sword by the girdle and sheath and drew it out easily, and when he looked at the sword he was very pleased with it. Then the king and all the court marveled that Balin had achieved that adventure, and many knights were upset with him.
“For certain,” said the damsel, “this is a very good knight—the best I ever found—and the one who is of greatest worship without treason or felony; he shall perform many marvels. Now, gentle and courteous knight, give the sword back to me.”
“Nay,” said Balin, “I will keep this sword unless someone takes it from me by force.”
“Well,” said the damsel, “you are not wise to do so, for with that sword you will slay your best friend and the man whom you love most in this world, and that sword will cause your destruction.”
“I will take the adventure,” said Balin, “that God will ordain for me. You shall not have the sword at this time, by the faith of my body.”
“You will repent of this shortly,” said the damsel, “for I ask for the sword back more for your benefit than for mine. I am very sad for your sake, because if you will not give up that sword it will cause your destruction, and that is a great pity.”
With that, the damsel departed making great sorrow. And at once Balin called for his horse and armor—as he wished to depart from the court—and he took his leave of King Arthur.
“Nay,” said King Arthur, “do not think you will depart so easily from this fellowship. I suppose that you are unhappy that I have treated you unkindly, but don’t blame me, as it seems I was misinformed about you. I did not know that you were such a noble knight of worship and prowess, as you obviously are. If you would stay in this court among my fellowship, I will raise your status as it may please you.”
“God thank you, your highness,” said Balin. “No man is able to praise even half the value of your generosity, but at this time I must depart, although I ask your good grace to do so.”
“Truly,” said the king, “I am quite upset at your departing. But I pray you, fair knight, not to stay away too long; you will be very welcome by me and my barons, and I will make amends for all that was wrongly done to you.”
“God thank your good grace,” said Balin, and made himself ready to depart. Then most of the knights said that Balin had succeeded in this adventure not through might but through witchcraft.
As Balin was making himself ready to depart, the Lady of the Lake came to court. She arrived on horseback richly outfitted, greeted King Arthur, and asked him to grant her the gift he had promised her when she gave him the sword.
CII.3
“That is true,” said Arthur, “that I promised you a gift; but I have forgotten the name of the sword you gave me.”
“The name of it,” said the lady, “is Excalibur, which means ‘cut steel.’”
“You say well,” said the king. “Ask what you would like and you shall have it if it lies in my power to give it to you.”
“Well,” said the lady, “then I ask for the head of this knight who has won the sword, or else the head of the damsel who brought the sword to court. It would be fine with me to have both their heads, for he killed my brother, who was a good and true knight, and that gentlewoman caused my father’s death.”
“Truly,” said King Arthur, “I cannot grant you either of their heads and keep my honor. Ask for something else, and I will grant you your desire.”
“I will ask for nothing else,” said the lady.
As Balin was getting ready to depart, he saw the Lady of the Lake, who had been the cause of his mother’s death; he had been seeking her for three years. And when he was told that she had asked King Arthur for his head, went straight up to her and said, “Evil be you found! You would have had my head, so you shall lose yours!” And with his sword he quickly struck off her head right in front of King Arthur.
“Alas, for shame!” said the king. “Why did you do that? You have shamed me and all my court, for this was a lady to whom I owed a great deal, and she came here under my safe-conduct. I will never forgive you for this crime!”
“Sir,” said Balin, “I am sorry about your displeasure, but this lady was the falsest lady alive; through enchantment and sorcery she has destroyed many good knights, and she caused my mother to be burned through her falsehood and treachery.”
“Whatever reason you had,” said Arthur, “you should have restrained yourself in my presence—don’t dare to think the contrary! You will be sorry for this, for I have never had such a foul act committed in my court. Therefore leave my court as quickly as you are able.”
Then Balin took up the head of the lady and carried it with him to his lodgings. There he met up with his squire, who was sorry that he had displeased King Arthur, and they rode out of town.
“Now,” said Balin, “we must depart. Take this head and bring it to my friends and tell them what I have done, and tell the people of Northumberland that my greatest foe is dead. Also, tell them how I got out of prison, and the adventure that I had in achieving the sword.”
“Alas!” said the squire. “You are greatly to blame for having displeased King Arthur.”
“As for that,” said Balin, “I will hurry in all haste to meet with King Rience and destroy him, or else die trying. And if I am able to defeat him, then King Arthur will be my good friend.”
“Sir, shall I meet up with you again?” said his squire.
“Yes, in King Arthur’s court,” said Balin. So he and his squire then parted.
King Arthur and all the court mourned and felt great shame for the death of the Lady of the Lake; the king had her richly buried.
So at that time there was a knight who was the son of the king of Ireland, and his name was Lanceor. He was a proud knight and considered himself one of the best of the court. He was very upset that Balin had achieved the sword, because he did not want anyone to be considered stronger or of greater prowess than himself. He asked King Arthur to allow him to ride after Balin to avenge the crime he had committed.
CII.4
“Do your best,” said King Arthur. “I am very upset with Balin. I would like him to be punished for the wrong he has done to me and my court.” Then this Sir Lanceor went to his lodgings to prepare himself.
In the meanwhile, Merlin came to Arthur’s court and was immediately told about the adventure of the sword and the death of the Lady of the Lake.
“Now I shall tell you something,” said Merlin. “This damsel who stands here—the one who brought the sword into the court—I will explain the reason for her coming here. She is the falsest damsel alive; she cannot deny it. She had a brother, a passing good knight of prowess and an honest man, and this damsel loved another knight who was her paramour. This good knight, her brother, met with her paramour and slew him by the skill of his hands. When this false damsel learned of this, she went to the Lady Lyle of Avalon and asked for her help in exacting vengeance upon her own brother. And so the Lady Lyle of Avalon gave her the sword that she brought with her, and told her that no man would be able to pull it out unless he were one of the best knights of the realm, and he would be strong and full of knightly skill, and with that sword he would
