Arthurian Romances (86 page)

My lord Gawain carefully inspected the hall from top to bottom and from every side. When he had seen it all, he called to the boatman and said: ‘Good host, I don't see anything here that would make one fear to enter this
hall. Now tell me what you meant when you warned me so insistently not to come and see it. I wish to sit and rest a little upon this bed, for I've never seen such a splendid one.'

‘Ah, my dear lord! May God keep you from going near that place! If you do approach it, you'll die the most horrible death that any knight ever experienced.'

‘Good host, then what should I do?'

‘What, sir? I'll tell you, since I see you're eager to stay alive. When you decided to come to this place, I asked you for a boon before we left my house, but you didn't know what it was. Now I wish to collect the boon: you are to return to your land and tell your friends and the people of your country that you've seen a hall more splendid than any you know, more splendid than anyone knows!'

‘Though you seem to be saying this for my benefit, good host, still it would be like admitting I had lost God's favour and been disgraced as well. But nothing will prevent me from sitting on the bed and seeing the maidens I beheld last evening leaning out over those window-ledges.'

Like a man drawing back to deliver a harder punch, the boatman replied: ‘You'll not see a one of those maidens you've mentioned! Go back out, now, just as you entered, for no good at all will come to you in seeing them; yet, so help me God, the damsels, the queens, and the ladies who are in those rooms can see you even now through these glass windows.'

‘By my faith,' said my lord Gawain, ‘at least I'll sit upon the bed if I cannot see the maidens, because I do not believe that such a bed was made except for a worthy man or noble lady to lie upon; so by my soul I'll sit upon it, whatever the outcome may be!'

When the boatman saw he was unable to stop him, he said no more; but he could not bear to remain in the hall long enough to watch him sit upon the bed, so he went on his way saying: ‘My lord, I'm very distressed and saddened you must die, for no knight has ever sat upon this bed and lived, because it is the Bed of Marvels, whereon no one sleeps or dozes or rests or sits and then arises alive and well. It is a great pity that you will offer your life in pledge without hope of ransom or recovery. Since neither affection nor argument can persuade you to leave this place, may God have mercy on your soul, for my heart could never bear it were I to see you die.'

With that he departed from the great hall. And my lord Gawain sat upon the bed in his full armour, with his shield strapped over his shoulders. As he sat down the cords screeched and all the bells rang, filling the whole hall with noise. All the windows flew open, and the wonders were revealed and
the enchantments appeared, for bolts and arrows flew in through the windows and more than five hundred struck my lord Gawain's shield yet he did not know who had attacked him! The enchantment was such that no one could see from which direction the bolts came, nor the archers who shot them. And you can well imagine the great racket made by the stretching of so many crossbows and longbows. At this moment my lord Gawain would have given a thousand marks not to have been there. But in an instant the windows closed again without anyone touching them, and my lord Gawain began to pull out the bolts that were stuck in his shield, several of which had wounded his body and caused the blood to gush forth. Before he had pulled them all out, he was subjected to another trial: a peasant struck a door with a club, and the door opened and a very ravenous, strong, fierce, and astonishing lion leapt from a room through the door and attacked my lord Gawain with great viciousness and savagery; it thrust its claws full length into my lord Gawain's shield as if it were wax and drove him to his knees. But he jumped up at once and drew his trustworthy sword from his scabbard and struck such a blow that he cut off its head and both forepaws. My lord Gawain was delighted to see both its paws hanging to his shield by the claws – he could see the paws on one side and the claws sticking through on the other.

After killing the lion, he sat back down upon the bed and his host returned to the hall with a beaming face, found him sitting on the bed and said: ‘Sir, I assure you you have nothing more to fear. Remove all your armour, because the marvels of the great hall have been for ever stilled by your coming here. You will be served and honoured by young and old herein, may God be praised!'

At that floods of squires came up, all very handsomely clad in tunics; they all fell to their knees saying: ‘Dear good kind sir, we offer you our services; you are the one we have long been awaiting and hoping for, though it seems that you have been a very long time coming to us.'

