
Le Morte D’Arthur
King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table

<<STOP>>by Thomas Malory


<<STOP>>IN TWO VOLS.—VOL. <<STOP>>I


<<STOP>>Contents

 <<STOP>>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
 PREFACE OF WILLIAM CAXTON

 <<STOP>>BOOK I.

 <<STOP>>CHAPTER I. First, How Uther Pendragon sent for the duke of Cornwall
 and Igraine his wife, and of their departing suddenly again.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How Uther Pendragon made war on the duke of Cornwall, and
 how by the mean of Merlin he lay by the duchess and gat Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>Of the birth of King Arthur and of his nurture.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>Of the death of King Uther Pendragon.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Arthur was chosen king, and of wonders and marvels of a
 sword taken out of a stone by the said Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How King Arthur pulled out the sword divers times.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How King Arthur was crowned, and how he made officers.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How King Arthur held in Wales, at a Pentecost, a great
 feast, and what kings and lords came to his feast.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>Of the first war that King Arthur had, and how he won the
 field.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How Merlin counselled King Arthur to send for King Ban and
 King Bors, and of their counsel taken for the war.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>Of a great tourney made by King Arthur and the two kings
 Ban and Bors, and how they went over the sea.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How eleven kings gathered a great host against King
 Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>Of a dream of the King with the Hundred Knights.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How the eleven kings with their host fought against
 Arthur and his host, and many great feats of the war.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>Yet of the same battle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>Yet more of the same battle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>Yet more of the same battle, and how it was ended by
 Merlin.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How King Arthur, King Ban, and King Bors rescued King
 Leodegrance, and other incidents.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX. <<STOP>>How King Arthur rode to Carlion, and of his dream, and
 how he saw the questing beast.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XX. <<STOP>>How King Pellinore took Arthur's horse and followed the
 Questing Beast, and how Merlin met with Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXI. <<STOP>>How Ulfius impeached Queen Igraine, Arthur's mother, of
 treason; and how a knight came and desired to have the death of his
 master revenged.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXII. <<STOP>>How Griflet was made knight, and jousted with a knight

