Chapter 112

How King Lisuarte had the body of the Emperor of Rome brought to a monastery and spoke to the Romans about the situation he was in, and the answer they gave him.
 

[Funeral procession of King Edward to Westminster Abbey, from the Bayeux Tapestry.]
 
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King Lisuarte came to his tent and asked King Cildadan to dismount and disarm so that, before they rested, they could decide what ought to be done with the body of the Emperor. And when they were disarmed, although they were badly bruised and very tired, they both went to the tent where the dead Emperor was, and they found all his most important knights around his body mourning deeply.

Although the Emperor by nature was arrogant and disagreeable, which for good reason those who behave like him should be unloved, he was very free and generous in both gifts and concessions to his men, which concealed many of his defects. While naturally everyone is very happy with someone who receives those who come to him with grace and courtesy, they are much happier with those who, although they may be a bit surly, carry out what is asked of them, because the true effect lies in doing virtue and not talking about it.

When the two Kings had arrived, they had the knights cease mourning and asked them to go to their tents and disarm and get care for their injuries, for they had not wished to leave until the body was placed where such a great prince should lie. So they all left, and only the royal officials remained, and King Lisuarte ordered the Emperor’s body be prepared so it could be carried to a monastery a day’s travel away at a town named Lubaina, because from there it could be taken with less haste to Rome to the chapel of the emperors.

That being done, the Kings returned to the tent they had left, and there dinner had been prepared for them. They ate, and to those who were there, they seemed to have good countenances, but one man was secretly felt otherwise. Instead, his spirit was deeply afflicted and troubled, and this man was King Lisuarte, because, once the truce was over, he had no hope for himself. Given the advantage his enemies had held in the two previous battles and the great weakness they had discovered in his men, especially the Romans, who were the greater part of his forces, and having seen the great courage of their opponents, he took it for granted that they were in no situation to withstand a third battle. He expected nothing else in it except to be dishonored, defeated, and most certainly killed, because he only wished for life when he could uphold his honor. And having eaten, King Cildadan went to his tent and King Lisuarte remained in his own.

So they passed that night, having placed a great many guards around their camp, and when morning came, the King got up, and after he heard Mass, took King Cildadan with him and went to the Emperor’s tent, whose body had been taken, accompanied by Floyan, to the monastery that I have told you of. They had Arquisil and Flamineo called, and all the great lords who were in their company, and when they had come, he spoke to them this way:

“My good friends, of the pain and sorrow that I have from this loss and the urge and will to avenge it, no one other than God knows. But as these things are very common in the world and cannot be avoided, as each one of you will have seen and heard, no other choice remains except, leaving aside the dead, those who remain alive must remedy their honor, so it will not seem that their natural deaths bring about an artificial death in those who live.

“The past is beyond remedy. For the present and future, by the goodness of God, enough of us remain that if we avail ourselves to the love and willpower that good men can and must have, I have faith in Him that we shall recover with great glory and advantage what has so far been lost. And I want you to know that if all of the world were against me and everyone were to abandon me, I would not leave this place unless I was victorious or dead. And so, my good friends, consider who ye are and the lineage ye come from, and act in such a way that all the world shall know that the death of a lord is not the death of all his men.”

When King Lisuarte had finished speaking, Arquisil, as he was the most principal of all of them, both in courage and in lineage, because as I have told you many times, he was in direct line to the succession of the Empire, stood up where he was and answered the King, saying:

“It is well known to everyone, since Rome was founded, of the great deeds and undertakings that Romans accomplished to their great honor in the past. History is full of such achievements, and their outstanding deeds are famous throughout the world like the morning star in the heavens. And since we come from such excellent blood, do not believe, my good lord King Lisuarte or anyone else, anything other than now more than ever and with more courage and care, ignoring any danger or fear that might come, we shall continue to act as our famous ancestors did, for which they left this world with such fame that they have always been remembered and praised. And as the virtuous must carry on their work and so that ye shall not fail nor your heart be made weak, on behalf of myself and all these lords and the other men whom I have been charged to govern and command, I promise that when the truce is over, we shall take the vanguard in the battle, and with greater courage and spirit we shall resist and attack our enemies as if our lord the Emperor were before us.”

