ldeth against it, we will
slay him." And therewith they all kneeled at once, both rich and poor,
and cried Arthur mercy because they had delayed him so long, and Arthur
forgave them, and took the sword between both his hands, and offered it
upon the altar where the Archbishop was, and so was he made knight of
the best man that was there. And so anon was the coronation made. And
there was he sworn unto his lords and the commons for to be a true king
and to stand with true justice from thenceforth the days of his life.

402

After Arthur was made king, he spent several
years in war with his lawless barons before he
finally established a stable government in
England. Malory's accounts of these wars are
interspersed with stories of miraculous
incidents, accounts of the adventures of
knights, and descriptions of feasts,
tournaments, and jousts. The following is a
description of the jousting between the knights
of King Arthur and those of two French kings,
Ban and Bors, who had come to aid Arthur in his
wars.

A TOURNEY WITH THE FRENCH

SIR THOMAS MALORY

Then the king let purvey for a great feast, and let cry a great jousts.
And by All Hallowmass the two kings were come over the sea with three
hundred knights well arrayed both for peace and for war. And King Arthur
met with them ten miles out of London, and there was great joy as could
be thought or made. And on All Hallowmass at the great feast, sat in the
hall the three kings, and Sir Kay seneschal served in the hall, and Sir
Lucas the butler, and Sir Griflet. These three knights had the rule of
all the service that served the kings. And anon, as they had washed and
risen, all knights that would joust made them ready. By when they were
ready on horseback there were seven hundred knights. And Arthur, Ban,
and Bors, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Sir Ector, Kay's
father, they were in a place covered with cloth of gold like an hall,
with ladies and gentlewomen, for to behold who did the best, and thereon
to give judgment.

And King Arthur and the two kings let depart the seven hundred knights
into two parties. And there were three hundred knights of the realm of
Benwick and of Gaul turned on the other side. Then they dressed their
shields, and began to couch their spears many good knights. So Griflet
was the first that met with a knight, one Ladinas, and the