Sir Gareth of Orkney: The Key to Arthur's Kingdom

by Neil Parrish
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Rasmussen Dark times had descended on the British Isles at the beginning of the sixth century. Hordes of Saxons flowed into the countryside through the feeble eastern border, spreading carnage and death to Britons and Romans alike. As the population fled to the western highlands of Cornwall and Wales before the ruthless wave of terror, one warrior, Ambrosius Aurelianus, stood stalwart against the tide of barbarism. Gathering refugees, farmers, and warriors to himself, through the power of his example and courage he began to meld them into an army, inspiring the once timid Britons to drive the Saxon invaders back into the sea. The seed had been planted. Out of chaos and treachery a warrior had emerged; the sole Roman survivor of a Saxon raid who overcame barbarism and "made a realm and reign'd" for a period of 44 years, according to the monk Gildas' account in "On the Downfall and Conquest of Britain," written in 547 C.E. (Tennyson 35). Each generation began to add pieces to the tale, always widening its scope and influence. The Latin name Ambrosius Aurelianus was first changed to its British equivalent Arthur by the Welshman Nennius in 800, while the name Mordred wasn't added until a century later with this famed excerpt from The Annals of Cambria: "539 A.D. The Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut both fell" (Wilhelm 6). The leviathan of chivalric romance and knightly history is first reined in with Arthur at its head in 1138 by Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. The form given to the Arthurian myth by Geoffrey gives way to Chr6tien de Troyes' celebrated Arthurian Romances in the 12th century, as well as the expansive 13th century French elaborations in the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate cycles. The French renditions provided the raw material which Sir Thomas Malory later synthesized in 1469 with his work Le Morte Darthur. Since that time Malory's version of the Arthurian tale has become the standard by which the Arthurian world is understood. It has inspired and influenced countless later works, such as Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and T.H. White's The Sword and the Stone. The same tradition established by Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth has continued to the present through Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel The Mists of Avalon to Monty Python and the Holy Grail to the current film projects of both Jerry Bruckheimer and Stephen Spielberg. The legends and myths surrounding the life of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table comprise without question the most lastingly popular body of stories in the Western literary tradition. In researching my John C. Young project, I have tried to discern the reason for this unparalleled longevity by following the narrative's development over history. I believe Arthurian legend has endured so long because of its unique capacity to convey universal ideals. The body of stories concerning knighthood and chivalric behavior contains lessons about love, community, coming of age, brotherhood, and the value of family ties. At Arthur's court knights find God, love, and honor enough to satisfy the urgings of their hearts, while the principles of peace, fellowship and goodness exhibited through their actions reflect the universal hopes and dreams of all civilizations. For these reasons no other body of narrative has yet rivaled the success and fame Arthurian literature has achieved over the past 1500 years. In my presentation today I will show how the central ideals and values of the King Arthur myth have been maintained and furthered by Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur. As the focus of my commentary I have chosen but one figure out of the entire body of Arthurian material - Sir Gareth of

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Orkney, a younger brother of Sir Gawain. Although Gareth is a relatively minor character in the Arthurian tradition, I would assert that he represents a defining element of the Arthurian ideal in its purest form, more than even such better known knights as Lancelot, Arthur, Gawain, and Mordred. In Malory's Morte Darthur, Gareth embodies the commitment to the knightly fellowship as the highest of ethical values, one that is central to the story of the Round Table both in its triumph and in its fall. While Malory is the first to develop Gareth's role in the court as an ethical exemplar, the story itself is not original to him. Malory distills his depiction of Gawain's noble younger brother from the French Vulgate and Post Vulgate Cycles written over two hundred years earlier, between 1215 and 1235 A.D. These immense elaborations on early Arthurian themes and characters comprise thousands of pages, introducing hundreds of new figures and episodes to the legend. The charac ter who forms the basis for Malory's "Sir Gareth of Orkney" is one Gahariet, the younger brother to Gawainet and Agravain "The Proud," and half-brother to Mordred the "envious and deceitful [who] never