 <<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIII. <<STOP>>How twelve knights came from Rome and asked truage for
 this land of Arthur, and how Arthur fought with a knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIV. <<STOP>>How Merlin saved Arthur's life, and threw an enchantment
 on King Pellinore and made him to sleep.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXV. <<STOP>>How Arthur by the mean of Merlin gat Excalibur his sword
 of the Lady of the Lake.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVI. <<STOP>>How tidings came to Arthur that King Rience had overcome
 eleven kings, and how he desired Arthur's beard to trim his mantle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVII. <<STOP>>How all the children were sent for that were born on
 May-day, and how Mordred was saved.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK II.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. Of a damosel which came girt with a sword for to find a man
 of such virtue to draw it out of the scabbard.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How Balin, arrayed like a poor knight, pulled out the
 sword, which afterward was the cause of his death.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How the Lady of the Lake demanded the knight's head that
 had won the sword, or the maiden's head.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How Merlin told the adventure of this damosel.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Balin was pursued by Sir Lanceor, knight of Ireland,
 and how he jousted and slew him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How a damosel, which was love to Lanceor, slew herself for
 love, and how Balin met with his brother Balan.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How a dwarf reproved Balin for the death of Lanceor, and
 how King Mark of Cornwall found them, and made a tomb over them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How Merlin prophesied that two the best knights of the
 world should fight there, which were Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How Balin and his brother, by the counsel of Merlin, took
 King Rience and brought him to King Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How King Arthur had a battle against Nero and King Lot of
 Orkney, and how King Lot was deceived by Merlin, and how twelve kings
 were slain.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>Of the interment of twelve kings, and of the prophecy of
 Merlin, and how Balin should give the dolorous stroke.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How a sorrowful knight came before Arthur, and how Balin
 fetched him, and how that knight was slain by a knight invisible.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How Balin and the damosel met with a knight which was in
 likewise slain, and how the damosel bled for the custom of a castle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How Balin met with that knight named Garlon at a feast,
 and there he slew him, to have his blood to heal therewith the son of
 his host.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How Balin fought with King Pellam, and how his sword
 brake, and how he gat a spear wherewith he smote the dolorous stroke.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How Balin was delivered by Merlin, and saved a knight
 that would have slain himself for love.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How that knight slew his love and a knight lying by her,
 and after, how he slew himself with his own sword, and how Balin rode
 toward a castle where he lost his life.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How Balin met with his brother Balan, and how each of
 them slew other unknown, till they were wounded to death.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX. <<STOP>>How Merlin buried them both in one tomb, and of Balin's
 sword.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK III.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How King Arthur took a wife, and wedded Guenever, daughter
 to Leodegrance, King of the Land of Cameliard, with whom he had the
 Round Table.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How the Knights of the Round Table were ordained and their
 sieges blessed by the Bishop of Canterbury.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How a poor man riding upon a lean mare desired King
 Arthur to make his son knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tor was known for son of King Pellinore, and how
 Gawaine was made knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How at feast of the wedding of King Arthur to Guenever, a
 white hart came into the hall, and thirty couple hounds, and how a
 brachet pinched the hart which was taken away.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How Sir Gawaine rode for to fetch again the hart, and how
 two brethren fought each against other for the hart.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII How the hart was chased into a castle and there slain, and
 how Sir Gawaine slew a lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How four knights fought against Gawaine and Gaheris, and
 how they were overcome, and their lives saved at request of four
 ladies.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How Sir Tor rode after the knight with the brachet, and of
 his adventure by the way.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How Sir Tor found the brachet with a lady, and how a knight
 assailed him for the said brachet.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tor overcame the knight, and how he lost his head
 at the request of a lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How King Pellinore rode after the lady and the knight
 that led her away, and how a lady desired help of him, and how he
 fought with two knights for that lady, of whom he slew the one at the
 first stroke.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How King Pellinore gat the lady and brought her to
 Camelot to the court of King Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How on the way he heard two knights, as he lay by night
 in a valley, and of their adventures.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How when he was come to Camelot he was sworn upon a book
 to tell the truth of his quest.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK IV.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How Merlin was assotted and doted on one of the ladies of
 the lake, and how he was shut in a rock under a stone and there died.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How five kings came into this land to war against King
 Arthur, and what counsel Arthur had against them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How King Arthur had ado with them and overthrew them, and
 slew the five kings and made the remnant to flee.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How the battle was finished or he came, and how King
 Arthur founded an abbey where the battle was.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Sir Tor was made knight of the Round Table, and how
 Bagdemagus was displeased.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How King Arthur, King Uriens, and Sir Accolon of Gaul,
 chased an hart, and of their marvellous adventures.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Arthur took upon him to fight to be delivered out of
 prison, and also for to deliver twenty knights that were in prison.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How Accolon found himself by a well, and he took upon
 him to do battle against Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>Of the battle between King Arthur and Accolon.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How King Arthur's sword that he fought with brake, and how
 he recovered of Accolon his own sword Excalibur, and overcame his
 enemy.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How Accolon confessed the treason of Morgan le Fay, King
 Arthur's sister, and how she would have done slay him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Arthur accorded the two brethren, and delivered the
 twenty knights, and how Sir Accolon died.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How Morgan would have slain Sir Uriens her husband, and
 how Sir Uwaine her son saved him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How Queen Morgan le Fay made great sorrow for the death
 of Accolon, and how she stole away the scabbard from Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How Morgan le Fay saved a knight that should have been
 drowned, and how King Arthur returned home again.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How the Damosel of the Lake saved King Arthur from mantle
 that should have burnt him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine met with twelve fair
 damosels, and how they complained on Sir Marhaus.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus jousted with Sir Gawaine and Sir
 Uwaine, and overthrew them both.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus, Sir Gawaine, and Sir Uwaine met three
 damosels, and each of them took one.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XX. <<STOP>>How a knight and a dwarf strove for a lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXI. <<STOP>>How King Pelleas suffered himself to be taken prisoner
 because he would have a sight of his lady, and how Sir Gawaine
 promised him to get to him the love of his lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXII. <<STOP>>How Sir Gawaine came to the Lady Ettard, and how Sir
 Pelleas found them sleeping.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Pelleas loved no more Ettard by means of the
 Damosel of the Lake, whom he loved ever after.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus rode with the damosel, and how he came
 to the Duke of the South Marches.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXV. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus fought with the duke and his four sons
 and made them to yield them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Uwaine rode with the damosel of sixty year of
 age, and how he gat the prize at tourneying.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Uwaine fought with two knights and overcame
 them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVIII. <<STOP>>How at the year's end all three knights with their
 three damosels met at the fountain.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK V.

