Le Morte D'Arthur Book 10 Summary

  • Arthur doesn't believe Trystram doesn't know the meaning of the shield. He gets angry when Trystram refuses to reveal his name.
  • So Trystram fights with and defeats Arthur, then Uwayne. Then he rides away from the tournament.
  • Along the way, Trystram rescues Sir Palomydes from nine knights.
  • Sir Palomydes refuses to fight with Trystram after learning his identity because Trystram has just rescued him, and is now tired. Instead, they agree to meet one another in two weeks at a special place near Camelot.
  • Sir Palomydes and Sir Trystram find a strange knight sleeping under a tree. They wake him and he attacks them, then rides away.
  • Sir Trystram rides in search of the strange knight, discovering a trail of defeated knights in his wake. No one knows the identity of the strange knight, because he has covered his shield.
  • Trystram arrives at the special place near Camelot where he's supposed to meet Sir Palomydes.
  • The knight with the covered shield arrives there instead and engages with Sir Trystram.
  • The knight with the covered shield reveals himself to be – gasp – Launcelot. Trystram reveals himself to be Trystram, and the two men embrace then ride together to Arthur's court, where Arthur makes Trystram a knight of the Round Table.
  • Meanwhile, the spiteful King Mark is angry when he hears of Trystram's renown, and rides to Camelot to kill him.
  • On the way, Mark kills a companion named Sir Berluse because he refuses to help kill Trystram. His other companion, Sir Amant, abandons him too, heading for Camelot alone.
  • King Mark meets with Sirs Dynadan and Lamerok, and jousts with Lamerok. Dynadan makes fun of him for losing, but nevertheless he and Lamerok promise they'll help Mark travel to Arthur's court safely.
  • Dynadan, Mark, and Lamerok lodge at the castle of Sir Berluse, who reveals his hatred for Mark, because Mark killed his father.
  • Sir Berluse rides after his houseguests the next day and tries to fight Mark. Lamerok and Dynadan are forced to fight on Mark's side because they have promised him safe travels
  • Later, Sir Dynadan jousts with a knight for passage over a bridge and gets knocked from his horse. The knight then allows the three men to pass.
  • Mark makes Dynadan promise not to reveal his identity to Arthur's court because he knows he's hated there.
  • Dynadan sees six Knights of the Round Table and rides toward them as if to joust with them. King Mark, on the other hand, rides away in fear of being outnumbered.
  • Dynadan and Arthur's knights send Arthur's fool (clown) Dagonet after Mark, dressed as Launcelot, and Mark runs away in fear of him.
  • Sir Palomides "rescues" King Mark from Dagonet, then leaves him at a priory to sleep.
  • Wondering who the strange knight is who has struck down Dagonet, Arthur's knights pursue him through a forest. King Mark does the same, separately.
  • Mark and Dynadan both overhear Palomydes raging about his love for Isode and his hatred of Mark, but Mark rides away for fear (isn't he always?) that Dynadan will reveal his identity to angry Palomydes.
  • Mark arrives at Arthur's court only to find that Sir Amante, one of the knights with whom he traveled from Cornwall, is already there and accusing him of treason for killing Sir Berluse and for planning to kill Trystram. So, of course, Mark fights with Sir Amante and kills him.
  • Angered by this, Launcelot fights with Mark and forces him to yield, but cannot kill him because Mark begs for mercy, promising to do Arthur homage and treat Trystram well from now on. No one believes he'll keep these promises, but they show him mercy anyways.
  • Meanwhile, Sirs Palomydes and Dynadan have met in the forest and agreed to ride together to Camelot.
  • When they arrive at the castle of Morgan le Fay, a strange "Knight with a Red Shield" refuses their offer to help him fight the large number of knights who stream out of the castle to engage him. So Palomydes and Dynadan opt instead to joust with the Knight with the Red Shield, who overcomes them.
  • The knight reveals that he is Lamerok, the son of King Pellynore. Small world.
  • Dynadan leaves Lamerok and Palomydes to recover from their wounds in a priory. He rides to Camelot on his own, where he reunites with Trystram and tells Arthur's court about his adventures.
  • Arthur declares a joust. During the joust, two mysterious knights arrive and begin defeating everyone. They are revealed to be Sirs Lamerok and Palomydes. Hey, aren't they supposed to be healing their wounds?
