tale, also offered a visionary journey to purgatory. Romance and the lays supposed historical precedent for English claims to rule took some time to make their way into English; on the continent.1 Geoffrey’s History was popular Layamon translated Wace’s Brut into English around throughout Europe, and in the British Isles alone was the turn of the thirteenth century, but most Middle translated into Middle Welsh, Anglo-Norman, and English romances date from the late thirteenth and Middle English. The Anglo-Norman version Brut, by fourteenth centuries, probably reflecting the linguistic the poet Wace, was dedicated to Henry’s queen, Eleanor tendencies of their primary audience, the French- of Aquitaine, a further suggestion of the story’s royal speaking nobility, before the fourteenth century. allure. Later in the century, French authors—most As had happened centuries earlier in the wake of notably Chrétien de Troyes (c. 1150–90)—inserted into Alfred’s rule, royal authority was scaled back under the legendar y history of Arthur episodes that focused on Henry’s successors, who included two of his sons: first Richard I (the Lionheart), who ruled from 1189 to 1199, and then John, who ruled until 1216. In order to 1 Although the Normans may have liked to associate themselves with the British side in the Arthurian legends, Welsh poets of the raise money in his struggle against Philip II of France for time, whose culture was the more direct descendant of the early British, cast the Normans in the role of the despised English. 20 Broadview Anthology of British Literature Review Copy territory on the continent, John imposed extraordinary so in their stead, and clergy were forcefully reminded of taxes on English barons and other nobles; the barons the requirement of clerical celibacy. Individual rebelled and forced the king to sign a document setting Christians, for their part, were expected to be able to out the rights and obligations both of the nobles and of recite a small number of prayers, but there was no the king himself, and making explicit that the king was thought of encouraging widespread education of a sort not to contravene these customary arrangements without that would enable the populace to read the word of God consulting the barons. The document also reaffirmed the on their own. On the contrary, it was considered freedom of the English church, particularly the freedom important to keep the Bible at a remove from the from royal interference in the election of bishops or other common people so that it could be safely interpreted to officeholders. Under this “great charter” or Magna Carta, them through church intermediaries. The controversy the power of the king was for the first time limited by the that later developed over this issue would extend over terms of a written document. several centuries and become a crucial concern for the Lollard or Wycliffite sect in fourteenth- and fifteenth- The Thirteenth Century century England, as well as a central distinguishing point between the Roman Catholic Church and the The year 1215 was momentous in medieval Europe. In various Protestant faiths in the Reformation. addition to the signing of Magna Carta—whose As this suggests, the reforms of the Fourth Lateran ultimately far-reaching effects were at the time felt only Council aimed to strengthen the Christian community, in England—this year witnessed the Fourth Lateran but with a new emphasis on differentiating, excluding, Council, a major gathering of church leaders under the and penalizing unorthodox believers and non- guidance of the energetic Pope Innocent III. Lateran IV Christians. The canons include extensive commentary represented an extraordinarily wide-ranging attempt to on the need to control and excommunicate heretics; unify Christian practice and raise standards of Christian they require Jews and “Saracens” (Muslims) to wear observance. The canons of the Council covered almost distinctive clothing lest they be mistaken for Christians; all aspects of Christian life, and their effects on both they prohibit Jews from holding public office; and they religious practice and religious instruction resounded make provisions to encourage crusading against Muslim through the rest of the Middle Ages. Christians from control of the Holy Land. The English joined whole- now on were required to confess their sins formally and heartedly in the Crusades and the restrictions placed on receive Communion at least once a year, and the Jews. There had already been massacres of Jews, sacrament of the altar was officially declared to involve particularly at York, by the late twelfth century; transubstantiation, meaning that the body and blood of expulsions from various cities by the local lords became Christ were actually present in, rather than merely widespread as early as the 1230s; and in 1290 Edward I represented by, the bread and wine consecrated at the expelled all Jews from England. It is not surprising, in Mass (a doctrine that became a matter of serious view of this, that anti-Jewish miracle stories became dispute, however, in later medieval England). A new popular across Europe during this period; Chaucer’s network of regulation was put into place to govern Prioress’s Tale is a later example of this genre. Heresy marriages, with secret marriages prohibited and marriage remained a concern throughout Europe, although in itself declared a sacrament. this period the persecutions were more severe in France Associated with the increased emphasis on the and other parts of the continent than in England. importance of priests administering sacraments to the The Fourth Lateran Council was in part a response faithful were increased efforts to ensure that members of to increased lay devotion and interest in religion, which the clergy were educated and competent; one of the offered a challenge to the sometime s inadequate pastoral canons involved the maintenance of cathedral schools care provided by the clergy. In the early thirteenth free to clerics. Bishops were required to preach in their century, for example, the records of the Bishop of dioceses or ensure that there were others who could do Winchester show numerous priests being forced to Review Copy Marie de France c. 1155 – 1215

lthough she is widely credited with being the earliest female poet in France, and was arguably the A leading female writer of the Middle Ages, little is known about Marie de France; no surviving documents refer to her life outside of her literary activity. What has come down to us are three works, which vary widely in genre: the Lais (c. 1155–70), a collection of short romance narratives; the Ysopet or Fables (c. 1167–89), a collection commonly accepted as the earliest translation of Aesop into French; and the less-studied Espurgatoire de Saint Patrice (Legend of the Purgatory of Saint Patrick, c. 1189), a didactic tale in which Patrick, an Irish knight, makes a spiritual journey through Purgatory. Her name is known from the self-identification she makes in each of her texts; this occurs most forcefully and descriptively in the epilogue of the Ysopet:

I shall name myself so that it will be remembered; Marie is my name, I am of France. It may be that many clerks will take my labor on themselves. I don’t want any of them to claim it.

“France” itself is a slippery designation here, since it had multiple possible meanings in this period; it may be intended to convey that she was from Continental Europe instead of England, for instance, or from northern France instead of the southern Languedoc. The Norman dialect in which her works are composed suggests that Marie was native to Normandy, and lived during the latter part of the 12th century. The “King Henry” to whom she dedicates her Lais is usually identified as Henry II, the Angevin French king of England from 1154–89, and Marie is thought to have been a member of his court, which spoke the form of Norman dialect in which her works come down to us. It has sometimes been suggested that she was Henry’s illegitimate sister Marie, who became Abbess of Shaftesbury around 1181, and who died in 1216, but without any other corroborating documents, such theories are no more than intriguing speculation. It seems very likely, however, that she was attached to the court of Henry II and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and was of noble birth; her works reveal a level of education and culture that would not usually have been available to a layperson of lower rank during this time. It is clear that she was educated in Latin, as well as French, and perhaps even in the Breton language, since she claims to have translated her Lais from that tongue. The Lais of Marie de France are brief narratives written in octosyllabic rhyming couplets, which was the conventional literary vehicle for French romance during this time. This collection is made up of twelve stories, each prefaced by a short prologue in which Marie reveals that she is translating into French for the first time a number of “Breton lais.” The lais were Celtic tales of romance that often involved elements of the fantastic. The compressed space of the form requires Marie to handle her material with considerable finesse and she recounts her tales with an economy of words and a tight narrative control that lend the romances a down-to-earth precision without sacrificing meaning or nuance. Many of the lais have a strongly female focus, and in this regard offer a certain contrast to the romances of Marie’s contemporaries. The works of male romancers, w hile treating the subject of love, often emphasized the tension between love and chivalric pursuits, and the need to balance the two in order to fulfill both personal needs and social responsibilities. Marie is largely uninterested in such 112 Marie de France Review Copy

concerns, and focuses instead on the personal desires of her characters, especially those of her female characters. Her lais often depict intensely intimate love relationships set against a backdrop of a threatening society in which unfulfilling marriages, the arbitrary dictates of court life, and oppressive social practices hold sway. Lanval is drawn from the larger literary universe of Arthurian legend. It recounts the tale of a knight whose inherent worth is unrecognized by the Arthurian court, and who is able to escape this uncaring and arbitrary society through the love of an otherworldly fairy figure. zzz

Lanval1

L’aventure d’un autre lai, I shall tell you the adventure cum ele avient, vus cunterai. of another lay, just as it happened. Fait fu d’un mut gentil vassal; It was made about a very noble vassal; en bretans l’apelent Lanval. in Breton they call him Lanval. 5 A Kardoel surjurnot li reis The king was staying at Cardoel— Artur, li pruz e li curteis, Arthur, the valiant and courteous— pur les Escoz e pur les Pis, on account of the Scots and Picts que destrui[ei]ent le païs; who were ravaging the country: en la tere de Loengre entroënt they came into the land of Logres2 10 e mut suvent la damagoënt. and repeatedly caused destruction there. A la Pentecuste en esté At Pentecost, in the summer, i aveit li reis sujurné. the king had taken up residence there. Asez i duna riches duns He gave many rich gifts e as cuntes e as baruns. both to counts and to noblemen. 15 A ceus de la table runde— To the members of the Round Table— n’ot tant de teus en tut le munde— they had no equal in all the world— femmes e tere departi he shared out wives and land par tut, fors un ki l’ot servi: among all except one who had served him: ceo fu Lanval, ne l’en sovient, that was Lanval, whom he did not remember, 20 ne nul de[s] soens bien ne li tient. nor did any of his men favor him. Pur sa valur, pur sa largesce, For his valor, his generosity, pur sa beauté, pur sa prüesce his beauty, his prowess, l’envioënt tut li plusur; most people envied him; tel li mustra semblant d’amur, many a one pretended to love him 25 se al chevaler mesavenist, who wouldn’t have complained for a moment ja une feiz ne l’en pleinsist. if something bad had befallen the knight. Fiz a rei fu de haut parage, He was a king’s son, of high lineage, mes luin ert de sun heritage. but he was far from his heritage. De la meisné le rei fu. He was part of the king’s household. 30 Tut sun aveir ad despendu, He had spent all his wealth,

1 Lanval The translation is by Claire Waters, for The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. 2 Logres The Celtic word for England. Lanval 113 Review Copy

kar li reis rien ne li dona for the king gave him nothing, ne Lanval rien ne li demanda. nor did Lanval ask him for anything. Ore est Lanval mut entrepris, Now Lanval is very unhappy, mut est dolent e mut pensis. very sorrowful and anxious. 35 Seignurs, ne vus esmerveillez: Lords, do not wonder: hume estrange descunseillez a foreign man without support mut est dolent en autre tere, is very sorrowful in another land quant il ne seit u sucurs quere. when he does not know where to seek help. Le chevaler dunt jeo vus di, The knight of whom I’m telling you, 40 que tant aveit le rei servi, who had served the king so well, un jur munta sur sun destrer, got on his horse one day si s’est alez esbaneer. and went off to enjoy himself. Fors de la vilë est eissuz, He went out of the town tut sul est en un pre venuz; and came, all alone, to a meadow; 45 sur une ewe curaunt descent— he got down beside running water— mes sis cheval tremble forment. but his horse trembled terribly. Il le descengle, si s’en vait; He unsaddled it and went off; en mi le pre vuiltrer le lait. he let it roll around in the middle of the meadow. Le pan de sun mantel plia He folded the end of his mantle 50 desuz sun chief puis le cucha. and lay down with it under his head. Mut est pensis pur sa mesaise; He is very worried by his difficult situation; il ne veit chose ke li plaise. he sees nothing that pleases him. La u il gist en teu maniere, As he lay there like this, garda aval lez la riviere, he looked down toward the bank 55 [si] vit venir deus dameiseles; and saw two maidens coming; unc n’en ot veü[es] plus beles. he had never seen any more beautiful. Vestues ierent richement, They were richly dressed lacie[es] mut estreitement and very tightly laced en deus blians de purpre bis; in tunics of dark purple; 60 mut par aveient bel le vis. they had exceedingly lovely faces. L’eisnee portout un[s] bacins, The elder was carrying basins doré furent, bien faiz e fins; of gold, fine and well made; le veir vus en dirai sans faile. I shall tell you the truth without fail. L’autre portout une tuaile. The other carried a towel. 65 Eles s’en sunt alees dreit They went right along la u li chevaler giseit. to where the knight was lying. Lanval, que mut fu enseigniez, Lanval, who was very well bred, cuntre eles s’en levad en piez. got to his feet to meet them. Celes l’unt primes salué, They greeted him first 70 lur message li unt cunté: and told him their message: “Sire Lanval, ma dameisele, “Sir Lanval, my lady, que tant est pruz e sage e bele, who is most noble, wise, and beautiful, ele nus enveit pur vus; sent us for you; kar i venez ensemble od nus! now come along with us! 75 Sauvement vus i cundurums: We will convey you safely to her. 114 Marie de France Review Copy