 <<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How twelve aged ambassadors of Rome came to King Arthur to
 demand truage for Britain.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How the kings and lords promised to King Arthur aid and
 help against the Romans.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How King Arthur held a parliament at York, and how he
 ordained the realm should be governed in his absence.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How King Arthur being shipped and lying in his cabin had a
 marvellous dream and of the exposition thereof.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How a man of the country told to him of a marvellous giant,
 and how he fought and conquered him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How King Arthur sent Sir Gawaine and other to Lucius, and
 how they were assailed and escaped with worship.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Lucius sent certain spies in a bushment for to have
 taken his knights being prisoners, and how they were letted.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How a senator told to Lucius of their discomfiture, and
 also of the great battle between Arthur and Lucius.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX How Arthur, after he had achieved the battle against the
 Romans, entered into Almaine, and so into Italy.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. Of a battle done by Sir Gawaine against a Saracen, which
 after was yielden and became Christian.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How the Saracens came out of a wood for to rescue their
 beasts, and of a great battle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Sir Gawaine returned to King Arthur with his
 prisoners, and how the King won a city, and how he was crowned
 Emperor.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK VI.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel departed from the court,
 and how Sir Lionel left him sleeping and was taken.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How Sir Ector followed for to seek Sir Launcelot, and how
 he was taken by Sir Turquine.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III How four queens found Launcelot sleeping, and how by
 enchantment he was taken and led into a castle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot was delivered by the mean of a damosel.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How a knight found Sir Launcelot lying in his leman's bed,
 and how Sir Launcelot fought with the knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot was received of King Bagdemagus'
 daughter, and how he made his complaint to her father.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot behaved him in a tournament, and how he
 met with Sir Turquine leading Sir Gaheris.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine fought together.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How Sir Turquine was slain, and how Sir Launcelot bade Sir
 Gaheris deliver all the prisoners.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How Sir Launcelot rode with a damosel and slew a knight
 that distressed all ladies and also a villain that kept a bridge.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot slew two giants, and made a castle free.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot rode disguised in Sir Kay's harness,
 and how he smote down a knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot jousted against four knights of the
 Round Table and overthrew them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot followed a brachet into a castle, where
 he found a dead knight, and how he after was required of a damosel to
 heal her brother.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot came into the Chapel Perilous and gat
 there of a dead corpse a piece of the cloth and a sword.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot at the request of a lady recovered a
 falcon, by which he was deceived.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot overtook a knight which chased his
 wife to have slain her, and how he said to him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot came to King Arthur's Court, and how
 there were recounted all his noble feats and acts.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK VII.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How Beaumains came to King Arthur's Court and demanded
 three petitions of King Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot and Sir Gawaine were wroth because Sir
 Kay mocked Beaumains, and of a damosel which desired a knight to fight
 for a lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How Beaumains desired the battle, and how it was granted
 to him, and how he desired to be made knight of Sir Launcelot.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How Beaumains departed, and how he gat of Sir Kay a spear
 and a shield, and how he jousted with Sir Launcelot.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Beaumains told to Sir Launcelot his name, and how he
 was dubbed knight of Sir Launcelot, and after overtook the damosel.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How Beaumains fought and slew two knights at a passage.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Beaumains fought with the Knight of the Black Launds,
 and fought with him till he fell down and died.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How the brother of the knight that was slain met with
 Beaumains, and fought with Beaumains till he was yielden.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How the damosel again rebuked Beaumains, and would not
 suffer him to sit at her table, but called him kitchen boy.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How the third brother, called the Red Knight, jousted and
 fought against Beaumains, and how Beaumains overcame him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How Sir Beaumains suffered great rebukes of the damosel,
 and he suffered it patiently.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Beaumains fought with Sir Persant of Inde, and made
 him to be yielden.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>Of the goodly communication between Sir Persant and
 Beaumains, and how he told him that his name was Sir Gareth.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How the lady that was besieged had word from her sister
 how she had brought a knight to fight for her, and what battles he had
 achieved.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How the damosel and Beaumains came to the siege; and came
 to a sycamore tree, and there Beaumains blew a horn, and then the
 Knight of the Red Launds came to fight with him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How the two knights met together, and of their talking,
 and how they began their battle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How after long fighting Beaumains overcame the knight
 and would have slain him, but at the request of the lords he saved his
 life, and made him to yield him to the lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How the knight yielded him, and how Beaumains made him
 to go unto King Arthur's court, and to cry Sir Launcelot mercy.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX How Beaumains came to the lady, and when he came to the
 castle the gates were closed against him, and of the words that the
 lady said to him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XX. <<STOP>>How Sir Beaumains rode after to rescue his dwarf, and came
 into the castle where he was.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXI. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth, otherwise called Beaumains, came to the
 presence of his lady, and how they took acquaintance, and of their
 love.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXII. <<STOP>>How at night came an armed knight, and fought with Sir
