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  "work": {
    "slug": "high-history-of-the-holy-graal",
    "name": "High History of the Holy Graal"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "slug": "grail-romances",
      "name": "Holy Grail Romances",
      "url": "/sources/grail-romances/"
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  ],
  "chapter": {
    "num": 27,
    "slug": "27-the-high-history-of-the-holy-graal-branch-xxvi",
    "title": "The High History of the Holy Graal: Branch XXVI",
    "of": 36,
    "words": 2523,
    "text": "## The High History of the Holy Graal: Branch XXVI\n\n\nTITLE I.\n\nOf Meliot the story is here silent, and saith that King Arthur\nand Messire Gawain have ridden so far that they are come into the\nIsle of Avalon, there where the Queen lieth. They lodge the\nnight with the hermits, that made them right great cheer. But\nyou may well say that the King is no whit joyful when he seeth\nthe coffin where the Queen lieth and that wherein the head of his\nson lieth. Thereof is his dole renewed, and he saith that this\nholy place of this holy chapel ought he of right to love better\nthan all other places on earth. They depart on the morrow when\nthey have heard mass. The King goeth the quickest he may toward\nCardoil, and findeth the land wasted and desolate in many places,\nwhereof is he right sorrowful, and understandeth that Kay the\nSeneschal warreth upon him with the others. He marvelleth much\nhow he durst do it. He is come to Cardoil. When they of the\ncastle know it they come to meet him with right great cheer. The\ntidings went throughout all the land, and they of the country\nwere right joyous thereof, for the more part believed that he was\ndead. They of the castle of the Hard Rock knew it, but little\nrejoiced they thereat. But Kay the Seneschal was whole of his\nwound and bethought him that great folly would he do to remain\nlonger there to war upon the King, for well knew he that and the\nKing held him and did that which he had proclaimed, his end were\ncome. He departeth from the castle, where he had sojourned of a\nlong while, and crossed again stealthily over-sea, and came into\nLittle Britain, and made fast a castle for fear of the King, that\nis called Chinon, and was there long time, without the King\nwarring upon him, for enough adventures had he in other parts.\n\nII.\n\nTo Cardoil was the King repaired and Messire Gawain. You may\nwell understand that the land was much rejoiced thereof, and that\nall the knights were greatly comforted, and knights came back to\nthe court from all parts. They that had been wounded were whole\nagain. Briant of the Isles stinted not of his pride nor of his\noutrage, but rather stirred up the war the most he might, he and\nMeliant still more, and said that never would he cease therefrom\nuntil death, nor never would he have rest until such time as he\nshould have vengeance of Lancelot. The King was one day at\nCardoil at meat, and there was in the hall great throng of\nknights, and Messire Gawain sate beside the King. Lancelot sate\nat the table, and Messire Ywain the son of King Urien, and\nSagramors li Desirous, and Ywain li Aoutres, and many more other\nknights round about the table, but there were not so many as\nthere wont to be. Messire Lucan the Butler served before the\nKing of the golden cup. The King looked round about the table\nand remembered him of the Queen. He was bent upon thinking\nrather than on eating, and saw that his court was much wasted and\nworsened of her death. And what time the King was musing in such\nsort, behold you a knight come into the hall all armed before the\nKing; and he leaneth on the staff of his spear.\n\n\"Sir,\" saith the knight, \"Listen, so please you, to me, and all\nthese others, listen! Madeglant of Oriande sendeth me here to\nyou, and commandeth that you yield up the Table Round to him, for\nsith that the Queen is dead, you have no right thereof, for he is\nher next of kin and he that hath the best right to have and to\nhold it; and, so you do not this, you he defieth as the man that\ndisinheriteth him, for he is your enemy in two manner of ways,\nfor the Table Round that you hold by wrong, and for the New Law\nthat you hold. But he sendeth you word by me, that so you will\nrenounce your belief and take Queen Jandree his sister, that he\nwill cry you quit as of the Table Round and will be of your aid\neverywhere. But and if you do not this, have never affiance in\nhim. And so sendeth he word to you by me!\"\n\nIII.\n\nTherewith the knight departeth, and the King remaineth all heavy\nin thought, and when they had eaten, he rose from the tables and\nall the knights. He speaketh to Messire Gawain and Lancelot, and\ntaketh counsel with all the others.