veez, pres est li paveilluns!” Look, the pavilion is right here!” Le chevalers od eles vait; The knight goes with them; de sun cheval ne tient nul plait, he takes no heed of his horse, que devant li pe[ssei]t al pre. who was off grazing in the meadow. 80 Treskë al tref l’unt amené, They led him up to the tent, que mut fu beaus e bien asis. which was very beautiful and well situated. La reïne Semiramis, Not Queen Semiramis, quant ele ot unkes plus aveir when she was at her richest e plus pussaunce e plus saveir, and most powerful and wisest, 85 ne l’emperere Octovïen nor the emperor Octavian n’esligasent le destre pan. could have bought the right flap. Un aigle d’or ot desus mis; A golden eagle was set on top of it; de cel ne sai dire le pris, I can’t tell its value, ne des cordes ne des peissuns nor of the cords or the stakes 90 que del tref tienent les giruns; that held the sides of the tent; suz ciel n’ad rei ki[s] esligast no king under heaven could buy them pur nul aver k’il i donast. for any wealth he might offer. Dedenz cel tref fu la pucele: Inside the tent was the maiden: flur de lis [e] rose nuvele, her beauty surpassed 95 quant ele pert al tens d’esté, the lily and the new rose trespassot ele de beauté. when they bloom in summer. Ele jut sur un lit mut bel— She lay on a very beautiful bed— li drap valeient un chastel— the sheets were worth a castle— en sa chemise senglement. in nothing but her shift. 100 Mut ot le cors bien fait e gent. Her body was very elegant and comely. Un cher mantel de blanc hermine, She had thrown on for warmth covert de purpre alexandrine, a costly mantle of white ermine, ot pur le chaut sur li geté. lined with alexandrine silk. Tut ot descovert le costé, Her side was entirely uncovered, 105 le vis, le col e la peitrine; her face, her neck, and her breast; plus ert blanche que flur d’espine. she was whiter than hawthorn blossom. Le chevaler avant ala, The knight went forward, e la pucele l’apela; and the maiden called to him; il s’est devant le lit asis. he sat down in front of the bed. 110 “Lanval,” fet ele, “beus amis, “Lanval,” she said, “handsome friend, pur vus vienc jeo fors de ma tere; for you I have come out of my own land; de luinz vus sui venu[e] quere. I have come from afar to look for you. Se vus estes pruz e curteis, If you are valiant and courteous, emperere ne quens ne reis no emperor, count, or king 115 n’ot unkes tant joie ne bien; ever had such joy or good fortune; kar jo vus aim sur tute rien.” for I love you more than anything.” Il l’esgarda, si la vit bele; He looked at her, and saw she was beautiful; amurs le puint de l’estencele, love stung him with a spark que sun quor alume e esprent. that lit and inflamed his heart. 120 Il li respunt avenantment. He responded fittingly. Lanval 115 Review Copy

“Bele,” fet il, “si vus pleiseit “Beautiful one,” he said, “if it pleased you e cele joie me aveneit that such joy should come to me que vus me vousissez amer, as to have you consent to love me, ja [ne savrïez] rien commander you could never command anything 125 que jeo ne face a mien poeir, that I would not do to the best of my power, turt a folie u a saveir. be it folly or wisdom. Jeo frai voz comandemenz; I will do what you command; pur vus guerpirai tutes genz. for you I will give up everyone. Jamés ne queor de vus partir: I never wish to part from you: 130 ceo est la rien que plus desir.” this is what I most desire.” Quant la meschine l’ oï parler, When the maiden heard him speak, celui que tant la peot amer, he who could love her so well, s’amur e sun cors li otreie. she granted him her love and her body. Ore est Lanval en dreite veie! Now Lanval is on the right path! 135 Un dun li ad duné aprés: She gave him still one more gift: ja cele rien ne vudra mes he will never again want anything quë il nen ait a sun talent; without having as much of it as he likes; doinst e despende largement, let him give and spend generously, ele li troverat asez. she will provide him with enough. 1 140 Mut est Lanval bien herbergez: Lanval is very well situated: cum plus despendra richement, the more richly he spends, plus averat or e argent. the more gold and silver he will have. “Ami,” fet ele, “ore vus chasti, “Friend,” she said, “now I warn you, si vus comant e si vus pri, I command and beg you, 145 ne vus descoverez a nul humme! tell no one about this! De ceo vus dirai ja la summe: I will tell you the whole truth: a tuz jurs m’avrïez perdue, you would lose me forever se ceste amur esteit seüe; if this love should be known; jamés ne me purriez veeir you could never see me again 150 ne de mun cors seisine aveir.” or have possession of my body.” Il li respunt que bien tendra He replies that he will certainly hold to ceo que ele li comaundera. what she commands. Delez li s’est al lit cuchiez: He lay down beside her on the bed: ore est Lanval bien herbergez. now Lanval is well lodged. 155 Ensemble od li la relevee All afternoon he stayed with her demurat tresque a l[a] vespree, until the evening, e plus i fust, së il poïst and he would have stayed longer, if he could e s’amie lui cunsentist. and his beloved had consented. “Amis,” fet ele, “levez sus! “Friend,” she said, “get up! 160 Vus n’i poëz demurer plus. You can’t stay here any more. Alez vus en, jeo remeindrai; You go on, I will remain— mes un[e] chose vus dirai: but one thing I will tell you: quant vus vodrez od mei parler, when you want to talk with me,

1 Mut … herbergez Other manuscripts have here, “mut est Lanval bien assenez” (Lanval is very well provided for) and some editors prefer this reading, since the line as it stands is repeated below at l. 154. 116 Marie de France Review Copy

ja ne saverez cel liu penser, there is no place you can think of 165 u nuls puïst aver sa amie where one could have his beloved sanz reproece, sanz vileinie, without reproach or villainy que jeo ne vus seie en present that I will not be with you at once a fere tut vostre talent; to do all your will; nul humme fors vus ne me verra no man but you will see me 170 ne ma parole nen orra.” or hear my words.” Quant il l’oï, mut en fu liez; When he heard this, he was delighted; il la baisa, puis s’est dresciez. he kissed her, then got up. Celes quë al tref l’amenerent The maidens who had brought him to the tent de riches dras le cunreerent; covered him with rich clothes; 175 quant il fu vestu de nuvel, when he was newly dressed, suz ciel nen ot plus bel dancel. there was no handsomer young man under heaven. N’esteit mie fous ne vileins. He was not at all foolish or base. L’ewe li donent a ses meins They gave him water for his hands e la tuaille a [es]suier; and the towel to dry them; 180 puis li portent a manger. then they brought him to the table. Od s’amie prist le super: He took supper with his beloved: ne feseit mie a refuser. he by no means refused. Mut fu servi curteisement, He was served very courteously, e il a grant joie le prent. and accepted it with great joy. 185 Un entremés i ot plener, There was an excellent extra dish que mut pleiseit al chevalier: that greatly pleased the knight, kar s’amie baisout sovent for he often kissed his lady e acolot estreitement. and embraced her closely. Quant del manger furent levé, When they had gotten up from the table, 190 sun cheval li unt amené. they brought him his horse. Bien li unt la sele mise; They have put its saddle on well; mut ad trové riche servise. it has been richly looked after. Il prent cungé, si est muntez; He took his leave and mounted; vers la cité s’en est alez. he went toward the city. 195 Suvent esgarde ariere sei. Several times he looks back. Mut est Lanval en grant esfrei; Lanval is greatly troubled; de s’aventure vait pensaunt he goes along thinking about his adventure e en sun curage d[o]taunt. and worrying to himself. Esbaïz est, ne seit que creir, He is astonished, he doesn’t know what to think, 200 il ne la quide mie a veir. he doesn’t believe he will see her again. Il est a sun ostel venuz; He arrives at his lodging; ses hummes treve bien vestuz. he finds his men handsomely dressed. Icele nuit bon estel tient; That night he keeps a rich table, mes nul ne sot dunt ceo li vient. but no one knew where he got this from. 205 N’ot en la vile chevalier There was no knight in the town ki de surjur ait grant mestier, who greatly needed sustenance Lanval 117 Review Copy

quë il ne face a lui venir whom Lanval does not have brought to him e richement e bien servir. and well and richly served. Lanval donout les riches duns, Lanval gave rich gifts, 210 Lanval aquitout les prisuns, Lanval ransomed prisoners, Lanval vesteit les jugleürs, Lanval clothed minstrels, Lanval feseit les granz honurs: Lanval did great honor: n’i ot estrange ne privé there was no stranger or dear friend a ki Lanval nen ust doné. to whom Lanval did not give. 215 Mut ot Lanval joie e deduit: Lanval had great joy and pleasure: u seit par jur u seit par nuit, he can see his beloved often, s’amie peot veer sovent, whether by day or by night; tut est a sun comandement. she is entirely at his command. Ceo m’est avis, memes l’an, That same year, as I understand, 220 aprés la feste seint Johan, after the feast of St. John, d’ici qu’a trente chevalier as many as thirty knights si erent alé esbanïer were going out to enjoy themselves en un vergier desuz la tur in a garden below the tower u la reïne ert a surjur. where the queen was staying. 225 Ensemble od eus [esteit] Walwains Gawain was with them e sis cusins, li beaus Ywains. and his cousin, the handsome Yvain. E dist Walwains, li francs, li pruz, Gawain, the noble, the valiant, que tant se fist amer de tuz: who made himself so beloved by everyone, said, “Par Deu, seignurs, nus feimes mal “By God, my lords, we have done wrong 230 de nostre cumpainun Lanval, not to have brought along with us que tant est larges e curteis, our companion Lanval, e sis peres est riches reis, who is so generous and courteous, que od nus ne l’avum amené.” and whose father is a rich king.” Atant se sunt ariere turné; They turned back at once; 235 a sun ostel rev[u]nt ariere, they go back to his lodging Lanval ameinent par preere. and persuade Lanval to accompany them. A une fenestre entaillie The queen was leaning s’esteit la reïne apuïe[e]; on a window ledge; treis dames ot ensemble od li. she had three ladies along with her. 240 La maisné [le rei] choisi; She saw the king’s household; Lanval choisi e esgarda. she saw Lanval and noticed him. Une des dames apela; She called one of her ladies; par li manda ses dameiseles, she got her to send for her maidens, les plus quointes [e] les plus beles: the most elegant and lovely: 245 od li si irrunt esbainïer they will go to enjoy themselves with her la u cil sunt al vergier. there where the men are in the orchard. Trente en menat od li e plus; She took thirty or more of them with her; par les degrez descendent jus. they go down by the stairs. Les chevalers encuntre vunt, The knights, who are delighted to see them, 250 que pur eles grant joië unt. go to meet them. Il les unt prises par les mains; They took the ladies by the hand; 118 Marie de France Review Copy