loved a good knight since he first bore arms" (Vulgate III 108). Gahariet is often depicted in company with his brothers and his father King Lot, as they battle to free the newly founded realm of Saxon invaders. From amidst the entangled rivalries of his family relations, Gareth emerges as the voice of reason, often siding with the noble counsel of his older brother Sir Gawain. In the Vulgate and Post Vulgate cycles Gahariet is unjustly killed by Sir Lancelot while escorting the queen Guinevere to be burned for her treason against Arthur. Upon the foundation of this feudal material, Malory built the structure of his Morte Darthur, whose title pays tribute to the French source. Gareth appears prominently in two portions of Malory's consolidation of the sprawling French material: first, in "The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney," which details Gareth's career from his peculiar arrival at court on the shoulders of two peasants to his knighting by Sir Lancelot and marriage to Dame Lyones; and second, in "The Death of Arthur," which narrates the revelation of the love affair between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, and the resultant schism and fall of the Round Table. In both episodes Gareth emerges as the embodiment of the Arthurian ideal as a figure who places devotion to the knightly fellowship above allegiance to his family. The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney contains two main elements that highlight Gareth's utter devotion to the court and establish him as the embodiment of knightly virtue: his insistence on anonymity and his search for a substitute family within the fellowship of the court. Gareth arrives at the court on the feast of Pentecost as a herald of "strange adventures," because he is carried upon the shoulders of two servants despite being the "goodliest young man and the fairest that they all ever saw" (Malory 169). Gareth will state neither his name nor his lineage to the court despite Arthur's insistent questioning, replying simply "Sire, I cannot tell you" (Malory 170). By concealing his family name until he earns the honor already associated with it, Gareth proves himself eager to establish his own reputation. More important, however, Gareth's anonymity ensures that his personal identity be subordinate to his identity as one of Arthur's knights. Gareth's deliberate self-effacement denies the sovereignty of family ties, thus allowing him to search for a new family in the court without being bound by his name. Gareth's arrival at court and subsequent request of the king demonstrate his humble devotion to the knightly ideal and to the fellowship of Arthur's hall. As is typical of visitors to King Arthur's court, Gareth asks a boon of the king, requesting of him three unnamed gifts, only one of which he reveals at the time. Gareth's first request, however, is far from typical for a man clearly "come from men of worship," as he entreats the king for nothing but "sufficient food and drink for [a] twelvemonth" (Malory 170). Arthur is astonished that such a noble man will ask for nothing more than what the king would happily give either "friend" or "foe" (Malory 170). Despite Arthur's counsel, Gareth will ask for no more and places himself humbly under the command of Kay, Arthur's arrogant seneschal and house manager. Gareth's meager request shows his humble investment in the court because it places him on an equal level with the least of Arthur's fellowship. This subtle

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detail is characteristic of Gareth's entire demeanor, because it shows him to be unpretentious and unselfish in his motives, thus setting him apart from his older brothers Aggravain and Mordred. The conclusion of Gareth's twelve-month of self-imposed servitude occurs on the following Pentecost with the arrival of a secretive damsel, who implores the king for a knight to rescue her noble sister from the perilous Red Knight of the Red Lands. The woman refuses to reveal either her own name or that of her sister, and as a consequence no knight will take up her cause; none save one. Gareth rises from amidst the ashes of the kitchen and beseeches Arthur for his final two gifts: "Sire... allow me to have the adventure of this damosel, for it belongeth unto me" and "bid Sir Lancelot du Lake to make me a knight, for by him I will be made a knight or else by no one" (Malory 172). The manner in which Gareth poses his request is significant. In Arthur's world, God i s believed to ordain individual knights to fulfill particular quests. By making the damsel's adventure the target of his destiny Gareth has woven himself into the knightly realm upon the loom of divine intent and fulfillment. In effect, Gareth cleverly proclaims his own prowess by embracing as his duty a task that no one else would undertake, while at the same time saving face for Arthur and the court by fulfilling the damsel's request. The damsel, whose name we later learn is Lynet, is annoyed and angered by Arthur's consent, proclaiming "fie on thee... shall I have no knight but one that is your kitchen knave?" (Malory 172). Nevertheless, Gareth accompanies