from Le Morte d’Arthur

Sir Thomas Malory

Part I

!   Mordred, Arthur’s son, wants to take over the throne of England. Arthur, however, doesn’t concede which leads to a battle. The excerpt begins the night before the battle with Mordred. King Arthur is worried and anxious, so it is understandable that his sleep is disturbed. He has 2 dreams: one where serpents and other creatures in black water are trying to destroy him and the other with Sir Gawain, his nephew, trying to warn Arthur about tomorrow’s battle.

!   In Arthur’s second dream, Gawain is surrounded by a number of ladies whom he fought for. Fighting many righteous battles in the service of ladies illustrates an aspect of chivalry. Gawain tells Arthur to not fight Mordred as planned. Gawain reveals that Arthur will meet his death if he fights tomorrow, so Gawain urges Arthur to make a treaty with Mordred for a month. Gawain explains that the month delay will give Sir Lancelot, the best round table knight, enough time to return to England and “save the day.”

!   Because Lancelot had an affair with King Arthur’s wife, Arthur banished Lancelot from England. Lancelot, now in France, would need time to get back to England to help Arthur protect the throne from Mordred, so delaying the battle between Mordred and Arthur for at least a month is crucial.

!   During the Middle English time period, dreams were taken very seriously. They believed that dreams predicted future events. This is illustrated through Arthur’s haste to have his men set out to make a treaty with Mordred. It is an act of wisdom on Arthur’s part to urge his knights, Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere, to offer Mordred whatever it takes to get him to agree to the treaty. They offer Mordred Cornwall and Kent while King Arthur lives and all of England when Arthur dies. Mordred agrees.

Part II

!   To finalize the treaty negotiation, Arthur and Mordred decide to meet. Each brings 14 people with them. Out of mistrust on both sides, Mordred and Arthur tell their men to begin fighting if they see any sword drawn. As the two sides drink together, an adder stings a knight on the foot, and without thinking, he draws his sword to kill the adder. When it was seen that a sword had been drawn, the war broke out.

!   The fighting was intense and destructive. A 100,000 men lay dead in the field, which is a hyperbole to convey the depth of destruction. Only two knights, Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere, survived on Arthur’s side, but they were both severely wounded. Arthur, distraught and angry, sees Mordred in the distance and immediately, out of a sense of responsibility, feels he must go after Mordred on his own. Sir Lucan reminds Arthur of the dream and tries to convince him to stay with him and Sir Bedivere. Lucan explains that there are 3 of them and only Mordred on the other side. They have won the battle.

!   Arthur doesn’t listen. He feels that this is the best time to make Mordred pay. Mordred and Arthur run toward each other- Arthur with a spear and Mordred with a sword. Arthur stabs Mordred under the shield; the spear pierces through Mordred’s body. Before he dies, Mordred stabs Arthur in the side of the head. It pierces through his helmet to his brain-pan. Arthur drifts in and out of conciousness. The 2 remaining knights, wounded as they are, struggle to carry Arthur to a little chapel.

!   They hear a commotion in the distance and discover that robbers are taking the jewels, beads, armor and other valuables of the knights in the field. The robbers are even killing those who are near death just to take their possessions. We still see looting like this today, in particular, when there is a natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina. The 2 knights fear for Arthur’s safety (just think of the many valuables he as king has on his person), so they want to move Arthur.

Part III

!   In the lifting of Arthur, Sir Lucan’s guts fall out of his body, and he dies. Arthur is deeply saddened at the loss of this noble knight, who never complained about the pain he was in, but solely wanted to protect Arthur, his king. This illustrates the great loyalty of a knight (chivalry). Arthur refocuses Sir Bedivere, who too is distraught over the loss of Lucan, his brother, because he needs Bedivere to take care of Excalibur, the sword that Arthur received from the Lady of the Lake. Even in the midst of death, Arthur remains calm and shows courage as a great leader always does.

!   Arthur instructs Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the water and come back and tell him what he saw. Bedivere tells Arthur that he will follow through with the command; however, as he approaches the water’s edge and looks at the beauty and value of the sword, Bedivere can’t bring himself to throw it away. Bedivere hides Excalibur under a tree instead and returns to Arthur. He tells Arthur that all he saw were waves and winds. Arthur calls him out as a liar and tells him to go back and throw the sword into the lake.

!   This obviously portrays the test of a knight’s chivalric ideals that is typical in romances. Bedivere is being tested by Arthur. So far he is failing the test. For a second time Bedivere returns to the lake and again he thought it a shame and a sin to throw away this sword. He hides the sword, returns to Arthur, and tells him again that he only saw waves and winds. Arthur, who is desperately trying to be responsible and take care of his sword before he dies, is losing patience with Bedivere. He threatens that he will kill Bedivere with his own hands if he doesn’t fulfill his command.

!   Arthur’s rebuke is all that is needed for Sir Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the lake. When he does so, a hand reaches out of the water, catches Excalibur, swings it 3 times, and vanishes with the sword into the water. Then Bedivere carries Arthur to the edge of the water where a barge with many ladies all dressed in black hoods are waiting. They sob when they see Arthur. One of the ladies on the barge is Arthur’s sister. The barge will take Arthur to Avalon which is a legendary island paradise where it is said that Arthur will be healed of his wounds.

!   Bedivere places Arthur on the barge and cries out that he is alone and doesn’t know what to do. As the barge takes Arthur away with the ladies wailing and shrieking, Bedivere wonders aimlessly through the night. The next morning he finds a chapel.

Part IV

!   Bedivere sees that the hermit of the chapel is next to a newly made tomb. He asks the hermit who he is praying for. The hermit explains that a body was brought to him by a number of ladies. Bedivere immediately assumes that it must be Arthur and sets out to devote himself to a lifetime of prayer for his lord. Bedivere lives out the rest of his days at the hermitage, praying for Arthur.

Part V

!   Sir Thomas Malory, the author of Le Morte d’Arthur, begins speaking to the reader directly at the end of Part IV. He tells the reader that he has recorded all of the stories that he has read or heard about King Arthur. Malory wrote Le Morte, a collection of tales about King Arthur and his Round Table knights, while he was in prison. Malory ends by telling the reader that many people think that Arthur never died and that he will return to England when England needs him, which is why it is said that written on Arthur’s tomb is, “Here lies Arthur, the once and future king.”