night, and at last he craved King Arthur's aid to
reconcile him to Mark. So then the King, who loved Sir Tristram,
sent messengers to Cornwall to Mark, bidding him come forthwith to
Camelot; and when the Cornish King was arrived, Arthur required him
to set aside his enmity to Tristram, who had in all things been his
loyal nephew and knight. And King Mark, his head full of hate, but
fearful of offending his lord, King Arthur, made fair proffers of
friendship, begging Sir Tristram to return to Cornwall with him,
and promising to hold him in love and honour. So they were
reconciled, and when King Mark returned to Cornwall, thither Sir
Tristram escorted the Fair Isolt, and himself abode there,
believing his uncle to mean truly and honourably by him.

But under a seeming fair exterior, King Mark hated Sir Tristram
more than ever, and waited only to have him at an advantage. At
length he contrived the opportunity he sought. For he hid him in
the Queen's chamber at a time when he knew Sir Tristram would come
there unarmed, to harp to the Fair Isolt the music that she loved.
So as Sir Tristram, all unsuspecting, bent over his harp, Mark
leaped from his lurking place and dealt him such a blow from behind
that, on the instant, he fell dead at the feet of the Fair Isolt.
So perished the good knight, Sir Tristram de Liones Nor did the
Fair Isolt long survive him, for refusing all comfort, she pined
away, and died within a few days, and was laid in a tomb beside
that of her true knight. But the felon King paid the price of his
treachery with his life; for Sir Launcelot himself avenged the
death of his friend and the wrongs of the Fair Isolt.

BOOK IV

KING ARTHUR'S NEPHEWS

CHAPTER XVII

SIR GAWAIN AND THE LADY

Among the knights at King Arthur's court were his nephews, the sons
of his sister, Queen Bellicent, and of that King Lot of Orkney, who
had joined the league against Arthur in the first years of his
reign.

Of each, many tales are told; of Sir Gawain and Sir Gareth to
their great renown, but of Sir Mordred to his shame. For Sir Gawain
and Sir Gareth were knights of great prowess; but Sir Mordred was a
coward and a traitor, envious of other men's fame, and a
tale-bearer.

Now Sir Gawain was known as the Ladies' Knight, and this is how he
came by the name. It was at Arthur's marriage-feast, when Gawain
had just been made knight, that a strange thing befell. There
entered the hall a white hart, chased