cil [parlemenz] ni ert pas vilains. the conversation was not unrefined. Lanval s’en vait a une part, Lanval wanders off by himself, mut luin des autres. Ceo li est tart quite far from the others. It seems long to him 255 que s’amie puïst tenir, until he might have his beloved, baiser, acoler e sentir; kiss, embrace, and touch her; l’autrui joie prise petit, he values little another’s joy si il n’ad le suen delit. if he does not have what pleases him. Quant la reïne sul le veit, When the queen sees him alone, 260 al chevaler en va tut dreit; she goes right to the knight; lunc lui s’asist, si l’apela, she sat by him and spoke to him, tut sun curage li mustra: she showed him all her feelings: “Lanval, mut vus ai honuré “Lanval, I have honored you greatly e mut cheri e mut amé. and loved you and held you very dear. 265 tute m’amur poëz aveir; You can have all my love; kar me dites vostre voleir! tell me your desire! Ma drüerie vus otrei; I am willing to be your lover; mut devez estre lié de mei.” you should be delighted with me.” “Dame,” fet il, “lessez m’ester! “Lady,” he said, “let me be! 270 Jeo n’ai cure de vus amer. I have no interest in loving you. Lungement ai servi le rei; For a long time I have served the king; ne li voil pas mentir ma fei. I don’t want to betray my faith to him. Ja pur vus ne pur vostre amur Never for you or for your love ne mesfrai a mun seignur.” shall I wrong my lord.” 275 La reïne s’en curuça; The queen became furious at this; irie[e] fu, si mesparla. in her anger, she spoke wrongly. “Lanval,” fet ele, “bien le quit, “Lanval,” she said, “it’s quite clear to me vuz n’amez gueres cel delit. you have no interest in that pleasure. Asez le m’ad humme dit sovent People have often told me 280 que des femmez n’avez talent. that you’re not interested in women. Vallez avez bien afeitiez, You have shapely young men ensemble od eus vus deduiez. and take your pleasure with them. Vileins cüarz, mauveis failliz, Base coward, infamous wretch, mut est mi sires maubailliz my lord is very badly repaid 285 que pres de lui vus ad suffert; for allowing you to remain in his presence; mun escïent que Deus en pert!” I believe that he will lose God by it!” Quant il l’oï, mut fu dolent; When he heard this, he was very distressed; del respundre ne fu pas lent. he was not slow to respond. Teu chose dist par maltalent Out of anger he said something 290 dunt il se repenti sovent. that he would often regret. “Dame,” dist il, “de cel mestier “Lady,” he said, “I know nothing ne me sai jeo nïent aidier; about that line of work; mes jo aim, [e] si sui amis but I love, and am loved by, cele ke deit aver le pris one who should be valued more highly 295 sur tutes celes que jeo sai. than all the women I know. E une chose vus dirai, And I’ll tell you one thing, Lanval 119 Review Copy

bien le sachez a descovert: know it well and openly: une de celes ke la sert, any one of her servants, tute la plus povre meschine, even the poorest maid, 300 vaut meuz de vus, dame reïne, is worth more than you, lady queen, de cors, de vis e de beauté, in body, face, and beauty, d’enseignement e de bunté.” in manners and goodness.” La reïne s’en par[t] atant, The queen leaves at once en sa chambrë en vait plurant. and goes into her chamber, crying. 305 Mut fu dolente e curuciee She was very upset and angry de ceo k’il [l’]out [si] avilee. that he had insulted her in this way. En sun lit malade cucha; She took to her bed, sick; jamés, ceo dit, ne levera, never, she said, would she get up si li reis ne l’en feseit dreit if the king did not do the right thing 310 de ceo dunt ele se plein[d]reit. about the complaint she would make to him. Li reis fu del bois repeiriez; The king returned from the woods; mut out le jur esté haitiez. he had had a very pleasant day. As chambres la reïne entra. He went into the queen’s rooms. Quant ele le vit, si se clamma; When she saw him, she made her appeal; 315 as piez li chiet, merci crie, she falls at his feet and asks for mercy e dit que Lanval l’ad hunie. and says that Lanval has shamed her. De drüerie la requist; He asked her to be his lover; pur ceo que ele l’en escundist, because she refused him, mut [la] laidi e avila. he insulted her greatly and said ugly things. 320 De tele amie se vanta, He boasted of such a beloved, que tant iert cuinte e noble e fiere one who was so elegant, noble, and proud, que meuz valut sa chamberere, that her chambermaid, la plus povre que [la] serveit, the poorest girl who served her, que la reïne ne feseit. was worth more than the queen. 325 Li reis s’en curuçat forment; The king got extremely angry; juré en ad sun serement: he swore an oath that si il ne s’en peot en curt defendre, if Lanval cannot defend himself in court, il le ferat arder u pendre. he will have him burnt or hanged. Fors de la chambre eissi li reis, The king went out of the chamber 330 de ses baruns apelat treis; and called three of his nobles; il les enveit pur Lanval, he sends them for Lanval, quë asez ad dolur e mal. who has sorrow and trouble enough. A sun [o]stel fu revenuz; He had gone back to his lodging; il s’est[eit] bien aparceüz it was quite evident to him 335 qu’il aveit perdue s’amie: that he had lost his beloved: descovert ot la drüerie. he had revealed their love. En une chambre fu tut suls, He went into a chamber by himself, pensis esteit e anguissus; anxious and distraught; s’amie apele mut sovent, he calls on his beloved over and over, 340 mes ceo ne li valut neent. and it does him no good at all. Il se pleigneit e suspirot, He lamented and sighed, 120 Marie de France Review Copy

d’ures en autres se pasmot; he fainted repeatedly; puis li crie cent feiz merci then a hundred times he begs her to have pity que ele par[ol]t a sun ami. and appear to her beloved. 345 Sun quor e sa buche maudit; He cursed his heart and his mouth; ceo est merveille k’il ne s’ocit. it’s a wonder he does not kill himself. Il ne seit tant crïer ne braire He cannot cry out or wail ne debatre ne sei detraire or reproach or torment himself que ele en veulle merci aveir enough to make her take pity on him, 350 sul tant que la puisse veeir. even enough that he might see her. Oi las, cument se cuntendra? Alas, what will he do? Cil ke li reis ci enveia, Those the king sent there il sunt venu, si li unt dit arrived, and said to him que a la curt voise sanz respit: that he must go to the court without delay: 355 li reis l’aveit par eus mandé, the king had sent the order through them, la reïne l’out encusé. the queen had accused him. Lanval i vait od sun grant doel; Lanval goes there in his great sorrow; il l’eüssent ocis [sun] veoil. they could have killed him for all he cared. Il est devant le rei venu; He came before the king; 360 mut fu dolent, taisanz e mu, he was very sorrowful, silent and unspeaking, de grant dolur mustre semblant. showing the appearance of great sorrow. Li reis li dit par maltalant, The king says to him angrily, “Vassal, vus me avez mut mesfait! “Vassal, you have done me a great wrong! Trop començastes vilein plait You began too base a suit 365 de mei hunir e aviler to shame and revile me e la reïne lendengier. and insult the queen. Vanté vus estes de folie: You boasted foolishly: trop par est noble vostre amie, your beloved is far too exalted quant plus est bele sa meschine when her maid is more beautiful 370 e plus vaillante que la reïne.” and worthy than the queen.” Lanval defent la deshonur Lanval denies the dishonor e la hunte de sun seignur and shame of his lord de mot en mot, si cum il dist, word by word, just as he said it, que la reïne ne requist; for he had not requested the queen’s love; 375 mes de ceo dunt il ot parlé but he acknowledged the truth reconut il la verité, of what he had said de l’amur dunt il se vanta: concerning the love about which he boasted: dolent en est, perdue l’a. he is sorrowful, for he has lost her. De ceo lur dit qu’il en ferat Concerning this he says that he will do 380 quanque la curt esgarderat. whatever the court judges best. Li reis fu mut vers li irez; The king was quite furious with him; tuz ses hummes ad enveiez he sent for all his men pur dire dreit que il en deit faire, to say rightly what he must do, que hum ne li puis[se] a mal retraire. so that no one would speak ill of it. 385 Cil unt sun commandement fait, They did what he ordered, u eus seit bel, u eus seit lait. whether they liked it or not. Lanval 121 Review Copy

Comunement i sunt alé They all went off together e unt jugé e esgardé and judged and decided que Lanval deit aveir un jur; that Lanval should have his day in court; 390 mes plegges truisse a sun seignur but he must provide guarantees for his lord qu’il atendra sun jugement that he will await his judgment e revendra en sun present: and return to his presence: si serat la curt esforcie[e], a larger court will be gathered, kar n’i ot dunc fors la maisne[e]. for now there was no one there but the household. 395 Al rei revienent li barun, The nobles return to the king si li mustrent la reisun. and explain to him their judgment. Li reis ad plegges demandé. The king demanded guarantees. Lanval fu sul e esgaré; Lanval was alone and in great distress; n’i aveit parent në ami. he had no family or friends. 400 Walwain i vait, ki l’a plevi, Gawain goes to act as a guarantor for Lanval, e tuit si cumpainun aprés. and all his companions after him. Li reis lur dit: “E jol vus les The king says to them: “I commend him to you sur quanke vus tenez de mei, on the basis of whatever you may hold of me, teres e fieus, chescun par sei.” lands and fiefs, each one for himself.” 405 Quant plevi fu, dunc n’[i] ot el; Once the pledge was made, there was nothing more to do; alez s’en est a sun ostel. Lanval went off to his lodging. Li chevaler l’unt conveé; The knights went along with him; mut l’unt blasmé e chastïé they greatly rebuked and counseled him k’il ne face si grant dolur, not to be in such sorrow, 410 e maudïent si fol’amur. and they cursed such mad love. Chescun jur l’aloënt veer, Every day they went to see him, pur ceo k’il voleient saveir for they wanted to know u il beüst, u il mangast; if he was drinking, if he was eating; mut dotouent k’il s’afolast. they greatly feared that he would do himself harm. 415 Al jur que cil orent numé On the day that they had named li barun furent asemblé. the nobles gathered. Li reis e la reïne i fu, The king and queen were there, e li plegge unt Lanval rendu. and the guarantors brought Lanval. Mut furent tuz pur li dolent: Everyone was very sad for him: 420 jeo quid k’il en i ot teus cent I believe that there were some hundred there ki feïssent tut lur poeir who would have done anything in their power pur lui sanz pleit delivre aveir; to free him without a trial; il iert retté a mut grant tort. he was very wrongly accused. Li reis demande le recort The king demands the verdict 425 sulunc le cleim e les respuns; according to the charges and the defense; ore est trestut sur les baruns. now it is entirely up to the nobles. Il sunt al jugement alé, They went to sit in judgment, mut sunt pensifz e esgaré very anxious and dismayed 122 Marie de France Review Copy

del franc humme d’autre païs over the noble man from another country 430 quë entre eus ert si entrepris. who was in such trouble among them. Encumbrer le veulent plusur Many want to find him guilty pur la volenté sun seignur. according to their lord’s wishes. Ceo dist li quoens de Cornwaille: The count of Cornwall said, “Ja endreit [nus] n’i avera faille; “We must not fall short, 435 kar ki que en plurt e ki que en chant, for whoever may weep or sing, le dreit estuet aler avant. the law must take precedence. Li reis parla vers sun vassal, The king has spoken against his vassal, que jeo vus oi numer Lanval; whom I hear you call Lanval; de felunie le retta he accused him of a crime 440 e d’un mesfait l’acheisuna, and brought charges of wrongdoing against him, d’un’amur dunt il se vanta, concerning a love of which he boasted, e ma dame s’en curuça. which made my lady angry. Nuls ne l’apele fors le rei; No one accuses him but the king; par cele fei ke jeo vus dei, by the faith I owe you, 445 ki bien en veut dire le veir, whoever wants to speak the truth, ja n’i deüst respuns aveir, there would not even be a case si pur ceo nun que a sun seignur except that to the name of his lord deit [hum] par tut fairë honur.1 a man should do honor in everything. Un serement l’engagera, Lanval can affirm this by oath, 450 e li reis le nus pardura. and the king will turn him over to us for judgment. E s’il peot aver sun guarant And if he can have his guarantor— e s’amie venist avant if his lady should come forward e ceo fust veir k’il en deïst, and what he said about her, dunt la reïne se marist, which made the queen angry, was true— 455 de ceo avera il bien merci, then he will certainly receive mercy, quant pur vilté nel dist de li. since he did not say it out of baseness. E s’il ne peot garant aveir, And if he cannot produce proof, ceo li devum faire saveir: we must make him understand this: tut sun servise perde del rei, he loses all his service to the king 460 e sil deit cungeer de sei.” and must take his leave of him.” Al chevaler unt enveé, They sent to the knight, si li unt dit e nuntïé and they told him and announced que s’amie face venir that he should make his beloved come pur lui tencer e garentir. to defend and bear witness for him. 465 Il lur dit qu’il ne poeit: He told them that he could not: ja pur li sucurs nen avereit. he would never get help from her. Cil s’en rev[un]t as jugeürs, They go back to the judges, ki n’i atendent nul sucurs. who expect no help from that quarter. Li reis les hastot durement The king urged them fiercely

1 d’un’amur … honur Lines 441–49 appear in a different order in the manuscript: 443–48, 442, 441. This emendation is made by most editors. Lanval 123 Review Copy

