CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE. | |
| I. | HOW ARTHUR WAS MADE KING AND WON HIS KINGDOM | [ 1] |
| II. | SIR BALIN AND THE STROKE DOLOROUS | [ 32] |
| III. | HOW LANCELOT WAS MADE A KNIGHT. THE FOUR WITCH QUEENS, AND THE ADVENTURES AT THE CHAPEL PERILOUS | [ 52] |
| IV. | THE KNIGHT OF THE KITCHEN | [ 72] |
| V. | HOW SIR TRISTRAM KEPT HIS WORD | [ 101] |
| VI. | THE DEEDS OF SIR GERAINT | [ 131] |
| VII. | HOW SIR PERCEVAL WAS TAUGHT CHIVALRY, AND ENDED THE EVIL WROUGHT BY SIR BALIN'S DOLOROUS STROKE | [ 164] |
| VIII. | HOW SIR OWEN WON THE EARLDOM OF THE FOUNTAIN | [ 194] |
| IX. | OF SIR LANCELOT AND THE FAIR MAID OF ASTOLAT | [ 229] |
| X. | HOW THE THREE GOOD KNIGHTS ACHIEVED THE HOLY GRAAL | [ 250] |
| XI. | OF THE PLOTS OF SIR MORDRED; AND HOW SIR LANCELOT SAVED THE QUEEN | [ 278] |
| XII. | OF SIR GAWAINE'S HATRED, AND THE WAR WITH SIR LANCELOT | [ 307] |
| XIII. | OF THE REBELLION OF MORDRED AND THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR | [ 333] |
KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS
I
HOW ARTHUR WAS MADE KING AND WON HIS KINGDOM
In the hall of his Roman palace at London, King Uther, Pendragon of the Island of Britain, lay dying. He had been long sick with a wasting disease, and forced to lie in his bed, gnawing his beard with wrath at his weakness, while the pagan Saxons ravened up and down the fair broad lands, leaving in their tracks the smoking ruin of broken towns and desolated villages, where mothers lay dead beside their children on the hearths, fair churches stood pillaged and desecrated, and priests and nuns wandered in the wilds.
At length, when the pagans, bold and insolent, had ventured near London, the king had been able to bear his shame and anguish no longer. He had put himself, in a litter, at the head of his army, and meeting the fierce, brave pagans at Verulam (now called St. Albans) he had, in a battle day-long and stubborn, forced them at length to fly with heavy slaughter.
That was three days ago, and since then he had lain in his bed as still as if he were dead; and beside him sat the wise wizard Merlin, white with great age, and in his eyes the calmness of deep learning.