\n\n\"Sir,\" saith Messire Gawain, \"You will defend yourself the best\nyou may, and we will help you to smite your enemies. Great\nBritain is all at your will. You have not as yet lost any\ncastle. Nought hath been broken down nor burnt but open ground\nand cottages and houses, whereof is no great harm done to\nyourself, and the shame thereof may lightly be amended. King\nMadeglant is of great hardiment as of words, but in arms will he\nnot vanquish you so soon. If that he warreth upon you toward the\nWest, send thither one of the best knights of your court that may\nmaintain the war and defend the land against him.\"\n\nIV.\n\nThe King sojourned at Cardoil of a long space. He believed in\nGod and His sweet Mother right well. He brought thither from the\ncastle where the Graal was the pattern whereby chalices should be\nmade, and commanded make them throughout all the land so as that\nthe Saviour of the world should be served more worshipfully. He\ncommanded also that bells be cast throughout his land after the\nfashion of the one he had brought, and that each church should\nhave one according to the means thereof. This much pleased the\npeople of his kingdom, for thereby was the land somewhat amended.\nThe tidings came to him one day that Briant and Meliant were\nriding through his land with great routs of folk, and were minded\nto assiege Pannenoisance; and the King issued forth of Cardoil\nwith great throng of knights all armed, and rode until he espied\nBriant and his people, and Briant him again. They ranged their\nbattles on both sides, and came together with such might and so\ngreat a shock as that it seemed the earth shook; and they melled\ntogether at the assembly with their spears so passing grimly as\nthat the frushing thereof might be heard right far away. Some\nfourteen fell in the assembly that rose up again never more.\nMeliant of the Waste Manor searcheth for Lancelot in the midst of\nthe stour until he findeth him, and runneth upon him right\nsturdily and pierceth his shield with his spear. Lancelot\nsmiteth him such a sweep amidst the breast, that he thrusteth his\nspear right through his shoulder, and pinneth him so strongly\nthat the shaft is all to-brast, and the end thereof remaineth in\nhis body. And Meliant, all stricken through as he is, runneth\nupon him and passeth his spear right through the shield and\nthrough the arm, in such sort that he pinneth it to his side. He\npasseth beyond and breaketh his spear, and afterward returneth to\nLancelot, sword in fist, and dealeth him a buffet on the helm so\ngrimly that he all to-battered it in. Lancelot waxeth right\nwroth thereof, and he grieveth the more for that he feeleth him\nwounded. He cometh toward Meliant, sword drawn, and holding him\nwell under cover of his shield and cover of his helm, and smiteth\nMeliant so fiercely that he cleaveth his shoulder down to the rib\nin such sort that the end of the spear wherewith he had pierced\nhim fell out therefrom. Meliant felt himself wounded to the\ndeath, and draweth him back all sorrowful, and other knights run\nupon Lancelot and deliver assault. Messire Ywain and Sagramors\nli Desirous and Messire Gawain were on the other side in great\njeopardy, for the people of Briant of the Isles came from all\nparts, and waxed more and more, and on all sides the greater\nnumber of knights had the upper hand therein. King Arthur and\nBriant of the Isles were in the midst of the battle, and dealt\neach other right great buffets. Briant's people come thither and\ntake King Arthur by the bridle, and the King defendeth himself as\na good knight, and maketh a ring about him amongst them that\nattack him, the same as doth a wild boar amongst the dogs.\nMessire Ywain is come thither and Lucan the Butler, and break\nthrough the press by force. Thereupon, behold you Sagramors li\nDesirous, that cometh as fast as his horse may gallop under him,\nand smiteth Briant of the Isles right before his people with such\na rush that he beareth him to the ground in a heap, both him and\nhis horse. Briant to-brast his thigh bone in the fall that he\nmade. Sagramors holdeth sword drawn and would fain have thrust it\ninto his body, when the King crieth to him that he slay him not.\n\nV.\n\nBriant's people were not able to succour their lord. Nay,\nrather, they drew back on all sides, for the stout had lasted of\na long space. So they tended the dead and the wounded, of whom\nwere enough on one side and the other. King Arthur made carry\nBriant of the Isles to Cardoil, and bring along the other knights\nthat his own knights had taken. Right joyous were the folks at\nCardoil when the King came back. They bore Meliant of the Waste\nManor on his shield to the Hard Rock, but he scarce lived after.