Part I.
Chapter I
How Sir Gawaine Was Nigh Weary Of The Quest Of The Sangreal, And Of His
Marvellous Dream
When Sir Gawaine was departed from his fellowship he rode long without
any adventure. For he found not the tenth part of adventure as he was wont to
do. For Sir Gawaine rode from Whitsuntide until Michaelmas and found none
adventure that pleased him. So on a day it befell Gawaine met with Sir Ector
de Maris, and either made great joy of other that it were marvel to tell. And
so they told every each other, and complained them greatly that they could
find none adventure. Truly, said Sir Gawaine unto Sir Ector, I am nigh weary
of this quest, and loth I am to follow further in strange countries. One
thing marvelled me, said Sir Ector, I have met with twenty knights, fellows
of mine, and all they complain as I do. I have marvel, said Sir Gawaine, where
that Sir Launcelot, your brother, is. Truly, said Sir Ector, I cannot hear of
him, nor of Sir Galahad, Percivale, nor Sir Bors. Let them be, said Sir
Gawaine, for they four have no peers. And if one thing were not in Sir
Launcelot he had no fellow of none earthly man; but he is as we be, but if he
took more pain upon him. But an these four be met together they will be loth
that any man meet with them; for an they fail of the Sangreal it is in waste
of all the remnant to recover it. Thus as Ector and Gawaine rode more than
eight days. And on a Saturday they found an old chapel, the which was wasted
that there seemed no man thither repaired; and there they alit, and set their
spears at the door, and in they entered into the chapel, and there made their
orisons a great while, and set them down in the sieges of the chapel. And as
they spake of one thing and other, for heaviness they fell on sleep, and there
befel them both marvellous adventures. Sir Gawaine him seemed he came into
a meadow full of herbs and flowers, and there he saw a rack of bulls, an
hundred and fifty, that were proud and black, save three of them were all
white, and one had a black spot, and the other two were so fair and so white
that they might be no whiter. And these three bulls which were so fair were
tied with two strong cords. And the remnant of the bulls said among them: Go
we hence to seek better pasture. And so some went, and some came again, but
they were so lean that they might not stand upright; and of the bulls that
were so white, that one came again and no more. But when this white bull
was come again among these other there rose up a great cry for lack of wind
that failed them; and so they departed one here and another there: this
advision befell Gawaine that night.
Chapter II
Of The Vision Of Sir Ector, And How He Jousted With Sir Uwaine Les Avoutres,
His Sworn Brother
But to Ector de Maris befell another vision the contrary. For it seemed
him that his brother, Sir Launcelot, and he alit out of a chair and leapt
upon two horses, and the one said to the other: Go we seek that we shall
not find. And him thought that a man beat Sir Launcelot, and despoiled him,
and clothed him in another array, the which was all full of knots, and set
him upon an ass, and so he rode till he came to the fairest well that ever
he saw; and Sir Launcelot alit and would have drunk of that well. And when
he stooped to drink of the water the water sank from him. And when Sir
Launcelot saw that, he turned and went thither as the head came from. And in
the meanwhile he trowed that himself and Sir Ector rode till that they came
to a rich man's house where there was a wedding. And there he saw a king the
which said: Sir knight, here is no place for you. And then he turned again
unto the chair that he came from. Thus within a while both Gawaine and Ector
awaked, and either told other of their advision, the which marvelled
them greatly. Truly, said Ector, I shall never be merry till I hear tidings
of my brother Launcelot. Now as they sat thus talking they say an hand
showing unto the elbow, and was covered with red samite, and upon that hung
a bridle not right rich, and held within the fist a great candle which burned
right clear, and so passed afore them, and entered into the chapel, and then
vanished away and they wist not where. And anon came down a voice which said:
Knights of full evil faith and of poor belief, these two things have failed
you, and therefore ye may not come to the adventures of the Sangreal. Then
first spake Gawaine and said: Ector, have ye heard these words? Yea truly,
said Sir Ector, I heard all. Now go we, said Sir Ector, unto some hermit that
will tell us of our advision, for it seemeth me we labour all in vain. And
so they departed and rode into a valley, and there met with a squire which
