Round Table

And today, at Windsor, he is going to take things considerably further.

He announces that he intends to revive the round table.

Not read about it, not commission a nice painting of it,

Revive

it.

Edward swears an oath to restore an order of the round table in the manner of King Arthur, and the leading knights present swear to support him.

There are to be three hundred knights.

Three hundred.

Therefore will I set forth a wondrous adventure that fell out in his time.

And if he will listen to me, but for a little while, I will tell it even as it stands in story, stiff and strong, fixed in the letter, as it hath long been known in the land." king arthur lay at camelot upon a christmas tide with many a gallant lord and lovely lady and all the noble brotherhood of the round table there they held rich revels with gay talk and jest one while they would ride forth to juist and tourney and again back to the court to make carols for there was the feast holden fifteen days with all the mirth that men could devise song and glee glorious to hear in the daytime and dancing at night halls and chambers were crowded with noble guests the bravest of knights and the loveliest of ladies and arthur himself was the comeliest king that ever held a court for all this fair folk were in their youth the fairest and most fortunate under heaven, and the king himself of such fame that it were hard now to name so valiant a hero.

Now the new year had but newly come in, and on that day a double portion was served on the high table to all the noble guests, and thither came the king with all his knights, when the service in the chapel had been sung to an end.

and they greeted each other for the new year and gave rich gifts the one to the other and they that received them were not wroth that ye may well believe and the maidens laughed and made mirth till it was time to get them to meet then they washed and sat them down to the feast in fitting rank and order and guinevere the queen gaily clad sat on the high dais silken was her seat with a fair canopy over her head of rich tapestries of tars embroidered and studded with costly gems fair she was to look upon with her shining grey eyes a fairer woman might no man boast himself of having seen but arthur would not eat till all were served so full of joy and gladness was he even as a child he liked not either to lie long or to sit long at meat so worked upon him his young blood and his wild brain and another custom he had also that came of his nobility that he would never eat upon a high day till he had been advised of some knightly deed or some strange and marvellous tale of his ancestors or of arms or of other ventures or till some knight should seek of him leave to juist with another that they might set their lives in jeopardy one against another as fortune might favour them such was the king's custom when he sat in hall at each high feast with his noble knights therefore on that new-year tide he abode fair of face on the throne and made much mirth withal thus the king sat before the high table and spake of many things and there good sir gawain was seated by guinevere the queen and on her other side sat agravaine a la both were the king's sister's sons and full gallant knights and at the end of the table was bishop bodoin and ewaine king urien's son sat at the other side alone these were worthily served on the dais and at the lower tables sat many valiant knights then they bare the first course with the blast of trumpets and waving of banners with the sound of drums and pipes of song and lute that many a heart was uplifted at the melody many were the dainties and rare the meats so great was the plenty there might scarce find room on the board to set on the dishes each helped himself as he liked best and to each two were twelve dishes with great plenty of beer and wine

Now, pledge me thy word, and let's see whether any here dare say aught." now if the knights had been astounded at the first yet stiller were they all high and low when they had heard his words the knight on his steed straightened himself in the saddle and rolled his eyes fiercely round the hall red they gleamed under his green and bushy brows he frowned and twisted his beard waiting to see who should rise and when none answered he cried aloud in mockery

Is this Arthur's hall?

And these the knights whose renown hath run through many realms? Where are now your pride and your conquests, your wrath and anger and mighty words? Now are the praise and the renown of the round table overthrown by one man's speech, since all keep silence for dread, ere ever they have seen a blow.

With that he laughed so loudly that the blood rushed to the king's fair face for very shame.

the people together to the great stone

and bade arthur thrust back the sword and draw it forth again in the presence of all which he did with ease but an angry murmur arose from the barons who cried that what a boy could do a man could do so at the archbishop's word the sword was put back and each man whether baron or knight tried in his turn to draw it forth and failed then for the third time arthur drew forth the sword immediately there arose from the people a great shout arthur is king arthur is king we will have no king but arthur and though the barons scowled and threatened they fell on their knees before him while the archbishop placed the crown upon his head and swore to obey him faithfully as their lord and sovereign thus arthur was made king and to all he did justice righting wrongs and giving to all their dues nor was he forgetful of those that had been his friends for kay whom he loved as a brother he made central and chief of his household and to sir ector his foster-father he gave broad lands the round table retold by beechesclay thus arthur was made king but he had to fight for his own for eleven great kings drew together and refused to acknowledge him as their lord and chief among the rebels was king lot of orkney who had married arthur's sister bellicent by merlin's advice arthur had sent for help overseas to ban and bores the two great kings who ruled in gaul with their aid he overthrew his foes in a great battle near the river trent and then he passed with them into their own lands and helped them drive out their enemies so there was ever great friendship between arthur and the king bans and bors and all their kindred and afterward some of the most famous knights of the round table were of that kin then king arthur set himself to restore order throughout his kingdom to all who would submit and amend their evil ways he showed kindness those who persisted in oppression and wrong he removed putting in their place others who would deal justly with the people and because the land had become overrun with forests during the days of misrule he cut roads through the thickets that no longer wild beasts and men fiercer than the beasts should lurk in their gloom to the harm of the weak and defenceless thus it came to pass that soon the peasant ploughed his fields in safety and where had been waste men dwelt again in peace and prosperity Among the lesser kings whom Arthur helped rebuild their towns and restore order was Queen Leo de Grance of Camelard.