 Gareth, and he, sore hurt in the thigh, smote off the knight's head.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIII. <<STOP>>How the said knight came again the next night and was
 beheaded again, and how at the feast of Pentecost all the knights that
 Sir Gareth had overcome came and yielded them to King Arthur.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIV. <<STOP>>How King Arthur pardoned them, and demanded of them
 where Sir Gareth was.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXV. <<STOP>>How the Queen of Orkney came to this feast of Pentecost,
 and Sir Gawaine and his brethren came to ask her blessing.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVI. <<STOP>>How King Arthur sent for the Lady Lionesse, and how she
 let cry a tourney at her castle, whereas came many knights.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVII. <<STOP>>How King Arthur went to the tournament with his
 knights, and how the lady received him worshipfully, and how the
 knights encountered.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVIII. <<STOP>>How the knights bare them in the battle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIX. <<STOP>>Yet of the said tournament.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXX. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth was espied by the heralds, and how he
 escaped out of the field.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXI. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth came to a castle where he was well
 lodged, and he jousted with a knight and slew him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXII. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth fought with a knight that held within
 his castle thirty ladies, and how he slew him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth and Sir Gawaine fought each against
 other, and how they knew each other by the damosel Linet.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Gareth acknowledged that they loved each other
 to King Arthur, and of the appointment of their wedding.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXV. <<STOP>>Of the Great Royalty, and what officers were made at the
 feast of the wedding, and of the jousts at the feast.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK VIII.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How Sir Tristram de Liones was born, and how his mother
 died at his birth, wherefore she named him Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How the stepmother of Sir Tristram had ordained poison for
 to have poisoned Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram was sent into France, and had one to
 govern him named Gouvernail, and how he learned to harp, hawk, and
 hunt.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus came out of Ireland for to ask truage of
 Cornwall, or else he would fight therefore.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Tristram enterprized the battle to fight for the truage
 of Cornwall, and how he was made knight.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram arrived into the Island for to furnish
 the battle with Sir Marhaus.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought against Sir Marhaus and achieved
 his battle, and how Sir Marhaus fled to his ship.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Marhaus after that he was arrived in Ireland
 died of the stroke that Sir Tristram had given him, and how Tristram
 was hurt.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram was put to the keeping of La Beale Isoud
 first for to be healed of his wound.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How Sir Tristram won the degree at a tournament in Ireland,
 and there made Palamides to bear no more harness in a year.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How the queen espied that Sir Tristram had slain her
 brother Sir Marhaus by his sword, and in what jeopardy he was.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram departed from the king and La Beale
 Isoud out of Ireland for to come into Cornwall.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram and King Mark hurted each other for the
 love of a knight's wife.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram lay with the lady, and how her husband
 fought with Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How Sir Bleoberis demanded the fairest lady in King Mark's
 court, whom he took away, and how he was fought with.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought with two knights of the Round
 Table.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought with Sir Bleoberis for a lady,
 and how the lady was put to choice to whom she would go.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How the lady forsook Sir Tristram and abode with Sir
 Bleoberis, and how she desired to go to her husband.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX. <<STOP>>How King Mark sent Sir Tristram for La Beale Isoud toward
 Ireland, and how by fortune he arrived into England.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XX. <<STOP>>How King Anguish of Ireland was summoned to come to King
 Arthur's court for treason.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram rescued a child from a knight, and how
 Gouvernail told him of King Anguish.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought for Sir Anguish and overcame his
 adversary, and how his adversary would never yield him.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Blamore desired Tristram to slay him, and how
 Sir Tristram spared him, and how they took appointment.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram demanded La Beale Isoud for King Mark,
 and how Sir Tristram and Isoud drank the love drink.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram and Isoud were in prison, and how he
 fought for her beauty, and smote off another lady's head.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought with Sir Breunor, and at the
 last smote off his head.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Galahad fought with Sir Tristram, and how Sir
 Tristram yielded him and promised to fellowship with Launcelot.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot met with Sir Carados bearing away
 Sir Gawaine, and of the rescue of Sir Gawaine.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIX. <<STOP>>Of the wedding of King Mark to La Beale Isoud, and of
 Bragwaine her maid, and of Palamides.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXX. <<STOP>>How Palamides demanded Queen Isoud, and how Lambegus rode
 after to rescue her, and of the escape of Isoud.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram rode after Palamides, and how he found
 him and fought with him, and by the means of Isoud the battle ceased.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram brought Queen Isoud home, and of the
 debate of King Mark and Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Lamorak jousted with thirty knights, and Sir
 Tristram at the request of King Mark smote his horse down.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Lamorak sent an horn to King Mark in despite of
 Sir Tristram, and how Sir Tristram was driven into a chapel.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram was holpen by his men, and of Queen
 Isoud which was put in a lazar-cote, and how Tristram was hurt.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram served in war King Howel of Brittany,
 and slew his adversary in the field.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Suppinabiles told Sir Tristram how he was
 defamed in the court of King Arthur, and of Sir Lamorak.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram and his wife arrived in Wales, and
 how he met there with Sir Lamorak.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIX. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram fought with Sir Nabon, and overcame
 him, and made Sir Segwarides lord of the isle.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XL

