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 Quintum

NOw said kynge Pellenore I shalle putte to yow two knyghtes / and ye shalle chese whiche is moost worthy / that is Syr Bagdemagus and syr Tor my sone / But by cause Syre Tor is my sone I may not prayse hym / but els and he were not my sone / I durst saye that of his age ther is not in this land a better knyghte than he is nor of better condycions and lothe to doo ony wronge / and loth to take ony wronge / By my hede said Arthur he is a passyng good knyght / as ony ye spak of this day that wote I wel said the kyng / for I haue sene hym preued but he seyth lytyll and he doth moche more / for I knowe none in al this courte & he were as wel borne on his moder syde as he is on your syde that is lyke hym of prowesse and of myghte / And therfor I wille haue hym at this tyme and leue syr Bagdemagus tyll another tyme / Soo whan they were so chosen by the assente of alle the barons / Soo were there founden in her syeges euery knyghtes names that here are reherced / and so were they set in their syeges / wherof syr Bagdemagus was wonderly wrothe that syr Tor was auaunced afore hym / and therfore sodenly he departed from the Courte and toke his squyer with hym / & rode longe in a forest tyll they came to a crosse and there alyȝt and sayd his prayers deuoutely / The meane whyle his squyer founde wryten vpon the crosse that Bagdemagus shold neuer retorne vnto the Courte ageyne / tyll he had wonne a knyȝtes body of the round table body for body / lo syr said his squyer / here I fynde wrytyng of yow / therfor I rede yow retorne ageyne to the Courte / that shalle I neuer said Bagdemagus by men speke of me grete worship / and that I be worthy to be a knyghte of the round table / and soo he rode forthe / And ther by the way he founde a braūche of an holy herbe that was the sygne of the Sancgraill / and no knyght founde suche tokens but he were a good lyuer / So as sir Bagdemagus rode

[leaf 63r] to see many aduentures / it happed hym to come to the roche / ther as the lady of the lake had put Merlyn vnder the stone / and there he herde hym make grete dole / wherof syre Bagdemagus wold haue holpen hym and wente vnto the grete stone / and he was so heuy that an C men myght not lyfte hyt vp / whan Merlyn wyste he was there he bad leue his labour / for al was in vayne / for he myght neuer be holpen but by her that put hym ther / and so Bagdemagus departed and dyd many auentures and preued after a full good knyght / and came ageyne to the Courte and was made knyght of the round table / So on the morne ther felle newe tydynges and other auentures