Sir Marhalt said, “Sir duke, tell your sons to cease, or else I will kill you all.” When the duke saw there was no way for him to escape death, he called out to his sons and ordered them to yield to Sir Marhalt; so they all kneeled down with the pommels of their swords toward the knight, and he accepted them. Then they got their father onto his feet. They all agreed to promise Sir Marhalt that they would never be King Arthur’s foes, and that on the Whitsunday after next they would come to King Arthur and submit to the king’s grace. Then Sir Marhalt departed.
Within two days, Sir Marhalt’s damsel brought him to where a great tournament—which had been announced by the Lady Vause—was being held. Whoever did the best there would win a circlet of gold worth a thousand gold coins. There Sir Marhalt performed so nobly that he was renowned; he smote down forty knights, so the circlet of gold was awarded to him. Then he departed from there with great honor.
Within a week his damsel brought him to an earl’s palace. His name was Earl Fergus who later was a knight of Sir Tristram. This earl was a young man who had just recently come to those lands. There was a giant nearby named Talard and he had a brother in Cornwall who was called Talus, and he was killed by Sir Tristram when he was out of his mind. This earl made complaint to Sir Marhalt that there was a giant nearby who destroyed all his lands, and he did not dare ride anywhere for fear of him.
“Sir,” he said, “does he fight on horseback or on foot?”
“Nay,” said the earl, “there is not a horse that could carry him.”
“Well, “ said Sir Marhalt, “then I will fight with him on foot.” So in the morning Sir Marhalt asked the earl to have one of his men bring him to where the giant was; so one brought him to where he could see him under a holly tree, with many clubs of iron and battleaxes about him.
So this knight challenged the giant, putting his shield in front of him; the giant took an iron club in his hand, and with the first stroke he broke Sir Marhalt’s shield. He was then in great danger, for the giant was a clever fighter, but finally Sir Marhalt struck off his right arm above the elbow.
Then the giant fled with the knight after him, and he drove him to the water; the giant was so tall that Marhalt could not wade after him. Then Sir Marhalt had Earl Fergus’ man fetch him some stones, and with the stones the knight gave the giant many serious blows, until at last he fell down in the water, dead.
Then Sir Marhalt went to the giant’s castle where he rescued twenty-four knights and twelve ladies from the giant’s prison. He found there great riches out of measure, so that for the rest of his life he would never be a poor man.
Then he returned to the Earl Fergus, who thanked him greatly and would have given him half his lands, but Sir Marhalt would take none of them. So Sir Marhalt dwelled with the earl almost half a year, for he had been sorely wounded by the giant. Finally he took his leave, and as he was riding along with his damsel, he met Sir Gawain with Sir Uwain. It also happened that he met four knights of Arthur’s court: the first was Sir Sagramore le Desirous, Sir Ozanna le Cure Hardy, Sir Dodinas le Savage, and Sir Felotte of Listenoise. There Sir Marhalt smote down all four of these knights with one spear and wounded them sorely. Then he departed to meet Sir Gawain and Sir Uwain on the appointed day.
15 Sir Uwain’s Adventure
Now we turn to Sir Uwain, who rode westward with the sixty-year-old damsel. There was a tournament near the border of Wales, and at that tournament Sir Uwain smote down thirty knights. Thus, he was given the prize, which was a gerfalcon and a white steed dressed in trappings of gold. Sir Uwain then had many adventures which the old damsel arranged, and she brought him to a lady who was called the Lady of the Rock.
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In that country there were two knights who were brothers, and they were known to be perilous knights; one was called Sir Edward of the Red Castle, and the other Sir Hugh of the Red Castle. These two brothers had disinherited the Lady of the Rock of a barony of lands through extortion.
When Sir Uwain was staying with this lady, she complained to him of these two knights. “Madame,” said Sir Uwain, “they are to blame, for what they do goes against the high Order of Knighthood and the oath that they took. If you like, I will speak with them, because I am a knight of King Arthur, and I will entreat them to act with fairness. If they will not, I will do battle with them for God’s sake in defense of your rights.”
“Many thanks,” said the lady. “If I am not able to repay you, then God surely shall.”
So in the morning the two knights were sent for and asked to come speak with the Lady of the Rock; you should well know that they did not fail to come, but arrived with a hundred horses. When this lady saw them arrive in such a large company, she would not allow Sir Uwain to go out to them, no matter what fair language they used to assure her; instead, she had Sir Uwain speak to them from a tower. In the end, the two brothers would not agree, and answered that they would keep what they had.
“Well,” said Sir Uwain, “then I will fight with one of you and prove that you do this lady wrong.”
“We will not,” they said. “If we do battle, the two of us will fight together with one knight. Therefore, if you wish to fight us so, we will be ready at whatever time you choose. If you beat us in battle, then she may have her lands back.”
“You say well,” said Sir Uwain. “Therefore, make yourselves ready, and be here tomorrow morning ready to fight over this lady’s rights.” So it was agreed on both sides that there would be no treason, and the knights parted and went to make themselves ready.
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That night Sir Uwain was shown great hospitality, and in the morning he arose early and heard mass and broke his fast, and then rode onto the plain; waiting outside the gates were the two brothers. They ran together fiercely so that Sir Edward and Sir Hugh broke their spears upon Sir Uwain. Sir Uwain smote Sir Edward so that he fell off his horse, but his spear did not break. Then he spurred his horse and came at Sir Hugh and unhorsed him.
But they soon recovered and positioned their shields and drew out their swords, telling Sir Uwain to alight and fight to the utter end. Sir Uwain adroitly dismounted and positioned his shield in front of him and drew his sword. They thrust together and each gave the other great blows.
These two brothers wounded Sir Uwain so seriously that the Lady of the Rock thought that he would die. They fought together five hours like men outraged beyond reason, and finally Sir Uwain smote Sir Edward upon the helmet with such a stroke that his sword carved down to his neck bone. Then Sir Hugh lost his courage, but Sir Uwain pressed his advantage to try and slay him. Sir Hugh then kneeled down and yielded to Sir Uwain, and he courteously received his sword, took him by the hand, and they went into the castle together.
Then the Lady of the Rock was very glad, while Sir Hugh made great sorrow for his brother’s death. This lady had her lands restored to her, and Sir Hugh was commanded to be at King Arthur’s court at the next feast of Pentecost. Sir Uwain dwelt with this lady almost half a year, for it was a long time before he was healed of his many wounds.
So when it drew near to the day when Sir Gawain, Sir Marhalt, and Sir Uwain had agreed to meet at the crossroads, each of the knights headed there in order to keep the promise that they had made. Sir Marhalt and Sir Uwain brought their damsels with them, but Sir Gawain had lost his damsel.
So at the end of twelve months, all three knights met at the fountain with their damsels, but the damsel that Sir Gawain had could say little good of him. So they departed from the damsels and rode through a great forest, and there