her, always replying to her scathing insults with the utmost courtesy and gentility. While in her service Gareth defeats an array of rebel knights, including a band of thieves, a pair of murderers, the Black, Red, Green, and Indigo knights, and finally The Red Knight of the Red Lands, Sir Ironside. Through his deeds, Gareth proves himself to be a true vassal to the king and the fellowship as a whole by defending and even expanding Arthur's realm, and by humbly relinquishing whatever he gains to the King and his court. Gareth orders all of the knights he conquers and ladies he frees to present themselves before Arthur and, when appropriate, to ask forgiveness of the king or any other member of the court whom their malice may have offended. King Arthur recognizes Gareth's fulfillment of the role of a loyal vassal, stating "I am much beholden to that knight who hath put his body in duty to bring worship to me and my court" (Malory 201). Although Gareth's anonymity allows him great freedom in the realm of knightly quests, it is impossible to maintain that anonymity in the very different world of courtly love. A knight's prowess and deeds can only take him so far with women in the Arthurian world, and although his hands and actions dictate his relations with men, his name and lineage define his relations with women. After his victory over Sir Ironside, Gareth expects to claim the lady of the castle, Dame Lyones, for his prize. His plan goes awry, however, when she pulls up the drawbridge before he can enter the castle and orders him away for the space of a twelve-month. Dame Lyones' actions are motivated solely by her ignorance of his lineage, and therefore of his worthiness to marry her. For this reason, Dame Lyones devises a plan to kidnap Gareth's dwarf, the one person other than Sir Lancelot who knows Gareth's identity. She is so concerned about the nobility of Gareth's blood that she exclaims to her brother Sir Gryngamore, "until the time that I know what his right name is and of what kindred he has come, I shall never be merry at my heart" (Malory 195). The captured dwarf soon soothes Lyones' concern by stating: I fear not greatly to tell his name and of what kin he has come. Wit ye well, he is a king's son and a queen's; his father is named King Lot of Orkney, and his mother is sister to King Arthur; he is brother to the good knight Sir Gawain, and his name is Sir Gareth of Orkney. (Malory 196)

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Lynet then confirms Gareth's gentility as equal to the height of his lineage by commenting to her sister, "well may he be a king's son, for he hath many good traits: he is courteous and mild, and the most patient man I ever met with" (Malory 196). Through his anonymous service to Arthur's court, Gareth has shown himself at last to be worthy of his family name. Not only does Gareth distance himself from his family ties by remaining anonymous throughout most of the story that bears his name, but during his time at Arthur's court he finds what amounts to a substitute family within the fellowship. Though Gareth's mother does make an appearance at court while he is off on his adventures, his father, King Lot remains strikingly absent. This family structure sets the stage for Gareth's apprenticeship under the guidance of Sir Lancelot. Just before being made a knight Gareth challenges Lancelot to combat, in order to test his strength. The challenge also serves as a means by which Gareth seeks validation from and shows his immense respect for Lancelot, the knight he holds in highest esteem. Gareth recognizes the significance of their duel with his comment, "it doth me good to feel your might," because it has given him the confidence he needs to continue his quest to become a knight, for as he indicates to Lancelot at the end of the battle, "as yet, my lord, I showed not my utmost" (Malory 173). The episode is fundamental to understanding the intensity of the bond shared between the two knights, because it shows Lancelot to be an alternate father figure for his young protg, Gareth. Lancelot assumes his role by assuring Gareth of his strength, commenting "have ye no fear of any earthly knight" (Malory 173). Gareth's questioning reply, "think ye that I can withstand a proved knight for any time," reflects the natural timidity of youth, for it seems strikingly insecure (Malory 174). Lancelot fulfills his role as a paternal figure by pledging to Gareth not only his confidence, but his physical support and allegiance as well, with his reply, "do as ye have done to me and I will be your warrant" (Malory 174). The bond established between Gareth and Lancelot continues to grow with Gareth's progression as a knight. The loyalty between the two knights stands as paramount in both their minds, causing them to join together time and again against all who might oppose them. One such episode occurs in a later section of Malory's work, "The Great Tournament," where Gareth holds with Sir Lancelot against all his brothers and the king. Upon arriving at the tournament, Gareth is the only knight other than Lancelot's kin whom Sir Bors advises of Lancelot's disguise: "I warn you, beware