 <<STOP>>CHAPTER XLI. <<STOP>>How Sir Lamorak slew Sir Frol, and of the courteous
 fighting with Sir Belliance his brother.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>BOOK IX.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER I. How a young man came into the court of King Arthur, and how
 Sir Kay called him in scorn La Cote Male Taile.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER II. <<STOP>>How a damosel came into the court and desired a knight to
 take on him an enquest, which La Cote Male Taile emprised.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER III. <<STOP>>How La Cote Male Taile overthrew Sir Dagonet the king's
 fool, and of the rebuke that he had of the damosel.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IV. <<STOP>>How La Cote Male Taile fought against an hundred knights,
 and how he escaped by the mean of a lady.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER V. How Sir Launcelot came to the court and heard of La Cote
 Male Taile, and how he followed after him, and how La Cote Male Taile
 was prisoner.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VI. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot fought with six knights, and after with
 Sir Brian, and how he delivered the prisoners.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot met with the damosel named Male disant,
 and named her the Damosel Bienpensant.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER VIII. <<STOP>>How La Cote Male Taile was taken prisoner, and after
 rescued by Sir Launcelot, and how Sir Launcelot overcame four
 brethren.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER IX. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot made La Cote Male Taile lord of the
 Castle of Pendragon, and after was made knight of the Round Table.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER X. How La Beale Isoud sent letters to Sir Tristram by her maid
 Bragwaine, and of divers adventures of Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram met with Sir Lamorak de Galis, and how
 they fought, and after accorded never to fight together.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XII. <<STOP>>How Sir Palomides followed the Questing Beast, and smote
 down Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorak with one spear.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Lamorak met with Sir Meliagaunce, and fought
 together for the beauty of Dame Guenever.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Kay met with Sir Tristram, and after of the shame
 spoken of the knights of Cornwall, and how they jousted.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XV. <<STOP>>How King Arthur was brought into the Forest Perilous, and
 how Sir Tristram saved his life.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram came to La Beale Isoud, and how Kehydius
 began to love Beale Isoud, and of a letter that Tristram found.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram departed from Tintagil, and how he
 sorrowed and was so long in a forest till he was out of his mind.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram soused Dagonet in a well, and how
 Palomides sent a damosel to seek Tristram, and how Palomides met with
 King Mark.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XIX. <<STOP>>How it was noised how Sir Tristram was dead, and how La
 Beale Isoud would have slain herself.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XX. <<STOP>>How King Mark found Sir Tristram naked, and made him to be
 borne home to Tintagil, and how he was there known by a brachet.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXI. <<STOP>>How King Mark, by the advice of his council, banished Sir
 Tristram out of Cornwall the term of ten years.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXII. <<STOP>>How a damosel sought help to help Sir Launcelot against
 thirty knights, and how Sir Tristram fought with them.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram and Sir Dinadan came to a lodging
 where they must joust with two knights.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram jousted with Sir Kay and Sir Sagramore
 le Desirous, and how Sir Gawaine turned Sir Tristram from Morgan le
 Fay.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXV. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram and Sir Gawaine rode to have foughten
 with the thirty knights, but they durst not come out.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVI. <<STOP>>How damosel Bragwaine found Tristram sleeping by a well,
 and how she delivered letters to him from La Beale Isoud.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram had a fall with Sir Palomides, and how
 Launcelot overthrew two knights.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXVIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot jousted with Palomides and overthrew
 him, and after he was assailed with twelve knights.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXIX. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram behaved him the first day of the
 tournament, and there he had the prize.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXX. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram returned against King Arthur's party
 because he saw Sir Palomides on that party.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram found Palomides by a well, and brought
 him with him to his lodging.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram smote down Sir Palomides, and how he
 jousted with King Arthur, and other feats.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Launcelot hurt Sir Tristram, and how after Sir
 Tristram smote down Sir Palomides.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIV. <<STOP>>How the prize of the third day was given to Sir
 Launcelot, and Sir Launcelot gave it to Sir Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXV. <<STOP>>How Palomides came to the castle where Sir Tristram was,
 and of the quest that Sir Launcelot and ten knights made for Sir
 Tristram.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram, Sir Palomides, and Sir Dinadan were
 taken and put in prison.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVII. <<STOP>>How King Mark was sorry for the good renown of Sir
 Tristram. <<STOP>>Some of King Arthur's knights jousted with knights of
 Cornwall.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXVIII. <<STOP>>Of the treason of King Mark, and how Sir Gaheris
 smote him down and Andred his cousin.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XXXIX. <<STOP>>How after that Sir Tristram, Sir Palomides, and Sir
 Dinadan had been long in prison they were delivered.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XL. <<STOP>>How Sir Dinadan rescued a lady from Sir Breuse Saunce
 Pité, and how Sir Tristram received a shield of Morgan le Fay.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XLI. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram took with him the shield, and also how
 he slew the paramour of Morgan le Fay.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XLII. <<STOP>>How Morgan le Fay buried her paramour, and how Sir
 Tristram praised Sir Launcelot and his kin.