What this knight said seemed very good to all those who were there, especially King Lisuarte, and it was made very clear that Arquisil would rightly deserve the honor and great sovereignty that God had given him, as shall be spoken of further on. With this answer, King Lisuarte left very content, and said to King Cildadan:

“My good lord, with such assurances that we have found in the Romans and such goodwill to help us, which I would not have believed possible, and having such a fine and courageous knight for their leader as Arquisil, it is very right and just for us to undertake this affair as reason obliges us, ignoring all danger. And I tell you that when the treaty is over, there shall be nothing but battle, in which, if God does not give me victory, I do not wish Him to give me life, for the greater honor for me would be death.”

King Cildadan, as he was a fine knight with great courage, although in his heart he always wept over the great sorrow he felt to be a tributary to that King, considered that what he had promised and sworn obliged him more than contenting his will and desire, and he told him:

“My lord, I am very happy with what has been found in the Romans, and even more in having been shown the strength of your heart. Such things like this that happened in the past, and those that we await in the present shall be the means by which virtue is tested and revealed. And as for me, have faith, for alive or dead, where ye shall be, my body shall be.”

When the King heard this, he thanked him sincerely, and at that hour, as Cildadan learned later, he decided that, whatever prosperous or adverse fortune might come to him, he would release him from the sovereignty he had over him, which he did, as ye shall hear farther on.

This is the most outstanding thing that should be noted carefully by whomever reads it, for King Lisuarte, merely by knowing the great affection with which this King offered to die in his service, although that did not come to happen, held it good to free him from the vassalage he had over him. From that, it should be understood that good and true will, both spiritual and temporal, deserves an equal prize as if the deed were actually done, because from it is born and put into effect what is good, and from the contrary, what is evil.

These Kings arrived at their tents, ate, and rested, ordering every necessary preparation to put an end to this great and renowned confrontation on which their honor and lives depended.

But now we shall leave one side and the other in their camps, as ye have heard, hoping that the third battle would bring glory and victory to one of them, although the certainty of one side was well and clearly known; and we must tell you what happened in the meantime. From it ye shall know that great arrogance and rage, and the danger so close and so near that these men meant to each other, could not obstruct what God, powerful in all things, had pledged to bring about.

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Chapter 106 [part 2 of 2]

[What Arquisil asked of Amadis, and what this would mean.] 

[From an illustration of Cantiga 181 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of King Alfonso X.]
 
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And so it was that, when the valiant Amadis and many other great lords and brave knights were in King Perion’s tent, Arquisil was among them and still had not been told where he would be held prisoner. He stood up and told the King:

“My lord, may Your Grace hear me speak with Amadis of Gaul in the presence of these knights.”

The King told him he would gladly hear whatever he thought it good to say. Arquisil recounted everything that had happened in the battle that Sir Garadan and he and his other companions had fought against Amadis and the knights of the King of Bohemia, and how they were defeated and injured and Sir Garadan was killed, and how Amadis with his restraint saved him from the hands of those who with great desire and intention meant to kill him, and how at his plea and petition he was released and allowed to leave so he could give some aid to his companions who were very badly injured, leaving as a pledge his faith and word as his prisoner to come to him whenever he was summoned, as the third part of this story has told more extensively, and how now he was called by Amadis, and he had come as they all had seen to fulfill his word and be wherever he was ordered and directed to go.

But if Amadis, making use of generosity and great restraint and virtue, as was his custom for all those in need of his grace and aid, were to give him permission so that in that coming battle, so prominent in the world, he could serve his lord the Emperor as he ought, he would promise as a loyal and good knight before Amadis and all those present that if afterwards he were alive, he would go where he was ordered to fulfill his imprisonment.

