[Then] Peredur arose, and struck the staple so that he cut it in two; and the sword broke into two parts also.
"Place the two parts together, and re-unite them."
And Peredur placed them together, and they became entire as they were before. And a second time he struck upon the staple so that both it and the sword broke in two, and as before they re-united. And the third time he gave a like blow, and placed the broken parts together, and neither the staple nor the sword would unite as before.
"Youth," said the nobleman, "come now, and sit down, and my blessing be upon thee. Thou fightest best with the sword of any man in the kingdom. Thou hast arrived at two-thirds of thy strength, and the other third thou hast not yet obtained; and when thou attainest to thy full power none will be able to contend with thee. I am thy uncle, thy mother's brother, and I am brother to the man in whose house thou wast last night."
Then Peredur and his uncle discoursed together, and he beheld two youths enter the hall and proceed up to the chamber, bearing a spear of mighty size, with three streams of blood flowing from the point to the ground. And when all the company saw this they began wailing and lamenting. But for all that the man did not break off his discourse with Peredur. And as he did not tell Peredur the meaning of what he saw, he forbore to ask him concerning it. And when the clamor had a little subsided, behold, two maidens entered, with a large salver between them, in which was a man's head, surrounded by a profusion of blood. And thereupon the company of the court made so great an outcry that it was irksome to be in the same hall with them. But at length they were silent. And, when time was that they should sleep, Peredur was brought into a fair chamber.
And the next day, with his uncle's permission, he rode forth. And he came to a wood, and far within the wood he heard a loud cry, and he saw a beautiful woman with auburn hair, and a horse with a saddle upon it standing near her, and a corpse by her side. And as she strove to place the corpse upon the horse it fell to the ground, and thereupon she made a great lamentation.
"Tell me, sister," said Peredur, "wherefore art thou bewailing?"
"Oh, accursed Peredur! little pity has my ill fortune ever met with from thee."
"Wherefore," said Peredur, "am I accursed?"
"Because thou wast the cause of thy mother's death; for, when thou didst ride forth against her will, anguish seized upon her heart so that she died; and therefore art thou accursed. And the dwarf and the dwarfess that thou sawest at Arthur's court were the dwarfs of thy father and mother. And I am thy foster-sister, and this was my wedded husband, and he was slain by the knight that is in the glade in the wood. And do not thou go near him, lest thou shouldest be slain by him likewise."