 <<STOP>><<STOP>>CHAPTER XLIII. <<STOP>>How Sir Tristram at a tournament bare the shield that
 Morgan le Fay delivered to him.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>GLOSSARY




<<STOP>>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE


<<STOP>>The Morte D’Arthur was finished, as the epilogue tells us, in the ninth
year of Edward IV., i.e. <<STOP>>between March 4, 1469 and the same date in
1470. <<STOP>>It is thus, fitly enough, the last important English book written
before the introduction of printing into this country, and since no
manuscript of it has come down to us it is also the first English
classic for our knowledge of which we are entirely dependent on a
printed text. <<STOP>>Caxton’s story of how the book was brought to him and he
was induced to print it may be read farther on in his own preface. <<STOP>>From
this we learn also that he was not only the printer of the book, but to
some extent its editor also, dividing Malory’s work into twenty-one
books, splitting up the books into chapters, by no means skilfully, and
supplying the “Rubrish” or chapter-headings. <<STOP>>It may be added that
Caxton’s preface contains, moreover, a brief criticism which, on the
points on which it touches, is still the soundest and most sympathetic
that has been written.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>Caxton finished his edition the last day of July 1485, some fifteen or
sixteen years after Malory wrote his epilogue. <<STOP>>It is clear that the
author was then dead, or the printer would not have acted as a clumsy
editor to the book, and recent discoveries (if bibliography may, for
the moment, enlarge its bounds to mention such matters) have revealed
with tolerable certainty when Malory died and who he was. <<STOP>>In letters to
The Athenaeum in July 1896 Mr. <<STOP>>T. Williams pointed out that the name of
a Sir Thomas Malorie occurred among those of a number of other
Lancastrians excluded from a general pardon granted by Edward IV. <<STOP>>in
1468, and that a William Mallerye was mentioned in the same year as
taking part in a Lancastrian rising. <<STOP>>In September 1897, again, in
another letter to the same paper, Mr. <<STOP>>A. T. Martin reported the finding
of the will of a Thomas Malory of Papworth, a hundred partly in
Cambridgeshire, partly in Hunts. <<STOP>>This will was made on September 16,
1469, and as it was proved the 27th of the next month the testator must
have been in immediate expectation of death. <<STOP>>It contains the most
careful provision for the education and starting in life of a family of
three daughters and seven sons, of whom the youngest seems to have been
still an infant. <<STOP>>We cannot say with certainty that this Thomas Malory,
whose last thoughts were so busy for his children, was our author, or
that the Lancastrian knight discovered by Mr. <<STOP>>Williams was identical
with either or both, but such evidence as the Morte D’Arthur offers
favours such a belief. <<STOP>>There is not only the epilogue with its
petition, “pray for me while I am alive that God send me good
deliverance and when I am dead pray you all for my soul,” but this very
request is foreshadowed at the end of chap. <<STOP>>37 of Book ix. <<STOP>>in the
touching passage, surely inspired by personal experience, as to the
sickness “that is the greatest pain a prisoner may have”; and the
reflections on English fickleness in the first chapter of Book xxi.,
though the Wars of the Roses might have inspired them in any one, come
most naturally from an author who was a Lancastrian knight.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>If the Morte D’Arthur was really written in prison and by a prisoner
distressed by ill-health as well as by lack of liberty, surely no task
was ever better devised to while away weary hours. <<STOP>>Leaving abundant
scope for originality in selection, modification, and arrangement, as a
compilation and translation it had in it that mechanical element which
adds the touch of restfulness to literary work. <<STOP>>No original, it is
said, has yet been found for Book vii., and it is possible that none
will ever be forthcoming for chap. <<STOP>>20 of Book xviii., which describes
