85 pages • 2 hours read
Roger Lancelyn GreenKing Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Book 2, Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 2: “The Knights of the Round Table”
Book 2, Chapter 1 Summary: “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
Arthur and his knights form the realm of Logres and perform many great deeds and battle “evildoers.” One New Year’s Day, Arthur holds a feast in Camelot. Before the meal, a man enters—entirely green from head to toe—and asks to test the knights’ bravery. The Green Knight proposes a game to exchange strokes of the axe: Whatever the knight does to him, he will do to them at his Green Chapel in one year. Arthur answers the challenge, but Gawain takes his place, wanting to make up for his shameful quest. Gawain cuts the Green Knight’s head clean off, yet the man stands, retrieves his head, and reconfirms Gawain’s promise. The year passes, and Arthur holds a feast in Caerleon before Gawain departs on his quest.
Gawain travels through Wales to the Forest of Wirral, fighting “wicked” men and the elements along the way. No one knows the Green Chapel, so Gawain wanders lost until he comes to a castle. Sir Bernlak and his lady welcome Gawain and invite him to join their Christmastime celebrations. Gawain makes to leave after three days, but Bernlak begs him to stay, knowing the Green Chapel is nearby. Bernlak proposes a game over the next three days: He will give Gawain the spoils of his hunts, and Gawain will give him whatever he receives in the castle. Each morning the lady of the castle tempts Gawain with love, but Gawain stays virtuous by only courteously kissing her when she asks. In the evenings, Bernlak gives Gawain his spoils, and Gawain gives the lord his kisses.
On the final day, the lady gives Gawain a magic lace to protect him, and Gawain accepts the gift out of fear of the Green Knight. On New Year’s Day, Gawain leaves with the lace tied covertly around his waist, following a squire to the Green Chapel. The squire offers Gawain a final opportunity to run, but Gawain bravely continues. At the Chapel, Gawain meets the Green Knight and prepares to receive the fatal blow. The knight swings his axe up and makes Gawain flinch. The knight mocks Gawain, but on the next false swing, Gawain stays still. On the final swing, the Green Knight purposely hits only the side of Gawain’s neck. The Green Knight is Bernlak, and he concocted the trial with his wife after Nimue enchanted him to test the honor of the Knights of the Round Table. As Gawain’s dishonesty in the game was minor, Bernlak lets Gawain live. Gawain parts jovially and returns to Camelot.
Book 2, Chapter 2 Summary: “The First Quest of Sir Launcelot”
Arthur and his men bring an injured man to Camelot, as only the bravest knight may cure his wound as that man’s first knightly act. Nimue introduces three squires—Launcelot, Lionel, and Hector—and Arthur knights Launcelot per Merlin’s last wish, and then knights Lionel and Hector as well to fill the other two empty spots and the Table. Launcelot heals the man and sits at the Round Table, frustrating the older knights because they did not feel he deserved the honor without doing any great deeds or quests. Wanting to prove themselves, Launcelot and Lionel leave to seek adventure, with Hector following behind. Wearied by the travel, Launcelot rests, and while he sleeps, Lionel fights and falls to Sir Turquyn. Hector follows to Turquyn’s castle and is also thrown in the dungeon, though he fights better than any other.
Morgana and three queens see Launcelot sleeping and fall in love. Morgana enchants him and brings him to her castle, where she forces Launcelot to choose between the four ladies or else be killed in her dungeon. Launcelot refuses to break his vow to Guinevere and Arthur. A lady, grieved by Launcelot’s treatment, helps him escape. He promises to fight for her father, King Bagdemagus, in a tournament, and he anonymously defeats several of Arthur’s knights. Launcelot fights and defeats Turquyn, saving Gaheris. Gaheris frees the knights in Turquyn’s dungeon, but Launcelot quickly rides away seeking more adventures.
After a year, Launcelot begins to return to Camelot. He follows a trail of blood to a house where Sir Gilbert lies dead. Gilbert’s lady emerges and begins to curse the knight who killed Sir Gilbert. Launcelot comes across another woman and Sir Melyot, whose wound was enchanted by Gilbert’s lady to bleed eternally. Following Nimue’s instructions, Launcelot rides to Chapel Perilous and retrieves a piece of cloth and a sword, avoiding the sorceress Allewes’s frightening traps. Launcelot heals Melyot with the instruments. Allewes lays another trap, using a woman in distress as a ruse for Launcelot to remove his armor. Launcelot successfully defends himself from a charging knight with nothing but a branch. He then saves Kay from three angry knights. Launcelot and Kay switch armor, which saves Kay from battling with knights along the road. Launcelot fights and defeats all such knights—even Gawain—revealing his true identity at the Pentecost feast. Those Launcelot met on his quest come to Camelot and tell Arthur of Launcelot’s many deeds.