Now Leo de Grance had one fair child, his daughter, Guinevere, and from the first he saw her, Arthur gave her all his love.

So he sought counsel of Merlin, his chief advisor.

Merlin heard the king sorrowfully, and he said, Sir king, when a man's heart is set, he may not change, yet had it been well if he had loved another.

so the king sent his knights to leo de grance to ask him his daughter and leo de grance consented rejoicing to wed her to so good and knightly a king with great pomp the princess was conducted to canterbury and there the king met her and they two were wed by the archbishop in the great cathedral amid the rejoicings of the people on that same day did arthur found his order of the round table the fame of which was to spread throughout christendom and endure through all time now the round table had been made for king uther pendragon by merlin who had meant thereby to set forth plainly to all men the roundness of the earth after uther died king leodegrance had possessed it but when arthur was wed he sent it to him as a gift and great was the king's joy at receiving it one hundred and fifty knights might take their places about it and for them merlin made sieges or seats one hundred and twenty-eight did author knight at that great feast thereafter if any sieges were empty at the high festival of pentecost new knights were ordained to fill them and by magic was the name of each knight found inscribed in letters of gold in his proffered siege one seat only long remained unoccupied and that was the siege perilous no knight might occupy it until the coming of sir galahad for without danger to his life none might sit there who was not free from all stain of sin with pomp and ceremony did each knight take upon him the vows of true knighthood to obey the king to show mercy to all who asked it to defend the weak and for no worldly gain to fight in the wrongful cause and all the knights rejoiced together doing honor to arthur and to his queen then they rode forth to right the wrong and help the oppressed and by their aid the king held his realm in peace doing justice to all and of the round table

This one, the classic tale of King Arthur and all the legend that surrounded him.

The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is the most powerful and enduring legend in the Western world.

We have no proof that King Arthur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot existed, but their names conjure up a romantic image of gallant knights in shining armor, elegant ladies in medieval castles, heroic quests for the Holy Grail in a world of honor and romance, and the court of Camelot at the center of a royal and mystical Britain.

And historians believe they have located a famous Arthur that led troops against the Romans and the Saxons in the late 5th to early 6th century, but the search still goes on for the Round Table.

Arthur is a central figure in the legends making up the matter of Britain.

In the 21st century, the legend lives on, not only in literature, but also in adaptations for theater, film, television, comics, and other media.

By Merlin's advice, Arthur sent for help overseas to Ban and Bors, the two great kings who ruled in Gaul.

With their aid, he overthrew his foes in a great battle near the river Trent, and then he passed with them into their own lands and helped them drive out their enemies.

given this week's book is all about folks that are becoming the Arthurian characters from, I don't know, far in the future and they're reincarnated as these people or whatever, but they're all still good.

What if they were bad? What if we had to make the evil version of the Knights of the Round Table? So we're going to have an evil Arthur and we're going to have an evil Guinevere and an evil Lancelot and a bunch of other folks.

I'm going to be the host.

I'm just going to throw out the character.

And then Chad, Mikey, and J.A., they're going to agree about which comic book villain would best fit the major guidelines that are part of this character.

So we might as well start off with the big head honcho, the big seat at the round table, the main guy, Arthur.

The main traits of Arthur, he was known for his courage and bravery, his justice and fairness, his wisdom and generosity and his loyalty, but he had flaws.

sometimes blind to brewing conflicts.

So Sir Lancelot donned the serge gown and abode in the hermitage as the priest of God.

presently there came riding that way the good sir bors launcelot's nephew for when sir launcelot returned not to dover sir bors and many another knight went forth in search of him there then sir bors remained and within a half year there joined themselves to these three many who in former days had been fellows of the round table and the fame of their piety spread far and wide so six years passed and then one night launcelot had a vision It seemed to him that one said to him, Lancelot, arise and go in haste to Ellensbury.

There shalt thou find Queen Guinevere dead, and it shall be for thee to bury her.

Sir Lancelot arose at once, and, calling his fellows to him, told them his dream.

So passed from the world the bold Sir Lancelot Dulac, bravest, most courteous, and most gentle of knights, whose peer the world has never seen ever shall.

After Sir Lancelot's death, Sir Bors and the pious knights, his companions, took their way to the Holy Land, and there they died in battle against the Turk.

So ends the story of King Arthur and his noble fellowship of the Round Table.

End of The Death of Sir Lancelot and of the Queen in Myths and Legends Around the World Collection 11