\nThe King made Briant of the Isles be healed, and held him in\nprison of a long while, until Briant gave him surety of all his\nlands and became his man. The King made him Seneschal of all his\nlands, and Briant served him right well.\n\nVI.\n\nLancelot was whole of his wound, and all the knights of theirs.\nKing Arthur was safely stablished, and redoubted and dreaded of\nall lands and of his own land like as he wont to be. Briant hath\nforgotten all that is past, and is obedient to the King's\ncommands and more privy is he of his counsel than ever another of\nthe knights, insomuch that he put the others somewhat back,\nwhereof had they much misliking. The felony of Kay the Seneschal\nlay very nigh the King's heart, and he said that and any would\ntake vengeance upon him for the same, greatly would he love him\nthereof, for so disloyally hath he wrought against him that he\ndurst not let the matter be slurred over; and a sore misfortune\nis it for the world when a man of so poor estate hath slain so\nhigh a man as his son for no misdeed, and that strangers ought by\nas good right as they that knew him or himself take vengeance\nupon him thereof, so that others might be adread of doing such\ndisloyalty.\n\nVII.\n\nBriant was feared and redoubted throughout all Great Britain.\nKing Arthur had told them that they were all to be at his\ncommandment. And one day while the King was at Cardoil, behold\nyou a damsel that cometh into the hail and saith unto him: \"Sir,\nQueen Jandree hath sent me over to you, and biddeth you do that\nwhereof her brother sent you word by his knight. She is minded\nto be Lady and Queen of your land, and that you take her to wife,\nfor of high lineage is she and of great power, wherefore she\nbiddeth you by me that you renounce the New Law and that you\nbelieve in the God in whom she believeth, and, so you do not\nthis, you may not have affiance in your land, for King Madeglant\nhath as now made ready his host to enter into the chief of your\nland, and hath sworn his oath that he will not end until he shall\nhave passed all the borders of the isles that march upon your\nland, and shall come upon Great Britain with all his strength,\nand so seize the Table Round that ought to be his own of right.\nAnd my Lady herself would come hither but for one thing, to wit,\nthat she hath in her such disdain of them that believe in the New\nLaw, that she deigneth not behold none of them, for, so soon as\nshe was stablished Queen, made she her eyes be covered for that\nshe would not look upon none that were of that believe. But the\nGods wherein she believeth did so much for her, for that she\nloveth and worshippeth them, that she may discover her eyes and\nher face, and yet see not at all, whereof is she right glad, for\nthat the eyes in her head are beautiful and gentle. But great\naffiance hath she in her brother, that is mighty and puissant,\nfor he hath her in covenant that he will destroy all them that\nbelieve in the New Law, in all places where he may get at them,\nand, when he shall have destroyed them in Great Britain and the\nother islands, so that my Lady might not see none therein, so\nwell is she with the Gods wherein she believeth, that she will\nhave her sight again all whole nor until that hour is she fain to\nsee nought\"\n\nVIII.\n\n\"Damsel,\" saith the King, \"I have heard well that which you tell\nme of this that you have in charge to say; but tell your Lady on\nmy behalf, that the Law which the Saviour of the world hath\nestablished by His death and by His crucifixion never will I\nrenounce, for the love that I have in Him. But tell her that she\nbelieve in God and in His sweet Mother, and that she believe in\nthe New Law, for by the false believe wherein she abideth is she\nblinded in such sort, nor never will she see clear until she\nbelieve in God. Tell her moreover, I send her word that never\nmore shall there be Queen in my land save she be of like worth as\nwas Queen Guenievre.\"\n\n\"Then I tell you plainly,\" saith she, \"that you will have betimes\nsuch tidings as that good for you they will not be.\"\n\nThe damsel departeth from Cardoil, and cometh back to where the\nQueen was, and telleth her the message King Arthur sendeth her.\n\"True,\" saith she, \"I love him better than all in the world, and\nyet refuseth he my will and my commandment. Now may he no longer\nendure!\"\n\nShe sendeth to her brother King Madeglant, and telleth him that\nshe herself doth defy him and he take not vengeance on King\nArthur and bring him not into prison.",
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}