pt Gareth, and
to some extent Gawain, the unamiable character which Mordred enjoys
throughout, and which even in the _Merlin_ is found showing itself in
Agravaine. But Sir Lamoracke, their victim, is almost Lancelot's
equal: and the best of Lancelot's kin, especially Sir Bors, come not
far behind. It is entirely untrue that, as the easy epigram has it,
they all "hate their neighbour and love their neighbour's wife." On
the contrary, except in the bad subjects--ranging from the mere
ruffianism of Breuse-sans-Pitie to the misconduct of Meleagraunce--there
is no hatred of your neighbour anywhere. It is not hatred of your
neighbour to be prepared to take and give hard blows from and to him,
and to forgather in faith and friendship before and after. And as to
the other and more delicate point, a large majority of the knights can
at worst claim the benefit of the law laid down by a very pious but
indulgent mediaeval writer,[56] who says that if men will only not
meddle with "spouse or sib" (married women or connections within the
prohibited degrees), it need be no such deadly matter.

[Footnote 56: _Cursor Mundi_, l. 2898.]

[Sidenote: _Arthur._]

It may be desirable, as it was in reference to Charlemagne, to say a
few words as to Arthur himself. In both cases there is noticeable
(though less in the case of Arthur than in that of Charlemagne) the
tendency _not_ to make the king blameless, or a paragon of prowess:
and in both cases, as we should expect, this tendency is even more
noticeable in the later versions than in the earlier. This may have
been partly due to the aristocratic spirit of at least idealised
feudalism, which gave the king no semi-divine character, but merely a
human primacy _inter pares_; partly also to the literary instinct of
the Middle Ages, which had discovered that the "biggest" personage of
a story is by no means that one who is most interesting. In Arthur's
very first literary appearance, the Nennius passage, his personal
prowess is specially dwelt upon: and in those parts of the _Merlin_
group which probably represent the first step from Geoffrey to the
complete legend, he slays Saxons and Romans, wrests the sword
single-handed from King Ryaunce, and so forth, as valiantly as Gawain
himself. It is, however, curious that at this time the writers are
much less careful than at a later to represent him as faithful to
Guinevere, and blameless before marriage, with the exception of the
early affair wit