Le Morte D'Arthur Book 17 - 21
Galahad performs marvelously in all his adventures, as he strikes down evil knights, and restores damsels to their homes. He is summoned to a castle on the seaside where a lady takes him aboard the vessel in which Percivale and Sirs Bors are traveling. The four companions then set out on the greatest part of the Quest of the Holy Grail. They arrive in a distant part of the sea where they find an abandoned ship called Faith, whose stern tells them that only the most faithful Christians can remain on the ship. At this point, the lady reveals herself to be Percivale’s sister, but all four of them decide to go aboard the ship, given their faith in God. They find a sword aboard the ship, with words etched across it. Percivale’s sister supplies the gruesome history of those unworthy souls that had thought to wear the sword. Percivale and Sir Bors are unable to grasp the sword, and Galahad is rather reluctant to do so. They see three spindles in varying colors that were meant to be a reference to the Book of Genesis.
Percivale’s sister tells him that the ship had been created by King Solomon’s wife for the last of his blood, and she had placed King David’s sword for his use. Galahad is able to wear the sword with ease, and the ship travels to the countryside of Scotland. The knights and lady perform their service to the helpless people of Scotland, which concludes with the death of Percivale’s sister as she donates her blood to save the life of a noble lady. Percivale puts her shroud on a barge, according to her last wish. The three knights separate and go to their separate quests before they all meet in Corbin.
Galahad spends nearly six months with his father, Launcelot, until he receives word that he should return to his quest. Launcelot continues to tread the path of purity, and he is rewarded by being given a glimpse of a mass performed for the angels around the Holy Grail. Launcelot falls unconscious for twenty-four days after that and awakens on the 25th day. He claims that God showed him many wondrous things, and returns to Camelot. Galahad arrives with the other two knights of the quest, and they are brought into the presence of the Holy Grail. Angels descend from heaven bearing a blood-covered spear, and the maimed King approaches Galahad. He pleads with Galahad and claims he can only be healed by Galahad’s hands. The first priest of Christianity, Joseph, descends from heaven to deliver a mass to the knights. He asks Galahad to approach him, and he sees a figure of Jesus Christ emerge from the Holy Grail.
Jesus tells Galahad that he needs to take the Grail to Sarras, where he could see the mysteries of the Sangreal in greater detail. He is told how to heal the maimed king and learns that his companion knights will accompany him though only one of them will return to relay the details of the quest. The next day, the three of them head into a vessel where the Sangreal has already been placed, and they eventually reach Sarras. They bury the tomb of Percival’s sister there as the ship brings it to them when they reach land. The king mistreats the knights, but they are shielded by the power of the Sangreal, which is eventually recognized and Galahad is made King. He creates a special place for the Holy Grail, but when he places it there, Joseph of Arimathea descends from heaven. He and the angels carry Galahad to heaven. Percivale chooses to retire to a hermitage, and he perishes there, but Sir Bors returns to bear news of their adventure to the court of King Arthur.
Launcelot stays true to his promise of remaining away from Guenever for a very long time, but he eventually succumbs to his feelings for her. All the people in the court begin to gossip, and Launcelot begins to spend more time with other ladies in the court to allay any suspicions about his relationship with Guenever. The Queen is quite displeased at this turn of events and accuses Launcelot of being dishonest with her. Launcelot claims that he is afraid of Mordred and Agravaine, both of whom are aware of their relationship and they both seem to dislike him. Guenever banished Launcelot from the kingdom, but he decides to remain close to the castle upon the advice of Sir Bors.