470 pur la reïne kis atent. for the sake of the queen who was waiting. Quant il deveient departir, Just as they were about to make their ruling, deus puceles virent venir they saw two maidens coming sur deus beaus palefreiz amblanz. on two beautiful brisk palfreys. Mut par esteient avenanz; They were extremely lovely; 475 de cendal purpre sunt vestues they were dressed in purple taffeta tut senglement a lur char nues. down to their bare skin. Cil les esgardou volenters. Everyone gazed at them eagerly. Walwain, od li treis chevalers, Gawain, and three knights with him, vait a Lanval, si li cunta; went to Lanval and told him; 480 les deus puceles li mustra. he showed him the two maidens. Mut fu haitié, forment li prie He was very happy, and begged him qu’il li deïst si ceo ert [s]’amie. to say whether this was his beloved. Il lur ad dit ne seit ki sunt Lanval tells them that he does not know who they are ne dunt vienent ne u eles vunt. or where they come from or where they are going. 485 Celes sunt alees avant The maidens went along tut a cheval; par tel semblant on their horses; in this fashion descendirent devant le deis, they got down in front of the dais la u seeit Artur li reis. where King Arthur was sitting. Eles furent de grant beuté, They were very beautiful 490 si unt curteisement parlé: and spoke courteously: “Reis, fai tes chambers delivrer “King, make your chambers ready e de pa[il]es encurtiner, and spread out silks u ma dame puïst descendre where my lady can step si ensemble od vus veut ostel prendre.” if she wants to take lodging with you.” 495 Il lur otria mut volenters, He very willingly granted this to them, si appela deus chevalers: and called two knights: as chambres les menerent sus. they led them up to the chambers. A cele feiz ne distrent plus. At that time they said no more. Li reis demande a ses baruns The king asks his nobles 500 le jugement e les respuns for the judgment and the verdict e dit que mut l’unt curucié and says that they have made him very angry de ceo que tant l’unt delaié. by delaying for so long. “Sire,” funt il, “nus departimes “Sire,” they say, “we broke off our discussion pur les dames que nus veïmes; on account of the ladies that we saw; 505 [nus n’i avum] nul esgart fait. we have not made a decision. Or recumencerum le plait.” Now we will resume the trial.” Dunc assemblerent tut pensif; Then they gathered, quite concerned; asez i ot noise e estrif. there was a great deal of noise and debate. Quant il ierent en cel esfrei, While they were in this disarray, 510 deus puceles de gent cunrei— they saw coming down the road vestues de deus pa[il]es freis, two maidens of noble bearing, chevauchent deus muls espanneis— dressed in cool silks, 124 Marie de France Review Copy

virent venir la rue aval. riding two Spanish mules. Grant joie en eurent li vassal; The vassals were delighted by this; 515 entre eus dïent que ore est gariz they say to each other that now Lanval, Lanval li pruz e li hardiz. the bold and strong, is cured. Yweins i est a lui alez, Yvain went to him, ses cumpainuns i ad menez. taking his companions with him. “Sire,” fet il, “rehaitiez vus! “Sir,” he said, “rejoice! 520 Pur amur Deu, parlez od nus! For the love of God, speak to us! Ici vienent deus dameiseles Here come two maidens, mut acemees e mut beles: very elegant and beautiful: ceo est vostre amie vereiment!” surely it is your beloved!” Lanval respunt hastivement Lanval answers hastily 525 e dit qu’il pas nes avuot and says that he neither claimed them ne il nes cunut ne nes amot. nor knew them nor loved them. Atant furent celes venues, Just then the maidens arrived devant le rei sunt descendues. and dismounted before the king. Mut les loërent li plusur Many people greatly praised 530 de cors, de vis e de colur; their bodies, faces and coloring; n’i ad cele meuz ne vausist both of them were certainly worth que unkes la reïne ne fist. more than the queen ever was. L’aisnee fu curteise e sage, The elder was courteous and wise; avenantment dist sun message: she spoke her message becomingly: 535 “Reis, kar nus fai chambres baillier “King, make ready rooms for us a oés ma dame herbergier; to receive my lady; ele vient ici a tei parler.” she is coming here to speak to you.” Il les cumandë a mener He orders that they be taken od les autres quë ainceis viendrent. to the others who had arrived previously. 540 Unkes des muls nul plai[t] ne tindrent. They need not worry about the mules. Quant il fu d’eles deliverez, When he had sent them off, puis ad tuz ses baruns mandez he ordered all his nobles que le jugement seit renduz: that the judgment be given: trop ad le jur esté tenuz. too much of the day had been taken up. 545 La reïne s’en curuceit, The queen was getting angry que si lunges les atendeit. that she was kept waiting so long by them. Ja departissent a itant, They were about to take a decision, quant par la vile vient errant when through the town comes tut a cheval une pucele: a maiden riding on a horse: 550 en tut le secle n’ot plus bele. there was no lady in the world more beautiful. Un blanc palefrei chevachot, She was riding a white palfrey, que bel e süef la portot. which carried her well and gently. Mut ot bien fet e col e teste: It had a well-shaped neck and head: suz ciel nen ot plus bele beste. there was no more beautiful animal under heaven. 555 Riche atur ot al palefrei: The palfrey was richly harnessed: suz ciel nen ad quens ne rei no count or king under heaven ki tut [le] p[e]üst eslegier could have afforded it all Lanval 125 Review Copy

sanz tere vendre u engagier. without selling or mortgaging land. Ele iert vestue en itel guise: She was dressed in this manner: 560 de chainsil blanc e de chemise, in a shift of white linen, que tuz les costez li pareient, which let both her sides be seen, que de deus parz laciez esteient. as it was laced on either side. Le cors ot gent, basse la hanche, She had a lovely body, a long waist, le col plus blanc que neif sur branche, a neck whiter than snow on a branch, 565 les oilz ot vairs e blanc le vis, grey-green eyes and white skin, bele buche, neis bien asis, a beautiful mouth, a well-formed nose, les surcilz bruns e bel le frunt dark eyebrows and a lovely forehead e le chef cresp e aukes blunt; and curling golden hair; fil d’or ne gette tel luur no golden thread casts such a gleam 570 cum sun chevel cuntre le jur. as did her hair in the sun. Sis manteus fu de purpre bis; Her mantle was dark purple; les pans en ot entur li mis. she had wrapped its ends around her. Un espervier sur sun poin tient, She holds a falcon on her fist, e un leverer aprés lui vient. and a greyhound runs behind her. 575 Il n’ot al burc petit ne grant There was no one in the town, great or small, ne li veillard ne li enfant not the old men or the children, que ne l’alassent esgarder. who did not go to look at her. Si cum il la veent errer, As they saw her pass, de sa beauté n’iert mie gas. there was no joking about her beauty. 580 Ele veneit meins que le pas. She came along quite slowly. Li jugeür, que la veeient, The judges, who saw her, a [grant] merveille le teneient; considered it a great marvel; il n’ot un sul ki l’esgardast there was not one who looked at her de dreite joie ne s’eschaufast. who did not grow warm with sheer joy. 585 Cil ki le chevaler amoënt Those who loved the knight a lui veneient, si li cuntouent came to him, and told him de la pucele ki veneit, of the maiden who was coming, si Deu plest, que le delivereit: who, if it pleased God, would set him free: “Sire cumpain, ci en vient une, “Sir companion, here comes one 590 mes ele n’est pas fave ne brune; who is not tawny nor dark; ceo’st la plus bele del mund, she is the loveliest in the world, de tutes celes kë i sunt.” of all the women who live.” Lanval l’oï, sun chief dresça; Lanval heard this, he lifted his head; bien la cunut, si suspira. he knew her well, and sighed. 595 Li sanc li est munté al vis; The blood rose to his face; de parler fu aukes hastifs. he was very quick to speak. “Par fei,” fet il, “ceo est m’amie! “In faith,” he said, “it is my beloved! Or m’en est gueres ki m’ocie, Now I care little who may kill me, si ele n’ad merci de mei; if she does not take pity on me; 600 kar gariz sui, quant jeo la vei.” for I am cured when I see her.” La damë entra al palais; The lady entered the palace; unc si bele n’i vient mais. such a beauty had never come there. 126 Marie de France Review Copy

Devant le rei est descendue She dismounted before the king si que de tuz iert bien [veüe]. so that she was quite visible to all. 605 Sun mantel ad laissié ch[e]eir, She let her mantle fall que meuz la puïssent veer. so that they could see her better. Li reis, que mut fu enseigniez, The king, who was very well-bred, il s’est encuntre lui dresciez, got up to meet her, e tuit li autre l’enurerent, and all the others honored her 610 de li servir se presenterent. and offered themselves to serve her. Quant il l’orent bien esgardee When they had looked at her well e sa beauté forment loëe, and greatly praised her beauty, ele parla en teu mesure, she spoke in this way, kar de demurer nen ot cure: for she did not wish to delay: 615 “Reis, jeo ai amé un tuen vassal: “King, I have fallen in love with one of your vassals: veez le ici, ceo est Lanval! you see him here, it is Lanval! Acheisuné fu en ta curt. He was accused in your court. Ne vuil mie que a mal li turt I do not wish it to be held against him, de ceo qu’il dist; ceo sachez tu concerning what he said; you should know 620 que la reïne ad tort eü: that the queen was wrong: unc nul jur ne la requist. he never asked for her love. De la vantance kë il fist, And concerning the boast he made, si par me peot estre aquitez, if he can be acquitted by me, par voz baruns seit deliverez!” let your nobles set him free!” 625 Ceo qu’il jugerunt par dreit The king grants that it should be so, li reis otrie ke issi seit. that they should judge rightly. N’i ad un sul que n’ait jugié There was not one who did not judge que Lanval ad tut desrainié. that Lanval was completely exonerated. Deliverez est par lur esgart, He is freed by their judgment, 630 e la pucele s’en depart. and the maiden takes her leave. Ne la peot li reis retenir; The king cannot detain her; asez gent ot a li servir. she had enough people to serve her. Fors de la sale aveient mis Outside the hall was set un grant perrun de marbre bis, a great block of dark marble, 635 u li pesant humme muntoënt, where heavy men mounted, que de la curt le rei [aloënt]: who were leaving the king’s court: Lanval esteit munté desus. Lanval got up on it. Quant la pucele ist fors a l’us, When the maiden came through the gate, sur le palefrei, detriers li, with one leap Lanval 640 de plain eslais Lanval sailli. jumped on the palfrey, behind her. Od li s’en vait en Avalun, With her he went to Avalon, ceo nus recuntent li Bretun, so the Bretons tell us, en un isle que mut est beaus; to a very beautiful island; la fu ravi li dameiseaus. the young man was carried off there. 645 Nul hum n’en oï plus parler, No one ever heard another word of him, ne jeo n’en sai avant cunter. and I can tell no more. Review Copy Sir Thomas Malory c. 1405– 1471