Amadis, who at that time was also standing to give him honor, answered:

“Arquisil, my noble lord, if I were to pay heed to the arrogant and overblown words of your lord the Emperor, I would treat everyone connected with him with great rigor and cruelty without fearing that I would fall into excess. But ye are without fault, and the times have brought us to such a situation where every man’s virtue will be shown to us, so I hold it well that ye have come when ye were asked for, and I give you license to be in that battle, from which, if ye leave without danger, ye must be at this island within ten days to comply with what shall be ordered by myself or by others on my behalf.”

 Arquisil thanked him for that very much, and he promised to do so.

Some shall ask why so much has been made of a knight of so little renown in such a great story. I say the reason is this: because this man dealt with every confrontation that came to him with great courage, as further on ye shall hear, and because, due to his great lineage and noble condition, he came to be Emperor of Rome, and he always held Amadis, who was the main reason that he had reached such a great sovereignty, as a true brother, as at the appropriate time shall be told at greater length.

Then when those lords had left and gone to their tents and quarters, Arquisil put on his armor, mounted his horse, bid farewell to Amadis and all those who were with him, and he returned on the road on which he had come. And the story does not tell of anything happening to him except that he arrived at the Emperor’s army, where everyone was very pleased to see him again. And although they asked him about many things, he only wished to speak of the great courtesy that he had received from the very noble knight Amadis, of whom ye may well believe that his courtesy was such and so great that it would be hard to find the like in any knight at that time.

And I wish ye to know the reason why those knights took such long journeys without encountering adventure as in times past, and it was because they all thought of nothing else except to provide and prepare all things necessary for the battle, for it seemed to them, given the grandeur of that confrontation, to become involved in other quests that might interfere would result in infamy.

When Arquisil arrived at the encampment, he spoke privately with the Emperor and told him the truth about everything, both about his opponents’ large number of men and about the outstanding knights with him, of whom he recounted by name almost all, and how Amadis of Gaul had given him permission to fight in that battle and was not very troubled by it. Arquisil said he had learned that Amadis, knowing that the Emperor would be coming there with his army, soon planned to march toward it without fear; Arquisil advised him of all that because by doing so he best fulfilled his service.

The Emperor listened to this, although he was very arrogant and changeable, as ye have heard, and he was also sure of himself in everything that he did, but he knew the virtue of that knight, for whom he had not much love, and that Arquisil had told him nothing but the truth. And when he heard it, he was dismayed as those who employ their valor more in words than in deed tend to be. The Emperor no longer wished to be involved in that affair, for he fully understood the great difference between one side and the other, and he had never thought that given his great strength along with that of King Lisuarte, Amadis would have the ability or preparations to leave Firm Island; instead the Emperor and King could lay siege by land and sea so that either through hunger or some other means Patin could take back Oriana and avenge the harm and injury that had been done to his honor.

And from there on, showing more courage then he secretly felt, he made sure to concur with the will of King Lisuarte and all his noblemen.

So they were encamped for two weeks reviewing the troops and receiving the knights that came to them every day, and they found that they had all the following: the Emperor brought 10,000 knights; King Lisuarte 6,500; Gasquilan, King of Suesa, 800; and King Cildadan, 200.

Everything having been prepared, the Emperor and the Kings gave orders to break camp and for the men to wait in the great meadow from which they would march. And so it was done, and they were all placed in their battalions. The Emperor put his men into three columns. The first he gave to Floyan, brother of Prince Salustanquidio, with 2,500 knights. He gave the second to Arquisil with an equal number, and he was left with 5,000 to follow them. And he asked King Lisuarte to approve of his men taking the vanguard, which he did, although Lisuarte would rather have done that himself, because he did not consider those men highly, and he was afraid their lack of discipline might cause some great reversal. But he agreed to give him that honor, which in such cases is looked upon badly because all affection should be laid aside to follow where reason guides.

King Lisuarte put his men into columns. In one with King Arban of North Wales he put 3,000 knights, and with him were his son Norandel, Sir Guilan the Pensive, Sir Cendil of Ganota, and Brandoivas. And from his men he gave 1,000 knights to King Cildadan and Gasquilan, and with another 1,000 made another column. And of those knights with him, he gave his standard to the worthy Sir Grumedan, who had great sorrow and anguish in his heart over the poor decision the King Lisuarte had made by allowing troops he considered unworthy to take the lead.

