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<h2> CHAPTER XXII. How at night came an armed knight, and fought with Sir Gareth, and he, sore hurt in the thigh, smote off the knight's head. </h2>
<p>AND then she let fetch to-fore him Linet, the damosel that had ridden with
him many wildsome ways. Then was Sir Gareth more gladder than he was
to-fore. And then they troth-plight each other to love, and never to fail
whiles their life lasteth. And so they burnt both in love, that they were
accorded to abate their lusts secretly. And there Dame Lionesse counselled
Sir Gareth to sleep in none other place but in the hall. And there she
promised him to come to his bed a little afore midnight.</p>
<p>This counsel was not so privily kept but it was understood; for they were
but young both, and tender of age, and had not used none such crafts
to-fore. Wherefore the damosel Linet was a little displeased, and she
thought her sister Dame Lionesse was a little over-hasty, that she might
not abide the time of her marriage; and for saving their worship, she
thought to abate their hot lusts. And so she let ordain by her subtle
crafts that they had not their intents neither with other, as in their
delights, until they were married. And so it passed on. At-after supper
was made clean avoidance, that every lord and lady should go unto his
rest. But Sir Gareth said plainly he would go no farther than the hall,
for in such places, he said, was convenient for an errant-knight to take
his rest in; and so there were ordained great couches, and thereon feather
beds, and there laid him down to sleep; and within a while came Dame
Lionesse, wrapped in a mantle furred with ermine, and laid her down beside
Sir Gareth. And therewithal he began to kiss her. And then he looked afore
him, and there he apperceived and saw come an armed knight, with many
lights about him; and this knight had a long gisarm in his hand, and made
grim countenance to smite him. When Sir Gareth saw him come in that wise,
he leapt out of his bed, and gat in his hand his sword, and leapt straight
toward that knight. And when the knight saw Sir Gareth come so fiercely
upon him, he smote him with a foin through the thick of the thigh that the
wound was a shaftmon broad and had cut a-two many veins and sinews. And
therewithal Sir Gareth smote him upon the helm such a buffet that he fell
grovelling; and then he leapt over him and unlaced his helm, and smote off
his head from the body. And then he bled so fast that he might not stand,
but so he laid him down upon his bed, and there he swooned and lay as he
had been dead.</p>
<p>Then Dame Lionesse cried aloud, that her brother Sir Gringamore heard, and
came down. And when he saw Sir Gareth so shamefully wounded he was sore
displeased, and said: I am shamed that this noble knight is thus honoured.
Sir, said Sir Gringamore, how may this be, that ye be here, and this noble
knight wounded? Brother, she said, I can not tell you, for it was not done
by me, nor by mine assent. For he is my lord and I am his, and he must be
mine husband; therefore, my brother, I will that ye wit I shame me not to
be with him, nor to do him all the pleasure that I can. Sister, said Sir
Gringamore, and I will that ye wit it, and Sir Gareth both, that it was
never done by me, nor by my assent that this unhappy deed was done. And
there they staunched his bleeding as well as they might, and great sorrow
made Sir Gringamore and Dame Lionesse.</p>
<p>And forthwithal came Dame Linet, and took up the head in the sight of them
all, and anointed it with an ointment thereas it was smitten off; and in
the same wise she did to the other part thereas the head stuck, and then
she set it together, and it stuck as fast as ever it did. And the knight
arose lightly up, and the damosel Linet put him in her chamber. All this
saw Sir Gringamore and Dame Lionesse, and so did Sir Gareth; and well he
espied that it was the damosel Linet, that rode with him through the
perilous passages. Ah well, damosel, said Sir Gareth, I weened ye would
not have done as ye have done. My lord Gareth, said Linet, all that I have
done I will avow, and all that I have done shall be for your honour and
worship, and to us all. And so within a while Sir Gareth was nigh whole,
and waxed light and jocund, and sang, danced, and gamed; and he and Dame
Lionesse were so hot in burning love that they made their covenant at the
tenth night after, that she should come to his bed. And because he was
wounded afore, he laid his armour and his sword nigh his bed's side.</p>
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<h2> CHAPTER XXIII. How the said knight came again the next night and was beheaded again, and how at the feast of Pentecost all the knights that Sir Gareth </h2>
<p>had overcome came and yielded them to King Arthur.</p>
<p>RIGHT as she promised she came; and she was not so soon in his bed but she
espied an armed knight coming toward the bed: therewithal she warned Sir
Gareth, and lightly through the good help of Dame Lionesse he was armed;
and they hurtled together with great ire and malice all about the hall;
and there was great light as it had been the number of twenty torches both
before and behind, so that Sir Gareth strained him, so that his old wound
brast again a-bleeding; but he was hot and courageous and took no keep,
but with his great force he struck down that knight, and voided his helm,
and struck off his head. Then he hewed the head in an hundred pieces. And
when he had done so he took up all those pieces, and threw them out at a
window into the ditches of the castle; and by this done he was so faint
that unnethes he might stand for bleeding. And by when he was almost
unarmed he fell in a deadly swoon on the floor; and then Dame Lionesse
cried so that Sir Gringamore heard; and when he came and found Sir Gareth
in that plight he made great sorrow; and there he awaked Sir Gareth, and
gave him a drink that relieved him wonderly well; but the sorrow that Dame
Lionesse made there may no tongue tell, for she so fared with herself as
she would have died.</p>
