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CHAPTER FOUR

The fame of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table spread and many brave knights wanted to be part of the fellowship. There were many jousts and tournaments held at the king’s court of Camelot.

The best knight in Camelot was Sir Lancelot. He could defeat all the other knights in battle and he was generous and courteous to everyone at the court.

Queen Guinevere knew that Sir Lancelot was the best knight of the Round Table and she delighted in watching him at the jousts and tournaments.

Sir Lancelot and the queen fell in love and did everything they could to keep their love a secret.

One day Sir Lancelot and his nephew, Sir Lionel, rode out from Camelot in search of adventure. It was a hot day and Sir Lancelot soon became tired.

He dismounted from his horse and lay under a tree to sleep Sir Lionel remained awake and soon he saw three knights riding towards him.

They were being followed by a single knight. Sir Lionel watched as this knight attacked each of the three knights.

He threw them to the ground without difficulty. Then he tied the knights to the back of his own horse and led them away.

Sir Lionel rode after the victorious knight.

He called out to him and the knight turned towards him. The mysterious knight immediately knocked Sir Lionel off his horse and tied him up, just as he had done with the other three knights. Then he led Sir Lionel and the other three knights away.

Sir Lancelot’s brother was called Sir Ector de Maris. When Sir Ector realised that Sir Lancelot had left Camelot in search of adventure, he decided to follow him.

He rode the same way through the forest that Sir Lancelot and Sir Lionel had gone. Then he found himself outside a castle. Nearby he could see a tree from which many shields were hanging.

Sir Ector recognised many of them. They belonged to knights of the Round Table. Suddenly he saw Sir Lionel’s shield and he understood that Sir Lionel was a prisoner in the castle.

Just then the knight of the castle, who was called Sir Turquine, appeared. He challenged Sir Ector to a joust and the two knights fought against each other.

Sir Turquine was the victor and he brought Sir Ector into the castle as his prisoner. He put him into the castle dungeon, where he had also put the other knights. Sir Ector was very unhappy when he saw that Sir Lionel was a prisoner.

‘Where is Sir Lancelot?’ he asked.

‘I left him sleeping under a tree when I set off for this adventure,’ Sir Lionel told him.

Meanwhile Sir Lancelot was still asleep under the tree when four queens came riding by. One of the queens was Morgan le Fay, King Arthur’s sister.

When the four queens saw the sleeping knight, they began to quarrel among themselves over who should take the knight as her lover.

‘Let’s not argue,’ Morgan le Fay said. ‘I’ll put a spell on him that will make him sleep for a while longer. We’ll carry him to my castle. Then when he wakes up, we’ll make him choose which of us shall be his love.’

When Sir Lancelot woke up he found himself in a castle. He looked up in surprise and saw the four queens.

‘We know that you are the best knight in the world,’ one of the queens told him. ‘We know that you are Sir Lancelot and that you’re in love with Queen Guinevere.

You will never see the queen again, because you must now choose which of us you will love. If you do not choose one of us, you’ll die here in this castle.’

‘I would rather die here than live with dishonour,’ replied Sir Lancelot.

‘You refuse us, then?’ asked another of the queens.

Sir Lancelot nodded his head. The queens glared angrily at him and walked out of the room.

That evening a young girl came into the room where Sir Lancelot was a prisoner. She brought him food and drink.

‘My father is King Bagdemagus,’ she told him. ‘He is organising a tournament against the King of Northgalis. If you promise to be on his side in the tournament, I will set you free.

‘I know King Bagdemagus,’ Sir Lancelot replied. ‘He is a noble king and I’ll help him if I can.’

The girl went to see Sir Lancelot very early the next morning.

She led him out of the prison and showed him where she had hidden his horse and armour. Sir Lancelot thanked her and hurriedly put his armour on.

King Bagdemagus was very pleased when Sir Lancelot told him what his daughter had done and how he had promised to fight on the king’s side at the tournament.

King Northgalis and his knights arrived on the day of the tournament. They had beaten King Bagdemagus in the previous tournament and they were confident of another victory.

The opposing knights charged each other making a great noise. Sir Lancelot knocked down King Northgalis and another sixteen knights. No one could stand against him that day and the victory was soon given to King Bagdemagus.

Sir Lancelot then set off to look for Sir Lionel. He rode through the forest, where by chance he came upon a girl. She stopped him and told him that nearby there lived a knight that no one had ever defeated in a joust.

‘His name is Sir Turquine,’ she told him. ‘That’s him!’ She pointed out a figure some way away from Sir Lancelot.

In the distance Sir Lancelot saw a knight, who was driving a horse in front of him. Sir Lancelot could see that there was a wounded knight lying on the horse’s back. He recognised the wounded knight as Sir Gaheris, one of the knights of the Round Table.

Sir Lancelot rode up to Sir Turquine and challenged him. Sir Turquine accepted the challenge eagerly. He had never been defeated in battle before and he expected another victory.

The two knights rode towards each other as fast as they could and pointed their spears.

They collided and both their horses fell to the ground. Both knights then stood up as quickly as they could and drew their swords.

They fought for a long time and both of them received dreadful wounds from the other’s sword. Sir Turquine then paused to gather his breath and leaned on his sword.

‘You’re the most dangerous knight I have ever encountered,’ he said. ‘You remind me of the one knight in the world that I hate the most.’

‘What is the name of this knight that you hate so much?’ asked Sir Lancelot.

‘He’s called Sir Lancelot,’ Sir Turquine replied. ‘He killed my brother and I have sworn never to make peace with him.

It is because I hate Sir Lancelot that I have taken so many knights of the Round Table as prisoners.’

‘Then we can never be friends,’ Sir Lancelot replied, ‘because I am the knight you hate most in the world. I am Sir Lancelot!’

The two knights resumed their battle once more. They fought for another two hours, until finally Sir Turquine made a mistake.

He was very tired and he lowered his shield. Sir Lancelot rushed towards him with his sword and killed him.

Sir Lancelot then went into the castle and freed all of Sir Turquine’s prisoners.