the arrival of the body of the Fair Maiden of Astolat at Arthur’s
court, or vii for chap. <<STOP>>25 of the same book, with its discourse on true
love; but the great bulk of the work has been traced chapter by chapter
to the “Merlin” of Robert de Borron and his successors (Bks. <<STOP>>i.-iv.<<STOP>>),
the English metrical romance La Morte Arthur of the Thornton manuscript
(Bk. <<STOP>>v.<<STOP>>), the French romances of Tristan (Bks. <<STOP>>viii.-x.) <<STOP>>and of
Launcelot (Bks. <<STOP>>vi., xi.-xix.<<STOP>>), and lastly to the English prose Morte
Arthur of Harley MS. <<STOP>>2252 (Bks. <<STOP>>xviii., xx., xxi.). <<STOP>>As to Malory’s
choice of his authorities critics have not failed to point out that now
and again he gives a worse version where a better has come down to us,
and if he had been able to order a complete set of Arthurian
manuscripts from his bookseller, no doubt he would have done even
better than he did! <<STOP>>But of the skill, approaching to original genius,
with which he used the books from which he worked there is little
dispute.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>Malory died leaving his work obviously unrevised, and in this condition
it was brought to Caxton, who prepared it for the press with his usual
enthusiasm in the cause of good literature, and also, it must be added,
with his usual carelessness. <<STOP>>New chapters are sometimes made to begin
in the middle of a sentence, and in addition to simple misprints there
are numerous passages in which it is impossible to believe that we have
the text as Malory intended it to stand. <<STOP>>After Caxton’s edition
Malory’s manuscript must have disappeared, and subsequent editions are
differentiated only by the degree of closeness with which they follow
the first. <<STOP>>Editions appeared printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1498 and
1529, by William Copland in 1559, by Thomas East about 1585, and by
Thomas Stansby in 1634, each printer apparently taking the text of his
immediate predecessor and reproducing it with modifications. <<STOP>>Stansby’s
edition served for reprints in 1816 and 1856 (the latter edited by
Thomas Wright); but in 1817 an edition supervised by Robert Southey
went back to Caxton’s text, though to a copy (only two are extant, and
only one perfect!) <<STOP>>in which eleven leaves were supplied from Wynkyn de
Worde’s reprint. <<STOP>>In 1868 Sir Edward Strachey produced for the present
publishers a reprint of Southey’s text in modern spelling, with the
substitution of current words for those now obsolete, and the softening
of a handful of passages likely, he thought, to prevent the book being
placed in the hands of boys. <<STOP>>In 1889 a boon was conferred on scholars
by the publication of Dr. <<STOP>>H. Oskar Sommer’s page-for-page reprint of
Caxton’s text, with an elaborate discussion of Malory’s sources. <<STOP>>Dr.
<<STOP>>Sommer’s edition was used by Sir E. Strachey to revise his Globe text,
and in 1897 Mr. <<STOP>>Israel Gollancz produced for the “Temple Classics” a
very pretty edition in which Sir Edward Strachey’s principles of
modernisation in spelling and punctuation were adopted, but with the
restoration of obsolete words and omitted phrases. <<STOP>>As to the present
edition, Sir Edward Strachey altered with so sparing a hand that on
many pages differences between his version and that here printed will
be looked for in vain; but the most anxious care has been taken to
produce a text modernised as to its spelling, but in other respects in
accurate accordance with Caxton’s text, as represented by Dr Sommer’s
reprint. <<STOP>>Obvious misprints have been silently corrected, but in a few
cases notes show where emendations have been introduced from Wynkyn de
Worde—not that Wynkyn had any more right to emend Caxton than we, but
because even a printer’s conjecture gains a little sanctity after four
centuries. <<STOP>>The restoration of obsolete words has necessitated a much
fuller glossary, and the index of names has therefore been separated
from it and enlarged. <<STOP>>In its present form the index is the work of Mr.
<<STOP>>Henry Littlehales.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>A. W. POLLARD.