<p>Right so came this damosel Linet before them all, and she had fetched all
the gobbets of the head that Sir Gareth had thrown out at a window, and
there she anointed them as she had done to-fore, and set them together
again. Well, damosel Linet, said Sir Gareth, I have not deserved all this
despite that ye do unto me. Sir knight, she said, I have nothing done but
I will avow, and all that I have done shall be to your worship, and to us
all. And then was Sir Gareth staunched of his bleeding. But the leeches
said that there was no man that bare the life should heal him throughout
of his wound but if they healed him that caused that stroke by
enchantment.</p>
<p>So leave we Sir Gareth there with Sir Gringamore and his sisters, and turn
we unto King Arthur, that at the next feast of Pentecost held his feast;
and there came the Green Knight with fifty knights, and yielded them all
unto King Arthur. And so there came the Red Knight his brother, and
yielded him to King Arthur, and three score knights with him. Also there
came the Blue Knight, brother to them, with an hundred knights, and
yielded them unto King Arthur; and the Green Knight's name was Pertolepe,
and the Red Knight's name was Perimones, and the Blue Knight's name was
Sir Persant of Inde. These three brethren told King Arthur how they were
overcome by a knight that a damosel had with her, and called him
Beaumains. Jesu, said the king, I marvel what knight he is, and of what
lineage he is come. He was with me a twelvemonth, and poorly and
shamefully he was fostered, and Sir Kay in scorn named him Beaumains. So
right as the king stood so talking with these three brethren, there came
Sir Launcelot du Lake, and told the king that there was come a goodly lord
with six hundred knights with him.</p>
<p>Then the king went out of Carlion, for there was the feast, and there came
to him this lord, and saluted the king in a goodly manner. What will ye,
said King Arthur, and what is your errand? Sir, he said, my name is the
Red Knight of the Red Launds, but my name is Sir Ironside; and sir, wit ye
well, here I am sent to you of a knight that is called Beaumains, for he
won me in plain battle hand for hand, and so did never no knight but he,
that ever had the better of me this thirty winter; the which commanded to
yield me to you at your will. Ye are welcome, said the king, for ye have
been long a great foe to me and my court, and now I trust to God I shall
so entreat you that ye shall be my friend. Sir, both I and these five
hundred knights shall always be at your summons to do you service as may
lie in our powers. Jesu mercy, said King Arthur, I am much beholden unto
that knight that hath put so his body in devoir to worship me and my
court. And as to thee, Ironside, that art called the Red Knight of the Red
Launds, thou art called a perilous knight; and if thou wilt hold of me I
shall worship thee and make thee knight of the Table Round; but then thou
must be no more a murderer. Sir, as to that, I have promised unto Sir
Beaumains never more to use such customs, for all the shameful customs
that I used I did at the request of a lady that I loved; and therefore I
must go unto Sir Launcelot, and unto Sir Gawaine, and ask them forgiveness
of the evil will I had unto them; for all that I put to death was all only
for the love of Sir Launcelot and of Sir Gawaine. They be here now, said
the king, afore thee, now may ye say to them what ye will. And then he
kneeled down unto Sir Launcelot, and to Sir Gawaine, and prayed them of
forgiveness of his enmity that ever he had against them.</p>
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<h2> CHAPTER XXIV. How King Arthur pardoned them, and demanded of them where Sir Gareth was. </h2>
<p>THEN goodly they said all at once, God forgive you, and we do, and pray
you that ye will tell us where we may find Sir Beaumains. Fair lords, said
Sir Ironside, I cannot tell you, for it is full hard to find him; for such
young knights as he is one, when they be in their adventures be never
abiding in no place. But to say the worship that the Red Knight of the Red
Launds, and Sir Persant and his brother said of Beaumains, it was marvel
to hear. Well, my fair lords, said King Arthur, wit you well I shall do
you honour for the love of Sir Beaumains, and as soon as ever I meet with
him I shall make you all upon one day knights of the Table Round. And as
to thee, Sir Persant of Inde, thou hast been ever called a full noble
knight, and so have ever been thy three brethren called. But I marvel,
said the king, that I hear not of the Black Knight your brother, he was a
full noble knight. Sir, said Pertolepe, the Green Knight, Sir Beaumains
slew him in a recounter with his spear, his name was Sir Percard. That was
great pity, said the king, and so said many knights. For these four
brethren were full well known in the court of King Arthur for noble
knights, for long time they had holden war against the knights of the
Round Table. Then said Pertolepe, the Green Knight, to the king: At a
passage of the water of Mortaise there encountered Sir Beaumains with two
brethren that ever for the most part kept that passage, and they were two
deadly knights, and there he slew the eldest brother in the water, and
smote him upon the head such a buffet that he fell down in the water, and
there he was drowned, and his name was Sir Gherard le Breusse; and after
he slew the other brother upon the land, his name was Sir Arnold le
Breusse.</p>
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<h2> CHAPTER XXV. How the Queen of Orkney came to this feast of Pentecost, and Sir Gawaine and his brethren came to ask her blessing. [*3] </h2>
<h3> [*3] In Caxton's edition this chapter is misnumbered XXVI., setting the numeration wrong to the end of the book. </h3>
<p>So then the king and they went to meat, and were served in the best
manner. And as they sat at the meat, there came in the Queen of Orkney,
with ladies and knights a great number. And then Sir Gawaine, Sir
Agravaine, and Gaheris arose, and went to her and saluted her upon their
knees, and asked her blessing; for in fifteen year they had not seen her.
