Status Updates From King Arthur and His Knights...

Cannot judge the writing as bad because it is not bad, it’s just different as it comes from a different time. Speaking of time, the “jump cuts” for lack of better term sure give you whiplash as a reader! It’s definitely helpful to be familiar with a film or tv version of Arthur beforehand, so your brain can do less thinking. I’m obsessed with BBCs Merlin which is why I started reading.

Balyn asks for a quest for he knows he is doomed and he would like to do good before he dies. Right before he passed, a sorrowing knight passed Arthur and said he could not stop or he would be slain by some invisible hand. Arthur asked Balyn to see what he could do to help. Sure enough the sorrowing knight was slain before his very eyes by an invisible hand. A knight named Garlon practices Black magic to kill others.

Up comes Sir Pellinore out of the blue in his quest for the Questing Beast and he fought and killed Lot. Then Merlin tell Arthur that he would not have won without these three. He said that Pellinore would continue on his quest and that the brothers would eventually meet their death on the same day. Arthur acknowledges his debt to them and he leaves to fight the Saxons. Balan and Balyn meet Arthur.

King Lot, married to Arthur’s half-sister, took Ryon’s spot and joined the 11 kings to make 12 again (just like the chosing of St. Matthias). They battled him and his men all day long and it looked like Arthur would lose. Then all of a sudden two knights came from behind King Lot’s army and fought so fiercely that they thought it was another army. By the evening, only King Lot remained, fighting strong.

Merlin reminds me of Gandalf, going here and there, finding things out and putting things in motion, and having a deeper knowledge than anyone around him. He told Balyn to go to a certain spot where Ryon would be with a small party of men to kidnap some lady. Balyn and his brother showed up and kills his men (element of surprise). Merlin offers to take Ryon to the strong tower and told the brothers to join Arthur.

Then he made prophecies. One was that King Mark of Cornwall would build a tomb for Lanceour and his lady. Two people yet unknown to Arthur Lancelot and Tristam will fight a terrible battle and Mark will find some sorrow there. Yes, he will! Balyn will strike the Dolorous Stroke and it will bring some blessing to Logress in the form of the Holy Grail which Galahad will find. After that, darkness will fall.

His brother Balan showed up and offered to join him. They are doubles! They go into the forest through hill and dale. Then Merlin shows up and they do not recognize. It reminds me of the road to Emmaus. He asked who they are and they asked who he is. Then he said that he knows who they are. He told them their names and the mission Balyn was on. They recognized him right away and said he had to be Merlin.

A false duessa stole the sword from the Lady of the Lake. Its curse will haunt him the rest of his days. Some day Galahad will carry it, use it to good end, and bless Logres. Back to Balan, Lanceour accused him of murder and Balan told him of his quest to kill Ryon, but that was not good enough for Lanceour. The two fought and Lanceour was killed. Then his wife showed up, grabbed the sword, and killed herself.

I wonder of pairings of names like Balyn and Balan influenced Tollers. Balyn decided to kill King Ryon to get back into Arthur’s favor. Another knight names Sir Lanceour was outraged at Balyn and asked permission to go after him and kill him. Arthur told her to go for it. After he left, Merlin showed up and said that Balyn was a dead man walking but Merlin would go to Balyn and do what he can.

Then Balyn jumped up and chopped off her head. King Arthur is outraged for this violates the rules of hospitality and he will never forgive Balyn who says that it is the Lady of the Lake that is the false duessa.

The damsel was impressed. She asked Balyn to return the sword and he refused. She warned him that this sword will cause him to kill his best friend and cause much sorrow. He still refused. She protested and asked for it but he refused so she left in sorrow. The Lady of the Lake appears and tell Arthur she has come with a request. It’s too late to cute off the head of the false duessa but he must cut off Balyn’s head.

A damsel comes in wearing a large sword that is a token of her sorrow. She says it belonged to the Lady of the Lake but the damsel is using it to see if there are any worthy knights. None of King Ryon’s men could pull it out of the scabbard. All of Arthur’s men tried and none could do either. They didn’t think of asking Balyn who was recently freed from jail for killing Arthur’s cousin. He had no problem with it.