<<STOP>><<STOP>>PREFACE OF WILLIAM CAXTON

<<STOP>>After that I had accomplished and finished divers histories, as well of
contemplation as of other historial and worldly acts of great
conquerors and princes, and also certain books of ensamples and
doctrine, many noble and divers gentlemen of this realm of England came
and demanded me many and oft times, wherefore that I have not do made
and imprint the noble history of the Saint Greal, and of the most
renowned Christian king, first and chief of the three best Christian,
and worthy, King Arthur, which ought most to be remembered among us
Englishmen to-fore all other Christian kings; for it is notoyrly known
through the universal world, that there be nine worthy and the best
that ever were, that is to wit, three Paynims, three Jews, and three
Christian men. <<STOP>>As for the Paynims, they were to-fore the Incarnation of
Christ, which were named, the first Hector of Troy, of whom the history
is comen both in ballad and in prose, the second Alexander the Great,
and the third Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, of whom the histories be
well known and had. <<STOP>>And as for the three Jews, which also were to-fore
the incarnation of our Lord, of whom the first was duke Joshua which
brought the children of Israel into the land of behest, the second
David king of Jerusalem, and the third Judas Machabeus, of these three
the Bible rehearseth all their noble histories and acts. <<STOP>>And since the
said Incarnation have been three noble Christian men, stalled and
admitted through the universal world into the number of the nine best
and worthy. <<STOP>>Of whom was first the noble Arthur, whose noble acts I
purpose to write in this present book here following. <<STOP>>The second was
Charlemain, or Charles the Great, of whom the history is had in many
places, both in French and in English. <<STOP>>And the third and last was
Godfrey of Boloine, of whose acts and life I made a book unto the
excellent prince and king of noble memory, King Edward the Fourth.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>The said noble gentlemen instantly required me to imprint the history
of the said noble king and conqueror King Arthur, and of his knights,
with the history of the Saint Greal, and of the death and ending of the
said Arthur; affirming that I ought rather to imprint his acts and
noble feats, than of Godfrey of Boloine, or any of the other eight,
considering that he was a man born within this realm, and king and
emperor of the same: and that there be in French divers and many noble
volumes of his acts, and also of his knights. <<STOP>>To whom I answered that
divers men hold opinion that there was no such Arthur, and that all
such books as been made of him be feigned and fables, because that some
chronicles make of him no mention, nor remember him nothing, nor of his
knights. <<STOP>>Whereto they answered, and one in special said, that in him
that should say or think that there was never such a king called Arthur
might well be aretted great folly and blindness. <<STOP>>For he said that there
were many evidences of the contrary. <<STOP>>First ye may see his sepulchre in
the monastery of Glastonbury. <<STOP>>And also in Policronicon, in the fifth
book the sixth chapter, and in the seventh book the twenty-third
chapter, where his body was buried, and after found, and translated
into the said monastery. <<STOP>>Ye shall see also in the history of Bochas, in
his book De Casu Principum, part of his noble acts, and also of his
fall. <<STOP>>Also Galfridus in his British book recounteth his life: and in
divers places of England many remembrances be yet of him, and shall
remain perpetually, and also of his knights. <<STOP>>First in the abbey of
Westminster, at St. <<STOP>>Edward’s shrine, remaineth the print of his seal in
red wax closed in beryl, in which is written, Patricius Arthurus
Britannie, Gallie, Germanie, Dacie, Imperator. <<STOP>>Item in the castle of
Dover ye may see Gawaine’s skull, and Cradok’s mantle: at Winchester
the Round Table: in other places Launcelot’s sword and many other
things. <<STOP>>Then all these things considered, there can no man reasonably
gainsay but there was a king of this land named Arthur. <<STOP>>For in all
places, Christian and heathen, he is reputed and taken for one of the
nine worthy, and the first of the three Christian men. <<STOP>>And also, he is
more spoken of beyond the sea, more books made of his noble acts, than
there be in England, as well in Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Greekish,
as in French. <<STOP>>And yet of record remain in witness of him in Wales, in
the town of Camelot, the great stones and the marvellous works of iron
lying under the ground, and royal vaults, which divers now living have
seen. <<STOP>>Wherefore it is a marvel why he is no more renowned in his own
country, save only it accordeth to the Word of God, which saith that no
man is accepted for a prophet in his own country.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>Then all these things aforesaid alleged, I could not well deny but that
there was such a noble king named Arthur, and reputed one of the nine
worthy, and first and chief of the Christian men. <<STOP>>And many noble
volumes be made of him and of his noble knights in French, which I have
seen and read beyond the sea, which be not had in our maternal tongue.
<<STOP>>But in Welsh be many and also in French, and some in English but
nowhere nigh all. <<STOP>>Wherefore, such as have late been drawn out briefly
into English I have after the simple conning that God hath sent to me,
under the favour and correction of all noble lords and gentlemen,
enprised to imprint a book of the noble histories of the said King
Arthur, and of certain of his knights, after a copy unto me delivered,
which copy Sir Thomas Malorye did take out of certain books of French,
and reduced it into English. <<STOP>>And I, according to my copy, have done set
it in imprint, to the intent that noble men may see and learn the noble
acts of chivalry, the gentle and virtuous deeds that some knights used
in those days, by which they came to honour, and how they that were
vicious were punished and oft put to shame and rebuke; humbly
beseeching all noble lords and ladies, with all other estates of what
estate or degree they been of, that shall see and read in this said
book and work, that they take the good and honest acts in their
remembrance, and to follow the same. <<STOP>>Wherein they shall find many
joyous and pleasant histories, and noble and renowned acts of humanity,
gentleness, and chivalry. <<STOP>>For herein may be seen noble chivalry,
courtesy, humanity, friendliness, hardiness, love, friendship,
cowardice, murder, hate, virtue, and sin. <<STOP>>Do after the good and leave
the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renown. <<STOP>>And for to
pass the time this book shall be pleasant to read in, but for to give
faith and belief that all is true that is contained herein, ye be at
your liberty: but all is written for our doctrine, and for to beware
that we fall not to vice nor sin, but to exercise and follow virtue, by
which we may come and attain to good fame and renown in this life, and
after this short and transitory life to come unto everlasting bliss in
heaven; the which He grant us that reigneth in heaven, the blessed
Trinity. <<STOP>>Amen.

<<STOP>><<STOP>>Then to proceed forth in this said book, which I direct unto all noble
princes, lords and ladies, gentlemen or gentlewomen, that desire to
read or hear read of the noble and joyous history of the great
conqueror and excellent king, King Arthur, sometime king of this noble
realm, then called Britain; I, William Caxton, simple person, present
this book following, which I have enprised to imprint: and treateth of
the noble acts, feats of arms of chivalry, prowess, hardiness,
humanity, love, courtesy, and very gentleness, with many wonderful