Guenever hosts a company of knights, but one of the knights tries to poison Gawaine through the apples, and he instead up killing another innocent knight. The knights believe that the poison had been planted by the queen, and they raise this allegation against her to the king. Arthur orders a competition of champions to determine the truth and decides that Guenever should be burnt at the stake if she is proven to be involved in the matter. Sir Bors takes the position of her champion when she begs him to do so, but he ensures that Launcelot will be the one who will show up to defend the honor of the Queen. Launcelot defeats the opposing knight in disguise and then reveals his identity at the end of the competition. Guenever regrets her callousness, and they return to their relationship. However, this relationship is once more strained when Launcelot becomes wounded in the course of a tournament that he had been fighting in disguise against Arthur’s knights. Launcelot is restored to health through the intervention of a young maiden called Elaine, who eventually dies because of her pure yet unrequited love for Launcelot. Guenever had shunned Launcelot since learning of his involvement with Elaine, but upon discovering about the death of the girl, and the reason for it, she brings him back to her bed. The narrator tells the reader that Guenver had almost remained steadfast and loyal to Launcelot.
Another test of Launcelot and Guenever appears in the form of Sir Meliagrance, a knight who had always nursed tender feelings for the queen but never exercised them due to his fear of Lancelot. Meliagrance gains an opportunity to take the Queen into his possession as she organizes a trip into the forest with a few knights of the round table. Meliagrance ambushes the queen’s party and takes her to his castle, but she manages to send word to Launcelot. The brave knight abandons everything as he storms towards the castle, and the fury of his approach is so great that Meliagrance falters at the very sight of the knight. He begs forgiveness from Guenever and asks her to shield him from Launcelot’s wrath. The Queen does so, but this angers both Launcelot and the other knights who had been wounded in her defense of Meliagrance. Launcelot and the Queen remain at Meliagrance’s castle, however, this period of bliss soon comes to an end when Meliagrance finds the stains of knight’s blood on Guenever’s bedsheets. He accuses her in front of all the knights, but Launcelot stands ready to face Meliagrance as the queen’s champion. They agree to hold such a contest in eight days, but Meliagrance sets a trap for Launcelot. Launcelot is fed by a damsel, who offers to free him if he kisses her, though he is reluctant at first, he ultimately kisses her to save Guenever.
Launcelot races back to Camelot just in time to save Guenever from being burned at the stake. Later onwards, a knight named Urre appears at King Arthur’s court and claims that he can only be healed by the greatest knight in the world. This knight turns out to be Launcelot, a realization that makes him weep with joy. A time of peace comes to King Arthur’s court, but Agravaine continues to search for a means of exposing Guenever and Launcelot.
In the month of May, Agravaine and Mordred openly discuss how dishonorable it is that they are all aware of the affair between Guenever and Launcelot, yet no one has ever dared to tell King. Gawaine and his brothers defend Launcelot’s honor as he reminds his sibling about the numerous times Launcelot has rescued them from danger and dishonor. Agravaine and Mordred are not convinced and they approach Arthur with this information, who seems very reluctant to believe anything against Launcelot. Agravaine and Mordred propose that Arthur leave for a hunting trip that night, which would certainly bring Launcelot to Guenever’s chambers. They would then ambush him with their knights, and Arthur sanctions the plan. It all works smoothly until Launcelot secures an armor, he then rushes out to escape but he also kills Agravaine in his attack. Launcelot understands that this will mean civil war, and he begins to gather knights that are loyal to him. Meanwhile, Arthur receives the report of Launcelot’s betrayal, and he proceeds to label Guenver a traitor. Guenever is sentenced to be burned at the stake, a notion that is severely opposed by Gawaine who defends Launcelot and the Queen. He refuses to be a part of the punishment, though it never takes place since Launcelot rides in and rescues her with the force of his arms. In the process, he accidentally kills the innocent Gaheris and Gareth.