of him with the sleeve of gold upon his head, for he is Sir Lancelot himself' (Malory 663). This information proves vital to Gareth later in the battle when he learns that Arthur, Gawain, Gaheris, Aggravain, and Mordred, along with five other knights, are conspiring to attack Lancelot and his companion, Sir Lavayne, because of the great harm Lancelot had done against Gawain and his brothers early in the tournament. Upon learning of their conspiracy Gareth boldly declares to Sir Bors, "I will ride unto my lord Sir Lancelot to help him whatsoever happens to me" (Malory 663-664). After disguising himself Gareth charges into the field to the side of Sir Lancelot, and although he remains unknown to his lord he states, "I have come to bear you fellowship for the old love ye have shown me" (Malory 664). The united trio of knight s quickly puts the opposing ten to shame and proceed to do "such deeds of arms that all men marveled" (Malory 664). After the battle, once Arthur learns the identity of the knights who had so diligently held against him that day, Malory tells us that Arthur "blamed Sir Gareth because he left his fellowship and held with Sir Lancelot" (Malory 666). Ironically, it is the young knight Gareth who must educate the king in the dictates of the knightly code: My lord... [Lancelot] made me a knight, and when I saw him so hard pressed I thought it was to my worship to help him. For I saw him do so much that when I understood that he was Sir Lancelot du Lake, I was ashamed to see so many noble knights against him alone. (Malory 666)

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Gareth's justification for his deeds and his scorn for the unknightly actions of the king and his kin, bring Gareth ever closer to his uncle Arthur by causing the king to recognize the flaws in his own reasoning. Arthur immediately recants, stating to Gareth before the court, Ye say well, and worshipfully have ye done, and to yourself great worship. All the days of my life, wit ye well, I shall love and trust you the more. For ever it is a worshipful knight's deed to help another worshipful knight when he sees him in great danger ... and always a good man will do for another man as he would have done for himself. (Malory 666). Gareth's deeds earn him a place in the esteem of the king and his court, for as Malory tells us, "he who was courteous, true, and faithful to his friend was ... cherished" (Malory 666). By upholding the fellowship through his allegiance to Lancelot, Gareth chooses his substitute family from the Round Table over the ties of his blood and therefore embodies the principle of fellowship that unites Arthur's kingdom. The bond between Gareth and Lancelot signifies the union of the two great households of Arthur's court, the descendants of King Ban of Benwick, and those of King Lot of Orkney. Ironically, in the concluding section of Malory's work, "The Death of Arthur," it is a conflict between these very two families, culminating with Gareth's death, that destroys Arthur's kingdom and the ideal that it stands for. Malory's concluding section begins with the only two sources of pure evil in the court Mordred and Aggravain - openly proclaiming to Arthur the adulterous relations of Lancelot and Guinevere. Events begin to spin out of control as the individual weaknesses of each knight in Arthur's court are brought to bear on the entire fellowship. Mordred and Aggravain's corrup tion of the knightly code inverts what had once been a communal accumulation of honor by all members of Arthur's hall. The collapse of the courtly ideal becomes inevitable as Arthur's knights and even Arthur himself begin to place their loyalties to family, love and honor, above those of the knightly fellowship. Mordred and Aggravain are the vehicles of contagion, infecting the court and devouring from within the knightly host of the Round Table. Their betrayal is responsible for setting the fellowship's system of loyalties in motion against itself. By betraying Lancelot to the king, Aggravain and Modred entice Arthur to bypass the established judicial system. Normally, if a knight is suspected of treason or misdeed, he is charged before the court by another knight, with trial by combat serving as judge and jury for the accused. If the defending knight proves victorious, God has willed him to be the victor, removing him from all suspicion and blame. Such a system favors knights of great prowess such as Lancelot, who can easily prove themselves or their ladies innocent under any circumstance. Knowing this to be the case, Arthur beseeches Mordred: Ye all know he is the best among us all, and unless he is caught in the deed he will fight against him who bringeth up this charge; and I know no knight who is able to match him. Therefore, if it be true as ye say, I would that he were caught in the deed. (Malory 695) Arthur's decision is a failure of the knightly system of governance, as well as of Arthur's own judgment. By employing Mordred to go outside the accepted means of uncovering Lancelot's treason, Arthur has usurped the code of knightly behavior which he once established to bring peace to the realm. In the waning hours of Arthur's reign, hope survives in the strongholds of individual knights, who by their counsel, deeds, and intercessions try to reestablish the social order lost in the wake of

