Commonplace : King Arthur's Court

Joe Shone (J.L.Shone@bnr.co.uk)
Wed, 9 Aug 95 15:45:54 +0100

Chapter 14 from Book 9 of Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings
of Britain" (written circa 1138-9). Published in the Everyman series,
and translated from Latin by Sebastian Evans, 1903.

Refreshed by their banqueting, they go forth into the fields without
the city, and sundry among them fall to playing at sundry manner games.
Presently the knights engage in a game on horseback, making show of
fighting a battle whilst the dames and damsels looking on from the top
of the walls, for whose sake the courtly knights make believe to be
fighting, do cheer them on for the sake of seeing better sport. Others
elsewhere spend the rest of the day in shooting arrows, some in tilting
with spears, some in flinging heavy stones, some in putting the weight;
others again in playing chess or at the dice or in a diversity of other
games, but all without wrangling; and whosoever hath done best in his
own game was presented by Arthur with a boon of price. And after the
first three days had been spent on this wise, upon the fourth day all
they that had done service in virtue of the office they held were
summoned, and unto each was made a grant of the honour of the office he
held, in possession, earldom, to wit, of city or castle, archbishopric,
bishopric, abbacy, or whatsoever else it might be.

Submitted by J L Shone
jls@bnr.co.uk