3 books to know King Arthur. Thomas Malory

dead,

      And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord.

      He laughed upon his warrior whom he loved

      And honoured most. 'Thou dost not doubt me King,

      So well thine arm hath wrought for me today.'

      'Sir and my liege,' he cried, 'the fire of God

      Descends upon thee in the battle-field:

      I know thee for my King!' Whereat the two,

      For each had warded either in the fight,

      Sware on the field of death a deathless love.

      And Arthur said, 'Man's word is God in man:

      Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death.'

      Then quickly from the foughten field he sent

      Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere,

      His new-made knights, to King Leodogran,

      Saying, 'If I in aught have served thee well,

      Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife.'

      Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart

      Debating—'How should I that am a king,

      However much he holp me at my need,

      Give my one daughter saving to a king,

      And a king's son?'—lifted his voice, and called

      A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom

      He trusted all things, and of him required

      His counsel: 'Knowest thou aught of Arthur's birth?'

      Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said,

      'Sir King, there be but two old men that know:

      And each is twice as old as I; and one

      Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served

      King Uther through his magic art; and one

      Is Merlin's master (so they call him) Bleys,

      Who taught him magic, but the scholar ran

      Before the master, and so far, that Bleys,

      Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote

      All things and whatsoever Merlin did

      In one great annal-book, where after-years

      Will learn the secret of our Arthur's birth.'

      To whom the King Leodogran replied,

      'O friend, had I been holpen half as well

      By this King Arthur as by thee today,

      Then beast and man had had their share of me:

      But summon here before us yet once more

      Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere.'

      Then, when they came before him, the King said,

      'I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl,

      And reason in the chase: but wherefore now

      Do these your lords stir up the heat of war,

      Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois,

      Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves,

      Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son?'

      And Ulfius and Brastias answered, 'Ay.'

      Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights

      Knighted by Arthur at his crowning, spake—

      For bold in heart and act and word was he,

      Whenever slander breathed against the King—

      'Sir, there be many rumours on this head:

      For there be those who hate him in their hearts,

      Call him baseborn, and since his ways are sweet,

      And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man:

      And there be those who deem him more than man,

      And dream he dropt from heaven: but my belief

      In all this matter—so ye care to learn—

      Sir, for ye know that in King Uther's time

      The prince and warrior Gorlois, he that held

      Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea,

      Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne:

      And daughters had she borne him,—one whereof,

      Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,

      Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved

      To Arthur,—but a son she had not borne.

      And Uther cast upon her eyes of love:

      But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois,

      So loathed the bright dishonour of his love,

      That Gorlois and King Uther went to war:

      And overthrown was Gorlois and slain.

      Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged

      Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men,

      Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls,

      Left her and fled, and Uther entered in,

      And there was none to call to but himself.

      So, compassed by the power of the King,

      Enforced was she to wed him in her tears,

      And with a shameful swiftness: afterward,

      Not many moons, King Uther died himself,

      Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule

      After him, lest the realm should go to wrack.

      And that same night, the night of the new year,

      By reason of the bitterness and grief

      That vext his mother, all before his time

      Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born

      Delivered at a secret postern-gate

      To Merlin, to be holden far apart

      Until his hour should come; because the lords

      Of that fierce day were as the lords of this,

      Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the child

      Piecemeal among them, had they known; for each

      But sought to rule for his own self and hand,

      And many hated Uther for the sake

      Of Gorlois. Wherefore Merlin took the child,

      And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight

      And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife

      Nursed the young prince, and reared him with her own;

      And no man knew. And ever since the lords

      Have foughten like wild beasts among themselves,

      So that the realm has gone to wrack: but now,

      This year, when Merlin (for his hour had come)

      Brought Arthur forth, and set him in the hall,

      Proclaiming, "Here is Uther's heir, your king,"

      A hundred voices cried, "Away with him!

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