Gawaine is distraught at learning of the deaths of his brothers and swears to avenge them by killing Launcelot. Arthur and Gawaine lead the offensive against Launcelot and the numerous knights that choose to support him. Launcelot tries to apologize for the killing of Gawaine’s brothers, but his words are unreciprocated by Gawaine who continues to wish him death. They meet in battle, and several knights are killed including Lionel. Arthur is ready to take Guenever back to his castle, but Gawaine wants nothing except vengeance. Finally, a letter from the pope instills a ceasefire, and Launcelot returns Guenever to Arthur’s court. He weeps as he tries to remind the king and Gawaine about their camaraderie and the nature of their bond, but all of this goes unheard due to Gawaine’s unquenchable wrath. Launcelot curses the day he had come to this court, because of the way it had all come to an end, and the whole court weeps with him. He challenges anyone to claim that Guenver had been unfaithful to Arthur, and leaves for his French nation along with several of his knights. Gawaine and Arthur organize an army and lay waste to Launcelot’s country while they hold him at the siege. Gawaine and Launcelot have regular fights, but Launcelot continues to win though he never kills Gawaine even though the angry knight refuses to yield.
King Arthur leaves Mordred in control of the kingdom, but the man grows greedy and creates fake letters that indicate Arthur’s death. He uses this calamity to gather support for his accession to the throne, and he hopes to legitimize his power by marrying Guenever. However, the Queen only pretends to be in favor of the idea and uses the first opportunity to secure herself in the Tower of London. Mordred lays siege to the tower immediately, and Arthur begins to hear reports of the siege as well as Mordred’s betrayal. He prepares a large army to retake his throne, but a lot of the lords of the land rally to support Mordred as they have grown tired of Arthur’s endless wars. A huge battle takes place as the two armies meet, and Gawaine suffers a fatal blow that kills him. He apologizes to Arthur for leading him down the path of bloody vengeance, and sends a letter to Launcelot, asking him for forgiveness and he appeals to Launcelot to assist King Arthur.
Arthur continues to fight against Mordred’s forces which are strengthened by the knights who had sided with Launcelot. Arthur receives a vision that he should halt the war for a month until Launcelot can arrive, but the signing of the treaty goes awry and both Mordred and Arthur end up mortally wounding one another. Arthur has his sword thrown into the water, but the sword is collected by an arm that suddenly comes out of the water. Arthur is then put into a barge with four women, that include the Lady of the Lake Nimue, Morgan La Fay, Queen of the Wastelands, and the Queen of Northgalis. Guenever goes to a nunnery after she learns of Arthur’s death, which causes both her and Launcelot significant pain. Guenever refuses to ever see Launcelot again since she blames her love for Lancelot to be the cause of Arthur’s death. Launcelot goes on to become a holy man like many of the other knights that had once been in service to King Arthur. Six years later, Launcelot returns to the nunnery to have the now deceased Guenever buried next to the tomb of King Arthur.
Analysis
In this final section of the book, we witness the downfall of King Arthur and the disintegration of his kingdom through a gruesome civil war. Arthur's role in the war is minimal, as it is mostly precipitated through the action of Launcelot, and Gawaine. Launcelot is guilty of being prideful as he chooses to go to Guenever on the night Arthur is away despite the warning he receives from Sir Bors. However, Agravaine and Mordred's actions in attempting to capture an unarmed Launcelot are seen as a violation of Chivalry and Honor. Eventually, Launcelot's actions in rescuing Guenever lead to make him Gawaine's greatest enemy since Launcelot kills Gawaine's brothers. The war between Launcelot and Arthur is shown to be so significant that the Pope attempts to become their peacemaker. At this point, both Arthur and Launcelot are ready to start afresh, but Gawaine's desire for vengeance continues to heighten and he prevents the establishment of peace.
Launcelot's departure from King Arthur's castle and lands is meant to be tragic, as nearly all of the knights in the court weep at his departure. Launcelot defends Queen Guenever and claims that she has always been loyal to Arthur. However, the reader is aware that Launcelot and Guenever had truly betrayed Arthur, but the author doesn't seem to see this as a violation of Launcelot's honor as a knight. Arthur leads his forces to Launcelot's land along with Gawaine to secure his vengeance, but Gawaine is unable to match Launcelot's might. Gawaine is struck down several times by Launcelot, and even though Gawaine refuses to yield, Launcelot doesn't kill him. In the end, Gawaine is killed due to the wound that he had received from Launcelot, and he forgives Launcelot as he approaches death.
