The Knight with the Sword

The Knight of the Sword or Le Chevalier à l'Épée, is a rather short Old French romance about Sir Gawain. It was written perhaps in the mid-13th century or later.

In this tale, Gawain won a wife, but she was a different woman from Lady Ragnell. Gawain abandoned her because of her betrayal.

The story opened with Gawain leaving his uncle's castle in Cardueil with only a sword, a lance and a shield, and travelling through the woods, expecting to find entertainment.

Gawain became lost in the forest, because he was absorbed in his thoughts. He woke from his reverie when he noticed that the light was fading. Gawain noticed a campfire burning in a clearing, near the road, so he rode the campsite. There, he exchanged greetings with another knight who offered him the hospitality of his castle, the next day. Gawain, unsuspecting of any treachery from the knight, accepted. They slept near the fire, and in the morning they set out for the stranger's castle.

As they were approaching the castle, the knight rode ahead to prepare his castle for his guest, while Gawain followed at a more leisurely pace. Before reaching the castle, he met a group of four shepherds on the path to the castle. These shepherds warned Gawain of the treacherous knight that he was following. All of the knights who stayed at this castle could never leave the cursed place. Most likely they were all killed, but the shepherds didn't know how.

Despite their warnings, Gawain decided to go, because he thought that shepherds were only spreading a child's tale to frightened travellers.

At the splendid castle, fit for a king or a prince, the knight he had met warmly welcomed him. Together with him was the host's lovely daughter, whom Gawain desired. The young lady admired her father's handsome and courteous guest, but she was concerned that Gawain was going to be another victim of her father's ploy.

(Gawain didn't reveal his identity until later in the romance. And throughout this poem, no names were given to the young lady or her father.)

Just before dinner, the lord went out for a moment with an errand to do, expecting his daughter to entertain their guest. The young lady with the clear complexion, hurriedly warned Gawain not to contradict her father or else he would be killed, but he also must not act basely towards her.

After the meal, the treacherous lord smilingly said that he (Gawain) and her daughter would be a perfect match, because his guest was handsome, with fine manners and good breeding, and could not possibly find a better sweetheart than his daughter. The host insisted that Gawain should have the best room in his castle, and that his daughter would share a large bed with him. The host also insisted that the candles in the chamber must remain lit, so his guest could see his daughter's beauty.

The bedroom was large and beautiful, particularly the fine luxury bed. On one of the walls was a beautiful sheathed sword, its blade made from the finest steel. The hilt and pommel were made of gold.

Gawain was very happy that he would be spending the night with his host's beautiful daughter. She came and lay in the bed with the hero, naked. They lay there for a couple of hours in bed in each other's arms, kissing. When Gawain was aroused and wanted to make love to her, she warned him not to do more than embrace and kiss her, if he wanted to survive the night. She told him that the sword was her magical protector, and it had killed as many as twenty knights in that very room. The sword would kill any one who attempted to make love to her. But the hero didn't listen, nor did he believe her. This was the sort of position that his host wanted his guest to be in, where he would be killed. Her father loved setting a trap for all of his daughter's would-be lovers.

But before Gawain could do more than make love to her, the sword flew from its sheath as if someone drew it, and struck Gawain's side. Then the sword flew back into its sheath. Gawain was stunned by the attack, but the blow was a glancing blow. It had taken some of his skin, making him bleed a bit, but it was no more than a bad scratch.

The lady had never warned any knight before, but she was equally stunned that the sword had not killed Gawain with the first blow. Gawain lost his desire suddenly to make love to her. Gawain was disappointed that he could not take make this lady his sweetheart. As he lay there, brooding and staring at the young lady in the candlelight, her beauty once again captivated him and aroused his desire.

When Gawain moved himself closer to the young lady, the sword flew from the scabbard again, and struck him the second time. This time he received a slight wound to his shoulder, slicing a couple of inches of his skin, before returning to the scabbard.