homas Malory’s place in English literary history rests on one great work, his Morte Darthur (The TDeath of Arthur), the first major prose work of the English language. Malory’s version is the basis for the Arthurian mythology that endures to the present day. Malory drew on various sources, both French and English, but crafted those sources to provide a full narrative of the life of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Tennyson’s Idylls of the King is perhaps the best known of the works inspired by Morte Darthur, but Malory’s work has also strongly influenced the writings of Spenser, Milton, and Arnold, the paintings of Rossetti and Watts, and the music of Wagner. The facts of Malory’s life are few, his story a matter of conjecture and dispute, but the available information suggests that he led an extraordinary life. There were several individuals with the name Thomas Malory in the fifteenth century. The one who is most commonly, though by no means certainly, identified with the author of the Morte Darthur was born to John Malory and Philippa Chetwynd of Newbold Revell, Warwickshire, near the beginning of the fifteenth century. John Malory was a man of some distinction, having served as a sheriff, a Member of Parliament, and a Justice of the Peace in Warwickshire. The records that survive, however, give John’s son Thomas a rather dubious reputation. The political intrigues of the 1450s eventually led to the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English throne that was carried on by the families of York and Lancaster, and Thomas Malory appears to have been a participant in the turmoil. Surviving records show that he was charged with significant crimes during the 1450s including extortion, theft, horse stealing, and rape. It is possible that Malory’s political activities earned him some enemies who engaged in a slander campaign against him, or he may indeed have been responsible for the crimes for which he was charged. In 1451 a warrant was issued for Malory’s arrest. He was imprisoned at Coleshill, Warwickshire, but escaped; in 1452 he was recaptured and put in jail in London, where he spent most of the next eight years awaiting trial. By the mid-1450s the Wars of the Roses were in full force. Malory’s loyalty seems to have wavered between the two warring houses, and his fortunes rose and fell on that basis. While in prison, Malory was pardoned by the Duke of York; the Lancastrian court, however, dismissed the pardon. When the Yorkists overthrew the Lancastrians, Malory was pardoned and released. He then fought against the Lancastrians in a number of key battles. Malory seems then to have changed sides in the dispute—in 1468 his name appeared on a list of men allied with the Lancastrians. He was arrested by the Yorkists for his support of the Lancastrians, and again imprisoned in London. During these last years of imprisonment, Malory wrote Morte Darthur, describing himself in the text as a “knight presoner.” Malory’s primary source for the Morte Darthur was the French Arthurian Prose Cycle (1225–30), but he also borrowed from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (1136–39) and two anonymous English works of the later fourteenth century, the alliterative Morte Arthure and the stanzaic Morte Arthur. Some of the details of the narrative are purely Malory’s own inventions, but he nevertheless takes care to ascribe each of his additions to “the Freynshe booke.” Morte Darthur is vast in its scale. Malory tells eight tales over 21 books with 507 chapters. Malory originally titled the work The Book of King Arthur and his Noble Knights of the Round Table; William Caxton, the printer who published the book in 1485, changed the title to Morte Darthur. Caxton also made a significant number of editorial changes, as was discovered in 1934, when a manuscript copy of Malory’s work that was significantly at variance with Caxton’s text came to light. It became clear that Caxton had brought together what had been eight separate romances into twenty-one books, 420 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy

making alterations so as to give the appearance of a more unified text. Caxton had also deleted the personal remarks with which Malory concluded each romance. Within a year of the completion of Morte Darthur, the Lancastrians briefly returned to power, and Malory was once again released from prison. He died six months later and was buried in Greyfriars Church, in London. zzz

10 from Morte Darthur scripture some essayed, such as would have been king, but none might stir the sword nor move it. from Book I, Chapter 51 “He is not here,” said the Archbishop, “that shall achieve the sword, but doubt not God will make him o in the greatest church of London, whether it were known. But this is my counsel,”11 said the Archbishop, SPaul’s2 or not the French book3 maketh no mention, “that we let purvey12 ten knights, men of good fame,13 all the estates4 were long ere day5 in the church for to and they to keep14 this sword.” pray. And when matins6 and the first mass was done So it was ordained, and then there was made a cry15 there was seen in the churchyard, against the high altar, that every man should essay that would for to win the a great stone four square,7 like unto a marble stone, and sword. And upon New Year’s Day the barons let make in midst thereof was like an anvil of steel a foot on high, a jousts and a tournament, that all knights that would and therein stuck a fair sword naked8 by the point, and joust or tourney there might play. And all this was letters there were written in gold about the sword that ordained for to keep the lords together and the com- said thus: “WHOSO PULLETH OUT THIS SW ORD OF THIS mons,16 for the Archbishop trusted that God would STONE AND ANVIL IS RIGHTWISE9 KING BORN OF ALL make him known that should win the sword. ENGLAND.” Then the people marvelled and told it to So upon New Year’s Day, when the service was the Archbishop. done, the barons rode unto the field, some to joust and “I command,” said the Archbishop, “that ye keep some to tourney. And so it happed17 that Sir Ector, that you within your church and pray unto God still; that no had great livelihood18 about London, rode unto the man touch the sword till the high mass be all done.” jousts, and with him rode Sir Kay, his son, and young So when all masses were done all the lords went to Arthur that was his nourished brother; 19 and Sir Kay was behold the stone and the sword. And when they saw the made knight at All Hallowmass20 afore. So as they rode

1 Book I, Chapter 5 The numbering of books and chapters 10 essayed Tried. employed here is that used in the Eugene Vinaver edition. 11 counsel Advice. 2 Paul’s Church of St. Paul. This church stood on the site of the 12 present-day St. Paul’s Cathedral. let purvey Appoint. 13 3 French book Unnamed French source from which Malory fame Reputation. supposedly takes his material, actually a group of thirteenth-century 14 keep Guard. Old French texts. 15 cry Request. 4 estates Clergy, nobility, and commoners. 16 commons Commoners. 5 long ere day Long before dawn. 17 happed Happened. 6 matins Church service conducted at daybreak. 18 livelihood Property from which income is derived. 7 four square Having four equal sides. 19 nourished brother Foster brother. 8 naked Unsheathed. 20 All Hallowmass All Saint’s Day, Christian holy day celebrated on 9 Rightwise Rightfully. 1 November. Morte Darthur, Book I 421 Review Copy to the jousts-ward1 Sir Kay had lost2 his sword, for he pulled it out of the stone without any pain.”12 had left it at his father’s lodging, and so he prayed3 “Found ye any knights about this sword?” said Sir young Arthur for to ride for his sword. Ector. “I will well,” said Arthur, and rode fast after the “Nay,” said Arthur. sword. “Now,” said Sir Ector to Arthur, “I understand ye And when he came home the lady and all were out must be king of this land.” to see the jousting. Then was Arthur wroth,4 and said to “Wherefore13 I?” said Arthur, “and for what cause?” himself, “I will ride to the churchyard and take the “Sir,” said Ector, “for God will have it so, for there sword with me that sticketh in the stone, for my brother should never man have drawn out this sword but he that Sir Kay shall not be without a sword this day.” So when shall be rightwise king of this land. Now let me see he came to the churchyard Sir Arthur alight and tied his whether ye can put the sword thereas14 it was and pull it horse to the stile,5 and so he went to the tent and found out again.” no knights there, for they were at the jousting. And so “That is no mastery,”15 said Arthur, and so he put it he handled the sword by the handles, and lightly and in the stone. Therewithal16 Sir Ector essayed to pull out fiercely6 pulled it out of the stone, and took his horse the sword and failed. and rode his way until he came to his brother Sir Kay “Now essay,” said Sir Ector unto Sir Kay. And anon and delivered him the sword. he pulled at the sword with all his might, but it would And as soon as Sir Kay saw the sword he wist7 well not be. it was the sword of the stone, and so he rode to his “Now shall ye essay,” said Sir Ector to Arthur. father Sir Ector and said, “I will well,” said Arthur, and pulled it out easily. “Sir, lo here is the sword of the stone, wherefore8 I And therewithal Sir Ector kneeled down to the earth must be king of this land.” and Sir Kay. When Sir Ector beheld the sword he returned again “Alas!” said Arthur, “my own dear father and and came to the church, and there they alight all three brother, why kneel ye to me?” and went into the church, and anon9 he made Sir Kay “Nay, nay, my lord Arthur, it is not so. I was never to swear upon a book10 how he came to that sword. your father nor of your blood, but I wot17 well ye are of “Sir,” said Sir Kay, “by my brother Arthur, for he an higher blood than I weened18 ye were.” And then Sir brought it to me.” Ector told him all, how he was betaken19 him for to “How got ye this sword?” said Sir Ector to Arthur. nourish him and by whose commandment, and by “Sir, I will tell you. When I came home for my Merlin’s deliverance.20 brother’s sword I found nobody at home to deliver me Then Arthur made great dole21 when he understood his sword, and so I thought my brother Sir Kay should that Sir Ector was not his father. not be swordless, and so I came hither eagerly11 and “Sir,” said Ector unto Arthur, “will ye be my good and gracious lord when ye are king?” 1 jousts-ward Toward the jousting-place. 2 lost Realized he had forgotten. 12 pain Difficulty. 3 prayed Asked. 13 Wherefore Why. 4 wroth Angry. 14 thereas Where. 5 stile Turnstile entrance to the churchyard. 15 mastery Action requiring great skill. 6 lightly and fiercely Easily and boldly. 16 Therewithal That being done. 7 wist Knew. 17 wot Know. 8 lo Behold; wherefore For which reason. 18 weened Understood, knew. 9 anon Immediately. 19 betaken Entrusted to. 10 a book I.e., a copy of the Bible. 20 deliverance Delivery. 11 hither eagerly Here quickly. 21 dole Sorrow. 422 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy

“Else were I to blame,” said Arthur, “for ye are the Candlemas, and pulled out the sword easily, whereof the man in the world that I am most beholding1 to, and my barons were sore aggrieved8 and put it off in delay till good lady and mother your wife that as well as her own the high feast of Easter. And as Arthur sped9 afore so did hath fostered me and kept. And if ever it be God’s will he at Easter. Yet there were some of the great lords had that I be king as ye say, ye shall desire of me what I may indignation that Arthur should be king, and put it off in do, and I shall not fail you. God forbid I should fail a delay till the feast of Pentecost.10 Then the Archbishop you.” of Canterbury, by Merlin’s providence,11 let purvey then “Sir,” said Sir Ector, “I will ask no more of you but of the best knights that they might get, and such knights that ye will make my son, your foster brother Sir Kay, as Uther Pendragon12 loved best and most trusted in his seneschal2 of all your lands.” days, and such knights were put about Arthur as Sir “That shall be done,” said Arthur, “and more, by the Baudwin of Britain, Sir Kaynes, Sir Ulfius, Sir Brastias; faith of my body, that never man shall have that office all these with many other were always about Arthur day but he while he and I live.” and night till the feast of Pentecost. Therewithal they went unto the Archbishop and And at the feast of Pentecost all manner of men told him how the sword was achieved and by whom. essayed to pull at the sword that would essay, but none And on Twelfth-day3 all the barons came thither4 and to might prevail but Arthur, and he pulled it out afore all essay to take the sword who that would essay, but there the lords and commons that were there. Wherefore all afore them all there might none take it out but Arthur. the commons cried at once, Wherefore there were many lords wroth, and said it was “We will have Arthur unto13 our king! We will put great shame unto them all and the realm to be over- him no more in delay, for we all see that it is God’s will governed with a boy of no high blood born. And so they that he shall be our king, and who that holdeth against 14 fell out5 at that time, that 6 it was put off till Candlem as,7 it we will slay him!” and then all the barons should meet there again; but And therewithal they kneeled at once, both rich and always the ten knights were ordained to watch the sword poor, and cried Arthur mercy15 because they had de layed day and night, and so they set a pavilion over the stone him so long. And Arthur forgave them, and took the and the sword, and five always watched. sword between both his hands and offered it upon the So at Candlemas many more great lords came hither altar where the Archbishop was, and so was he made for to have won the sword, but there might none knight of the best man that was there.… prevail. And right as Arthur did at Christmas he did at

8 aggrieved Distressed. 1 beholding Bound in duty. 9 sped Succeeded. 2 seneschal Steward, official overseeing the administration of a 10 Pentecost Christian celebration commemorating the descent of king’s lands and court. the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at which time they were given the 3 Twelfth-day Twelfth day after Christmas, or the Feast of the gift of tongues, which would allow them to spread Christianity to Epiphany, celebrating the visit of the three wise men Jesus and their other lands. The Feast of Pentecost is celebrated on the seventh recognition of his divinity. Sunday after Easter. 11 4 thither There. providence Arrangement. 12 5 fell out Quarreled. Uther Pendragon King of Britain before the action of the story and Arthur’s true father. 6 that So that. 13 unto As. 7 Candlemas Holy day commemorating the purification of the 14 Virgin Mary after the birth of Jesus and the presentation of Christ holdeth against Holds out against his acclamation. at the Temple, celebrated on 2 February. 15 cried … mercy Begged Arthur’s forgiveness. Morte Darthur, The Death of King Arthur, Ch. 1 423 Review Copy

