The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True (5 page)

So it was decided that Sir Gandefere would represent King Arthur the next morning, and the knights dispersed to their tents to rest before the big day. They were all awake and dressed before dawn, and at the exact moment that the sun showed at the horizon, the great drawbridge lowered from the castle, and a knight on horseback trotted across to the field.

"I am Sir Goliot the Practically Unconquered, champion of Sir Gologras. Who challenges me?"

Sir Gandefere was mounted and waiting. "I am Sir Gandefere the Nearly Undefeated, champion of King Arthur, and I challenge you!"

Without another word, the two knights spurred their horses, lowered their lances, and charged at each other. All the onlookers held their breath, watching. The two mighty warriors came together with a tremendous crash. Both lances splintered into thousands of pieces; both knights were thrown abruptly from their horses; both landed with solid thuds on the turf. Neither moved.

For several seconds, the watchers remained still. Sir Gawain shook his head slowly, then heard a soft chuckle at his side. Glancing over he saw Spinagras, who had appeared suddenly. "Well, wasn't that useful?" commented the dwarf.

A knight appeared at the castle gate and began approaching the prone forms of the champions. King Arthur called for Sir Reynold. "Go check on Gandefere, will you?"

A minute later, Sir Reynold and the knight from the castle had determined that both knights were alive, just knocked out. "What happens now, I wonder?" Sir Gawain muttered to Spinagras. He didn't have to wonder long. Sir Reynold drew his sword and called out in a ringing voice, "I, Sir Reynold the Brave, will take the place of my fallen companion, Sir Gandefere!"

At once, the knight from the castle drew his own sword and replied, "And I, Sir Regal the Dauntless, will fight for Sir Goliot!" Then the two knights charged each other on foot, swinging their swords. They hacked and slashed and parried for a moment, backed away, then charged again.

"Shouldn't someone drag Goliot and Gandefere out of the way?" mused Spinagras. "They're rather underfoot."

For several minutes, Sir Reynold and Sir Regal fought, dancing nimbly around their unconscious companions. Then Sir Regal directed a mighty overhand blow at Sir Reynold. Sir Reynold parried the blow with his own blade, and neither was hurt, but both swords broke at the impact. For a moment, the two knights stared at their blade-less sword hilts; then both drew daggers from their belts and began slashing and stabbing and fighting with the small blades. But daggers aren't designed for cutting through armor. Ten minutes later, both knives were broken.

Sir Reynold and Sir Regal looked lost for a moment. Then Sir Reynold grasped the edge of his shield and swung it at Sir Regal. Taken by surprise, Sir Regal stumbled backward, tripping over either Goliot or Gandefere. He was up again in a trice, though, bellowing with rage and wielding his own shield as a weapon. For quite a little while, then, they bashed each other with their shields. At last, Sir Regal managed to knock Sir Reynold's shield from his grasp and, stooping quickly, Sir Regal picked it up and threw it like a discus into the castle's moat. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to put down his own shield before throwing, with the result that both shields splashed and sank into the murky water. The two knights watched until the last bubbles had disappeared, then turned to look at each other.

"Take that!" shouted Sir Reynold, throwing a

heavy punch at Sir Regal's head. "Owww!" he screamed as his fist bounced harmlessly from Sir Regal's helmet.

Sensing an advantage, Sir Regal replied at once with his own punch. "Ouch!" Sir Regal shouted, holding his hand. Fists aren't designed for penetrating armor, either.

The two knights circled each other for a moment, rubbing their bruised hands. Sir Gawain leaned close to Spinagras. "Tell me the truth, friend," he said. "Is all this, um, a little bit stupid?"

Then Sir Regal seemed to have an idea. Dashing down to the moat, he took up a stone from the water's edge and threw it at Sir Reynold. It bounced harmlessly off Sir Reynold's shoulder. "Hey!" shouted Sir Reynold. Running to the moat he found his own stone and flung it at Sir Regal, but it missed because Sir Regal had already stooped to find another rock. Sir Reynold ran close and kicked water into Sir Regal's face, blinding him. Sir Regal lost the rock he had been about to take up, but he scooped up a handful of sand and gravel and threw it at Sir Reynold. It made a tinkling noise on the iron armor.

"Stupid?" replied Spinagras. "Maybe a little bit."

Now both knights were on their knees throwing gravel at each other with both hands as fast as they could. Sir Gawain closed his eyes. "Someone please make it stop," he moaned.

King Arthur must have been thinking the same thing, because at that moment he strode onto the tournament field and called out firmly, "Enough! Both of you!" The two knights stopped splashing and throwing dirt. "This is no way to settle a dispute!" snapped the king.

Spinagras snorted softly and muttered, almost too quietly to hear, "But hitting someone with a sword
is?
"

Sir Regal spoke, his voice sulky. "All right, then. We'll have another go at it tomorrow, but this time my master, Sir Gologras, will come himself to fight, and Sir Gologras has never been defeated!"

