{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/mart/mart494.htm","path":"neu/mart/mart494.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/mart/mart494.htm","text":"CHAPTER V\nHow King Arthur commanded to cast his sword Excalibur\ninto the water, and how he was delivered to ladies in\na barge\nBUT I may not stand, mine head works so. Ah Sir\nLauncelot, said King Arthur, this day have I sore missed\nthee: alas, that ever I was against thee, for now have I\nmy death, whereof Sir Gawaine me warned in my dream.\nThen Sir Lucan took up the king the one part, and Sir\nBedivere the other part, and in the lifting the king\nswooned; and Sir Lucan fell in a swoon with the lift,\nthat the part of his guts fell out of his body, and\ntherewith the noble knight's heart brast. And when the king\nawoke, he beheld Sir Lucan, how he lay foaming at the\nmouth, and part of his guts lay at his feet. Alas, said\nthe king, this is to me a full heavy sight, to see this noble\nduke so die for my sake, for he would have holpen me,\nthat had more need of help than I. Alas, he would not\ncomplain him, his heart was so set to help me: now Jesu\nhave mercy upon his soul! Then Sir Bedivere wept for\nthe death of his brother. Leave this mourning and weeping,\nsaid the king, for all this will not avail me, for wit\nthou well an I might live myself, the death of Sir Lucan\nwould grieve me evermore; but my time hieth fast, said\nthe king. Therefore, said Arthur unto Sir Bedivere, take\nthou Excalibur, my good sword, and go with it to yonder\nwater side, and when thou comest there I charge thee\nthrow my sword in that water, and come again and tell\nme what thou there seest. My lord, said Bedivere, your\ncommandment shall be done, and lightly bring you word\nagain.\nSo Sir Bedivere departed, and by the way he beheld\nthat noble sword, that the pommel and the haft was all of\nprecious stones; and then he said to himself: If I throw\nthis rich sword in the water, thereof shall never come\ngood, but harm and loss. And then Sir Bedivere hid\nExcalibur under a tree. And so, as soon as he might, he\ncame again unto the king, and said he had been at the\nwater, and had thrown the sword in the water. What\nsaw thou there? said the king. Sir, he said, I saw nothing\nbut waves and winds. That is untruly said of thee, said\nthe king, therefore go thou lightly again, and do my\ncommandment; as thou art to me lief and dear, spare not,\nbut throw it in. Then Sir Bedivere returned again, and\ntook the sword in his hand; and then him thought sin\nand shame to throw away that noble sword, and so eft he\nhid the sword, and returned again, and told to the king\nthat he had been at the water, and done his commandment.\nWhat saw thou there? said the king. Sir, he said, I saw\nnothing but the waters wap and waves wan. Ah, traitor\nuntrue, said King Arthur, now hast thou betrayed me\ntwice. Who would have weened that, thou that hast been\nto me so lief and dear? and thou art named a noble\nknight, and would betray me for the richness of the sword.\nBut now go again lightly, for thy long tarrying putteth\nme in great jeopardy of my life, for I have taken cold.\nAnd but if thou do now as I bid thee, if ever I may see\nthee, I shall slay thee with mine own hands; for thou\nwouldst for my rich sword see me dead.\nThen Sir Bedivere departed, and went to the sword,\nand lightly took it up, and went to the water side; and\nthere he bound the girdle about the hilts, and then he\nthrew the sword as far into the water as he might; and\nthere came an arm and an hand above the water and met\nit, and caught it, and so shook it thrice and brandished,\nand then vanished away the hand with the sword in the\nwater. So Sir Bedivere came again to the king, and told\nhim what he saw. Alas, said the king, help me hence, for\nI dread me I have tarried over long. Then Sir Bedivere\ntook the king upon his back, and so went with him to\nthat water side. And when they were at the water side,\neven fast by the bank hoved a little barge with many fair\nladies in it, and among them all was a queen, and all they\nhad black hoods, and all they wept and shrieked when\nthey saw King Arthur. Now put me into the barge, said\nthe king. And so he did softly; and there received him\nthree queens with great mourning; and so they set them\ndown, and in one of their laps King Arthur laid his head.\nAnd then that queen said: Ah, dear brother, why have\nye tarried so long from me? alas, this wound on your head\nhath caught over-much cold. And so then they rowed\nfrom the land, and Sir Bedivere beheld all those ladies go\nfrom him. Then Sir Bedivere cried: Ah my lord Arthur,\nwhat shall become of me, now ye go from me and leave\nme here alone among mine enemies? Comfort thyself,\nsaid the king, and do as well as thou mayst, for in me is\nno trust for to trust in; for I will into the vale of Avilion\nto heal me of my grievous wound: and if thou hear never\nmore of me, pray for my soul. But ever the queens and\nladies wept and shrieked, that it was pity to hear. And\nas soon as Sir Bedivere had lost the sight of the barge, he\nwept and wailed, and so took the forest; and so he went\nall that night, and in the morning he was ware betwixt two\nholts hoar, of a chapel and an hermitage.","title":"Le Morte d'Arthur BOOK XXI CHAPTER V","type":"page"}