the keepers of the field of battle and said, “Sirs, come here, for here we two knights have fought so that we are both seriously wounded; it is likely that one of us would have slain the other. But if each of us had known the other, there would have been no battle, nor no blows struck.”
Then Accolon cried aloud to all the knights and men who were there, saying: “Ah, lords! This knight whom I have fought is the greatest man of prowess and worship in all the world, for it is King Arthur himself, our liege lord. Through mishap and misadventure I have fought this battle with the lord and king to whom I am beholden.” Then all the people fell down on their knees and asked King Arthur for mercy.
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“You shall have mercy,” said Arthur. “Here you may see what unfortunate adventures may befall knights-errant: I have fought with my own knight, to his great damage and mine! But sirs, because I am seriously hurt and he is too, I feel that there is great need of a little rest. And here I will give my opinion on the matter between you two brethren:
“You, Sir Damas, for whom I have served as champion and won this battle, will be judged by me. Because you, Sir Damas, are known as a proud knight full of villainy, and not worthy of the prowess of your deeds, I order that you give your brother the whole manor and its income under these conditions: Sir Outlake will hold the manor in your name, and each year he will give you a palfrey to ride upon, as that will suit you better than a courser. Also, I charge you, Sir Damas, upon pain of death, that you never distress any knights-errant that are riding by on adventure, and also that you make restitution to these twenty knights that you have long kept as prisoners for all the harms that you have done to them until they are satisfied. And if any come to my court and complain of you, then by my head, you shall die!
“Also, Sir Outlake, as for you, because you are known to be a good knight, full of prowess and true and gentle in your deeds, this is the order I shall give you: as quickly as possible, come to my court, where you shall become one of my knights. And if you conduct yourself there as you have before, I promise you by the grace of God that in a short time you shall easily live as worshipfully as your brother Damas has lived.”
“God be thanked for your great goodness and your great bounty! I shall henceforth, at all times, be yours to command,” said Sir Outlake. “For as God would have it, I was recently hurt through both thighs; otherwise, I would have done battle with you.”
“If God had only willed,” said King Arthur, “that it had been so! For then I would not be as hurt as I am. I shall tell you why: I would not be this wounded if my own sword had not been stolen from me by treason. This battle was arranged ahead of time to bring about my death, and it was brought about by false treason and enchantment.”
“Alas,” said Sir Outlake, “that is a great pity, that ever a man as noble as you are of deeds and prowess might have any man or woman find it in their hearts to work any treason against you!”
“I shall repay them,” said Arthur. “Now tell me,” said King Arthur, “how far am I from Camelot?”
“Sir, you are two days’ journey away.”
“I would like to go to some place of worship,” said Sir Arthur, “so that I might rest myself.”
“Sir,” said Sir Outlake, “nearby is a rich abbey of nuns which your elders founded, just three miles from here.”
So the king took his leave of all the people and mounted on horseback, and Sir Accolon with him. When they came to the abbey he had healers summoned who treated his and Sir Accolon’s wounds both. Sir Accolon died within four days, for he had bled so much that he could not live, but King Arthur recovered well.
So when Accolon was dead, Arthur had him sent in a horse-bier, accompanied by six knights, to Camelot, and he bade them, “bear him to my sister, Morgan le Fay, and say that I have sent her a present. Tell her also that I have my sword Excalibur and the scabbard.” So they departed with the body.
In the meantime, Morgan le Fay believed that King Arthur was dead, so on a day when she saw that King Uriens was asleep in his bed, she called one of her maidens to her and said, “Go and fetch me my lord’s sword, for I never saw a better time to slay him than now.”
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“Ah, madame!” said the damsel, “if you slay my lord you will never escape!”
“Don’t you worry about it,” said Morgan, “for I see now that the time is best for me to do it; therefore hurry and fetch me the sword.”
Then the damsel departed and found Sir Uwain sleeping in a bed in another chamber. So she went to Sir Uwain and awakened him and bade him “arise and go to my lady, your mother, for she wishes to slay your father the king while he sleeps in his bed; I have been sent to fetch his sword!”
“Well,” said Sir Uwain, “go on your way and I will deal with this.”
Then the damsel brought the queen the sword with quaking hands. Quickly she took the sword and drew it out, and went boldly to the side of the bed, judging how and where she might strike him to slay him the most easily.
As she raised the sword to strike, Sir Uwain leapt to his mother and caught her by the hand, saying “Fiend, what would you do? If you were not my mother, I would smite off your head with this sword! Ah,” said Sir Uwain, “men said that Merlin was begotten of a fiend, but I may say that an earthly fiend bore me!”
“Ah, fair son, have mercy on me! I was tempted by a fiend, and therefore I ask you for mercy. I will never do anything like this again. Preserve my honor and tell no one of this!”
“On this condition,” said Sir Uwain, “I will forgive you: you must promise to never do such deeds again.”
“Never, son, I promise you.”
Then word came to Morgan le Fay that Accolon was dead and his body had been brought to the church, and that King Arthur had his sword again. When Queen Morgan knew that Accolon was dead, she was so consumed with sorrow that she thought her heart would burst; but because she did not want anyone to know her feelings, she maintained her composure and displayed no sorrow.
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But she well knew that if she waited until her brother Arthur returned, there would not be enough gold to save her life. So she went to Queen Guenevere and asked for her permission to leave the country.
“You should wait,” said the queen, “until your brother the king returns home.”
“I may not, madame,” said Morgan le Fay, “for I have received urgent news.”
“Well,” said the queen, “then you may depart whenever you would like.”
So early in the morning, before it was daylight, she took her horse and rode all that day and for most of the night. By noon of the next day she came to the abbey of nuns where King Arthur was, and she well knew he was there. She immediately asked where he was, and they answered and told her that he lay down on his bed to sleep, for he had had but little rest the last three nights.
“Well,” she said, “I order that none of you waken him until I do.” Then she dismounted and thought that she might steal away Excalibur, his sword. She went straight to his chamber, and no man dared disobey her commandment. She found Arthur asleep on his bed, with Excalibur in his right hand, unsheathed. When she saw that, she was dismayed, as she realized she could not take the sword
