زبان و ادبیات انگلیسی

summary of Book 20 - The Treachery of Sir Launcelot

The next May at Carlisle, Sir Agravaine and Sir Mordred made their move, and with King Arthur's reluctant permission, plotted to catch Launcelot and Guenevere the next night, while Arthur was away hunting. Arthur had pointed out that a simple accusation was useless, because Launcelot would simply kill - in Trial by Combat - anybody who spoke the "truth", thus "proving" his innocence.

The other Orkney Knights - Gawaine, Gareth, and Gaheris - wanted nothing to do with the affair, so Agravaine and Mordred recruited a dozen Scottish knights to help, including Sir Florence and Sir Lovel, two sons of Gawaine.

That evening, Launcelot attended Guenevere as usual, with no armour but his sword, and in no time was disturbed by Agravaine's party outside the queen's door, shouting "traitor" loud enough to wake the entire castle. Launcelot managed to drag Sir Colgrevance of Gore inside on his own, kill him, and "with the help of the queen and her ladies", steal his armour. He then strode out and killed Agravaine and the dozen Scottish knights, and wounded Mordred, who barely escaped.

Launcelot returned to his lodging, and, realising that the game was up and that this could mean civil war, from amongst his own kin and the knights of Wales and Cornwall he treacherously recruited over a hundred knights to his side, including Bors, Ector, Lionel, Lavaine, Urre, Palomides and Bellangere le Beuse.

Meanwhile, Mordred rode to tell Arthur everything, and under the law of treason, he had no choice but to regretfully sentence Guenevere to death at the stake. Gawaine tried to dissuade him (in spite of just having lost a brother and two sons to Launcelot) and refused to be present at the burning, and his brothers Gareth (whom Launcelot himself had dubbed long ago) and Gaheris attended only under protest, and refused to wear armour.

As Guenevere was tied to the stake outside Carlisle, one of Launcelot's spies raised the alarm and he rode down from the hill where he and his band of traitors had been waiting. They rescued her from the flames (for the third and last time) and killed everyone else in sight. Launcelot then took her to his castle Joyous Gard, and raised an army from Arthur's enemies.

Over two dozen more knights had died at Launcelot's hands, including King Pellinore's sons, Sir Aglovale and Sir Tor, and Gawaine's last two full brothers, Gareth and Gaheris, who had been unarmed, and when Gawain found out, he went into a terrible rage. Together with Arthur, he raised a huge army from all over Britain, and laid seige to Launcelot's castle. Arthur was still minded to make peace but Gawaine was completely embittered, and Launcelot was loath to leave his castle and attack "that most noble king that made me knight".

After fifteen weeks of taunting, Launcelot eventually came out to fight, and in the ensuing battle (Arthur's eighth), Launcelot actually saved Arthur from Bors, and then Gawaine and Bors injured each other. The battle only ended after two days because the Bishop of Rochester arrived with a papal bull (a kind of injunction, not an animal) in which the pope ordered Arthur to take Guenevere back and make to peace with Launcelot. Arthur returned to Carlisle, and eight days later, Launcelot duly delivered her there.

After delivering a long series of excuses, in which he pathetically denied everything and threatened to kill anyone who said any different, Launcelot eventually returned to France, taking one hundred knights with him, including all his kin.

Even though Arthur now had Guenevere "back", he still pursued Launcelot, sailing for France from Cardiff with a host of sixty thousand, leaving Mordred in charge.

Although Launcelot's kin advised immediate revenge for their French lands - just ravaged by Arthur - Launcelot sent a maiden and a dwarf to sue for peace, but Gawaine refused and beseiged them inside the (French?) city of Benwick. Each day, he taunted Launcelot and challenged and defeated his knights at joust, including Bors and Lionel, until after six months, Launcelot was forced to meet him in single combat.

The battle began at 9 a.m. and on the first clash, their horses fell, but, as only Arthur and Gawaine knew, Gawaine's strength waxed triple from that hour until noon, and for three hours a perplexed Launcelot was forced to cover himself and retreat before the bezerk Orkney Knight. Then at noon, Gawaine weakened, and Launcelot knocked him down and left him there, refusing to kill a stricken knight.

After three weeks Gawaine was sufficiently recovered to repeat the challenge, and again he battered Launcelot viciously for three hours, until his strength failed, and Launcelot struck him on his old head wound and left him fallen.

This time, Gawaine convalesced for a month, but three days before he was ready to fight for a third time, Arthur heard news from England, which forced him to lift the seige and begin the return home.