  • Trystram goes back to Cornwall with King Mark, despite Launcelot's warning that Mark will betray him. Remember, no one trusts this shady Mark guy.
  • Meanwhile, a knight named Sir Aglovale arrives and asks that his brother be knighted. The brother turns out to be Sir Percyvale de Galis, Sir Lamerok's brother.
  • Then, a mysterious woman suddenly speaks for the first time, revealing Percyvale to be the knight who deserves to sit in the Perilous Seat (the place for the knight who will be successful in the Grail Quest).
  • Queen Morgause of Orkeney, mother of Gawain, Gaheris, Aggravayne, and Gareth, arrives at Arthur's court.
  • When catches his mom and Sir Lamerok having sex, he cuts off his mother's head. Yep, you heard us right. He decapitates his own mother. Talk about family drama.
  • Because of all the drama, not only with this incident, but also with the fact that Gawain killed his father, King Pellynore, Lamerok decides to ditch the court.
  • Angered by letters Trystram receives from Camelot, which warn him to beware of Mark's treachery, Mark sends Arthur a letter telling him to "look to his own family."
  • This causes Arthur to reflect on what he has learned about the illicit love between Gwenyvere and Launcelot, which he then dismisses since the news came from Morgan le Fay, who's not exactly trustworthy.
  • Dynadan is so angered by Mark's letter that he writes a mean song about him and sends a minstrel to Cornwall to sing it.
  • In Cornwall, Trystram receives some gnarly wounds in a joust and retires to a nearby castle to recover.
  • Elsewhere, Mark's lands are attacked by a force of Sessoynes. Close to defeat, Mark calls for help from Trystram, who arrives a few days later, not fully recovered from his jousting injuries.
  • Led by Trystram, Mark's forces are able to push back the Sessoynes. Their leader, Elyas, calls for a man-to-man combat to determine who will yield tribute.
  • Mark sends Trystram to fight the combat, and Trystram defeats Elyas, despite being so badly wounded. In the end, what helps him win is his love for Isode, which gives him courage.
  • When the Sessoynes retreat, Mark's brother, Prince Bodwyne, kills all the homeward-bound Sessoynes in a naval battle.
  • Jealous of the renown Bodwyne wins for his naval victory, Mark calls him to court, then kills him. Bodwyne's wife and son, Alysaundir, on the other hand, escape from Cornwall.
  • Much later, when Alysaundir grows up, his mom presents him with the bloody shirt and doublet of his father and asks him to avenge his death. So Alysaundir travels to England hoping to become Launcelot's protégé.
  • Instead, he arrives at the castle of Morgan le Fay, where he is wounded in a battle with one of her knights. Morgan le Fay kindly heals Alysaundir, but then imprisons him for a year, which seems rather unkind.
  • Morgan le Fay's cousin becomes Alysaundir's lover. She helps him escape Morgan's clutches by having her uncle burn the castle down. Effective? Yes. Practical? Not so much.
  • Nevertheless, Alysaundir remains on the site of the castle for a year, offering to do battle with anyone who wants to challenge him.
  • A woman named Alys le Beall Pylgryme says that she'll marry whichever knight is able to defeat Alysaundir, then sets up her tent side-by-side with his. Sparks fly, inevitably.
  • After Alysaundir defeats Sir Sagramour le Desyrous, he and Alys fall in love and marry. At the end of Alysaundir's year of jousting, they travel to Benoy, where they settle down, unlike most other couples of Camelot.
  • In other news, Sir Galahalt the Haute Prynce calls for a week-long tournament in his country of Surluse, to which Launcelot and Gwenyvere travel together.
  • On the first day of the tournament, Palomides defeats a knight named Sir Gonereyse, who has wrongly taken the lands of a lady. The lady then falls in love with Palomides. Totally saw that one coming, didn't we?
  • On the second day of the tournament, Palomides defeats Sir Gonereyse's brother.
  • But on the third day, a mysterious knight enters the field and defeats Sir Palomides. He turns out to be Lamerok.
  • On the fifth day of the tournament, Palomides fights against a fellow pagan named Sir Corsabryne at the request of a lady who wants Corsabryne to leave her alone. When Corsabryne dies, a horrible odor leaves his body with his soul. Gwenyvere and Galahalt interpret this as a miracle, and encourage Palomides to convert.
  • On the sixth day, Sir Lamerok and his family engage with the family of Arthur's nephews.