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Arthur's blindness. Gareth's brother, Gawain, attempts to mend the knightly code of conduct by imploring Arthur: I would counsel you not to be too hasty... for oft-times we do many things which we think are for the best, and yet peradventure they turn to the worst. (Malory 703) Despite Gawain's pleas, Malory tells us that Arthur's "heat and malice" cause him to "judg e the queen to the fire" (Malory 700). At this stage in Malory's depiction of the Round Table's decay, the damage is severe but not irreparable. The reputation of the Queen has been marred, an insult of lesser importance than the affront to knighthood itself. Nevertheless, the pillars of Arthur's courtGawain, Lancelot, and Gareth-have survived intact. Gawain and Gareth remain loathe to make war against Lancelot or to endorse the execution of the queen, and at the same time Lancelot, even in the face of accusation, remains true to his lord Arthur. Lancelot's devotion to the king furthers the parallel between him and Gareth, for just as Gareth idolizes Lancelot as his sponsor into knighthood, so too does Lancelot revere Arthur as the man who knighted him. The loyal rebellion of Lancelot and his kin is intended to be a cleansing coup, focused on protecting the queen and the entire realm by keeping Guinevere "until the anger of the king has passed" (Malory 701). Lancelot intends to cause as little damage as possible, envisioning a happy conclusion to the affair, where he and his knights have the "fortune to bring the queen back to the king, and peradventure... have thanks for bringing her home" (Malory 701). This prophecy goes unfulfilled, however, and as events spin out of control, the fate of the relatively minor knight, Gareth, comes to bear on the entire fellowship. When Arthur commands Gawain to accompany Guinevere to her execution, Gawain refuses, knowing it will put him in conflict with Lancelot, his friend and fellow knight. The stature Gawain possesses as a result of being Arthur's oldest nephew and highest in command allows him to excuse himself from the King's charge. His younger brothers Gareth and Gaheris, on the other hand, have not been in the King's service for quite as long, and therefore they are bound to obey Arthur's command despite their disagreement with it. Although they do acquiesce to the King's command, Gareth and Gaheris proceed unarmed as a way of protesting any military action against Lancelot or his kindred. This decision, while noble, proves tragic, for although, as Malory says, "there were comparatively few who would bear armor to support the death of the queen," in the heat of battle Sir Lancelot slays all the knights in the opposite party, including "Sir Gareth, the noble knight" and his brother Sir Gaheris (Malory 704-5). Gareth and Gaheris' murders are tragic accidents that occur simply because, as Malory indicates, "in full truth Sir Lancelot did not recognize them" (Malory 705) . A number of unnamed witnesses confirm this account of the events to Arthur, saying "they were slain in the commotion as Sir Lancelot pressed into the thickest of the crowd" and "as they were unarmed, he knew not whom he smote; and so unluckily they were slain" (Malory 706). The accidental nature of Gareth's death, however, does not negate the crushing impact it has on the court. In killing Gareth, Lancelot destroys the principle of ideal loyalty that their friendship has enshrined. All of the hope, optimism, and honorable intentions Lancelot evoked to justify his opposition to the King die with Gareth. No one is able to believe that Lancelot murdered Gareth intentionally, least of all Arthur and Gawain, because they realize that Gareth has always prized Lancelot's fellowship above their own. For this reason Arthur laments, "Mercy, Jesus! Why did Sir Lancelot slay Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris? For I dare say that Sir Gareth loved Sir Lancelot above all earthly men" (Malory 706). Gawain expresses similar disbelief upon hearing of his brother's murder, declaring: That I cannot believe ... that ever [Lancelot] slew my good brother Sir Gareth; for I dare say my brother loved him better than me and all his brethren and the king too. Also I dare say that if Sir Lancelot had desired my brother Sir Gareth to be with him, he would have been with him against the

