Arthurian Romances (11 page)

The tunic was very expensive, but in truth the mantle was, to my knowledge, worth not a bit less. No ribbons had yet been placed upon it, for both the tunic and the mantle were still brand-new. The mantle was superbly fine: at the collar there were two sables, and an ounce of gold in the fasteners; on one side there was a jacinth, and a ruby on the other, brighter than a burning carbuncle. The lining was of white ermine – never was a finer or more elegant one to be seen or found. The rich cloth was meticulously worked with different criss-cross designs – violet and red and indigo, white and green, blue and yellow. The queen requested some ribbons made from five ells of silken thread wound round with gold. When the beautiful and ornately prepared ribbons were brought to her, she had them attached at once to the mantle by a man who was a past master at his craft.

When there was no more to be done on the mantle, the generous and noble lady embraced the maiden with the white dress and spoke generously to her: ‘My damsel, I order you to replace this meagre dress with this tunic, which is worth more than a hundred marks of silver. I wish to honour you in this manner. Now put this mantle on over it; another time I shall give you more.'

The maiden did not refuse it: she took the clothes and thanked her for
them. Two maidens led her away to a secluded room; then she removed her old dress, for she no longer cared a straw for it. She then put on her tunic and tightened it, girded herself with a rich band of orphrey, and ordered that her old dress be given away, for the love of God; then she put on the mantle. Now she looked far from dispirited for this attire suited her so well that she became even more beautiful. The two maidens braided her golden hair with a thread of gold, but her hair shone more brightly than the golden thread, fine as it was. A golden chaplet, wrought with flowers of many different colours, was placed on her head by the maidens. As best they could, they undertook to adorn her in such a way that nothing could be improved. Two clasps of inlaid gold, set upon a topaz, were placed at her neck by one maiden. Now she was so pleasing and beautiful that I believe her equal could not be found in any land, however much one might seek, so well had Nature fashioned her.

Then she left the room and came to the queen. The queen welcomed her warmly: she loved her and was pleased with her because she was beautiful and well-bred. They took one another by the hand and came before the king, and when the king saw them he rose to meet them. So many knights there rose to greet them when they entered the hall that I could not name the tenth part, nor the thirteenth nor the fifteenth, but I can tell you the names of some of the noblest barons among those of the Round Table, who were the best in the world.

Before all the good knights Gawain must be the first, second Erec, son of Lac, and third Lancelot of the Lake;
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Gornemant of Gohort the fourth; and the fifth was the Fair Coward. The sixth was the Ugly Hero; the seventh Meliant de Liz; the eighth Mauduit the Wise; the ninth Dodinel the Wildman; let Gaudelu be counted tenth, for in him were many good qualities. The others I shall tell you without numbers, because the numbering encumbers me. Yvain the Valiant
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was seated further on; on another side Yvain the Bastard, and Tristan, who never laughed, was seated by Blioberis. Afterwards came Caradué Short-arm, a most entertaining knight, and Caveron de Roberdic, and the son of King Quenedic, and the youth of Quintareus, and Yder of the Sorrowful Mountain, Galerïet and Kay of Estral, Amauguin and Galet the Bald, Girflet, son of Do – and Taulas, who never tired of bearing arms, and a vassal of great courage, Loholt, the son of King Arthur, and Sagremor the Unruly – he must not be forgotten, nor Bedoier the constable, who knew much of chess and backgammon, nor Bravaïn, nor King Lot, nor Galegantin the Welshman.

When the beautiful stranger saw all the knights gathered round looking
fixedly at her, she bowed her head: she was embarrassed, and no wonder. Her face became red, but modesty suited her so well that she became even more beautiful. When the king saw that she was embarrassed, he did not wish to draw away from her; he took her gently by the hand and seated her beside him at his right. At his left the queen took her seat and said to the king: ‘My lord, as I think and believe, anyone should be welcome at court who can win such a beautiful lady by deeds of arms in another land. We did well to wait for Erec; now you can bestow the kiss upon the most beautiful damsel in the court. I think no one will take it ill; no one without lying will ever be able to say that this is not the most beautiful of the maidens present here and of those in all the world.'

