Le Morte Darthur / by Syr Thomas Malory ; the original edition of William Caxton now reprinted and edited with an introduction and glossary by H. Oskar Sommer ; with an essay on Malory's prose style by Andrew Lang

¶ Capitulum x

THenne kyng Arthur made redy his hoost in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the castel Tarabil with a grete hoost / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had / Thenne Nero had the vaward with the moost party of his peple / & merlyn cam to kyng lot of the yle of Orkeney / and helde hym with a tale of prophecye til Nero and his peple were destroyed / & ther syr kay the sencyal dyd passyngly wel that the dayes of his lyf the worship went neuer frō hym & sir heruys de reuel did merueillous dedes with

[leaf 44r] with kynge Arthur / and kynge Arthur slewe that daye xx knyghtes & maymed xl / At that tyme cam in the knyȝte with the two swerdys and his broder Balan / But they two did so merueillously that the kynge and alle the knyghtes merueilled of them / and alle they that behelde them said they were sente from heuen as aungels or deuyls from helle / & kynge Arthur said hym self they were the best knyghtes that euer he sawe / for they gaf suche strokes that all men had wōder of hem In the meane whyle came one to kynge Lott and told hym / whyle he taryed there nero was destroyed and slayne with al his peple / Allas sayd kynge Lot I am ashamed / for by my defaute ther is many a worshipful man slayne / for and we had ben to gyders there hadde ben none hooste vnder the heuen that had ben abel for to haue matched with vs / This fayter with his prophecye hath mocked me / Al that dyd Merlyn for he knewe wel that and kyng Lot had ben with his body there at the fyrst bataille / kynge Arthur had be slayne / and alle his peple destroyed / & wel Merlyn knewe the one of the kynges shold be dede that day / & loth was Merlyn that ony of them both sholde be slayne / But of the tweyne / he had leuer kyng Lotte had be slayne than kynge Arthur / Now what is best to doo sayd kyng Lot of Orkeney whether is me better to treate with kynge Arthur or to fyghte / for the gretter party of oure peple are slayne / and destroyed / Syr said a knyght set on arthur for they are wery and forfoughten and we be fresshe / As for me sayd kyng Lot I wolde euery knyght wolde do his parte as I wold do myn / And thenne they auaunced baners and smoten to gyders and al to sheuered their speres / and arthurs knyghtes with the helpe of the knyght with two swerdes & his broder balan put kyng lot & his hoost to the werre / But alweyes kyng Lot helde hym in the formest frunte & dyd merueillous dedes of armes / for alle his hooste was borne vp by his handes for he abode al knyghtes / allas he myght not endure the whiche was grete pyte that so worthy a knyyt as he was one shold be ouermatched that of late tyme afore hadde ben a knyght of kyng Arthurs & wedded the sister of kyng arthur & for kyng Arthur lay by kyng lots wyf the whiche was arthurs syster & gat on her Mordred / therfor kyng lot held ayēst

[leaf 44v] Arthur / So ther was a knyght that was called the knyghte with the straunge beeste / and at that tyme his ryght name was called Pellinore / the whiche was a good man of prowesse / and he smote a myghty stroke att kynge Lot as he fought with all his enemyes / and he fayled of his stroke / and smote the hors neck that he fylle to the grounde with kyng lot And therwith anon Pellinore smote hym a grete stroke thorow the helme & hede vnto the browes & thenne alle the hooste of Orkeney fled for the deth of kynge Lott / and there were slayn many moders sones / But kynge Pellinore bare the wytte of the deth of kynge Lot / wherfore syr Gawayne reuenged the deth of his fader the x yere after he was made knyght and slewe kynge Pellinore with his owne handes / Also there were slayne at that bataille xij kynges on the syde of kyng Lot with Nero / and alle were buryed in the chirche of saynt Steuyns in Camelot / and the remenaunt of knyghtes and of other were buryed in a grete roche