Then she spake on high to her brother King Arthur: Where have ye done my
young son Sir Gareth? He was here amongst you a twelvemonth, and ye made a
kitchen knave of him, the which is shame to you all. Alas, where have ye
done my dear son that was my joy and bliss? O dear mother, said Sir
Gawaine, I knew him not. Nor I, said the king, that now me repenteth, but
thanked be God he is proved a worshipful knight as any is now living of
his years, and I shall never be glad till I may find him.</p>
<p>Ah, brother, said the Queen unto King Arthur, and unto Sir Gawaine, and to
all her sons, ye did yourself great shame when ye amongst you kept my son
in the kitchen and fed him like a poor hog. Fair sister, said King Arthur,
ye shall right well wit I knew him not, nor no more did Sir Gawaine, nor
his brethren; but sithen it is so, said the king, that he is thus gone
from us all, we must shape a remedy to find him. Also, sister, meseemeth
ye might have done me to wit of his coming, and then an I had not done
well to him ye might have blamed me. For when he came to this court he
came leaning upon two men's shoulders, as though he might not have gone.
And then he asked me three gifts; and one he asked the same day, that was
that I would give him meat enough that twelvemonth; and the other two
gifts he asked that day a twelvemonth, and that was that he might have the
adventure of the damosel Linet, and the third was that Sir Launcelot
should make him knight when he desired him. And so I granted him all his
desire, and many in this court marvelled that he desired his sustenance
for a twelvemonth. And thereby, we deemed, many of us, that he was not
come of a noble house.</p>
<p>Sir, said the Queen of Orkney unto King Arthur her brother, wit ye well
that I sent him unto you right well armed and horsed, and worshipfully
beseen of his body, and gold and silver plenty to spend. It may be, said
the King, but thereof saw we none, save that same day as he departed from
us, knights told me that there came a dwarf hither suddenly, and brought
him armour and a good horse full well and richly beseen; and thereat we
all had marvel from whence that riches came, that we deemed all that he
was come of men of worship. Brother, said the queen, all that ye say I
believe, for ever sithen he was grown he was marvellously witted, and ever
he was faithful and true of his promise. But I marvel, said she, that Sir
Kay did mock him and scorn him, and gave him that name Beaumains; yet, Sir
Kay, said the queen, named him more righteously than he weened; for I dare
say an he be alive, he is as fair an handed man and well disposed as any
is living. Sir, said Arthur, let this language be still, and by the grace
of God he shall be found an he be within this seven realms, and let all
this pass and be merry, for he is proved to be a man of worship, and that
is my joy.</p>
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<h2> CHAPTER XXVI. How King Arthur sent for the Lady Lionesse, and how she let cry a tourney at her castle, whereas came many knights. </h2>
<p>THEN said Sir Gawaine and his brethren unto Arthur, Sir, an ye will give
us leave, we will go and seek our brother. Nay, said Sir Launcelot, that
shall ye not need; and so said Sir Baudwin of Britain: for as by our
advice the king shall send unto Dame Lionesse a messenger, and pray her
that she will come to the court in all the haste that she may, and doubt
ye not she will come; and then she may give you best counsel where ye
shall find him. This is well said of you, said the king. So then goodly
letters were made, and the messenger sent forth, that night and day he
went till he came unto the Castle Perilous. And then the lady Dame
Lionesse was sent for, thereas she was with Sir Gringamore her brother and
Sir Gareth. And when she understood this message, she bade him ride on his
way unto King Arthur, and she would come after in all goodly haste. Then
when she came to Sir Gringamore and to Sir Gareth, she told them all how
King Arthur had sent for her. That is because of me, said Sir Gareth. Now
advise me, said Dame Lionesse, what shall I say, and in what manner I
shall rule me. My lady and my love, said Sir Gareth, I pray you in no wise
be ye aknowen where I am; but well I wot my mother is there and all my
brethren, and they will take upon them to seek me, I wot well that they
do. But this, madam, I would ye said and advised the king when he
questioned with you of me. Then may ye say, this is your advice that, an
