The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

King Arthur holds a feast at Carleon upon Usk. During the celebration, a messenger arrives from the west-country. King Leodegrance of Cameliard seeks Arthur’s aid in his conflict with King Ryence of North Wales. When Arthur learns that Ryence is trying to marry Guinevere to a terrible Duke, he becomes angry and storms out of the room.

Alone, Arthur thinks about how Guinevere came to him when he was wounded, furious that she might have to marry Duke Mordaunt. Arthur asks Merlin to prepare for a trip with him while Sir Ulfius and Sir Kay gather an army to aid Leodegrance at the castle Tintagalon. The next day, Arthur, Merlin, and the gathered knights travel to Tintagalon together. At Tintagalon, Arthur and Merlin walk in the garden and Arthur confesses his love for Guinevere. He asks Merlin to disguise him so he can observe Guinevere without being recognized. Merlin gives Arthur an enchanted cap, which causes Arthur to look like a country peasant.

In disguise, Arthur travels to Cameliard and admires the town. He gets a position working in Guinevere’s garden and watches her walk through the flowers frequently. One summer day, a damsel named Mellicene of the White Hand sees a knight (Arthur without his magical cap) at garden fountain from a window. When she comes outside, Arthur is in disguise again, and she asks him about the knight. Truthfully, Arthur says no one else has been near the fountain but him that day. Mellicene doubts him and threatens violence if she discovers he is lying. Mellicene tells Guinevere about seeing the knight, but Guinevere convinces her that it was a dream. Later, Mellicene sees Arthur in his knightly form again, bathing in the fountain. She brings Guinevere to the window, and Guinevere also sees Arthur without his disguise. However, by the time they come outside, Arthur has transformed back into a peasant. Guinevere interrogates him, and he gives the same truthful answer, but Arthur left his golden collar beside the fountain. When Guinevere sees it, she tells him to return it to its owner with a message that knights should not hide in ladies’ gardens.

Guinevere eventually sends for the gardener’s boy to bring her roses. When Arthur does not remove his cap in her presence, she chides him. He says he cannot remove it because his head has an ugly spot. Guinevere permits him to wear the cap, but suddenly steals it when he comes close to her. This breaks the enchantment, but Guinevere only recognizes him as the knight she aided at the hermit’s sanctuary; no one knows he is the king. She laughs, mocks him, and tells him to put the cap back on. After that, whenever she sees him in the garden, she mocks his false “ugly spot” being the reason for his cap. However, she swears everyone who saw his transformation to secrecy.

King Ryence and the Duke Mordaunt visit King Leodegrance at Cameliard, stopping just outside his castle. Leodegrance invites them in, but they are determined to stay outside in pavilions for five days, demanding Leodegrance give up his land and Guinevere. Mordaunt challenges any knight who would debate his claim to marry Guinevere. Leodegrance goes back to his castle and the court of Ryence feast in their tents.

The next day, Mordaunt rides in front of the castle, demanding knights fight him. No knights at Cameliard can match his fighting skills, so no one goes out to joust with him. Arthur hears about this, sneaks out of the garden, and takes off his magical disguise. He visits a merchant named Ralph of Cardiff and reveals that he is King Arthur. Arthur asks for a suit of armor to fight Mordaunt, and Ralph agrees to arm Arthur.

Ralph’s attendants bathe and feed Arthur before helping him get outfitted in Spanish white armor and mount his warhorse. Arthur goes to Guinevere’s garden, tells her he is about to fight Mordaunt, and asks for a token. She agrees to Arthur being her champion and gives him a pearl necklace, which he ties around his arm, overjoyed. Crowds gather on the castle walls to watch the fight. Arthur, called the White Champion for his white armor, rides out to meet Mordaunt. They joust with spears, Mordaunt’s breaks, and Arthur unhorses him. Mordaunt is unconscious for two hours. Arthur stays to make sure he is alive, then rides off into the forest, planning to leave the merchant’s armor with wood-choppers.

The narrator advises the reader to be like Arthur—to not let victory cause them to become egotistical, but always strive to make the world a better place.