The king replied: ‘This is no lie. Unless someone challenges me, I shall give the honour of the white stag to her.' Then he said to the knights: ‘My lords, what do you say? How does it seem to you? This damsel, in both body and face, and in all that befits a maiden, is the most gracious and beautiful that may be found, it seems to me, this side of where heaven and earth meet. I say that it is absolutely right that she should have the honour of the stag. And you, my lords, what do you wish to say? Have you any objection to this? If anyone wishes to oppose this, let him now say what he thinks. I am the king, and I must not he nor consent to any villainy or falsity or excess; I must preserve reason and rightness, for a loyal king ought to maintain law, truth, faith, and justice. I would not wish in any way to commit disloyalty or wrong, no more to the weak than to the strong; it is not right that any should complain of me, and I do not want the tradition or the custom, which my line is bound to uphold, to fall into disuse. Rightly you should be aggrieved if I sought to impose upon you another tradition and other laws than those held by my father the king. Whatever may befall me, I want to preserve and uphold the tradition of my father Pendragon, who was king and emperor. Now give me your opinions; let no one be slow to say truly whether this maiden is the fairest of my court and should by right have the kiss of the white stag: I want to know the truth.'

All cried out with a single voice: ‘In God's name, sire, and by His cross, you can indeed rightly adjudge that she is the most beautiful; in her there is far more beauty than there is brightness in the sun. You may freely kiss her; we all concede it with one voice.'

When the king heard that it pleased everyone, he would not postpone kissing her: he turned towards her and embraced her. The maiden was not foolish and she wished the king to kiss her; she would have been uncourtly
had she been diffident. In the sight of all his barons, the king kissed her like a gentleman and said to her: ‘My sweet friend, I give you my love without villainy; without wickedness and without folly I shall gladly love you.' Through such an adventure the king re-established the tradition and the propriety of the white stag at his court. Here ends the first movement.
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When the kiss of the stag had been bestowed according to the tradition of the land, Erec, like a courtly and generous man, was concerned for his poor host: he did not want to neglect his promised undertaking to him. He kept his promise very well, for he immediately sent him five packhorses, rested and well-fleshed, loaded with clothing and cloth, with buckram and scarlet, with gold marks and silver bullion, vair and miniver and sable and precious oriental fabrics. When the horses were loaded with everything a gentleman needs, Erec sent ten knights and ten servants from his household and retinue to accompany the horses, and repeatedly begged them to bear greetings to his host and show him and his wife the same great honour as they would to himself; and when they had presented them with the horses they were leading – the gold, the silver, and the bezants and all the rich clothes that were in the trunks – then they should escort, with great honour, both the lady and the lord to his kingdom in Estre-Gales.

He had promised them two castles, the most beautiful and the best situated in all his land and the ones that least feared attack: one was called Montrevel; the other was named Roadan. When they entered his kingdom, Erec's men would cede these two castles to them, with their revenues and jurisdictions, just as he had promised them. They arranged matters just as Erec had ordered: the messengers immediately presented his host with the gold and the silver and the horses and the clothes and the deniers, of which there was a great abundance, for they did not care to delay. They led them to Erec's kingdom and showed them great honour. They arrived there in three days and delivered to them the keeps of the castles, for King Lac did not oppose it. He joyously welcomed and greatly honoured them; he loved them because of his son Erec. He ceded the castles to them and had both knights and burghers engage by oath and swear that they would hold them as dear as their rightful lords. When this had all been arranged, the messengers returned to their lord Erec. He received them warmly, asking them for news of the vavasour and his wife, and of his father and the kingdom; they told him good and pleasing news.

It was not long after this that the date arrived that had been set for Erec's marriage. The waiting greatly tormented him; he did not want to delay or
wait any more. He went to ask the king's permission for the marriage to be performed at his court, if it did not displease him. The king granted him the boon, and throughout his kingdom sent for kings, dukes, and counts, those who held land for him, declaring that none should be so bold as to be absent at Pentecost. None dared to stay behind or to fail to come quickly to court, once they had received the king's summons.