The Death of King Arthur “I marvel that we all be not ashamed both to see and or The Most Piteous Tale of the to know how Sir Lancelot lies daily and nightly by the Morte Arthur Saunz Guerdon1 Queen. And all we know well that it is so, and it is shamefully suffered of us all14 that we should suffer so 1 noble a king as King Arthur is to be shamed.” Slander and Strife Then spoke Sir Gawain and said, “Brother, Sir Agravain, I pray you and charge you,15 n May, when every heart flourisheth and burgeoneth move no such matters no more16 afore me, for wit17 you I(for as the season is lusty2 to behold and comfortable,3 well, I will not be of your counsel.”18 so man and woman rejoiceth and gladdeth4 of summer “So God me help,” said Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, coming with his fresh flowers, for winter with his rough “we will not be known of 19 your deeds.” winds and blasts causeth lusty5 men and women to “Then will I!” said Sir Mordred. cower and to sit by fires), so this season it befell in the “I lieve20 you well,” said Sir Gawain, “for ever unto month of May a great anger and unhap that stinted6 not all unhappiness, sir, you will grant.21 And I would 22 that till the flower of chivalry of all the world was destroyed ye left all this and made you not so busy, for I know,” and slain. said Sir Gawain, “what will fall23 of it.” And all was long upon two unhappy knights7 which “Fall whatsoever fall may,”24 said Sir Agravain, “I were named Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred,8 that were will disclose it to the king!” brethren unto Sir Gawain.9 For this Sir Agravain and Sir “Not by my counsel,” said Sir Gawain, “for, an25 Mordred had ever a privy10 hate unto the Queen, Dame there arise war and wrake26 betwixt Sir Lancelot and us, Guinevere, and to Sir Lancelot;11 and daily and nightly wit you well, brother, there will many kings and great they ever watched upon Sir Lancelot. lords hold27 with Sir Lancelot. Also, brother Sir Agra- So it misfortuned Sir Gawain and all his brethren12 vain,” said Sir Gawain, “ye must remember how often- were in King Arthur’s chamber, and then Sir Agravain times Sir Lancelot has rescued the king and the queen; said thus openly, and not in no counsel,13 that many and the best of us all had been full cold to the knights might hear: heart-root28 had not Sir Lancelot been better than we, and that has he proved himself full oft.29 And as for my

1 Saunz Guerdon Old French: without reward. 14 2 lusty Here, joyful. it … us all It is shameful to us that we should allow. 15 3 comfortable Pleasant. pray … you Beg you and order you. 16 4 gladdeth Are glad. move … more Suggest no such thing any more. 17 5 lusty Here, strong, healthy. wit Know. 18 6 unhap that stinted Misfortune that ceased. I … counsel I will not go along with you. 19 7 long upon … knights Because of two ill-fated knights. not … of We do not wish to be associated with your plans. 20 8 Sir Mordred Arthur’s son from his accidental incestuous union lieve Believe. with Morgause, his half-sister. 21 grant Go with, agree with. 9 Sir Gawain Arthur’s nephew and one of the chief knights of the 22 would Wish. Round Table. 23 fall Happen. 10 privy Secret. 24 Fall … may Whatever may happen. 11 Dame Guinevere … Lancelot The Queen has been in a love-affair 25 an If. with Lancelot, the foremost knight of Arthur’s court, universally 26 acclaimed for his prowess in battle. wrake Strife. 27 12 brethren Gawain’s brothers are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth and hold Side. Mordred. 28 full … heart-root Dead. 13 not … counsel Not in private. 29 full oft Often. 424 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy part,” said Sir Gawain, “I will never be against Sir your queen, and hath done long, and we be your sister’s Lancelot for one day’s deed, and that was when he sons, we may suffer it no longer. And all we wote14 that rescued me from King Carados of the Dolorous Tower you should be above Sir Lancelot; and ye are the king and slew him and saved my life. Also, brother Sir that made him knight, and therefore we will prove it Agravain and Sir Mordred, in like wise1 Sir Lancelot that he is a traitor to your person.” rescued both you and three score and two2 from Sir Tar- “If it be so,” said the king, “wit you well, he is none quin. And therefore, brother, methinks such noble other. But I would be loth15 to begin such a thing but16 deeds and kindness should be remembered.” I might have proofs of it, for Sir Lancelot is an hardy17 “Do you as ye list,”3 said Sir Agravain, “for I will knight, and all you know that he is the best knight lain4 it no longer.” among us all, and but if he be taken with18 the deed he So with these words came in Sir Arthur.5 will fight with him that bringeth up the noise,19 and I “Now, brother,” said Sir Gawain, “stint6 your strife.” know no knight that is able to match him. Therefore, an “That will I not,” said Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred. it be sooth20 as ye say, I would that he were taken with “Well, will ye so?” said Sir Gawain. “Then God the deed.” speed7 you, for I will not bear of your tales, neither be of For, as the French book saith, the king was full loath your counsel.”8 that such a noise21 should be upon Sir Lancelot and his “No more will I,” said Sir Gaheris. queen; for the king had a deeming22 of it, but he would “Neither I,” said Sir Gareth, “for I shall never say not hear thereof, for Sir Lancelot had done so much for evil by that man that made me knight.” him and for the queen so many times that wit you well And therewithal they three departed, making great the king loved him passingly well. dole.9 “My lord,” said Sir Agravain, “ye shall ride to-morn “Alas!” said Sir Gawain and Sir Gareth, “now is this an-hunting, and doubt ye not, Sir Lancelot will not go realm wholly destroyed and mischieved,10 and the noble with you. And so when it draweth toward night ye may fellowship of the Round Table shall be disparbled.”11 send the queen word that ye will lie out all that night, So they departed, and then King Arthur asked them and so may ye send for your cooks. And then, upon pain what noise they made.12 of death, that night we shall take23 him with the queen, “My lord,” said Sir Agravain, “I shall tell you, for I and we shall bring him unto you, quick24 or dead.” may keep it no longer. Here is I and my brother Sir “I will well,” said the king. “Then I counsel you to Mordred break13 unto my brother Sir Gawain, Sir take with you sure25 fellowship.” Gaheris and to Sir Gareth—for this is all, to make it “Sir,” said Sir Agravain, “my brother Sir Mordred short—how that we know all that Sir Lancelot holdeth and I will take with us twelve knights of the Round Table.” 1 like wise Similar fashion. 2 three … two Sixty-two. 14 wote Know. 3 list Please. 15 loth Reluctant. 4 lain Hide. 16 but Unless. 5 Sir Arthur I.e., King Arthur. 17 hardy Strong. 6 stint Cease. 18 but if … with Unless he be caught at. 7 speed Help. 19 bringeth up the noise Presents the accusation. 8 neither … counsel Nor will I participate in your plans. 20 sooth True. 9 dole Sorrow. 21 noise Accusation. 10 mischieved Brought to ruin. 22 deeming Suspicion. 11 disparbled Dispersed. 23 take Catch. 12 what noise they made What had upset them, why they were upset. 24 quick Alive. 13 break Make known. 25 sure Trustworthy. Morte Darthur, The Death of King Arthur, Ch. 1 425 Review Copy

“Beware,” said King Arthur, “for I warn you, ye shall “Fair nephew,” said Sir Lancelot, “I mar vel me much find him wight.”1 why you say thus, since the queen has sent for me. And “Let us deal,”2 said Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred. wit you well, I will not be so much a coward, but she So on the morn King Arthur rode an-hunting and shall understand I will see her good grace.” sent word to the queen that he would be out all the “God speed you well,” said Sir Bors, “and send you night. Then Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred got to them sound and safe again!” twelve knights and hid themselves in a chamber in the So Sir Lancelot departed and took his sword under castle of Carlisle. And these were their names: Sir his arm, and so he walked in his mantle,12 that noble Colgrevance, Sir Madore de la Porte, Sir Guingalen, Sir knight, and put himself in great jeopardy. And so he Meliot de Logres, Sir Petipace of Winchelsea, Sir passed on till he came to the queen’s chamber, and so Galeron of Galway, Sir Melion de la Mountayne, Sir lightly13 he was had into the chamber. For, as the Ascomore, Sir Gromorsom Eriore, Sir Cursessalain, Sir French book says, the queen and Sir Lancelot were Florence, and Sir Lovell. So these twelve knights were together, and whether they were abed other at other with Sir Mordred and Sir Agravain, and all they were of manner of disports me list not thereof make no men- Scotland, other else3 of Sir Gawain’s kin, other well- tion,14 for love at that time was not as love is nowadays. willers4 to his brother. But thus as they were together there came Sir So when the night came Sir Lancelot told Sir Bors Agravain and Sir Mordred with twelve knights with how he would go that night and speak with the queen. them of the Round Table, and they said with great “Sir,” said Sir Bors, “ye shall not go this night by my crying and scaring voice, counsel.”5 “Thou traitor, Sir Lancelot, now art thou taken!” “Why?” said Sir Lancelot. And thus they cried with a loud voice, that all the court “Sir, for I dread me ever of Sir Agravain that6 waits might hear it. And these fourteen knights all were armed upon you daily to do you shame and us all. And never at all points,15 as they should fight in a battle. gave my heart against no going that ever ye went to the “Alas!” said Queen Guinevere, “now are we mis- queen so much as now,7 for I mistrust that the king is chieved both!” out this night from the queen because peradventure8 he “Madame,” said Sir Lancelot, “is there here any has lain some watch for you and the queen. Therefore I armour within you that might cover my body withal?16 dread me sore of some treason.” And if there be any, give it me and I shall soon stint “Have you no dread,” said Sir Lancelot, “for I shall their malice, by the grace of God!” go and come again and make not tarrying.”9 “Now, truly,” said the queen, “I have none armour, “Sir,” said Sir Bors, “that me repents,10 for I dread neither helm, shield, sword, neither spear, wherefore I me sore that your going this night shall wrath11 us all.” dread me sore our long love is come to a mischievous end. For I hear by their noise there be many noble 1 wight Strong and courageous. knights, and well I wot they be surely armed, and 2 deal Take action. against them ye may make no resistance. Wherefore ye are likely to be slain, and then I shall be brent!17 For an 3 other else Or else. ye might escape them,” said the queen, “I would not 4 other well-willers Or well-wishers. 5 counsel Advice. 6 I … that I fear always Sir Agravain, who. 12 7 And … now Never before now did my heart warn me so much mantle Cloak. against your visiting the Queen. 13 lightly Quickly. 8 peradventure Perhaps. 14 disports Amusements; me … mention I do not wish to discuss. 9 make not tarrying Not delay. 15 armed … points Fully armed. 10 me repents Distresses me. 16 withal With. 11 wrath Bring to disaster. 17 brent Burned at the stake. 426 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy doubt but that ye would rescue me in what danger that “Truly,” said the queen, “an it might please God, I I ever stood in.” would that they would take me and slay me and suffer “Alas,” said Sir Lancelot, “in all my life thus was I you to escape.” never bestrad1 that I should be thus shamefully slain for “That shall never be,” said Sir Lancelot, “God lack of mine armour.” defend me from such a shame! But, Jesu Christ, be thou But ever Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred cried, my shield and mine armour!” “Traitor knight, come out of the queen’s chamber! And therewith Sir Lancelot wrapped his mantle For wit thou well thou art beset2 so that thou shalt not about his arm well and surely; and by then they had escape.” gotten a great form8 out of the hall, and therewith they “Ah, Jesu mercy!” said Sir Lancelot, “this shameful all rushed at the door. cry and noise I may not suffer, for better were death at “Now, fair lords,” said Sir Lancelot, “leave9 your once than thus to endure this pain.” noise and your rushing, and I shall set open this door, Then he took the queen in his arms and kissed her and then may ye do with me what it liketh you.”10 and said, “Most noblest Christian queen, I beseech ye, “Come off, then,” said they all, “and do it, for it as you have been ever my special good lady, and I at all availeth thee not to strive against us all! And therefore times your poor knight and true unto my power and as let us into this chamber, and we shall save thy life until I never failed you in right nor in wrong since the first thou come to King Arthur.” day King Arthur made me knight, that you will pray for Then Sir Lancelot unbarred the door, and with his my soul if that I be slain. For well I am assured that Sir left hand he held it open a little, that but one man Bors, my nephew, and all the remnant of my kin, with might come in at once. And so there came striding a Sir Lavain and Sir Urry, that they will not fail you to good knight, a much11 man and a large, and his name rescue you from the fire. And therefore, mine own lady, was called Sir Colgrevance of Gore. And he with a recomfort yourself,3 whatsoever come of me, that ye go sword struck at Sir Lancelot mightily, and so he put with Sir Bors, my nephew, and Sir Urry, and they all aside the stroke, and gave him such a buffet12 upon the will do you all the pleasure that they may, and you shall helmet that he fell grovelling13 dead within the chamber live like a queen upon my lands.” door. “Nay, Sir Lancelot, nay!” said the queen. “Wit thou Then Sir Lancelot with great might drew the knight well that I will not live long after thy days. But an you within the chamber door. And then Sir Lancelot, with be slain I will take my death as meekly as ever dead help of the queen and her ladies, he was lightly armed in martyr take his death for Jesu Christ’s sake.” Colgrevance14 armour. And ever stood Sir Agravain and “Well, madame,” said Sir Lancelot, “sith4 it is so that Sir Mordred, crying, the day is come that our love must depart, wit you well “Traitor knight! Come forth out of the queen’s I shall sell my life as dear as I may. And a thousandfold,” chamber!” said Sir Lancelot, “I am more heavier5 for ye than for “Sirs, leave your noise,” said Sir Lancelot, “for wit myself! And now I had liefer6 than to be lord of all you well, Sir Agravain, ye shall not prison me this night! Christendom that I had sure armour upon me, that men And therefore, an ye do by my counsel, go ye all from might speak of my deeds or ever I were slain.”7 this chamber door and make you no such crying and