Immediately one of them came forward and began to remove his armour, and others went to stable his horse, which was still outside. And as he was removing his armour, a very beautiful and attractive maiden, who had a golden band upon her head and whose hair was as blonde as gold, or more so, entered the room. Her face was white, and Nature had highlighted it with a pure and rosy tint. The maiden was very graceful, beautiful and elegant, tall and erect; and she was followed by other very noble and beautiful maidens. And there came a single young squire, who had a robe over his shoulders, a cloak, mantle, and surcoat. The mantle was lined in
ermine and sable that was black as mulberries, and the outside was of splendid red material. My lord Gawain marvelled at the maidens he saw approaching, and could not stop himself from leaping to his feet to greet them, saying: ‘Welcome, fair maidens!'

And the one who came first bowed to him and said: ‘Good noble lord, my lady the queen sends you greetings and has ordered all her people to consider you their rightful lord and told one and all to come and serve you. I offer you my service before all others without deceit, and these maidens coming here all consider you their lord, for they have long hoped for your coming. Now they are happy to behold the best of all gentlemen. Sir, there is nothing more to say, for we are all prepared to serve you.'

With these words they all knelt down and bowed to him, for they had all pledged themselves to his service and glory. He had them arise at once and be seated, for they were very delightful to behold not only because they were beautiful but more especially because they had made him their prince and their lord. He was happier than he had ever been for the honour God had bestowed upon him.

Then the maiden came forward, and said: ‘My lady sends you this robe to put on before she sees you, because she believes, being filled as she is with courtesy and wisdom, that you have undergone great sufferings and tribulations. So put it on, and see if it is a good size for you, because it is prudent to dress warmly against the cold after the heat of exercise, lest one become numb and chilled. That is why my lady the queen sends you an ermine robe: so that the cold won't harm you, for blood congeals in the veins when a man shivers after the heat of exercise, just as water turns to ice.'

And my lord Gawain replied like the most courteous man in the world: ‘May the all-perfect Lord save my lady the queen, and you too, for your kind words, your courtesy, and your charm. I believe the lady who has such a courteous messenger must be wise indeed; she is well aware of what a knight needs and requires when she sends me a robe to wear, and I thank her for it. Please thank her sincerely for me.'

‘I assure you I shall gladly do so,' said the maiden. ‘And while you are waiting, you may dress and gaze out over the countryside through these windows; or, if you like, you can climb up into this tower to observe the forests, plains, and rivers until I have returned.'

With that the maiden departed. My lord Gawain dressed himself in the very costly robe and fastened the neck with a clasp that was hanging at the collar. Then he wished to see the view from the tower. Accompanied by the boatman, he climbed a spiral staircase along the wall of the vaulted hall
until they reached the top of the tower and could see the surrounding countryside, which was more beautiful than words can describe.

My lord Gawain gazed at all the rivers and flatlands, and the forests full of wild game; then he looked at the boatman and said: ‘Dear host, so help me God, I'd love to stay here to go hunting and shooting in these nearby forests.'

‘My lord, you'd do well to speak no more of this,' said the boatman, ‘for I've often heard it told that it was vowed and determined that the man so dearly loved by God that the people of this castle proclaimed him their master and lord and protector would never again, whether rightly or wrongly, be able to leave this manor. Therefore you must not speak of hunting or shooting. Here is where you'll stay: you'll never leave this castle again.'

‘Dear host,' he said, ‘speak no more of this! You'll drive me out of my mind if I hear you say that again! So help me God, I could no more live here for seven days than for seven score years if I didn't have the opportunity to leave whenever I wanted.'

At that he came down and went back into the great hall very angry and upset; he sat back down upon the bed with a sorrowful and downcast face, until the maiden who had been there before returned. When my lord Gawain saw her, he stood up to meet her and greeted her at once, though he was still ill-tempered. She saw that his words and countenance were greatly altered, and it certainly appeared from his face that something had vexed him; but she did not dare to reveal that she knew, and said: ‘Sir, whenever you please my lady will come to see you. The dinner is prepared and you can eat, if you wish, either down here or up there.'