rode on an hackney, and they saluted him fair. Sir, said Gawaine, can thou
teach us to any hermit? Here is one in a little mountain, but it is so rough
there may no horse go thither, and therefore ye must go upon foot; there shall
ye find a poor house, and there is Nacien the hermit, which is the holiest
man in this country. And so they departed either from other. And then in a
valley they met with a knight all armed, which proffered them to joust as
far as he saw them. In the name of God, said Sir Gawaine, sith I departed
from Camelot there was none proffered me to joust but once. And now, sir,
said Ector, let me joust with him. Nay, said Gawaine, ye shall not but if I
be beat; it shall not forethink me then if ye go after me. And then either
embraced other to joust and came together as fast as their horses might run,
and brast their shields and the mails, and the one more than the other; and
Gawaine was wounded in the left side, but the other knight was smitten
through the breast, and the spear came out on the other side, and so they
fell both art of their saddles, and in the falling they brake both their
spears. Anon Gawaine arose and set his hand to his sword, and cast his shield
afore him. But all for naught was it, for the knight had no power to rise
against him. Then said Gawaine: Ye must yield you as an overcome man, or else
I may slay you. Ah, sir knight, said he, I am but dead, for God's sake and of
your gentleness lead me here unto an abbey that I may receive my Creator.
Sir, said Gawaine, I know no house of religion hereby. Sir, said the knight,
set me on an horse tofore you, and I shall teach you. Gawaine set him up in
the saddle, and he leapt up behind him for to sustain him, and so came to an
abbey where they were well received; and anon he was unarmed, and received
his Creator. Then he prayed Gawaine to draw out the truncheon of the spear
out of his body. Then Gawaine asked him what he was that knew him not. I am,
said he, of King Arthur's court, and was a fellow of the Round Table, and we
were brethren sworn together; and now Sir Gawaine, thou hast slain me, and my
name is Uwaine les Avoutres, that sometime was son unto King Uriens, and was
in the quest of the Sangreal; and now forgive it thee God, for it shall ever
be said that the one sworn brother hath slain the other.
Chapter III
How Sir Gawaine And Sir Ector Came To An Hermitage To Be Confessed, And How
They Told To The Hermit Their Visions
Alas, said Gawaine, that ever this misadventure is befallen me. No force,
said Uwaine, sith I shall die this death, of a much more worshipfuller man's
hand might I not die; but when ye come to the court recommend me unto my lord,
King Arthur, and all those that be left on live, and for old brotherhood
think on me. Then began Gawaine to weep, and Ector also. And then Uwaine
himself and Sir Gawaine drew out the truncheon of the spear, and anon departed
the soul from the body. Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Ector buried him as men ought
to bury a king's son, and made write upon his name, and by whom he was slain.
Then departed Gawaine and Ector as heavy as they might for their misadventure,
and so rode till that they came to the rough mountain, and there they tied
their horses and went on foot to the hermitage. And when they were come up
they saw a poor house, and beside the chapel a little courtelage, where Nacien
the hermit gathered worts, as he which had tasted none other meat of a great
while. And when he saw the errant knights he came toward them and saluted
them, and they him again. Fair lords, said he, what adventure brought you
hither? Sir, said Gawaine, to speak with you for to be confessed. Sir, said
the hermit, I am ready. Then they told him so much that he wist well what
they were. And then he thought to counsel them if he might. Then began Gawaine
first and told him of his advision that he had had in the chapel, and Ector
told him all as it is afore rehearsed. Sir, said the hermit unto Sir Gawaine,
the fair meadow and the rack therein ought to be understood the Round Table,
and by the meadow ought to be understood humility and patience, those be the
things which be always green and quick; for men may no time overcome humility
and patience, therefore was the Round Table founded; and the chivalry hath
been at all times so by the fraternity which was there that she might not be
overcome; for men said she was founded in patience and in humility. At the
rack ate an hundred and fifty bulls; but they ate not in the meadow, for
their hearts should be set in humility and patience, and the bulls were proud
and black save only three. By the bulls is to understand the fellowship
of the Round Table, which for their sin and their wickedness be black.