Arthur rides on a beautiful summer day. The narrator reminds the reader that Arthur took Gawaine, Ewaine, Pellias, and Geraint with him to Tintagalon. Arthur finds Geraint in front of a castle entertaining damsels wearing green in a tower balcony. Arthur laughs, hides his face behind his visor, and approaches Geraint and the ladies. Geraint asks the ladies to support him in challenging the knight (not knowing it is Arthur), and they do.

Geraint asks Arthur to joust, and Arthur agrees, but only if the loser will be the servant of the winner’s lady for seven days. Once the terms are set, they joust, and Geraint’s spear breaks, but Arthur’s blow throws Geraint and his horse to the ground. Geraint draws his sword and asks Arthur to dismount and sword fight. Arthur declines and, reminding Geraint of the terms, orders him to serve Guinevere. Guinevere is only supposed to know Geraint was defeated by the knight that wears her necklace, not his true identity. Geraint rides off to Cameliard.

Arthur travels to the moorlands and finds two knights eating lunch near a windmill with the miller. While Arthur sees they are Sir Gawaine and Sir Ewaine by the crests on their armor, they do not recognize him in the Spanish armor and with his helmet closed. Gawaine challenges him, and Arthur offers the same terms as before—the loser must serve the winner for seven days. They joust, Gawaine’s spear breaks, and he falls to the ground.

Arthur declares victory, but Ewaine challenges him. They fight, Ewaine’s spear breaks, and Arthur tosses him and his saddle to the ground. Ewaine concedes, and Arthur sends both of them to serve Guinevere for seven days. Again, he only identifies himself as the knight with her necklace. Gawaine says he wants to fight again when the seven days are complete, but Arthur thinks he will not feel the same way after a week. Gawaine and Ewaine ride off to Cameliard.

Arthur rides in the forest and comes across a shield hung on an oak tree with a warning that hitting it will lead to peril for the hitter. A knight dressed all in white, like Arthur, emerges, and Arthur recognizes his crest—it is Sir Pellias. Again, Arthur’s borrowed armor keeps his identity a secret, and he requires the same terms in order to fight. After Sir Pellias’s spear breaks, and Arthur tosses him to the ground, Arthur orders him to serve Guinevere for seven days.

When the four knights arrive at Cameliard, Guinevere is amazed and overjoyed that her champion overcame such famous knights. Meanwhile, Arthur finds the wood-choppers in the forest and orders them to guard his armor. He puts back on his disguise as gardener’s boy and returns to Cameliard.

The gardener is angry at the disguised Arthur for missing work and threatens to beat him. When the gardener puts his hands on Arthur, Arthur takes him by the wrists and hits him with his own rod. The gardener is more frightened than hurt and tells Guinevere what happened. She laughs, suspecting her champion and the gardener’s boy are the same person, and says she will deal with the gardener’s boy.

Guinevere walks in the garden with the four knights Arthur sent to serve her. She mocks the gardener’s boy for always wearing his cap and having an ugly spot on his head. However, she does not permit Gawaine to forcefully remove the cap. Duke Mordaunt, recovered from his injuries, returns to riding in front of the castle in armor. His new challenge is for him and six knights to face seven knights representing Leodegrance. If seven knights do not face him and his comrades in arms, he will take Guinevere, as well as castles on the borderlands of North Umber.

Leodegrance, unaware of how to contact the White Knight (Arthur in disguise), locks himself in his chambers. Guinevere asks the knights that are serving her to fight Mordaunt. However, they say only Arthur can order them to fight on behalf of another king. Guinevere calls Gawaine a coward, he storms off, and Guinevere cries in her room.

Arthur witnesses these events and finds the gardener. He orders the gardener to take the necklace to Guinevere and tell her to order the knights to become his servants instead of hers. The gardener goes to her and relays this request. The necklace confirms her suspicions that the White Knight and gardener’s boy are the same person, so Guinevere orders the knights to serve the gardener’s boy a meal and then remain in his service.

Gawaine, furious, plans to serve the gardener’s boy a meal, then slay him, and bring his head to Guinevere, still unaware of the true identity of the gardener’s boy. After the meal, Arthur orders the knights to get dressed in their armor and meet him at the castle gate. They oblige while threatening violence. Arthur leads them deep into the woods and reveals his identity. The knights, shocked and ashamed of threatening their king, fall to their knees in front of Arthur. He laughs and orders them back on their horses. As they ride together to fetch the white Spanish armor, he tells them about his adventures.