My lord Gawain replied: ‘My fair one, I don't wish to eat. May I be cursed if I eat or have any pleasure before I've heard other news, which I really need to hear to cheer me up.'

Much abashed, the maiden returned at once to the queen, who motioned to her and asked: ‘What news, sweet granddaughter? In what state, in what mood, did you find the good lord whom God has given us?'

‘Ah, my lady, honoured queen, my heart is mortally wounded because the only words one can elicit from the noble and high-born knight are words of wrath and anger. Nor can I tell you the reason why, for he didn't tell me, I don't know, and I didn't dare ask him. But I can well assure you that the first time I saw him today I found him so polite, so talkative, so happy that I couldn't hear enough of his words or see enough of his handsome face. But all of a sudden he is so changed that I think he'd rather be dead, for everything he hears annoys him.'

‘Don't worry, granddaughter, for he'll calm down completely as soon as he sees me: no matter how great the anger in his heart, I'll swiftly banish it and put great joy in its place.'

Then the queen stirred and came into the great hall, along with the other queen who was delighted to accompany her, and after them trailed a good hundred and fifty damsels and at least as many squires. As soon as my lord Gawain saw the queen coming hand in hand with the other queen, his heart guessed and told him that this was the queen about whom he had heard tell. This was easily divined from the sight of the white tresses that hung down over her hips; and she was clad in a white-silk gown with golden flowers, delicately woven. As soon as my lord Gawain saw her he was not slow to approach her.

He greeted her and she him, saying: ‘Sir, after you, I am lady of this palace. I yield you its lordship, for you have well merited it. But are you from the household of King Arthur?'

‘My lady, I am indeed.'

‘And are you, I'd like to know, one of the knights of the king's watch, who have done so many deeds of prowess?'

‘I am not, my lady.'

‘As you say. Then tell me, are you a Knight of the Round Table, one of the most highly esteemed in the world?'

‘My lady,' he answered, ‘I wouldn't dare say that I'm one of the most esteemed. I don't count myself among the best, nor do I think I'm one of the worst.'

And she replied: ‘Noble sir, these are courteous words I hear, when you don't accord yourself the praise due the best, nor the blame due the worst. But tell me now about King Lot: how many sons did he have by his wife?'

‘Four, my lady.'

‘Tell me their names.'

‘My lady, Gawain is the eldest; the second is Agravain, the Proud Knight with strong hands; Gaheris and Gareth are the names of the last two.'

And again the queen spoke: ‘Sir, as God is my support, it seems to me those are indeed their names. Would to God they were all here with us now! Tell me now, do you know King Urien?'

‘Yes, my lady.'

‘Does he have a son at court?'

‘Yes, my lady, two highly renowned sons. One is called my lord Yvain, the courteous and well-mannered: I find him so wise and courteous that it makes me happier all day long when I can see him in the morning. And the
other is also called Yvain, but he's not his full brother, so they call him the Bastard, and he defeats all knights who oppose him in battle. At court they are both very noble, very wise, and very courteous.'

‘Good sir,' said she, ‘and how goes it with King Arthur now?'

‘Better than he ever was before: he's healthier, happier, and stronger.'

‘Upon my word,' she said, ‘that's not surprising, for he's still a child, King Arthur. If he's a hundred, he's no more; he couldn't be a day over that. But there is still more I'd like to learn from you: please tell me about the bearing and comportment of the queen, if it's not too much trouble.'

‘Indeed, my lady, she is so courteous and so beautiful and so full of wisdom that God never made a land or region where so wise a lady could be found. No lady has been so esteemed since God formed the first woman from Adam's rib. And she is so acclaimed by right: just as the wise master instructs the little children, so my lady the queen teaches and instructs everyone, for every good thing has its source and origin in her. It is impossible for anyone to depart unhappy from my lady, for she knows each person's worth exactly and what must be done in order for her to please him. No man behaves well or honourably without having learned it from my lady, and no man, however miserable, leaves my lady's presence sad.'