Now listen to me, and I shall tell you who the counts and the kings were. Count Branles of Gloucester came with a very rich entourage, leading a hundred horses; then came Menagormon, who was lord of Eglimon; and the lord of the High Mountain came with a very rich company. The Count of Traverain came with a hundred of his companions; then came Count Godegrain, who brought along no fewer. With those you have heard me name came Moloas, a powerful baron, and the lord of the Isle of Glass. No one ever heard thunder there; neither lightning nor tempest strikes, nor dwells any toad or serpent, and the weather is not too hot nor is there any winter.

And Greslemuef of Estre-Posterne brought with him twenty companions, and his brother Guingamar came, lord of the Isle of Avalon. Of him we have heard tell that he was the friend of Morgan le Fay,
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and it was the proven truth. David of Tintagel came, who never felt anger nor sorrow. There were many counts and dukes, but there were even more kings. Garras, a fierce king of Cork, came with five hundred knights clad in costly silks, mantles, and stockings and fitted tunics. On a Cappadocian horse came Aguiflez, the king of Scotland, and he brought both his sons with him, Cadret and Quoi, two greatly dreaded knights. With those that I have named for you came King Ban of Ganieret, and all who were with him were young squires; they had neither beards nor moustaches. He brought many jovial people; he had two hundred in his household, and every one of them, whatever he might be, had a falcon or a tercel, a merlin or a sparrow-hawk, or a goshawk, red or moulted.

Quirions, the old king of Orcel, brought no young men along, but rather had two hundred companions, the youngest of whom was a hundred years old. Their heads were hoary and white and they had beards down to their waists, for they had lived a long time; King Arthur held them very dear. The lord of the dwarves came next, Bilis, king of the Antipodes. The man of whom I'm speaking was indeed a dwarf and full brother of Bliant. Bilis was the smallest of all the dwarves, and Bliant his brother the largest of all the knights in the kingdom by half a foot or a full hand-breadth. To display his power and authority Bilis brought in his company two kings who were
dwarves, who held their land by his consent, Gribalo and Glodoalan; people looked at them with wonder. When they had arrived at court, they were very cordially welcomed; at court all three were honoured and served like kings, for they were very noble men.

When King Arthur finally saw his baronage assembled, he was very happy in his heart. Then, to increase the joy, he ordered a hundred youths to bathe, for he intended to make them all knights. Each received a shimmering gown of rich Alexandrian silk, just as he desired, according to his wish and taste. They all had matching armour and swift, trim horses; even the worst was well worth a hundred pounds.

When Erec received his wife, she had to be named by her proper name, for unless a woman is called by her proper name she is not married. People did not yet know her name, but now they learned it for the first time: Enide was the name given her at baptism. The archbishop of Canterbury, who had come to court, blessed them as was fitting and proper.

When all the court was assembled, every minstrel in the land who knew any kind of entertainment was present. In the hall there was great merriment; each contributed what he could: one jumped, another tumbled, another performed magic, one told stories, another sang, one whistled, another played, this one the harp, that one the rote, this one the flute, that one the reed pipe, the fiddle or the vielle. Maidens performed rounds and other dances, each trying to outdo the other in showing their joy. Nothing that can contribute to joy or draw the heart of man to happiness was absent from the wedding that day. There is the resonance of tambourines and drums, musettes, flutes and panpipes, and trumpets and reed pipes.

What should I say of the rest? No wicket or door was closed: the entrances and exits were all wide open that day; neither poor man nor rich was turned away. King Arthur was not parsimonious; he ordered the bakers, cooks, and wine-stewards to serve bread, wine, and game in great quantity to each person – as much as he wished. No one requested anything, whatever it might be, without receiving all he wanted.

There was great joy in the palace, but I will spare you the rest of it, and you shall hear the joy and pleasure that were in the bedroom and the bed on that night when they were to unite; bishops and archbishops were present. At the first union Enide was not stolen away, nor was Brangain put in her place.
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The queen took charge of the preparations and the bedding for them, for she dearly loved them both.