When this was done in the columns had been formed, they moved across the field behind the supply wagons which with its billeters was going to set up the next camp.

What could I tell ye of the knights and fine shining armor of such variety that they wore? Truly, it would be very laborious to recount. It will only be spoken of what the Emperor and the Kings and other outstanding knights wore, and this shall be told on the day of the battle when they armed themselves for it. Now we shall not speak of that until its proper time, and now it must be told what King Perion and the lords with him did in the encampment on Firm Island.

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Chapter 70 [part 3 of 3]

[Which tells of the battle between the twelve knights of the King of Bohemia and the eleven knights of the Emperor of Rome, and of the departure of the Knight of the Green Sword.] 

[The Riders’ Staircase in the Old Royal Palace at Prague Castle. It allowed knights on horseback to enter Vladislav Hall, which was used for coronations, banquets, and tournaments. Photo by Sue Burke.]
 
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The Roman knights took Garadan, dead, to their tents and mourned over him, for they had dearly loved him. They would miss his presence in the battle that awaited them the next day to the point that they wondered if they could possibly undertake the battle without him against the Knight of the Green Sword.

As they discussed what to do, they considered two serious issues: first, as ye have heard, that their valiant companion was dead but their enemy would be able to fight; and second, that if they forwent the battle, the Emperor would be held in dishonor and they would risk death. But they thought they could avoid the battle and excuse themselves before the Emperor with Garadan’s arrogance, who against their will had fought and died. Most of them agreed with this, and the others were quiet. Among them was a young knight of high lineage named Arquisil, whose bloodline came straight from the Emperor’s so closely that if Patin were to die without a son, Arquisil would inherit all his reign, and because of this, he was unloved by Patin, who kept him distant.

When he saw that his companions were making the wrong decision, although until that time he had not dare to speak due to his young age, not yet more than twenty years old, he told them:

“Truly, my lords, I am amazed to see such good men as yourselves fall into an error so great that if someone were to suggest it to you, you would consider them an enemy and would not take their advice. While ye may fear death, your weakness and misadventure would give rise to something far worse. What is it that ye doubt and fear? Is there a great difference between eleven and twelve? If ye do it over the death of Sir Garadan, ye should be pleased that a man of such arrogance and lack of restraint is no longer among us, because his actions could have brought us harm. If it is due to that knight whom ye fear so much, I will take responsibility for him myself, and I promise you that I shall pursue him unto his death. And since he shall be occupied for a while, consider the difference that remains between yourselves and your opponents. So, my lords, ye have no cause for such fear in your spirits, and from your plan we would receive death and perpetual dishonor.”

These words by Arquisil held such force that his companions’ changed their minds. Thanking him sincerely and praising his advice, they determined to go bravely into battle.

The Knight of the Green Sword, after his wounds were treated and he had eaten, told the King:

“My lord, it would be good if ye were to choose the knights who must fight tomorrow so they can prepare and be here at the break of day to hear Mass in your chapel, so we may go into the field together.”

“So it shall be done,” the King said. “My son Grasandor will be one of them, and the others will be such good knights that with God’s help and yours we shall win victory.”

“May it not please God,” he said, “that ye or your son shall bear arms while I can, for the others are so skilled that he and even myself will not be necessary.”

Grasandor told him:

“My lord Knight of the Green Sword, I shall not be exempt from anywhere your person is put in danger, either in this battle or any other fought in my presence. And if I were worthy of the gift that such a knight as yourself has given me, starting now I would ask to have you take me in your company. So by no means shall I fail to be in that fight tomorrow, if only to learn something about your amazing skills.”

He of the Green Sword bowed at the honor he did him, as was proper, and told him:

“My lord, if that is what pleases you, may it be done with the help of God.”

The King told him:

“My good friend, your arms are in such a state that they will not offer you any protection, so I wish to give you some that have never been worn. I am sure you will like them, for although ye have seen many, ye have never seen any better.”