Blackness is to say without good or virtuous works. And the three bulls which
were white save only one that was spotted: the two white betoken Sir Galahad
and Sir Percivale, for they be maidens clene and without spot; and the third
that had a spot signifieth Sir Bors de Ganis, which trespassed but once in
his virginity, but sithen he kept himself so well in chastity that all is
forgiven him and his misdeeds. And why those three were tied by the necks,
they be three knights in virginity and chastity, and there is no pride smitten
in them. And the black bulls which said: Go we hence, they were those which
at Pentecost at the high feast took upon them to go in the quest of the
Sangreal without confession: they might not enter in the meadow of humility
and patience. And therefore they returned into waste countries, that
signifieth death, for there shall die many of them: every each of them shall
slay other for sin, and they that shall escape shall be so lean that it shall
be marvel to see them. And of the three bulls without spot, the one shall
come again, and the other two never.
Chapter IV
How The Hermit Expounded Their Vision
Then spake Nacien unto Ector: Sooth it is that Launcelot and ye come
down off one chair: the chair betokeneth mastership and lordship which ye
came down from. But ye two knights, said the hermit, ye go to seek that ye
shall never find, that is the Sangreal; for it is the secret thing of our
Lord Jesus Christ. What is to mean that Sir Launcelot fell down off his horse:
he hath left pride and taken him to humility, for he had cried mercy loud
for his sin, and sore repented him, and our Lord hath clothed him in his
clothing which is full of knots, that is the hair that he weareth daily. And
the ass that he rode upon is a beast of humility, for God would not ride upon
no steed, nor upon no palfrey; so in ensample that an ass betokeneth meekness,
that thou sawest Sir Launcelot ride on in thy sleep. And the well whereas the
water sank from him when he should have taken thereof, and when he saw he
might not have it, he returned thither from whence he came, for the well
betokeneth the high grace of God, the more men desire it to take it, the more
shall be their desire. So when he came nigh the Sangreal, he meeked him that
he held him not a man worthy to be so nigh the holy vessel, for he had been
so befouled in deadly sin by the space of many years; yet when he kneeled
to drink of the well, there he saw great providence of the Sangreal. And for
he had served so long the devil, he shall have vengeance four and twenty
days long, for that he hath been the devil's servant four and twenty years.
And then soon after he shall return unto Camelot out of this country, and he
shall say a part of such things as he hath found. Now will I tell you what
betokeneth the hand with the candle and the bridle: that is to understand the
holy ghost where charity is ever, and the bridle signifieth abstinence. For
when she is bridled in Christian man's heart she holdeth him so short that he
falleth not in deadly sin. And the candle which sheweth clearness and sight
signifieth the right way of Jesu Christ. And when he went and said: Knights
of poor faith and of wicked belief, these three things failed, charity,
abstinence, and truth; therefore ye may not attain that high adventure of the
Sangreal.
Chapter V
Of The Good Counsel That The Hermit Gave To Him
Certes, said Gawaine, soothly have ye said, that I see it openly. Now,
I pray you, good man and holy father, tell me why we met not with so many
adventures as we were wont to do, and commonly have the better. I shall tell
you gladly, said the good man; the adventure of the Sangreal which ye and
many other have undertaken the quest of it and find it not, the cause is
for it appeareth not to sinners. Wherefore marvel not though ye fail thereof,
and many other. For ye be an untrue knight, and a great murderer, and to good
men signifieth other things than murder. For I dare say as sinful as Sir
Launcelot hath been, sith that he went into the quest of the Sangreal he slew
never man, nor nought shall, till that he come unto Camelot again, for he hath
taken upon him for to forsake sin. And nere that he nys not stable, but by
his thought he is likely to turn again, he should be next to achieve it save
Galahad, his son. But God knoweth his thought and his unstableness, and yet
shall he die right an holy man, and no doubt he hath no fellow of no earthly
sinful man. Sir, said Gawaine, it seemeth me by your words that for our sins
it will not avail us to travel in this quest. Truly, said the good man, there
be an hundred such as ye be that never shall prevail, but to have shame. And
when they had heard these voices they commended him unto god. Then the good
man called Gawaine, and said: It is long time passed sith that ye were made
knight, and never sithen thou servedst thy Maker, and now thou art so old a
tree that in thee is neither life nor fruit; wherefore bethink thee that thou
yield to Our Lord the bare rind, sith the fiend hath the leaves and the fruit.