Ch. 2 More knights gather at the tower in Wales to prepare for the battles to come to drive out all the Saxons. King Ryon of North Wales threatened other kings: either they swear allegiance and cut-off their beards or he will come and kill the king. So far he has sewn eleven beards into the hem of his mantle and he would like Arthur’s to be his twelfth. Arthur refuses and threatens him right back.

Arthur wants to fight him but Merlin counsels him and the king listens this time. The scabbard has the power of keeping him alive no matter how much blood he loses. He warns Arthur to keep tabs on it for there is a lady seeking the sword and scabbard for she knows its power. They pass Pellinore who cannot see them because of his quest. When Arthur arrives at home, everyone cheers.

She told him that she has been guarding Excalibur and she will only give it to him if he gives her what she requests but he doesn’t know what it is. He agrees. Is that a rash vow? They get on her barge. She takes him to the arm and Arthur takes the sword. The arm disappears. Arthur goes back to Merlin who warns him that they will see Pellinore who has given up combat and is looking for the questing beast.

They passed through the place where Arthur will fight his last battle and will lose to an evil knight. Merlin told him to go to the lake so meet the Lady of the Lake. Arthur went on his own and he saw an arm covered in white samite holding a sword with a golden hilt set with jewels and a jewel-encrusted scabbard. He watched a beautiful lady in pale blue silke with a golden girdle walk across the water.

Arthur told Merlin he had no sword so the latter talked about Avalon and Excalibur. He should get it because, with this sword, he would never lose as long as he draws in humility and does only to defend others. They traveled a long way and went through the forests and weave through mountains and valleys. Merlin explained where they were and what things were. They are in Wales. They pass the Lake of the Fairy Place.

Arthur refused. Pellinore ripped off his helmet and was about to strike off his head and Merlin stayed his hand. He told the knight that this was King Arthur and all hope of peace and Logres would disappear if Arthur died. Merln put him in a deep sleep and Athur thought he was dead. Then Merlin said you have a greater chance of dying because of your wounds. He took Arthur to a leech and in THREE DAYS he was cured.

Arthur and Pellinore meet and joust because words have no impact on Pellinore. In the first round, both spears shivered. In the second round, both shears broke. In the third, Arthur’s broke and Pellinore’s hit the shield squarely and pushed him off to the ground. They fought with swords on the ground and Arthur’s shattered. Then they wrestled and Pellinore was the stronger man. He commanded Arthur to admit defeat.

Pellinore and Gryflet fought and, after the latter was seriously wounded, the former put him over the saddle of his horse and sent him home. Arthur was outraged and decided to combat Pellinore himself. On the way, he saw three robbers beating up Merlin and stopped them. Arthur asked why Merlin didn’t do magic when his life was in danger. Merlin flipped the tables and said, because of his pride, Arthur will die.

Once order is established the knights will go around the kingdom to ensure that oppressors will be punished. Suddenly a squire shows up with a dead knight lying across his horse. Pellinore is a knight hiding out in the woods challenging anyone to show up to combat. He fights to the death and he has always won. A young squire named Gryflet asks to be knighted. Arthur says only if he agrees to follow his commands.

Merlin told them that waiting for Arthur is Excalibur, a sword crafted in Avalon, especially for him. After silence, all agreed to submit and they kneeled to show homage. It was then that the archbishop crowned Arthur to make it official. At the feast, Arthur shared his plans to battle the Saxons and drive them to the coasts, build castles for physical defense, rebuild churches for spiritual defense to God’s glory.

Merlin whisked Arthur away, with his permission, to a strong tower in Wales, which was stocked and provisioned with enough supplies to withstand a siege. The lords surrounded them and demanded Arthur. Then Merlin told the whole back story and that Britain will be a Logres (according to C.S. Lewis this baptizes every nation with a unique inner life). He stated, as long as Arthur ruled, the land will have peace. pg. 12

They were so outraged that they put off the decision until Easter and then until Pentecost. By then, the people had had enough and they claimed Arthur for their king and he forgave all the knights who swore their allegiance except for a few rowdy ones who went back to their lands. As promised Arthur brought peace to the land and built a home in Camelot until, one day, the jealous ones formed a plot.

Arthur states that, if he is king, he vows to serve God and his people, to write wrongs, drive out evil, and bring peace and plenty to the land, a tall order for a sixteen-year old. The other knights were outraged. They demanded to try the sword again and none of them could pull it. They could not believe that some punk kid could do it and they watched him, and only him, pull the sword.