Immediately he had brought richly made reins and a saddle. When he of the Green Sword saw them so beautiful and embellished, he sighed, thinking that if he had been in a position to send them to his loyal friend Angriote de Estravaus, he would have done so, and they would have been put to good use. The arms were very fine and had field of gold with purple lions, as did the surcoat. But the sword was the best he had ever seen except for King Lisuarte’s and his own, and after he examined it, he gave it to Grasandor so he could carry it into battle.

The next day early in the morning they heard Mass with the King, were all armed, and kissed his hands. They mounted and, accompanied by many other knights, rode to the field where the battle would be held. They saw that the Romans had already arrived and were armed and on horseback, while many of their men played trumpets to encourage them.

Arquisil was among them on a white horse with green arms, and he told his companions:

“Remember what we spoke of, and I shall do what I promised.”

Then they charged at each other, and Arquisil saw the Knight of the Green Sword coming at him and galloped at him. They struck each other with their lances, which shattered, and Arquisil was thrown out of his saddle onto the haunches of his horse, but since he had held onto the saddle tree and was brave and agile, he returned to his saddle.

He of the Green Sword rode past him, and with the piece of lance he still held, he struck the first knight he found himself before, knocked off his helmet, and would have brought him down, but two knights hit the knight of the Green Sword with their lances, one on his shield and the other on his leg, which passed through the skirt of his chain mail and the lance blade gave him a painful injury on the leg, which made him more irate than he had been.

He put his hand to his sword and attacked a knight, but the blow was deflected and hit the neck of the horse and cut completely through it, so the horse fell to the ground on the leg of its rider and broke it. Arquisil, who now sat straight in his saddle, grabbed his sword tightly, and went and struck the Knight of the Dwarf with all his strength on the top of his helmet: flames flew from the helmet and the sword, and he made him lower his head.

But his triumph did not last long, for the Knight of the Green Sword struck him on the top of his shoulder and cut through the armor and flesh, so that Arquisil thought he had lost his arm. When the Knight of the Green Sword saw that, he rode past him and attacked others whom Grasandor and his men had placed in danger.

But Arquisil followed him and struck him on all sides, but not with as much strength as at the beginning of the battle. He of the Green Sword turned and struck him, but immediately returned to the others, having no urge to attack him because he held him in greater esteem than all the other knights on Arquisil’s side for he had seen him come ahead of the rest to attack him.

But Arquisil did not worry about the blows he received. Instead, he rode into the fight and attacked the Knight of the Green Sword as best he could. At this point, all the knights on his side were destroyed, some dead, others injured, and the rest too exhausted to defend themselves.

And as he of the Green Sword saw that Arquisil pursued him without fearing his blows, he said:

“Is there no one who can protect me from this knight?”

Grasandor, who heard him, came with two other knights, and they attacked Arquisil together. Since they found him weary and exhausted, they threw him from his saddle onto the ground, and then came to kill him. But the Knight of the Dwarf came to his aid and said:

“My lords, since I have received more harm from this one than the rest, leave him to me to take my remedy.”

Then they all backed away, and he came and said:

“Knight, surrender if ye do not wish to die at the hands of he who is eager to kill you.”

Since Arquisil had expected nothing but death, he was happy and said:

“My lord, since fate has wished to give me no other choice, I declare myself your prisoner, and I thank you for the life ye have given me.”

He took his sword and immediately handed it to him, and promised to do as he was ordered, and the Knight of the Green Sword dismounted and stayed with him and had him mount a horse that he ordered brought. Then he remounted, and they rode to the King, who was waiting for them with great pleasure because the threat of war had ended, and took them to the palace. He placed the Knight of the Green Sword in his chamber, and he had his prisoner remain with him to do him honor as he deserved, being a good and high-born knight, as ye have heard.

But Arquisil said:

“My lord Knight of the Green Sword, I ask you in your discretion to allow me to go to help my companions who are alive and to have the dead carried away. I shall remain your prisoner and shall come when ye call me to be held in prison wherever ye may indicate.”