This was very disconcerting to Gawain. Gawain made no more movements towards the young lady. Neither guest nor hostess could sleep.

In the morning, the girl's father woke early, eager to see the body of his latest victim. He went into his guest chamber, and was very astonished to see that his guest was very much alive. Although Gawain appeared unharmed, the lord could see that the linen sheets were torn and there were bloodstains on the bed cover. The magic sword had always killed any man who shared his daughter's bed, so the lord was surprised to see for the first time that his guest had survived.

When the host found out his guest was none other than Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, he knew that the sword would not kill the best knight in the world: Gawain. The host knew that the custom had ended, and he had found a worthy bridegroom for his daughter. On that very day, the host had Gawain and his daughter married. The father would have given his castle and wealth to Gawain, but Gawain refused to take any more from his father-in-law.

On their wedding night, Gawain was able to make love to his new bride without the fear of being attacked by the sword. Gawain and his wife spent three years living happily in the castle, but then Gawain decided that it was time to return to his country, so he informed Arthur that he was still alive. His father-in-law granted him permission to leave.

The next day, Gawain set out for Cardueil with his wife riding on a palfrey, while he rode his Gringalet. He belted his sword, and carried his lance and shield. He wore no helmet or armour, since he had brought none when he left Cardueil.

Just outside the gate, his wife remembered that she had left behind her two greyhounds at her father's castle and asked Gawain to fetch them. So Gawain returned with the greyhounds and continued on their journey.

Not long after they entered the forest, they encountered a fully armoured knight. When Gawain warmly greeted the knight, this villain took the reins of his wife's horse, riding off with Gawain's wife. Gawain pursued the knight, despite not being as fully equipped as his rival.

Gawain challenged the other knight, but asked the other knight to wait until he could fetch a helmet and armour so they could fight for Gawain's lady, but the knight refused. Instead, this knight suggested that they should allow the young lady to choose whom she would go with.

Gawain was confident that his wife would choose him, but he did not reckon with her treachery. She wanted to test Gawain's valiance and prowess, so she chose Gawain's rival. Gawain was outraged with her treachery, and angrily rode off with the greyhounds following him, while the knight rode off with Gawain's wife.

However, the young lady refused to ride further, because she wanted her greyhounds. She would not take this knight as her lover, unless she had her greyhounds. So the knight went after Gawain.

Gawain refused to hand over the hounds, but agreed to let the hounds decide whom they wished to follow. The other knight agreed. Both knights called the hounds to them, and the hounds faithfully went to Gawain, because the hounds recognised him as their master after living three years in the castle.

The lady now refused to follow the knight, unless she had her greyhounds, so the knight decided to attack Gawain. The treacherous knight was confident of winning the hounds, since he was fully armoured. Gawain had no armour and helmet, and only had a shield as his protection. Gawain was angry enough to take revenge upon this knight, who had taken away his wife, and would like nothing better than to fight this unfair contest.

They charged at each other. Though, the treacherous knight's aim was true, the lance hitting Gawain's shield first, the lance shattered. Gawain's lance didn't break; it hit full on the other's shield. Both knight and horse were knocked off the road, landing in a pool of mud. Gawain dismounted from Gringalet, and drew his sword. Before the knight could get up. Gawain stunned the other knight with blows to his head. Then Gawain maimed him, driving his sword deep into his enemy's side.

Gawain didn't bother accepting the knight's surrender and making him a prisoner. The hero had only wanted vengeance. Gawain then mounted Gringalet, readying to ride off with the greyhounds.

The lady, realising that Gawain was leaving her, pleaded with him not to leave her behind. She explained herself, saying that she had only gone with the other knight, because Gawain was not fully equipped like the other knight, and therefore feared for his life.

Gawain didn't believe a word from her, and knew it was not to save his honour and life. He could not forgive her for her betrayal and choosing a complete stranger over him, so he abandoned her in the woods. Gawain never saw her again.