  • Then, on the seventh day, Sir Launcelot dresses up as a woman and fights with Sir Dynadan. When he defeats Dynadan, he dresses him as a woman, too, and parades him before Gwenyvere and Galahalt.
  • At the end of the tournament, Launcelot encourages Sir Lamerok to remain in Arthur's court, but Lamerok doesn't trust Arthur's nephews, and refuses to stay.
  • The Haute Prince and King Badgemagus declare a tournament, hoping to kill Launcelot during the jousts.
  • Unfortunately, this gives sneaky King Mark an idea. He betrays Trystram by sending him to this tournament dressed as Launcelot, which is dangerous to say the least. Then he imprisons him under the pretense of healing the wounds he receives as a result.
  • Sir Percivale rescues Trystram and makes King Mark promise not to betray him again, which sounds like a plan until Mark catches Trystram and Isode together and – yes – imprisons Trystram again.
  • Luckily, Trystram has become quite the escape artist, and he and Isode escape from Cornwall together on a boat.
  • Launcelot and Trystram meet during a joust and Launcelot invites Trystram and Isode to stay with him at Joyous Guard.
  • Arthur declares a joust of Ireland and Scotland against Ireland and North Wales.
  • One day, while hunting, Trystram meets up with Sirs Palomides and Breunys sans Pité.
  • Sir Bleoberis arrives to joust with Sir Breunys in revenge for all the awful things he's done, but Sir Breunys runs away.
  • Sir Breunys tricks Sirs Ector de Marys, Harry and Percivale into defending him against Bleoberis by saying that Sir Breunys sans Pité is chasing him.
  • The Knights of the Round Table discover Sir Breunys's ruse when he begins beating up on Sir Bleoberis after he's been disarmed.
  • Suddenly, Sir Palomydes arrives and tells these knights that Sir Lamerok was killed by Gawain and his brothers after a tournament, which makes Percivale, Lamerok's half-brother, very sad.
  • Elsewhere, Trystram meets up with Sir Dynadan while out hunting, but he doesn't reveal his identity. Dynadan teases Trystram about being a lover, and renounces love himself.
  • When Trystram arrives back at Joyous Guard, he finds the people there upset that two strange knights have killed one of their knights for saying that Sir Launcelot is a better knight than Sir Gawain.
  • So our noble Trystram fights with and defeats the two knights, who turn out to be Sirs Gaheris and Agravain, and rebukes them for killing Sir Lamerok.
  • When Isode learns of Dynadan's arrival, she sends for him and jokes around with him, defending lover-knights as the best in the world. She's one to know, after all.
  • Trystram rides after Dynadan the next day and, still choosing not to reveal his identity, puts himself under Dynadan's protection. Sir Gareth soon runs into them and jousts with Sir Dynadan.
  • Then they run into Sir Palomides, too, and he jousts with Sir Gareth, then reveals that Sir Trystram is the knight he hates most in the world, for love of Isode. This lady has caused more trouble than we can imagine.
  • The time has come for Trystram to reveal his identity. He jousts with Sir Palomides, who decides Trystram is such a good knight that he'll be friends with him instead, and they reconcile.
  • The fellowship mourns the death of Sir Lamerok, but Sir Gareth reveals that he doesn't approve of his brother's actions and declines to hold fellowship with them.
  • The four men head to the tournament Arthur is putting on. On their way, they come across a boat in which a dead, bloodied knight named Sir Harmaunce holds a letter in his hands.
  • Sir Harmaunce's letter asks some good knight to avenge his death at the hands of two of his favorites who murdered him. Deciding to undertake this particular quest, Sir Palomides departs in the boat.
  • Later Sir Trystram defeats a knight who invites him to dine with him, then attacks him when he learns Trystram is the knight who killed his brother.
  • Sir Segwarydes and the King with the Hundred Knights attack Sir Trystram and his friends because the helm Sir Trystram wears once belonged to the King's lover. They lose. Haven't people learned not to mess with Trystram by now?
  • Meanwhile, Sir Palomides arrives at Sir Harmaunce's castle and learns that he was murdered by two of his favorites, whom he promoted over his own family members. Sir Palomides promptly kills the two murderous protégés, and then rides back to England to meet Trystram before the big joust.
  • As Trystram, Isode, Dynadan, Palomides, and Gareth ride to the joust, they fight with Sir Galyhodynes, who wants to kidnap Isode but gives up when he realizes what a brave, honorable knight Sit Trystram is. Smart man.
