BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY: THE AGE OF CHIVALRY OR LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR
Thomas Bulfinch
PART I. KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II. THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
CHAPTER III. ARTHUR
CHAPTER IV. CARADOC BRIEFBRAS; OR CARADOC WITH THE SHRUNKEN ARM
CHAPTER V. SIR GAWAIN
CHAPTER VI. LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE
CHAPTER VII. THE STORY OF LAUNCELOT.- THE ADVENTURE OF THE CART
CHAPTER VIII. THE STORY OF LAUNCELOT.- THE LADY OF SHALOTT
CHAPTER IX. THE STORY OF LAUNCELOT.- QUEEN GUENEVER'S PERIL
CHAPTER X. THE STORY OF TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
CHAPTER XI. TRISTRAM AND ISOUDE
CHAPTER XII. THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
CHAPTER XIII. END OF THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
CHAPTER XIV. THE STORY OF PERCEVAL
CHAPTER XV. THE QUEST OF THE SANGREAL
CHAPTER XVI. THE END OF THE QUEST
CHAPTER XVII. SIR AGRIVAIN'S TREASON
CHAPTER XVIII. MORTE D'ARTHUR
PART II. THE MABINOGEON
CHAPTER XIX. THE BRITONS
CHAPTER XX. THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN
CHAPTER XXI. THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN, CONTINUED
CHAPTER XXII. THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN, CONTINUED
CHAPTER XXIII. GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN
CHAPTER XXIV. GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN, CONTINUED
CHAPTER XXV. GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN, CONTINUED
CHAPTER XXVI. PWYLL, PRINCE OF DYVED
CHAPTER XXVII. BRANWEN, THE DAUGHTER OF LLYR
CHAPTER XXVIII. MANAWYDDAN
CHAPTER XXIX. KILWICH AND OLWEN
CHAPTER XXX. KILWICH AND OLWEN, CONTINUED
CHAPTER XXXI. PEREDUR, THE SON OF EVRAWC
CHAPTER XXXII. TALIESIN
PART III. THE KNIGHTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CHAPTER XXXIII. KING RICHARD AND THE THIRD CRUSADE
CHAPTER XXXIV. ROBIN HOOD OF SHERWOOD FOREST
CHAPTER XXXV. ROBIN HOOD AND HIS ADVENTURES
CHAPTER XXXVI. CHEVY CHASE
CHAPTER XXXVII. THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE
CHAPTER XXXVIII. EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE
This page copyright © 1999 Blackmask Online.
Throngs of knights and barons bold,
In weeds of peace high triumphs hold,
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence and judge the prize.
MILTON.
PART I. KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.
ON the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each could enforce his dominion, and occasionally those chiefs would unite for a common object; but, in ordinary times, they were much more likely to be found in hostility to one another. In such a state of things, the rights of the humbler classes of society were at the mercy of every assailant; and it is plain that, without some check upon the lawless power of the chiefs, society must have relapsed into barbarism. Such checks were found, first, in the rivalry of the chiefs themselves, whose mutual jealousy made them restraints upon one another; secondly, in the influence of the Church, which, by every motive, pure or selfish, was pledged to interpose for the protection of the weak; and lastly, in the generosity and sense of right which, however crushed under the weight of passion and selfishness, dwell naturally in the heart of man. From this last source sprang Chivalry, which framed an ideal of the heroic character, combining invincible strength and valor, justice, modesty, loyalty to superiors, courtesy to equals, compassion to weakness, and devotedness to the Church; an ideal which, if never met with in real life, was acknowledged by all as the highest model for emulation.
The word Chivalry is derived from the French cheval, a horse. The word knight, which originally meant boy or servant, was particularly applied to a young man after he was admitted to the privilege of bearing arms. This privilege was conferred on youths of family and fortune only, for the mass of the people were not furnished with arms. The knight then was a mounted warrior, a man of rank, or in the service and maintenance of some man of rank, generally possessing some independent means of support, but often relying mainly on the gratitude of those whom he served for the supply of his wants, and often, no doubt, resorting to the means which power confers on its possessor.
In time of war the knight was, with his followers, in the camp of his sovereign, or commanding in the field, or holding some castle for him. In time of peace he was of ten in attendance at his sovereign's court, gracing with his presence the banquets and tournaments with which princes cheered their leisure. Or he was traversing the country in quest of adventure, professedly bent on redressing wrongs and enforcing rights, sometimes in fulfilment of some vow of religion or of love. These wandering knights were called knights-errant; they were welcome guests in the castles of the nobility, for their presence enlivened the dulness of those secluded abodes, and they were received with honor at the abbeys, which often owed the best part of their revenues to the patronage of the knights; but if no castle or abbey or hermitage were at hand, their hardy habits made it not intolerable to them to lie down, supperless, at the foot of some wayside cross, and pass the night.
It is evident that the justice administered by such an instrumentality must have been of the rudest description. The force whose legitimate purpose was to redress wrongs, might easily be perverted to inflict them. Accordingly, we find in the romances, which, however fabulous in facts, are true as pictures of manners, that a knightly castle was often a terror to the surrounding country; that its dungeons were full of oppressed knights and ladies, waiting for some champion to appear to set them free, or to be ransomed with money; that hosts of idle retainers were ever at hand to enforce their lord's behests, regardless of law and justice; and that the rights of the unarmed multitude were of no account. This contrariety of fact and theory in regard to chivalry will account for the opposite impressions which exist in men's minds respecting it. While it has been the theme of the most fervid eulogium on the one part, it has been as eagerly denounced on the other. On a cool estimate, we cannot but see reason to congratulate ourselves that it has given way in modern times to the reign of law, and that the civil magistrate, if less picturesque, has taken the place of the mailed champion.
THE TRAINING OF A KNIGHT.
The preparatory education of candidates for knighthood was long and arduous. At seven years of age the noble children were usually removed from their father's house to the court or castle of their future patron, and placed under the care of a governor, who taught them the first articles of religion, and respect and reverence for their lords and superiors, and initiated them in the ceremonies of a court, They were called pages, valets or varlets, and their office was to carve, to wait at table, and to perform other menial services which were not then considered humiliating. In their leisure hours they learned to dance and play on the harp, were instructed in the mysteries of woods and rivers, that is, in hunting, falconry, and fishing, and in wrestling, tilting with spears, and performing other military exercises on horseback. At fourteen the page became an esquire, and began a course of severer and more laborious exercises. To vault on a horse in heavy armor; to run, to scale walls, and spring over ditches, under the same encumbrance; to wrestle, to wield the battle-axe for a length of time, without raising the visor or taking breath; to perform with grace all the evolutions of horsemanship,- were necessary preliminaries to the reception of knighthood, which was usually conferred at twenty-one years of age, when the young man's education was supposed to be completed. In the meantime, the esquires were no less assiduously engaged in acquiring all those refinements of civility which formed what was in that age called courtesy. The same castle in which they received their education was usually thronged with young persons of the other sex, and the page was encouraged, at a very early age, to select some lady of the court as the mistress of his heart, to whom he was taught to refer all his sentiments, words, and actions. The service of his mistress was the glory and occupation of a knight, and her smiles, bestowed at once by affection and gratitude, were held out as the recompense of his well-directed valor. Religion united its influence with those of loyalty and love, and the order of knighthood, endowed with all the sanctity and religious awe that attended the priesthood, became an object of ambition to the greatest sovereigns.