The next day, Duke Mordaunt, six of his knights, seven heralds, and seven squires ride in front of Cameliard as King Ryence’s court cheers. King Leodegrance hides in his chambers, and Guinevere tries to reassure him that her champion will come to fight. Arthur (disguised as the White Knight), Gawaine, Ewaine, Geraint, and Pellias arrive, and a crowd in the castle, including Leodegrance and Guinevere, cheers for them.

Mordaunt insists on knowing the White Knight’s identity before fighting him. Gawaine identifies himself and says the White Knight is of a higher status than Mordaunt. Mordaunt tries to complain that only five knights have arrived to oppose his party, but Gawaine insults him and they prepare to joust. In the first pass, Mordaunt and two of his knights are thrown from their horses. Arthur kills Mordaunt with his spear, then retires from the fight, ordering the other knights to finish off Mordaunt’s knights. Gawaine hits Sir Dinador of Montcalm, almost unhorsing him. Dinador flees from the battle, and the other two knights follow him. Arthur’s knights chase them through the tents of Ryence’s court and out of the town. The people of Cameliard cheer as Arthur and his knights ride back into town.

Arthur returns the suit of white armor to the merchant and says payment of gold for the armor rental will arrive the next day. Then, Arthur puts on the cap and returns to Guinevere’s garden. King Ryence, furious, leaves with his court. Guinevere walks in her garden with Gawaine and Ewaine, and they are unsure of what to do when she mocks the gardener’s boy now that they know it is Arthur. Gawaine refuses to try to take his cap at her request.

A messenger from Ryence comes to Leodegrance, demanding he deliver the White Knight and the lands on the border of North Wales. Leodegrance refuses, and the messenger says Ryence will take these things by force. After the messenger leaves, Leodegrance has Guinevere meet him in his chambers. There, he privately asks her who her White Champion is, and she replies that she does not know, but to send for the gardener’s boy.

Arthur, in disguise, arrives with his knights. Leodegrance asks him to remove his cap, and he refuses. When Guinevere asks him to, he does, and Leodegrance recognizes him as King Arthur. As Leodegrance kneels before Arthur, Guinevere feels ashamed for the jokes she made about the magic cap. Arthur asks if he has won her favor as her champion, she says yes, and they kiss.

Ryence begins the war, and he is met by the army that Kay and Ulfius gathered at Arthur’s request. Ryence loses and retreats into the mountains. The people of Cameliard celebrate with Arthur and his men and, during a feast, Leodegrance asks what Guinevere’s dowry should be. Arthur asks Merlin, and Merlin describes the magic Round Table he made for Uther-Pendragon, suggesting it is the best dowry. Leodegrance agrees to this dowry. Merlin and the narrator both prophecy that the Round Table will be filled with the best knights of all time.

In the fall, the people of Camelot prepare for Arthur and Guinevere’s wedding. On the day of the ceremony, Arthur rides out to meet Guinevere and her escort. When he reaches her, he kisses her on the cheek, and everyone rejoices. They travel together to the castle where everyone gets settled in their apartments. At noon, they are married by the Archbishop in the cathedral and celebrate with a giant wedding feast.

Later that afternoon, Merlin creates a magical pavilion around the Round Table at Camelot. One of the 50 seats at the table magically reveals the words “Arthur, King.” Across from that seat, Merlin explains, is the Seat Perilous, which will only seat one person and kill anyone else who tries to sit in it. Merlin says there are 32 knights who can sit at the table at this time, and Arthur orders him to gather these knights. The first knight Merlin finds whose name magically appears on the table is Pellinore. Then Merlin brings the other knights to the table, including Gawaine, Ewaine, Ulfius, Kay, and Pellias, and their names also magically appear. However, the spot to the right-hand side of Arthur’s seat is empty, and Merlin foresees that a knight to fill that spot will appear soon.

The Archbishop blesses all of the seats at the Round Table. The knights all raise their swords and recite a covenant that describes chivalric codes of behavior. Then they eat bread and drink wine together at the table, with a prayer to God.

The narrator includes a short conclusion at the end of this book. He calls writing it a joy and looks forward to the next book about other members of Arthur’s court.