ul shape until I married a young and courtly knight who would
grant me all my will. You have done all this for me, and I shall be
always your fond and faithful wife. My brother too is set free from
the spell, and he will become again one of the truest and most gentle
knights alive, though none can excel my own true knight, Sir Gawayne."

[Illustration: "Now you have released me from the spell completely"]

The Surprise of the Knights

The next morning the knight and his bride descended to the great hall,
where many knights and ladies awaited them, the former thinking
scornfully of the hideous hag whom Gawayne had wedded, the latter
pitying so young and gallant a knight, tied to a lady so ugly. But
both scorn and pity vanished when all saw the bride. "Who is this fair
dame?" asked Sir Kay. "Where have you left your ancient bride?" asked
another, and all awaited the answer in great bewilderment. "This is
the lady to whom I was wedded yester evening," replied Sir Gawayne.
"She was under an evil enchantment, which has vanished now that she
has come under the power of a husband, and henceforth my fair wife
will be one of the most beauteous ladies of King Arthur's court.
Further, my lord King Arthur, this fair lady has assured me that the
churlish knight of Tarn Wathelan, her brother, was also under a spell,
which is now broken, and he will be once more a courteous and gallant
knight, and the ground on which his fortress stands will have
henceforth no magic power to quell the courage of any knight alive.
Dear liege and uncle, when I wedded yesterday the loathly lady I
thought only of your happiness, and in that way I have won my own
lifelong bliss."

King Arthur's joy at his nephew's fair hap was great for he had
grieved sorely over Gawayne's miserable fate, and Queen Guenever
welcomed the fair maiden as warmly as she had the loathly lady, and
the wedding feast was renewed with greater magnificence, as a fitting
end to the Christmas festivities.

CHAPTER XIV: KING HORN

Introduction

Among the hero-legends which are considered to be of native English
growth and to have come down to us from the times of the Danish
invasions is the story of King Horn; but although "King Horn," like
"Havelok the Dane," was originally a story of Viking raids, it has
been so altered that the Norse element has been nearly obliterated. In
all but the bare circumstances of the tale, "King Horn" is a romance
of chivalry, permeated w