Sir, said Gawaine, an I had leisure I would speak with you, but my fellow
here, Sir Ector, is gone, and abideth me yonder beneath the hill. Well, said
the good man, thou were better to be counselled. Then departed Gawaine and
came to Ector, and so took their horses and rode till they came to a
forester's house, which harboured them right well. And on the morn they
departed from their host, and rode long or they could find any adventure.
Chapter VI
How Sir Bors Met With An Hermit, And How He Was Confessed To Him, And Of His
Penance Enjoined To Him
When Bors was departed from Camelot he met with a religious man riding
on an ass, and Sir Bors saluted him. Anon the good man knew him that he was
one of the knights errant that was in the quest of the Sangreal. What are ye?
said the good man. Sir, said he, I am a knight that fain would be counselled
in the quest of the Sangreal, for he shall have much earthly worship that may
bring it to an end. Certes, said the good man, that is sooth, for he shall be
the best knight of the world, and the fairest of all the fellowship. But wit
you well there shall none attain it but by cleanness, that is pure confession.
So rode they together till that they came to an hermitage. And there be prayed
Bors to dwell all that night with him. And so he alit and put away his armour,
and prayed him that he might be confessed; and so they went into the chapel,
and there he was clean confessed, and they ate bread and drank water together.
Now, said the good man, I pray thee that thou eat none other till that thou
sit at the table where the Sangreal shall be. Sir, said he, I agree me
thereto, but how wit ye that I shall sit there. Yes, said the good man, that
know I, but there shall be but few of your fellows with you. All is welcome,
said Sir Bors, that God sendeth me. Also, said the good man, instead of a
shirt, and in sign of chastisement, ye shall wear a garment; therefore I
pray you do off all your clothes and your shirt: and so he did. And then he
took him a scarlet coat, so that should be instead of his shirt till he had
fulfilled the quest of the Sangreal; and the good man found in him so
marvellous a life and so stable, that he marvelled and felt that he was never
corrupt in fleshly lusts, but in one time that he begat Elian le Blank. Then
he armed him, and took his leave, and so departed. And so a little from
thence he looked up into a tree, and there he saw a passing great bird upon
an old tree, and it was passing dry, without leaves; and the bird sat above,
and had birds, the which were dead for hunger. So smote he himself with his
beak the which was great and sharp. And so the great bird bled till that he
died among his birds. And the young birds took the life by the blood of the
great bird. When Bors saw this he wist well it was a great tokening; for when
he saw the great bird arose not, then he took his horse and yede his way. So
by evensong, by adventure he came to a strong tower and an high, and there
was he lodged gladly.
Chapter VII
How Sir Bors Was Lodged With A Lady, And How He Took Upon Him For To Fight
Against A Champion For Her Land
And when he was unarmed they led him into an high tower where was a lady,
young, lusty, and fair. And she received him with great joy, and made him to
sit down by her, and so was he set to sup with flesh and many dainties. And
when Sir Bors saw that, he bethought him on his penance, and bad a squire to
bring him water. And so he brought him, and he made sops therein and ate
them. Ah, said the lady, I trow ye like not my meat. Yes, truly, said Sir
Bors, God thank you, madam, but I may eat none other meat this day. Then she
spake no more as at that time, for she was loth to displease him. Then after
supper they spake of one thing and other. With that came a squire and said:
Madam, ye must purvey you tomorn for a champion, for else your sister will
have this castle and also your lands, except ye can find a knight that will
fight tomorn in your quarrel against Pridam le Noire. Then she made sorrow
and said: Ah, Lord God, wherefore granted ye to hold my land, whereof I
should now be disherited without reason and right? And when Sir Bors had
heard her say thus, he said: I shall comfort you. Sir, said she, I shall tell
you there was here a king that hight Aniause, which held all this land in his
keeping. So it mishapped he loved a gentlewoman a great deal elder than I. So
took he her all this land to her keeping, and all his men to govern; and she
brought up many evil customs whereby she put to death a great part of his
kinsmen. And when he saw that, he let chase her out of this land, and betook
it me, and all this land in my demesnes. But anon as that worthy king was
dead, this other lady began to war upon me, and hath destroyed many of my
men, and turned them against me, that I have wellnigh no man left me; and I
have nought else but this high tower that she left me. And yet she hath
promised me to have this tower, without I can find a knight to fight with her
champion. Now tell me, said Sir Bors, what is that Pridam le Noire? Sir, said
she, he is the most doubted man of this land. Now may ye send her word that
ye have found a knight that shall fight with that Pridam le Noire in God's
quarrel and yours. Then that lady was not a little glad, and sent word that
she was purveyed, and that night Bors had good cheer; but in no bed he would
come, but laid him on the floor, nor never would do otherwise till that he
had met with the quest of the Sangreal.