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king and us all. Therefore I can never believe that Sir Lancelot slew my brother. (Malory 707) Gawain later expresses his utter shock to Lancelot himself with his fierce accusation, "thou false and recreant knight, what cause had thou to slay my good brother Sir Gareth who loved thee more than all my kin? Alas, thou made him knight with thy own hands! Why slew thou him who loved thee so well?" (Malory 710). The tragic irony of the entire affair is that Lancelot is just as pained by his actions as are Gawain and the king. Lancelot attempts to appease some of Gawain's hatred and wrath by expressing this heartfelt regret, humbly responding to Gawain's enraged questioning: To excuse myself ... helps me not at all. But by Jesus and the faith I owe to the High Order of Knighthood, I would with as much good will have slain my cousin Sir Bors de Ganys at that time. But, alas, that I was so unlucky that I did not recognize Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris! (Malory 710) This statement shows the depth of Lancelot's love for Sir Gareth by paralleling him to Sir Bors de Ganys, Lancelot's most loyal friend and best loved kinsman. This in turn highlights the tragic effects Gareth's death has not only for his own family but for the entire court as well. The blow is fatal to the Arthurian world. It ends the possibility of reconciliation between Arthur and Lancelot which Gawain had previously striven to achieve, because with Gareth dies Gawain's love for Lancelot and all his kin. If Lancelot's perverting loyalty is sexual love, then Gawain's is surely his dedication to family. Gawain was previously able to excuse the death of his brother Aggravain and his two sons, Sir Lovell and Sir Florence, at the hands of Sir Lancelot on the grounds that "they [were] the causers of their own deaths, for oft-times I warned my brother Sir Aggravain, and I told him of the perils which now have befallen" (Malory 704). Gareth's death, on the other hand causes Gawain to "go nigh out of his mind," just as Arthur had feared (Malory 706). The remorse and anger he feels causes him to vow to avenge his brothers' deaths, invoking first his oath to Arthur and secondly his faith in God: My king, my lord, and my uncle ... wit you well, now I shall make you a promise which I shall hold by my knighthood: that from this day forward I shall never fail to pursue Sir Lancelot until one of us has slain the other ... for I promise unto God, for the death of my brother Sir Gareth, I shall seek Sir Lancelot through seven kings' realms; and I shall slay him or else he shall slay me. (Malory 708) Once sworn, a man's vow is sacred in the Arthurian world, and thus Gawain's promise commits him so entirely to the destruction of Lancelot that although "the noble King Arthur would have taken his queen back and would have been accorded with Sir Lancelot... Sir Gawain would not permit him to do so by any manner or means" (Malory 711). Hearing the news of Gareth's death, Arthur faints, and when he revives his eyes are opened to the problems plaguing his court: "Alas, that I ever bore a crown upon my head, for now I have lost the fairest fellowship of noble knights that ever a Christian king held together" (Malory 706). The return of the king's senses is accompanied by his renewed understanding of the hierarchy of loyalties, which dictates his role as king to be more important than his role as a husband. And so, in some of Malory's most famous lines, Arthur laments the fall of his realm: Wit you well my heart was never so heavy as it now is. And much more am I sorry for the loss of my good knights than for the loss of my queen; for queens I may have enough, but such a fellowship of good knights shall never be together in any company. (Malory 706-7)

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It is this commitment to fellowship that Gareth has embodied, both in his life and in his death, the death of the Arthurian ideal. In conclusion, the two appearances of Gareth in Malory combine to present him as the embodiment of the ideal of knightly fellowship. In the "Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney" Gareth's humility, gentleness, and commitment to the knightly code are shown through his steadfast endurance of Lynet's savage reprisals and his victory over the knights standing in opposition to Arthur's court. At the same time through his unmoving loyalty to Lancelot, Gareth establishes himself as the sole knight of the court who prizes knightly fellowship above family ties. In "The Death of Arthur" Gareth fulfills his pledge to remain loyal to Lancelo t and also to Arthur by refusing to bear arms against his lord while still carrying out the will of the king. In a moment of ironic tragedy, however, the embodiment of commitment to the knightly fellowship is slain by the very man he is trying to preserve. In both episodes Gareth is upheld as the model of knightly virtue and the most prominent link between the two great households of King Lot of Orkney and King Ban of Benwick. For these reasons there can be no reconciliation after the death of Gareth, because through his murder the knightly code itself has been destroyed, thus setting in motion a downward spiral from which there can be no recovery.

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Works Cited
Lacy, Norris J., ed. Lancelot-Grail : The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation. Vol. 3. New York: Garland, 1993. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Ed. R.M. Lumiansky. New York: Collier Macmillan, 1982. Tennyson, Alfred. Idylls of the King. London: Penguin, 1996. Wilhelm, James J., ed. The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. New York: Garland, 1994.

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