So the Archbishop and the hermit-knights break out their funeral wagon, last used to transport Guenever’s body. They load Launcelot onto it, and take the Knight of the Cart on one last cart-ride, across the land to his old home, … Continue reading →
Malory flashes forward seven years. Everything is the same, except Launcelot has become a priest. The hermits have become a regular little monastery of quiet introspection and contemplative meditation. One morning, at breakfast, Launcelot tells his fellow-hermits that he had … Continue reading →
Launcelot finds Guenever easily; she hasn’t been living as an incognito nun, just as a nun. He strides into her cloister, and when she sees him she faints! The nuns with Guenever help her back up. “Oh, thanks,” she says. … Continue reading →
“Sire!” calls Bedivere, as the magic barge’s gangplank retracts all by itself and Arthur, up on deck, lies down with his head in Morgan’s lap. “Sire! What will happen to me? I’m the last Knight of the Round Table!” “You’re … 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 →
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 →
Meanwhile Sir Mordred, whom Launcelot did not kill, limps off to Arthur. He has to go on horseback because, as you may have forgotten, all of this went down while King Arthur was away from Camelot on the pretext of … Continue reading →
Okay, so, at this point things go more or less how you’d expect. Launcelot heads over to Guenever’s chambers. Mordred and the other knights hide, then listen at the door. When it sounds like Launcelot and Guenever are in a … Continue reading →
When Agravaine and Mordred tell Arthur that Launcelot has been sleeping with Guenever for decades, the old king sits down heavily. “Do you have any evidence?” he asks. “Evidence?” Agravaine is puzzled. “What, suddenly the burden of proof is on … Continue reading →