it like his good grace, ye will do make a cry against the feast of the
Assumption of our Lady, that what knight there proveth him best he shall
wield you and all your land. And if so be that he be a wedded man, that
his wife shall have the degree, and a coronal of gold beset with stones of
virtue to the value of a thousand pound, and a white gerfalcon.</p>
<p>So Dame Lionesse departed and came to King Arthur, where she was nobly
received, and there she was sore questioned of the king and of the Queen
of Orkney. And she answered, where Sir Gareth was she could not tell. But
thus much she said unto Arthur: Sir, I will let cry a tournament that
shall be done before my castle at the Assumption of our Lady, and the cry
shall be this: that you, my lord Arthur, shall be there, and your knights,
and I will purvey that my knights shall be against yours; and then I am
sure ye shall hear of Sir Gareth. This is well advised, said King Arthur;
and so she departed. And the king and she made great provision to that
tournament.</p>
<p>When Dame Lionesse was come to the Isle of Avilion, that was the same isle
thereas her brother Sir Gringamore dwelt, then she told them all how she
had done, and what promise she had made to King Arthur. Alas, said Sir
Gareth, I have been so wounded with unhappiness sithen I came into this
castle that I shall not be able to do at that tournament like a knight;
for I was never thoroughly whole since I was hurt. Be ye of good cheer,
said the damosel Linet, for I undertake within these fifteen days to make
ye whole, and as lusty as ever ye were. And then she laid an ointment and
a salve to him as it pleased to her, that he was never so fresh nor so
lusty. Then said the damosel Linet: Send you unto Sir Persant of Inde, and
assummon him and his knights to be here with you as they have promised.
Also, that ye send unto Sir Ironside, that is the Red Knight of the Red
Launds, and charge him that he be ready with you with his whole sum of
knights, and then shall ye be able to match with King Arthur and his
knights. So this was done, and all knights were sent for unto the Castle
Perilous; and then the Red Knight answered and said unto Dame Lionesse,
and to Sir Gareth, Madam, and my lord Sir Gareth, ye shall understand that
I have been at the court of King Arthur, and Sir Persant of Inde and his
brethren, and there we have done our homage as ye commanded us. Also Sir
Ironside said, I have taken upon me with Sir Persant of Inde and his
brethren to hold part against my lord Sir Launcelot and the knights of
that court. And this have I done for the love of my lady Dame Lionesse,
and you my lord Sir Gareth. Ye have well done, said Sir Gareth; but wit
you well ye shall be full sore matched with the most noble knights of the
world; therefore we must purvey us of good knights, where we may get them.
That is well said, said Sir Persant, and worshipfully.</p>
<p>And so the cry was made in England, Wales, and Scotland, Ireland,
Cornwall, and in all the Out Isles, and in Brittany and in many countries;
that at the feast of our Lady the Assumption next coming, men should come
to the Castle Perilous beside the Isle of Avilion; and there all the
knights that there came should have the choice whether them list to be on
the one party with the knights of the castle, or on the other party with
King Arthur. And two months was to the day that the tournament should be.
And so there came many good knights that were at their large, and held
them for the most part against King Arthur and his knights of the Round
Table and came in the side of them of the castle. For Sir Epinogrus was
the first, and he was the king's son of Northumberland, and Sir Palamides
the Saracen was another, and Sir Safere his brother, and Sir Segwarides
his brother, but they were christened, and Sir Malegrine another, and Sir
Brian de les Isles, a noble knight, and Sir Grummore Grummursum, a good
knight of Scotland, and Sir Carados of the dolorous tower, a noble knight,
and Sir Turquine his brother, and Sir Arnold and Sir Gauter, two brethren,
good knights of Cornwall. There came Sir Tristram de Liones, and with him
Sir Dinas, the Seneschal, and Sir Sadok; but this Sir Tristram was not at
that time knight of the Table Round, but he was one of the best knights of
the world. And so all these noble knights accompanied them with the lady
of the castle, and with the Red Knight of the Red Launds; but as for Sir
Gareth, he would not take upon him more but as other mean knights.</p>
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