Then Merlin told him to guard the scabbard for so long as he held it he would lose no blood. Then Merlin said, “You have a good sword now; use it in making justice and right prevail in all the land.” And they rode along on their journey.
THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
In which appears the teachings and practices of the true order of knighthood.
Arthur was now king, and lived in a big palace. He had done many things for his subjects, and they were devoted to his service. He had no wife, however, and told Merlin, who was always with him, that he would like to wed the Lady Guenevere, daughter of one of the nobles, whom he loved dearly. Her father was willing, and so the Lady Guenevere came to King Arthur’s palace to be his wife. Her father sent as a present a huge round table at which one hundred and fifty knights could sit at the same time.
King Arthur then gathered the full number of knights to sit at the round table, and called them the Knights of the Round Table. He charged them never to commit any outrage or murder and always to be loyal to the king. They were never to be cruel, but always to be merciful, and to give help to women and children and the helpless. They were never to give battle for a wrongful quarrel, and were to keep themselves good and holy. So the king and queen lived very happily and the Knights of the Round Table served them valiantly.
Among all the knights there were none more brave and beautiful than Sir Galahad. He had been reared in a convent by the nuns, and when they brought him to be a knight Sir Lancelot said: “God make you a good man, for beauty faileth you not.” So Sir Galahad took his seat among the knights. It was said of him that “His strength was as the strength of ten because his heart was pure.”
Now, there was a story in England that the cup which Christ had used at the Last Supper had been brought to England, and had vanished because those who kept it were not good men. It was called the Holy Grail, and all good knights desired to find it.
One day as these knights sat at table a great tempest arose; the building shook and the thunder made such a noise that everybody thought that the palace would fall. In the midst of the storm a sunbeam entered at the window, and the knights saw the Holy Grail, covered with cloth borne by invisible hands through the hall.
For a great while no knight could speak a word, and they looked at one another as though they were drunk. And then all the hall was filled with sweet odors, and music. On the table appeared rich food that the knights might eat, and each knight felt his heart grow strong and valiant.