1 bestrad Attacked. 8 form Bench. 2 beset Surrounded. 9 leave Cease. 3 recomfort yourself Take courage. 10 what … you What pleases you. 4 sith Since. 11 much Big. 5 more heavier More sorrowful. 12 buffet Stroke. 6 liefer Rather. 13 grovelling Upon his belly. 7 or … slain Before I was killed. 14 Colgrevance I.e., Colgrevance’s. Morte Darthur, The Death of King Arthur, Ch. 1 427 Review Copy such manner of sclander1 as ye do. For I promise you by me as ye think best.” my knighthood, an ye will depart and make no more “I will well,” said Sir Lancelot, “for have ye no noise, I shall as to-morn appear afore you all and before doubt, while I am a man living I shall rescue you.” the king, and then let it be seen which of you all, other And then he kissed her, and either of them gave else ye all,2 that will depreve3 me of treason. And there other a ring, and so the queen he left there and went shall I answer you, as a knight should, that hither I came until13 his lodging. to the queen of no manner of mal engin,4 and that will When Sir Bors saw Sir Lancelot he was never so glad I prove and make it good upon you with my hands.” of his home-coming. “Fie5 upon thee, traitor,” said Sir Agravain and Sir “Jesu mercy!” said Sir Lancelot, “why be ye all Mordred, “for we will have thee maugre thine head6 and armed? What meaneth this?” slay thee, an we list!7 For we let thee wit we have the “Sir,” said Sir Bors, “after ye were departed from us choice of King Arthur to save thee other slay thee.” we all that been of your blood and your well-willers were “Ah, sirs,” said Sir Lancelot, “is there none other so adretched14 that some of us leapt out of our beds grace with you? Then keep8 yourself!” naked, and some in their dreams caught naked swords And then Sir Lancelot set all open the chamber in their hands. And therefore,” said Sir Bors, “we door, and mightily and knightly he strode in among deemed there was some great strife on hand, and so we them. And anon at the first stroke he slew Sir Agravain, deemed that we were betrapped with some treason; and and anon after twelve of his fellows. Within a while he therefore we made us thus ready what need that ever ye had laid them down cold to the earth, for there was were in.” none of the twelve knights might stand Sir Lancelot one “My fair nephew,” said Sir Lancelot unto Sir Bors, buffet. And also he wounded Sir Mordred, and there- “now shall ye wit all that this night I was more hard withal he fled with all his might. And then Sir Lancelot bestad than ever I was days of my life. And thanked be returned again unto the queen and said, God, I am myself escaped their danger.” And so he told “Madame, now wit you well, all our true love is them all how and in what manner, as ye have heard brought to an end, for now will King Arthur ever be my toforehand.15 “And therefore, my fellows,” said Sir foe. And therefore, madame, an it like you9 that I may Lancelot, “I pray ye all that you will be of heart good, have you with me, I shall save you from all manner and help me in what need that ever I stand, for now is adventurous10 dangers.” war coming to us all.” “Sir, that is not best,” said the queen, “meseems,11 “Sir,” said Sir Bors, “all is welcome that God sendeth for now ye have done so much harm it will be best that us, and we have taken much weal16 with you and much ye hold you still12 with this. And if ye see that as worship,17 we will take the woe18 with you as we have to-morn they will put me unto death then may ye rescue taken the weal.” And therefore they said, all the good knights, “Look you take no discomfort! For there is no 1 sclander Slander. band of knights under heaven but we shall be able to 2 other else ye all Or else you all. grieve19 them as much as they may us, and therefore 3 depreve Accuse. discomfort not yourself by no manner. And we shall 4 mal engin Old French: ill intent. gather together all that we love and that loves us, and 5 Fie Shame. 6 maugre … head In spite of your head, i.e., despite all you can do. 13 until Unto, i.e., to. 7 an … list If we wish. 14 adretched Troubled. 8 keep Defend. 15 toforehand Beforehand. 9 an … you If it pleases you. 16 weal Prosperity. 10 adventurous Here, accidental. 17 worship Praise, honor. 11 meseems It seems to me. 18 woe Misfortune. 12 hold … still Be content. 19 grieve Injure. 428 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy what that you will have done shall be done. And there- “Wit you well, I have been ever since I came to this fore let us take the woe and the joy together.” court well-willed unto my lord Arthur and unto my lady “Grantmercy,”1 said Sir Lancelot, “of your good Queen Guinevere unto my power.8 And this night comfort, for in my great distress, fair nephew, ye com- because my lady the queen sent for me to speak with fort me greatly. But this, my fair nephew, I would that her, I suppose it was made by9 treason; howbeit I dare ye did in all haste that you may or it is far days past:2 largely10 excuse her person, notwithstanding I was there that ye will look in their lodging that been lodged nigh by a forecast nearhand slain but as11 Jesu provided for here about the king, which will hold with me and which me.” will not. For now I would know which were my friends And then that noble knight Sir Lancelot told them from my foes.” how he was hard bestad in the queen’s chamber, and “Sir,” said Sir Bors, “I shall do my pain,3 and or it be how and in what manner he escaped from them. seven of the clock I shall wit of such as ye have doubt “And therefore wit you well, my fair lords, I am sure for,4 who that will hold with you.” there is but war unto me and to mine. And for cause I Then Sir Bors called unto him Sir Lionel, Sir Ector have slain this night Sir Agravain, Sir Gawain’s brother, de Maris, Sir Blamour de Ganis, Sir Bleoberis de Ganis, and at the least twelve of his fellows, and for this cause Sir Gahalantin, Sir Galyhodin, Sir Galihud, Sir Mena- now am I sure of mortal war. For these knights were duke, Sir Villiers the Valiant, Sir Hebes le Renown, Sir sent by King Arthur to betray me, and therefore the Lavain, Sir Urry of Hungary, Sir Neroveous, Sir Plenor- king will in this heat 12 and malice judge the queen unto ius (for these two were knights that Sir Lancelot won brenning, and that may not I suffer that she should be upon a bridge, and therefore they would never be brent for my sake. For an I may be heard and suffered against him), and Sir Garry le Fitz Lake, and Sir Selises and so taken,13 I will fight for the queen, that she is a of the Dolorous Tower, Sir Melias de Lisle, and Sir true lady14 until her lord. But the king in his heat, I Bellengere le Beuse, that was Sir Alexander le Orphelin’s dread, will not take15 me as I ought to be taken.” son; because his mother was Alice la Belle Pellerine, and “My lord, Sir Lancelot,” said Sir Bors, “by mine she was kin unto Sir Lancelot, he held with him. So advice, ye shall take the woe with the weal, and take it in came Sir Palomides and Sir Saphir, his brother; Sir patience and thank God of it. And since it is fallen as it Clegis, Sir Sadok, Sir Dinas and Sir Clarius of Clere- is, I counsel you to keep yourself, for an ye will mont. yourself,16 there is no fellowship of knights christened So these two-and-twenty5 knights drew them that shall do you wrong. And also I will counsel you, my together, and by then they were armed and on horse- lord, that my lady Queen Guinevere, an she be in any back they promised Sir Lancelot to do what he would. distress, insomuch as she is in pain for your sake, that ye Then there fell to6 them, what of North Wales and of knightly rescue her; for an you did any other wise all the Cornwall, for Sir Lamorak’s sake and for Sir Tristram’s world would speak you shame to the world’s end. sake, to the number of a seven score7 knights. Then Insomuch as ye were taken with her, whether you did spoke Sir Lancelot: right other wrong, it is now your part to hold with the

8 unto … power As far as it was in my power.

9 1 Grantmercy Thank you. made by Arranged by. 10 2 or … past Before too many days go by. largely Wholly. 11 3 I … pain I will strive to do so. by a forecast … but as By a pre-arrangement nearly slain had not. 12 4 ye … for You are uncertain of. heat Anger. 13 5 two-and-twenty As some editors have pointed out, this may be a so taken Accepted (as Guinevere’s protector). scribal error; there are twenty-five knights in total. 14 true lady Faithful wife. 6 fell to Joined with. 15 take Accept. 7 seven score One hundred and forty. 16 an ye will yourself I.e., as you must accept yourself (“if you will”). Morte Darthur, The Death of King Arthur, Ch. 1 429 Review Copy queen, that she be not slain and put to a mischievous By your good will, kept not he with him La Beale Isode6 death. For an she so die, the shame shall be evermore near three year in Joyous Gard,7 the which was done by yours.” your althers advice?8 And that same place is your own, “Now Jesu defend me from shame,” said Sir Lance- and in like wise may ye do, an ye list, and take the lot, “and keep and save my lady the queen from villainy queen knightly away with you, if so be that the king will and shameful death, and that she never be destroyed in judge her to be brent. And in Joyous Gard may ye keep my default.1 Wherefore, my fair lords, my kin and my her long enough until the heat be past of the king, and friends,” said Sir Lancelot, “what will ye do?” then it may fortune you to bring the queen again to the And anon they said all with one voice, “We will do king with great worship, and peradventure you shall as ye will do.” have then thank for your bringing home, whether other “Then I put this case unto you,” said Sir Lancelot, may happen to have maugre.”9 “that my lord King Arthur by evil counsel will to-morn “That is hard for to do,” said Sir Lancelot, “for by in his heat put my lady the queen unto the fire, and Sir Tristram I may have a warning: for when by means there to be brent, then, I pray you, counsel me what is of treatise10 Sir Tristram brought again La Beale Isode best for me to do.” Then they said all at once with one unto King Mark from Joyous Gard, look ye now what voice, fell on11 the end, how shamefully that false traitor King “Sir, us thinks best that ye knightly rescue the Mark slew him as he sat harping afore his lady, La Beale queen. Insomuch as she shall be brent, it is for your Isode. With a grounden glaive12 he thrust him in behind sake; and it is to suppose, an ye might be handled,2 ye to the heart, which grieveth sore me,” said Sir Lancelot, should have the same death, other else a more shame- “to speak of his death, for all the world may not find fuller death. And, sir, we say all that you have rescued such another knight.” her from her death many times for other men’s quarrels; “All this is truth,” said Sir Bors, “but there is one therefore us seems it is more your worship that you thing shall courage13 you and us all: you know well that rescue the queen from this quarrel, insomuch that she King Arthur and King Mark were never like of condi- has it for your sake.” tions,14 for there was never yet man that ever could Then Sir Lancelot stood still and said, prove King Arthur untrue of his promise.” “My fair lords, wit you well I would be full loath But so, to make short tale, they were all conde- that my lady the queen should die such a shameful scended15 that, for better other for worse, if so were that death. But an it be so that ye will counsel me to rescue the queen were brought on that morn to the fire, shortly her, I must do much harm or I rescue her, and perad- they all would rescue her. And so by the advice of Sir venture I shall there destroy some of my best friends, Lancelot they put them all in a bushment16 in a wood and that should much repent me.3 And peradventure as nigh Carlisle as they might, and there they abode17 there be some, an they could well bring it about or still to wit what the king would do. disobey my lord King Arthur, they would soon come to me, the which4 I were loath to hurt. And if so be that I 6 La Beale Isode The Beautiful Iseut, Tristram’s lover. may win the queen away, where shall I keep her?” 7 Joyous Gard Lancelot’s castle. “Sir, that shall be the least care of us all,” said Sir 8 your … advice The advice of you all. 5 Bors, “for how did the most noble knight Sir Tristram? 9 whether … maugre Even if some may dislike it. 10 treatise Negotiation. 1 in my default Because of my failure, because I am not there. 11 fell on Happened in. 2 handled Captured. 12 grounden glaive Sharpened spear or lance. 3 that … me I.e., I would be sorry about that. 13 courage Encourage. 4 the which Whom. 14 like of conditions Similar in disposition, character. 5 how … Tristram What did the most noble knight Sir Tristram 15 condescended In agreement. do?; Tristram Knight who fell in love with Iseut, the wife of his 16 uncle Mark. Malory recounts this episode in The Book of Sir Tristram bushment Ambush. de Lyones. 17 abode Waited. 430 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy

