6 Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 How King Arthur Became Lost in the Forest and Overcame the Knight- Enchanter, and How Sir Gawaine Finally Became a Noble Knight Some time after this, King Arthur himself craved some adventure. As Queen Guinevere and her court were away in Carleon, it was a

good time to go. Taking only a favorite esquire, Boisenard, with him, he set off. After getting lost for a while in a very dark wood, the two came upon a great but grim castle. A light was on inside and when they knocked a porter appeared. "We are a worthy but weary knight and esquire," Arthur said. "May we take shelter here tonight?" "If you know what is good for you," the porter replied, "you will sleep in the woods. No good comes to knights who seek shelter here." This made King Arthur curious and he insisted upon coming inside. The porter led Arthur and Boisenard into a room where a lively party was taking place. An old knight sat at the head of the table. He had a white beard and a broad chest. Around his neck he wore a chain of gold with a locket attached. He invited the men to eat.

For dessert, the old knight invited the men to play a game. In a contest of courage, he explained, each competitor would try to cut off the other's head. "That seems like a strange sport," Arthur said, and everyone in the room burst out laughing, as though in on some shared secret. "Are you afraid?" the old knight asked. Arthur angrily replied that he was afraid of nothing and, against Boisenard's pleas, he agreed to play. As he was the guest, the old knight insisted that Arthur must swing the sword first. Still angry but satisfied to be going first, Arthur drew Excalibur, swung, and, with remarkable ease, lopped off the old knight's head. "Well, that's that," he said, thinking that he had won. But to his surprise, instead of falling, the body of the old knight walked calmly over to

where his head had landed, picked it up, and placed it right back on top where it was as good as new. "My turn to swing," the old knight said, and everyone watching laughed again. The old knight swung once and then twice, but each time stopped just short of hitting Arthur's head. He moved his sword slowly a few more times, pressing the tip just slightly into the skin of Arthur's neck before stopping. "Cut off my head if you are going to," Arthur said, "but torture me no longer." "I will do something else entirely!" the old knight cried. "I will spare your life for a year and a day, if you promise to come back at that time for your beheading." Arthur promised. "And I will spare your life again at that time," the old knight added, "if you can give me the answer to the following riddle: What

is it that a woman desires most in the world?" Arthur sighed. Now the old knight was really torturing him, for who knew what women really wanted? Was it wealth? Beauty? Pretty things? The power to please? Nevertheless, making Boisenard promise that Guinevere was not to be told, he agreed to the challenge. A year passed in which, despite asking almost every woman he had come across during that time, Arthur felt himself no closer to knowing what women wanted. Still, as promised, he set out grimly to return to the old knight's castle and his possible death. Just before he reached the castle, however, Arthur came across an old woman living in a hut built into a mossy oak tree. The poor

thing was horribly wrinkled and ugly, with filmy eyes and ears that flapped and only one tooth left in her mouth. Still, Arthur greeted her politely and made one final attempt at getting the answer to his riddle. "I know the answer," the old woman said, "but I will only tell it to you on one condition. If I guess right, you must promise me that I may choose any knight in your court to become my husband." Arthur hesitated, not sure that he could make that promise for another man. However, realizing that the only other choice was his death and that his noble knights would do anything to prevent that, he agreed. "That which a woman most desires is to have her will," the old woman said. She also told him that the old knight was an evil magician who had played this game with many men and who was able to win every