Book 2, Chapter 3 Summary: “Sir Gareth, or the Knight of the Kitchen”
On Pentecost, a nameless man with a trustworthy face visits Arthur’s court and asks for three gifts, the first of which is to have food and drink for a year and the others he will ask for after that year. Arthur grants the gift and entrusts him to Kay. Though Arthur asks for the man’s name, he will not reveal it yet. Kay, believing the man to be a peasant’s son, nicknames the man Beaumains (Fair Hands) and relegates him to the kitchen and proceeds to ensure he is miserable for the next year. Next Pentecost, Lady Linnet pleads for Arthur to save her sister Lady Liones from the Red Knight. Beaumains asks as his second gift to have the quest and as his third gift to have Launcelot also come as a judge of his worthiness. Arthur again agrees to the terms. Linnet, insulted by Arthur’s choice of man, rides away without Beaumains. Beaumains and Launcelot, followed by the Kay, who is angry Beaumains has overreached his station, chase after the woman. Kay tries to fight Beaumains but loses, and Gareth continues his quest despite Linnet’s insults.
The Black Knight blocks Beaumains’s path, but Beaumains easily defeats him and takes his armor. Launcelot, impressed, wishes to knight Beaumains, but he must know his name to do so. Beaumains reveals that he is Gareth, Arthur’s nephew. Launcelot knights Gareth and promises to keep his identity a secret. Launcelot leaves to go back to Camelot, but Gareth is still determined to finish his quest, so he rides after Linnet. Linnet, not knowing his lineage, degrades Gareth for his lowly position. Gareth defeats both the Green Knight and Blue Knight, granting them mercy at Linnet’s behest. Seeing his true virtuousness, Linnet begs for Gareth’s forgiveness and tries to stop him from fighting the Red Knight, who Morgana enchanted with super strength. Not dissuaded, Gareth rides to Castle Dangerous and battles the Red Knight. Gareth matches the knight’s strength and eventually overcomes him. The Red Knight, Sir Ironside, begs for mercy. Ironside had been mercilessly killing knights to win Morgana’s love and seek revenge for her. Gareth accepts the story and sends Ironside to pledge himself to Arthur. Liones, however, refuses to be rescued by Gareth because he is not of noble birth. Gareth leaves in anger and Linnet chastises her sister.
Liones sends Sir Gingamour to discover Gareth’s noble identity by kidnapping his assistant. Gareth chases Gingamour back to the castle where Liones now welcomes him. Upset by her arrogance, Gareth refuses her love. Liones plots to have Gareth killed and rides to Camelot to tell of his death. Gareth, however, defends himself, and Linnet heals his wounds with good magic. At a tournament in Gareth’s honor, Gareth anonymously fights and defeats many knights. He reveals his identity and marries Linnet. The vanquished Green, Blue, and Red Knights pledge themselves to Arthur, and Liones swears off evil magic.
Book 2, Chapter 4 Summary: “Sir Tristram and the Fair Iseult”
Arthur and the knights remember Merlin’s prophecy about the brave men still to come to Logres. A minstrel arrives playing a sad song, and Arthur invites him to sing the story of Tristram of Lyonesse. The minstrel—who is Tristram in disguise—tells his story. Tristram was born in a time of conflict and fostered by Raul. When he grew, he gained skills in both combat and the arts. By fate, he arrived at the court of his uncle King Mark in Cornwall after being stolen and enslaved, and he became Mark’s “nearest and most trusted councilor” (171).
One day, Sir Marhault demands a tribute from King Mark for King Gurman of Ireland unless a knight defeats him in a duel. Tristram is the only man to accept the challenge, and he mortally wounds Marhault when his sword chips into the man’s skull. Marhault poisons him in return. Tristram travels to Ireland in disguise, seeking Queen Isaud to heal him of the Irish poison. Gurman and Isaud are so delighted by Tristram’s music that they employ him to teach their daughter, Iseult the Fair. Tristram returns to Cornwall after a year. Hearing his tale, Mark decides to marry Iseult to bring peace. He sends Tristram back to Ireland to plead his case.
Gurman, meanwhile, has offered Iseult’s hand in marriage as a reward for whoever slays a terrorizing dragon. Tristram fights and slays the beast but gets poisoned by its last breath. Before he falls, he cuts out its tongue as a token. When Tristram is down, Gurman’s Seneschal cuts off the dragon’s head and claims glory for himself. Iseult and Isaud find Tristram with the dragon’s tongue, and they present the true events to Gurman’s court. The Seneschal, publicly humiliated, challenges Tristram to a duel and loses. Tristram gains Iseult’s hand for Mark. Iseult discovers Tristram is Marhault’s killer, but Isaud revokes her oath of revenge out of thankfulness for Tristram’s service.