Now turn we again, that when Sir Mordred was the queen’s chamber, yet it might be so that he came escaped from Sir Lancelot he got his horse and mounted thither for none evil. For you know, my lord,” said Sir upon him, and came to King Arthur sore wounded and Gawain, “that my lady the queen has oftentimes been all forbled,1 and there he told the king all how it was, greatly beholden9 unto Sir Lancelot, more than to any and how they were all slain save himself alone. other knight; for oftentimes he hath saved her life and “Ah, Jesu, mercy! How may this be?” said the king. done battle for her when all the court refused the queen. “Took ye him in the queen’s chamber?” And peradventure she sent for him for goodness and for “Yea, so God me help,” said Sir Mordred, “there we none evil, to reward him for his good deeds that he had found him unarmed, and anon he slew Sir Colgrevance done to her in times past. And peradventure my lady the and armed him in his armour.” queen sent for him to that intent that Sir Lancelot And so he told the king from the beginning to the should come privily 10 to her, weening that it had be best ending. in eschewing11 and dreading of slander; for oftentimes “Jesu mercy!” said the king, “he is a marvellous we do many things that we ween for the best be, and yet knight of prowess. And alas,” said the king, “me sore peradventure it turns to the worst. For I dare say,” said repenteth that ever Sir Lancelot should be against me, Sir Gawain, “my lady, your queen, is to you both good for now I am sure the noble fellowship of the Round and true. And as for Sir Lancelot, I dare say he will make Table is broken for ever, for with him will many a noble it good upon any knight living that will put upon him12 knight hold. And now it is fallen so,” said the king, villainy or shame, and in like wise he will make good for “that I may not with my worship but2 my queen must my lady the queen.” suffer death,” and was sore amoved.3 “That I believe well,” said King Arthur, “but I will So then there was made great ordinance in this ire,4 not that way work with Sir Lancelot,13 for he trusteth14 and the queen must needs be judged5 to the death. And so much upon his hands and his might15 that he doubt- the law was such in those days that whatsoever they eth16 no man. And therefore for my queen he shall were, of what estate or degree, if they were found guilty nevermore fight, for she shall have the law. And if I may of treason there should be none other remedy but death, get17 Sir Lancelot, wit you well he shall have as shameful and other the menour6 other the taking with the deed a death.” should be causer7 of their hasty judgement. And right so “Jesu defend me,” said Sir Gawain, “that I never see was it ordained for Queen Guinevere: because Sir it nor know it!” Mordred was escaped sore wounded, and the death of “Why say you so?” said King Arthur. “For, pardy,18 thirteen knights of the Round Table, these proofs and ye have no cause to love him! For this night last past he experiences caused King Arthur to command the queen slew your brother, Sir Agravain, a full good knight, and to the fire, and there to be brent. Then spake Sir almost he had slain your other brother, Sir Mordred, Gawain and said, and also there he slew thirteen noble knights. And also “My lord Arthur, I would counsel you not to be remember you, Sir Gawain, he slew two sons of yours, over-hasty, but that ye would put it in respite,8 this Sir Florence and Sir Lovell.” judgement of my lady the queen, for many causes. One is this, though it were so that Sir Lancelot were found in 9 beholden Obligated, in debt. 10 privily Privately. 1 forbled Covered with blood. 11 eschewing Avoiding. 2 I may … but I may not keep my honor unless. 12 put … him Accuse him of. 3 amoved Moved to emotion. 13 I … Lancelot I will not deal in that manner with Sir Lancelot. 4 ordinance … ire Preparation in this wrath. 14 trusteth Has confidence in. 5 must needs … judged Must be condemned. 15 might Strength. 6 menour Manner, behavior. 16 doubteth Fears. 7 taking … causer Being caught in the act is the reason for. 17 get Capture. 8 respite Delay. 18 pardy By God. Morte Darthur, The Death of King Arthur, Ch. 1 431 Review Copy

“My lord,” said Sir Gawain, “of all this I have a So Sir Gawain turned him and wept heartily, and so knowledge, which of their deaths sore repents me. But he went into his chamber. And so the queen was led insomuch as I gave them warning and told my brother forth without Carlisle, and anon she was despoiled into and my sons afore-hand what would fall on the end, and her smock.5 And then her ghostly father 6 was brought to insomuch as they would not do by my counsel, I will her to be shriven7 of her misdeeds. Then was there not meddle me thereof, nor revenge me nothing of their weeping and wailing and wringing of hands of many deaths; for I told them that there was no boot to strive1 lords and ladies; but there were but few in comparison with Sir Lancelot. Howbeit I am sorry of the death of that would bear any armour for to strength8 the death of my brother and of my two sons, but they are the causers the queen. of their own death; and oftentimes I warned my brother Then was there one that Sir Lancelot had sent unto Sir Agravain, and I told him of the perils the which be that place, which went to espy what time the queen now fallen.” should go unto her death. And anon as he saw the Then said King Arthur unto Sir Gawain, queen despoiled into her smock and shriven, then he “Make you ready, I pray you, in your best armour, gave Sir Lancelot warning anon. Then was there but with your brethren, Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, to bring spurring and plucking up9 of horse, and right so they my queen to the fire and there to have her judgement.” came unto the fire. And who that stood against them, “Nay, my noble king,” said Sir Gawain, “that will I there were they slain; there might none withstand Sir never do, for wit you well I will never be in that place Lancelot. where so noble a queen as is my lady Dame Guinevere So all that bore arms and withstood them, there were shall take such a shameful end. For wit you well,” said they slain, full many a noble knight. For there was slain Sir Gawain, “my heart will not serve me for to see her Sir Belias le Orgulous, Sir Segwarides, Sir Griflet, Sir die, and it shall never be said that ever I was of your Brandiles, Sir Aglovale, Sir Tor, Sir Gauter, Sir Gillimer, counsel 2 for her death.” Sir Reynold, three brethren, and Sir Damas, Sir Pria- “Then,” said the king unto Sir Gawain, “suffer your mus, Sir Kay l’Estrange, Sir Driant, Sir Lambegus, Sir brethren Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth to be there.” Herminde, Sir Pertolip, Sir Perimones, two brethren “My lord,” said Sir Gawain, “wit you well they will which were called the Green Knight and the Red be loath to be there present, because of many adventures Knight. that is like to fall,3 but they are young and full unable to And so in this rushing and hurling,10 as Sir Lancelot say you nay.” thrang11 here and there, it misfortuned him to slay Sir Then spake Sir Gaheris and the good knight Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, the noble knight, for they were Gareth unto King Arthur, unarmed and unawares. As the French book saith, Sir “Sir, you may well command us to be there, but wit Lancelot smote12 Sir Gareth upon the brain-pan, where- you well it shall be sore against our will. But an we be through that13 they were slain in the field. Howbeit in there by your straight commandment, ye shall plainly very truth Sir Lancelot saw them not. And so were they hold us there excused: we will be there in peaceable found dead among the thickest of the press.14 wise, and bear none harness4 of war upon us.” “In the name of God,” said the king, “then make 5 despoiled … smock Stripped to her undergarment. you ready, for she shall have soon her judgement.” 6 ghostly father Confessor. “Alas,” said Sir Gawain, “that ever I should endure 7 shriven Confessed and given absolution. to see this woeful day!” 8 for … strength To assist in. 9 plucking up Spurring forward. 10 rushing and hurling Pushing and dashing violently. 1 no boot to strive No use in quarreling. 11 thrang Thrust (his weapon) about. 2 I … counsel I was in agreement with you. 12 smote Struck. 3 adventures … fall Perils likely to happen. 13 brain-pan … that Skull by means of which. 4 harness Gear. 14 press Crowd. 432 Sir Thomas Malory Review Copy

Then Sir Lancelot, when he had thus done, and slain “That is truth,” said some knights, “but they were and put to flight all that would withstand him, then he slain in the hurling as Sir Lancelot thrang in the thickest rode straight unto Queen Guinevere and made cast a of the press. And as they were unarmed he smote them kirtle1 and a gown upon her, and then he made her to and wist not whom that he smote, and so unhappily be set behind him and prayed her to be of good cheer. they were slain.” Now wit you well the queen was glad that she was at “Well,” said Arthur, “the death of them will cause that time escaped from the death, and then she thanked the greatest mortal war that ever was, for I am sure that God and Sir Lancelot. when Sir Gawain knoweth thereof that Sir Gareth is And so he rode his way with the queen, as the slain, I shall never have rest5 of him till I have destroyed French book saith, unto Joyous Gard, and there he kept Sir Lancelot’s kin and himself both, other else he to her as a noble knight should. And many great lords and destroy me. And therefore,” said the king, “wit you well, many good knights were sent him, and many full noble my heart was never so heavy as it is now. And much knights drew unto him. When they heard that King more I am sorrier for my good knights’ loss than for the Arthur and Sir Lancelot were at debate2 many knights loss of my fair queen; for queens I might have enough, were glad, and many were sorry of their debate. but such a fellowship of good knights shall never be together in no company. And now I dare say,” said King 2 Arthur, “there was never Christian king that ever held The Vengeance of Sir Gawain such a fellowship together. And alas, that ever Sir Lancelot and I should be at debate! Ah, Agravain, Now turn we again unto King Arthur, that when it was Agravain!” said the king, “Jesu forgive it thy soul, for told him how and in what manner the queen was taken thine evil will that thou hadst and Sir Mordred, thy away from the fire, and when he heard of the death of brother, unto Sir Lancelot has caused all this sorrow.” his noble knights, and in especial Sir Gaheris and Sir And ever among these complaints the king wept and Gareth, then he swooned for very pure sorrow. And swooned. when he awoke of his swough, then he said, Then came there one to Sir Gawain and told him “Alas, that ever I bore crown upon my head! For how the queen was led away with Sir Lancelot, and nigh now have I lost the fairest fellowship of noble knights a four-and-twenty knights slain. that ever held Christian king together. Alas, my good “Ah, Jesu, save me my two brethren!” said Sir knights be slain and gone away from me, that now Gawain. “For full well wist I,” said Sir Gawain, “that Sir within this two days I have lost nigh forty knights, and Lancelot would rescue her, other else he would die in also the noble fellowship of Sir Lancelot and his blood,3 that field; and to say the truth he were not of worship for now I may nevermore hold them together with my but if he had rescued the queen, insomuch as she should worship. Now, alas, that ever this war began!” have been brent for his sake. And as in that,” said Sir “Now, fair fellows,” said the king, “I charge you that Gawain, “he has done but knightly, and as I would have no man tell Sir Gawain of the death of his two brethren, done myself an I had stood6 in like case. But where are for I am sure,” said the king, “when he heareth tell that my brethren?” said Sir Gawain, “I marvel that I see not Sir Gareth is dead, he will go nigh out of his mind. of them.” Mercy Jesu,” said the king, “why slew he Sir Gaheris Then said that man, “Truly, Sir Gaheris and Sir and Sir Gareth? For I dare say, as for Sir Gareth, he Gareth be slain.” loved Sir Lancelot of 4 all men earthly.” “Jesu defend!” said Sir Gawain, “For all this world I would not that they were slain, and in especial my good brother, Sir Gareth.”

1 kirtle Petticoat, under-skirt. 2 at debate At odds. 3 blood Kin. 5 rest Peace. 4 of Above. 6 stood Been.