The number of knights Arthur takes with him on his last expedition agrees in D. L. and M., sixty thousand, against forty thousand in the two French versions.[204]
In both 1533 and D. L., Guinevere does not, as in S., ask for a week's respite, but for a day, and Mordred himself suggests she shall have the week. Labor, whom S. calls simply 'a faithful knight,' is in both these versions a near kinsman—neve, cousin. D. L. gives as a reason for Guinevere's rejection of Mordred's offer that she suspects his true relation to Arthur. This is not in 1533.
In the account of the fight between Lancelot and Gawain, all three versions apparently differ at the outset. Gawain will send the challenge by a squire. S., squire refuses, fearing Lancelot's wrath; 1533, refuses, fearing to bring about Gawain's death; D. L., goes at once.
The issue of the fight too is different in D. L. and 1533. In S., Gawain receives a mortal wound in the head and retreats. In 1533, Lancelot appeals to the king: it is vesper-tide, and a fight for treason must be concluded by nightfall. Arthur, seeing Gawain is getting the worst of the battle, stops it at once. D. L. apparently condenses a similar version, but makes Arthur appeal to Lancelot, who says that he will be dishonoured if he leave his foe in possession of the field, but Arthur entreats him to do so for his sake, and Lancelot retires. Both agree in saying that Gawain is over twenty years Lancelot's senior, and is now eighty-two years old![205]
D. L. represents the war with Rome as lasting twenty years, which would make both Arthur and Gawain well over a hundred at the time of their death!
After the news of Mordred's treachery D. L. makes no mention of Gawain being carried in a litter on the return journey, or of his desire for Lancelot's forgiveness; nor does he warn Arthur against fighting with Mordred. This is, I suspect, due to the compiler's desire to condense, as 1533 agrees in the main with S. The warning against Mordred appears, however, to be fuller in the former, e.g. Studies, p. 265. Gawain is represented as saying briefly, 'Avoid, if possible, fighting with Mordred, for it will cause your death,' which is in 1533, 'Car ie vous dy vrayement que se vous mourez par une homme [=q] vive vous mourrez par lui et madame la royne,' p. 154, which certainly seems to point to an earlier redaction of the M. A., where Guinevere was a partner in Mordred's treason.[206]
In the description of Arthur's death there are some interesting variants. Both 1533 and D. L. account for Lucan's death by the weight of Arthur's armour; it is that, and not the vehemence of the king's embrace, which really kills the sorely wounded knight.
They again differ in the details of the final scene. S. says 'a boat full of ladies arrives; they land, go ashore, put Arthur, his horse, and armour into the boat, and row off.' D. L. says they call Arthur, who rises, takes his horse and armour, and goes into the ship. 1533 says the mistress of the party is Morgain; she calls Arthur, who rises at sight of her, she takes him by the hand (which would seem to imply her landing), and bids him bring horse and arms and enter the boat, which he does. Dr. Sommer evidently regards the entire account as absurd, but I not only accept it, but regard the versions of D. L. and 1533, which would merit his strictures more fully than that in which he finds such difficulty, as representing the earlier and more primitive form of the story. There is no doubt that Arthur was conceived of as living and ruling in Avalon. This account of his practically voluntary departure for the mysterious island is much more in accord with that idea than the version which represents him in the extremity of mortal weakness, and subsequently dead and buried. Arthur's tomb is not compatible with Arthur in Avalon, and I strongly suspect that the earlier redaction of the M. A. made no mention of it; it is certainly omitted in the corresponding section of the Didot Perceval, which only says he departed to have his wounds healed in Avalon, and has not since been seen; but Bretons claim to have heard his horn, and seen his armour, and believe he will return.
There is a curious discrepancy in the accounts of Lancelot's death, which seems to point to two distinct versions of that event. S. says he died August 5th, but does not say how long he was ill. D. L. says he fell ill on May 15th, and died after four days. 1533 says he fell ill May 15th, was ill four days, and died August 5th! Evidently a combination by some unintelligent compiler of the two previous accounts, but it is unusual to find such an obvious bévue in so otherwise admirable a version as that of 1533.