Isaud brews a love potion for Iseult and Mark’s wedding day, but on the ship to Cornwall, Iseult and Tristram mistakenly drink the potion. The two fall deeply in love but remain honorable to their oaths to Mark. Soon enough, Tristram and Iseult begin to secretly meet. Mark discovers them and banishes Tristram, dooming him to roam Britain. After hearing the tale, Arthur knights Tristram. Tristram performs many great deeds for Arthur and eventually marries Iseult of the White Hands. When Tristram is again gravely poisoned, he sends for Iseult the Fair’s magic healing, but in jealousy, his wife lies about Iseult’s arrival. Tristram and Iseult both die of broken hearts; in repentance, his wife buries the lovers together.
Book 2, Chapter 5 Summary: “Geraint and Enid”
One Easter in Caerleon, the squire Geraint comes to Arthur’s court having seen a white and gold stag in the forest. Arthur hunts for the creature, and Guinevere, her lady, and Geraint follow behind. They see a proud knight, a fair lady, and a little person riding past. The little person violently refuses to tell Guinevere’s lady and Geraint the knight’s name. Geraint follows the knight to a castle, where the people greet him—Sir Yder—with solemn reverence. Geraint finds a run-down manor to rest in, where the old man Liconal invites him to a simple meal. Liconal, Yder’s uncle, was once the duke of the castle, but Yder threw Liconal’s family out after coming of age. Geraint enters the Sparrow Hawk tournament to battle Yder, bringing Liconal’s daughter Enid as his lady.
Geraint fights Yder, winning the joust and overcoming him in a sword fight. Yder promises allegiance to Arthur and ends his dispute with Liconal. Yder invites Geraint to come back with him to Caerleon, Geraint wants to find more adventures to become a knight. This angers Enid because she thought he was already a knight and they would get married when they returned together. She scorns him, so Geraint invites her to witness his deeds, but she must ride ahead and not speak to him no matter what might happen. They ride through the forest with Enid silently ahead of Geraint. Three robbers come upon Enid, and she warns Geraint of their plan, but he scolds her for breaking her silence. He overcomes the robbers, takes their armor and horses, and rides on. The events repeat until Enid drives 18 horses. The two rest at the castle of Sir Oringle. Oringle, enraptured by Enid’s beauty, coaxes her to leave Geraint and forces her to comply with his plan of ambush the next day. Enid warns Geraint of the evil plan.
Geraint meets Oringle and his 80 followers in battle and falls to his wounds. Oringle takes Enid and Geraint—thought to be dead—to his castle. Enid swears to not eat or drink until Geraint wakes, and Oringle strikes her. Enid’s cry wakes Geraint, who cuts off Oringle’s head. As they flee, the lovers come upon Arthur, Gawain, and Kay on the hunt. Kay foolishly battles Geraint and loses, and all return to Caerleon. Geraint presents the stag’s head to Enid, and they marry. Yder, Liconal, and Enid recount Geraint’s deeds, and Arthur finally knights the brave Geraint.
Book 2, Chapters 1-5 Analysis
A minor motif is the text’s use of symbolic identifying colors. The color of a knight’s armor relates directly to the man’s character or his role. In Chapter 1, the text associates the Green Knight—who is “greener than any grass on this earth” (96)—with the natural world, and particularly with the wild forests of North Wales. Wales, which was historically associated with “pagan” groups, is the birthplace of magic figures like Merlin, Nimue, Arthur, and Launcelot in the text. The Green Knight’s colorful enchantment connects to his realm’s mystical element. The Black Knight, as the first knight Gareth fights and the only knight he kills, represents the danger Gareth must overcome to prove himself. The Red Knight represents blood, rage, and ferocity, illustrating Sir Ironside’s merciless and dishonorable killings. Throughout the text, red indicates these negative aspects of passion, but in Chapter 1 red also symbolizes warmth, as Bernlak’s “red hair and beard” and “face tanned red” (102) signify his jolly nature.
In Book 2, the text backgrounds Arthur’s development in favor of introducing the famous knights of the Round Table. Each chapter in Book 2 describes how the knights prove their worthiness to sit in Arthur’s company through quests and trials of virtue. Gawain, Launcelot, Gareth, Tristram, and Geraint stand apart from the other valiant knights due to their heightened levels of virtue and bravery. Gawain is the only man to volunteer for the Green Knight’s game, even though “so terrible was the man and so fearsome the great axe which he held” (97). Launcelot performs a “year of adventures” (144) to prove he deserves his “untried” knighthood, and Gareth gains Arthur hundreds of loyal followers. Tristram and Geraint stand out for their tales of great love—Tristram’s because of its honorable tragedy and Geraint’s because of his intense loyalty. Many of the chapters propose that the text “cannot speak here” (132) of every deed these knights complete, emphasizing the profound impact of these select few men.