Chapter VIII
Of A Vision Which Sir Bors Had That Night, And How He Fought And Overcame His
Adversary
And anon as he was asleep him befel a vision, that there came to him two
birds, the one as white as a swan, and the other was marvellous black; but it
was not so great as the other, but in the likeness of a Raven. Then the white
bird came to him, and said: An thou wouldst give me meat and serve me I should
give thee all the riches of the world, and I shall make thee as fair and as
white as I am. So the white bird departed, and there came the black bird to
him, and said: An thou wolt, serve me to-morrow and have me in no despite
though I be black, for wit thou well that more availeth my blackness than the
other's whiteness. And then he departed. And he had another vision: him
thought that he came to a great place which seemed a chapel, and there he
found a chair set on the left side, which was wormeaten and feeble. And on the
right hand were two flowers like a lily, and the one would have beyond the
other's whiteness, but a good man departed them that the one touched not the
other; and then out of every flower came out many flowers, and fruit great
plenty. Then him thought the good man said: Should not he do great folly that
would let these two flowers perish for to succour the rotten tree, that it
fell not to the earth? Sir, said he, it seemeth me that this wood might not
avail. Now keep thee, said the good man, that thou never see such adventure
befall thee. Then he awaked and made a sign of the cross in middes of the
forehead, and so rose and clothed him. And there came the lady of the place,
and she saluted him, and he her again, and so went to a chapel and heard their
service. And there came a company of knights, that the lady had sent for, to
lead Sir Bors unto battle. Then asked he his arms. And when he was armed she
prayed him to take a little morsel to dine. Nay, madam, said he, that shall
I not do till I have done my battle, by the grace of God. And so he lept upon
his horse, and departed all the knights and men with him. And as soon as
these two ladies met together, she which Bors should fight for complained her,
and said: Madam, ye have done me wrong to bereave me of my lands that King
Aniause gave me, and full loth I am there should be any battle. Ye shall not
choose, said the other lady, or else your knight withdraw him. Then there
was the cry made, which party had the better of the two knights, that his lady
should rejoice all the land. Now departed the one knight here, and the other
there. Then they came together with such a raundon that they pierced their
shields and their hauberks, and the spears flew in pieces, and they wounded
either other sore. Then hurtled they together, so that they fell both to the
earth, and their horses betwixt their legs; and anon they arose, and set hands
to their swords, and smote each one other upon the heads, that they made great
wounds and deep, that the blood went out of their bodies. For there found Sir
Bors greater defence in that knight more than he weened. For that Pridam was
a passing good knight, and he wounded Sir Bors full evil, and he him again;
but ever this Pridam held the stour in like hard. That perceived Sir Bors, and
suffered him till he was nigh attaint. And then he ran upon him more and more,
and the other went back for dread of death. So in his withdrawing he fell
upright, and Sir Bors drew his helm so strongly that he rent it from his head,
and gave him great strokes with the flat of his sword upon the visage, and bad
him yield him or he should slay him. Then he cried him mercy and said: Fair
knight, for God's love slay me not, and I shall ensure thee never to war
against thy lady, but be alway toward her. Then Bors let him be; then the old
lady fled with all her knights.