The Knight of the Green Sword told him:

“I grant you that, and remember the promise that ye have given me.”

Arquisil embraced him, said farewell, and went to his companions, and ye may imagine how he found them. Then they ordered to have Garadan and the other dead carried away, and they took to the road. Now this story shall speak no more of this knight until his time, when it shall tell to what ends he placed his great valor.

He of the Green Sword remained with King Tafinor until his wounds had healed. Since the King’s war was over, the Knight of the Green Sword thought about the concern and mortal desires his lady Oriana gave him, which at that time were greatly troublesome, and decided he could better deal with them by the fatigue of travel than in the great pleasure and rest where he was. He spoke with the King and told him:

“My lord, since your war is over, the time has come when my fortune will not let me rest, so my will can no longer be yours. I wish to leave tomorrow, and may God in his mercy give me a time when my service may be equal to the honors and mercies that I have received from you.”

When the King heard this, he was troubled, and he said:

“Oh, Knight of the Green Sword! Take from my reign what land ye will and be its lord, so I shall not see you part from my company.”

“My lord,” he said, “I believe that ye know how much I desire to serve you, and so ye have done me honor and mercy, but I can stay no longer. I cannot rest until my heart is where my thoughts always are.”

The King, seeing his determination, and considering him so calm and sure in his affairs that by no means could his mind be changed, told him with a sorrowful face:

“My loyal friend, if that is how it is, I ask two things of you: first, that ye must call on me and my kingdom if ye have any need of them, and second, that tomorrow ye hear Mass with me, for I wish to speak to you.”

“My lord,” he said, “I accept these words ye give me and shall remember them if the situation arises, and tomorrow, armed and ready to travel, I shall be at Mass with you.”

That night the Knight of the Green Sword ordered Gandalin to prepare everything necessary, for he wished to leave the next day, and so it was done. That night he could not sleep because his body had undergone no physical labor, so his mental labor found it easier to suffer great cares and mortal desires, and fatigued him more.

When morning came, having wept all night, he armed himself and mounted his horse. Gandalin and his dwarf mounted their palfreys, carrying the needed supplies for the road, and went to the chapel of the King, who was waiting for them. After they had heard Mass, the King ordered everyone to leave and remained there alone with him, and said:

“My great friend, I ask ye to grant me a boon, which will not be harmful to you during your journey nor to your honor.”

“I believe,” he said, “that ye, my lord, may ask for what ye will in keeping with your great virtue, and I shall grant it.”

“Well, my good friend,” the King said, “I ask ye to tell me your name and tell me whose son ye are, and believe that I shall keep it a secret until ye wish it to be told.”

The Knight of the Green Sword spent a while without speaking, thinking about what he had promised, and said:

“My lord, I wish your mercy would be pleased not to ask this question, which will not be to your advantage.”

“My good friend,” he said, “do not hesitate to tell me it, for I shall protect your secret just as ye do.”

He told him:

“Since it pleases you, although it is not my wish, know that I am Amadis of Gaul, son of King Perion, whom ye spoke of the other day in accord with the battle.”

The King said:

“Oh, blessed high-born knight, blessed be the hour in which ye were engendered, for so much honor and advantage ye have given to your father and mother and all your lineage, and to those who are not in your family! Ye have made me very happy by telling me that, and I trust in God that it shall be to your good and your cause for me to someday repay some of the great debts that I owe you.”

And while the King said this more out of good will than out of any need he knew the knight might have, in the future he fulfilled his promise in two ways: first he had all the deeds at arms that had happened in those lands written down; and second, he was very helpful by sending his son and men from his kingdom when he saw him in great need, as the fourth book shall tell.

When this was done, he of the Green Sword mounted his horse and bid farewell to the King, making him stay behind, although he wished to go with him. Grasandor and Count Galtines and many noblemen left with him, and he set out on the road with the intention of traveling through the islands of Romania and test himself in the adventures he found there. When they were a half-league from town, those knights turned back, commending him to God, and he continued on his way.

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