The text continues to teach lessons through the knights’ quests, expanding the theme of knightly oaths of virtue. Book 2 begins with Gawain’s lessons of courtesy and chastity. Bernlak and his lady make a game to test whether Gawain is strong enough to refuse the loving advances of a beautiful—and married—lady. No matter how hard the lady presses him, Gawain “turned aside her words courteously, and held true to his honor as a knight of Logres should” (109). His actions show the significance of being courteous even when refusing someone to keep the peace. The story also urges the importance of honesty. For the small lie of hiding the magic girdle, Gawain receives the nick on the neck as a punishment, but “had [he] yielded to dishonor and shamed his knighthood” (115) he would’ve had a worse punishment.
Gareth and Geraint’s quests center on the sin of pride in the people they interact with. Gareth chooses to hide his noble identity to let his good deeds speak for themselves, and this decision exposes the prejudices of Kay, Linnet, and Liones against non-nobles. Linnet pridefully condemns King Arthur for sending Gareth after her sister, and she constantly belittles Gareth for his appearance as a “wretched kitchen knave” (153), claiming he must be using tricks to win his battles. Kay also thinks Gareth is a “vulgar peasant’s son” who is “not fit to mix with us knights” (147), and Liones refuses to be saved by a man without known noble lineage. The text paints these characters in the wrong, especially after Gareth valiantly and selflessly saves Liones. Gareth’s story teaches not to judge a person’s character on their appearance alone, as all kinds of people can be rude and dishonorable, just as all kinds of people can be valiant and kind. Geraint is also the victim of other people’s pride, as Enid’s anger at Geraint’s lack of knighthood forces him on a quest that nearly kills him. Enid accepts his love after understanding the folly of her “rash and cruel words” (201) against Geraint’s honor. Geraint’s quest teaches the importance of self-control and is a reminder that even those without knighthood can behave nobly.
Chapter 2 illustrates several of Launcelot’s key character traits that foreshadow his tragic future. Launcelot’s prowess in battle impresses even his enemies, like Sir Turquyn who declares, “You are the mightiest knight that ever I met! […] For the love of you I’ll set free all the knights in my dungeon” (130). Though Chapter 2 celebrates his countless deeds, his dedication to earthly adventures hinders him in the future Grail Quest, as he hasn’t focused enough on piety. Launcelot’s fatal flaw is his love for Arthur’s wife Guinevere, and Chapter 2 shows the lovers instantly and dangerously fall for one another after Guinevere “heard tell of all his mighty deeds” (145). Launcelot cries at Tristram’s tale in Chapter 4 while “he thought of his own love for Guinevere—for King Arthur’s queen” (186). Launcelot’s shame for his love causes great suffering throughout the book, both for him and for those around him.
Sir Tristram’s story is primarily a romantic tale, unlike the other stories that center on the trials of new knighthood. Tristram’s tale explores the difference between unions of love and unions of politics. Iseult and King Mark’s marriage is not founded on Mark and Iseult’s deep love for each other but rather on a political match that will “[make] a firm peace” (175) between Ireland and Cornwall. Isaud makes a love potion for the couple to drink on their wedding day, knowing the importance of an emotional connection for “[her] daughter’s happiness” (181). When Iseult falls in love with Tristram instead, her marriage becomes intolerable, leading her to sneak around to find her true happiness with Tristram. The tale teaches the importance of love in unions of matrimony to prevent infidelity, and it shows how love will always “[triumph] over honor” (184)—for better or for worse.
The duality of magic appears as the characters use their powers for both good and evil purposes. Though Morgana swore to never return, she appears on both Launcelot and Gareth’s quests, setting traps “to bring sorrow and despite upon Logres” (162). Morgana entices Sir Ironside with promises of her love and exaggerates her tragic past to make him kill Arthur’s knights without mercy, illustrating the close relationship between dark magic and sinful temptation. Morgana’s follower Allewes appears on Launcelot’s quest, and she “[makes] this Chapel Perilous by magic” (135) to scare Launcelot away from the healing items. In comparison, good magic appears for healing purposes. Isaud and Iseult both have mystic powers that save Tristram from poison, and Linnet uses “the magic arts that are known in Avalon” (165) to quickly heal Gareth. Isaud makes the love potion with good intentions to help Iseult’s marriage, but in the careless hands of her servant, the magic becomes a tool of tragedy. This event shows that even good magic can have disastrous ends when used carelessly, especially when toying with powerful emotions.
