It’s a tense scene, with both Arthur’s group and Mordred’s group expecting the other to double-cross. Naturally things go south; the catalyst here is a snake biting a knight’s ankle. This knight (Malory doesn’t specify if he’s one of Arthur’s … Continue reading →
On the eve of this planned joust/battle with Mordred, Arthur dream[s] a wonderful dream. He’s in a chair on a scaffold! It gets better. The scaffold is all connected to this big wheel assembly, and it’s slowly turning. As it … Continue reading →
Mordred’s still working on getting Guenever out of her tower when a messenger brings him word: Arthur, Gawaine, and their troops are landing at Dover. Mordred’s okay with this, though, because he has the common people on his side. Apparently … Continue reading →
We cut back to England and flash back to just after Arthur and Gawaine sail away with their sixty thousand troops. Mordred, Guenever, and all the other survivors of Book XX stand on the dock and watch them go. “Well, … Continue reading →
This book is a bloodbath. Literally dozens of characters, some of whom we’ve seen many times over the course of Le Morte D’Arthur, are cut down during Launcelot’s two big knight-massacres. So, okay, first there’s the big fight over Guenever. … Continue reading →
“Alas,” says Arthur, “that ever this unhappy war was begun.” Nevertheless Arthur does not go home, as Launcelot suggests! Instead the siege goes on for three weeks more, with no activity to speak of, until one morning Sir Gawaine feels … Continue reading →
For three solid hours they joust. Sir Launcelot and Sir Gawaine, hammering one another out in the field in front of Castle Benwick. Their horses die in the first pass, but without a word they dismount, pull out their swords, … Continue reading →
And so, bright and early one morning, Arthur and his enormous army lay siege to Castle Benwick. Sir Gawaine, pretty much the last knight standing, acts as his general. They encircle the castle and assault it with ladders, which Launcelot’s … Continue reading →
Meanwhile Arthur and Gawaine mobilize all of England to invade Benwick. It’s sixty thousand troops, which is the largest army we’ve seen in a while, on par with Arthur’s invasion force in Book V or the armies he and Team … Continue reading →
Malory’s description at this point makes me almost wonder if he has some kind of preference between Sir Gawaine and Sir Launcelot, like, he thinks one of them is a generally awful person and the other is the best knight … Continue reading →