"Wait!" said Sir Reynold. "We may end this today, after all! Look!" He pointed at Sir Gandefere and Sir Goliot. Both had wakened and were slowly picking themselves up. They shook their heads groggily and looked around. Then they saw each other, let out a bellow of rage in unison, drew their swords as one, and bashed each other on the helmets. Both dropped to the ground like stones and lay there unmoving.

"Never mind," said Sir Reynold.

"Until tomorrow, then!" snapped Sir Regal. "You shall see what true knightly power is when you face Sir Gologras the Unconquered!"

As soon as it became known that Sir Gologras would be representing himself the next day, then Sir Gawain knew he was going to have to fight. Who could King Arthur send to face Sir Gologras the Unconquered but Sir Gawain the Undefeated? Still, Sir Gawain tried to argue.

"But, sire, I don't
want
to fight him," he explained. "I like Sir Gologras."

"I understand, Gawain," the king replied, "but this is for the kingdom. If the people of Britain are ever to live in safety, then all must agree to support one ruler. If I let Sir Gologras refuse to swear loyalty, how can I expect the rest of the people to be true?"

Sir Gawain sighed. "I know. But isn't there anyone else?"

At this moment, King Arthur received some surprising support. Spinagras the dwarf had seemed scornful of the day's tournament, but now he spoke up in favor of the next day's battle. "You must send someone, Your Highness, but don't even think about sending anyone but Sir Gawain. Speaking as one who's seen Sir Gologras fight, I can tell you that only your very best knight stands a chance. He's a demon with a sword, he is."

Sir Gawain frowned at Spinagras, but the dwarf ignored him. King Arthur looked grim, but he only said, "I'm sorry, Gawain. But it has to be you. Be ready at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes, sire," said Sir Gawain, and true to his word, he was.

As on the day before, the great castle's drawbridge began to lower just at the crack of dawn, and when it was down, an armed and armored knight rode across to the field beyond. The knight raised his lance in salute. "I am Sir Gologras the Unconquered, here to defend my home and my family tradition. Where is your champion, King Arthur?"

Sir Gawain rode forward, stopping just in front of Sir Gologras and raising the visor on his helmet. "Here I am. Sir Gawain."

"Sir Gawain?" repeated Sir Gologras. Sir Gawain nodded. "So," said Sir Gologras, "this is your idea of friendship, is it?"

"I vowed obedience to my king, who has sent me. I will keep my vow."

Sir Gologras snorted. "See what comes of all this vow-taking business?"

"We wouldn't have to do this if you would take one yourself," Sir Gawain suggested. "Just promise never to rebel against the king. It isn't so hard."

"I have only made one solemn promise in my life," Sir Gologras said.

Sir Gawain brightened. "You have? You've made one? Then why not make just one more?"

"Because that solemn promise was to my father, on his deathbed. I promised not to make any more solemn promises."

"Well, that's not fair!" exclaimed Sir Gawain. "No, really!
Promise me not to make any promises?
That's cheating! Either you make promises, or you don't!"

Sir Gologras hesitated. "When you put it that way, it
does
seem a little irregular. But all the same, do you want me to break that promise?"

Now Sir Gawain hesitated. "No, I guess not. Just as I won't break my promise to King Arthur." He sighed. "So where does that leave us?"

"I think we have to fight," Sir Gologras said.

"Bother," replied Sir Gawain. Then they separated, rode to their positions, pointed their lances, and charged. As had happened the day before with Sir Gandefere and Sir Goliot, both knights' lances splintered, and both knights were thrown from their horses. This time, though, the two knights rose at once and continued the contest with swords.

As has already been mentioned, detailed accounts of battles are curiously dull to read. To do a fight justice, each attacking sword blow and defending parry must be noted. The problem is that the blow and parry together only take a fraction of a second, but it takes much longer than that to read about them. As a result, the poor readers get left behind. By the time they've finished with that first exchange, the knights have already gone on to have three or even four more. After that, there's no catching up at all, but only falling further and further behind, and so readers lose interest. The same sort of thing happens at school sometimes.

So, to make a long (and dull) battle story short: The swift and skillful swordplay of Sir Gawain and Sir Gologras was splendid to watch, and all who were privileged to witness their battle knew that they would never again behold such brilliant knightly warriors. The champions went on without slackening their pace for nearly an hour, but after that they slowed down slightly. They would fight a bit, then back away and circle each other, catching their breath and watching for an opening. During one of these circling times, Sir Gologras said, "I can see why you're undefeated, my friend. You really are a splendid swordsman."

"You, too," Sir Gawain replied, with feeling. "It's an honor to see such skill. After this is all over, you must show me that trick you have of twisting your blade at the parry to drive my sword further off course. I've never seen anything like that."

"Do you like it? I came up with that myself."

"You've nearly had me a dozen times with that trick," Sir Gawain said.

"And what about the way you switch hands?" commented Sir Gologras. "That took me completely by surprise the first time you did it. Do you practice as much with your left hand as with your right?"

"More, actually," Sir Gawain said.