  • News of Sir Trystram's group reaches the tournament ahead of them when a force led by Sir Gawain (which they encounter and defeat) carries word of them to Arthur.
  • Trystram refuses to reveal his identity to Arthur, or to pledge his support to one side or the other during the joust.
  • Trystram, Gareth, Dynadan, and Palomides enter the jousts against the knights of Orkney on the first day. They joust in disguise, dressed in green, but smarty pants Launcelot suspects their true identities.
  • Inspired by Isode's presence, Sir Palomides does wonderfully during the tournament, even besting Sir Launcelot, and takes the prize as the best knight of the day.
  • Sir Dynadan mocks Sir Trystram for allowing Palomides to show him up, but his true intention is to motivate Sir Trystram to do better the next day.
  • On the way to the tournament the next day, King Arthur insists upon meeting Trystram's party to ogle the beautiful Isode, causing Palomides to knock him off his horse in anger.
  • Trystram chides Palomides for taking it upon himself to defend Isode, a task Trystram says is rightfully his.
  • During the joust, Palomides breaks from Trystram to fight alone with the knights of Orkney, winning all of the honor for himself.
  • Trystram sees this and it motivates him to fight even harder to win the attention of the crowds back from Palomides.
  • As part of this plan, Trystram returns to his encampment and disguises himself, then goes back to the joust. Of course when Palomides discovers the new, strange knight's true identity, he, too, disguises himself, and then attacks Trystram.
  • Sir Trystram wins the prize as the best knight of the day.
  • After the joust, Trystram realizes Palomides was the knight who attacked him, and accuses him of treachery. Palomides' excuse is that he didn't realize the knight in disguise was Trystram, which is a big fat lie.
  • Back at the encampment, Isode has seen everything and believes Palomides to be guilty of treachery. However, she gives in to Trystram's decision to accept Palomides's explanation and pardon him.
  • Arthur and Launcelot arrive at the encampment. They wonder why Trystram, Gareth, Palomides, and Dynadan decided to fight against them. They also want to know why Palomides attacked Trystram.
  • The next morning, Trystram and his friends discover that Palomides has cried all night, the poor guy.
  • At the joust the next day, Trystram suggests to Palomides, Dynadan, and Gareth that they switch sides and join up with Arthur and his forces. Everyone totally agrees, except for Palomides.
  • Unfortunately, his side loses, and all the honor of the day goes to Trystram and Launcelot.
  • A big old mess, Palomides flees the battle, wailing and weeping like crazy. At a nearby well, he meets up with the kings of Scotland and Ireland, who are also fleeing the joust, and they decide to keep each other company.
  • Before leaving with them, Palomides rides to Trystram's tent and promises to take revenge on Trystram for shaming him during the joust.
  • During his travels, Palomides meets with a weeping, wounded knight named Epynogrys, who explains that he has suffered more for love than Palomides because he kidnapped his lady from her kinsmen, then lost her to another knight, Sir Helyor.
  • While Epynogrys heals from his wounds at a nearby priory, Palomides watches Sir Helyor lose the very same lady to another knight. Palomides wins the lady back from the other knight, who turns out to be his brother, Sir Saphir.
  • Saphir and Palomides lodge with Epynogrys for a while.
  • Later, the two of them hear a great weeping in a manor and, when they ride inside the gates, are attacked by the knights within, who recognize Palomides as the knight who killed their lord in the jousting at Loneghep.
  • The knights overcome Saphir and Palomides and find Palomides guilty of their lord's death. Uh-oh.
  • Some knights on their way to Joyous Guard see Palomides being taken to the father of the knight he killed to be executed. When they tell Trystram about it, he rides out to rescue him.
  • Ah, but Launcelot rescues Sir Palomides instead. When Trystram arrives on the scene and Palomides sees that he has come to rescue him, the sometimes buddies, sometimes enemies reconcile. Palomides remains at Joyous Guard for a while.
  • But soon, he grows ill because of his unrequited love for Isode and his jealousy of Trystram.
  • When Palomides sees his reflection in a stream, he realizes the toll his love has taken on him and begins to sing a lament about it.
  • Trystram, out hunting, hears the lament and challenges Palomides to a duel in two weeks.
  • But when a stray arrow does some serious damage to Trystram's thigh, he's unable to make it to the duel.