The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend

Galahad meets Bagdemagus and Uwain at an abbey where there is a magic shield that brings misfortune to any who wield it except the greatest knight in the world. Wanting to test himself, Bagdemagus takes up the shield but is soon seriously injured in a contest with an anonymous white knight. The shield passes to Galahad, who rides out seeking more adventures.

Galahad encounters the white knight, who tells him the story of how Joseph of Arimathea met King Evelake of Sarras 32 years after Christ’s death and how a shield was made for the king that had magic powers to heal those wounded in battle. After Joseph of Arimathea traveled to Great Britain, he used his own blood to draw a cross on the shield, prophesying that the shield would pass into the hands of Galahad, his descendent. After telling Galahad these things, the white knight vanishes.

Back at the abbey where the shield came from, Galahad approaches a tomb; a ghost emerges out of smoke and addresses Galahad before disappearing. Galahad commands the bones of the knight buried in that tomb be brought up becausee of the presence of the ghost, which indicates that the man buried there was unholy. The following day, Galahad knights his squire, whose name is Melias, and the two ride in search of the Holy Grail until they come to a crossroads where each path bears an ancient warning. Melias takes the left road.

Melias comes to a lodge where a table is set with food and a crown. When Melias takes the crown, a knight appears, challenging him. Melias loses the contest and is badly wounded, but Galahad, who has been following him in case of trouble, comes to his aid. He fights two knights and wins before taking Melias back to the abbey to recover. There, Galahad learns that the left-hand path, which they took, stands for sin and unbelief in Jesus Christ; the two knights Galahad fought against represent greed and theft.

At an ancient stone chapel, a voice tells Galahad to go to the Castle of Sorrow. After crossing the River Severn, Galahad fights seven knights and wins. An old monk then gives him the keys to the Castle of Sorrow. Once inside, Galahad is handed a golden horn that will summon all the knights who owe service to that castle. A priest inside the castle explains to Galahad that the seven knights he earlier defeated had murdered the original lord of the castle, Duke Lianour. They also murdered the duke’s son and raped and killed the duke’s daughter. Galahad blows the horn, summoning the knights to support the castle against the seven cruel knights. However, news reaches them that the seven knights have already been killed by Gawain, Gareth, and Uwain.

Galahad leaves the Castle of Sorrow and comes to a spot in the forest where he meets with Sir Lancelot and Sir Percival, but neither recognizes Galahad. Galahad fights against both of them when challenged and wins. He then rides off. A female spectator comments to the two beaten knights that the victor is the best knight in the world; they both realize it was Galahad they fought.

Lancelot is depressed by this and rides into the forest until he comes to a chapel, which he is unable to enter. He sleeps at the chapel door and has a dream that his horse and armor are stolen. When he wakes up to find his belongings gone, he realizes it was more than a dream. A voice from inside the abbey addresses him condemningly, and Lancelot confesses that he is a sinful man. He leaves the chapel and wanders more in the forest.

At a hermitage, Lancelot speaks to a hermit who further reproaches the knight for his sins, causing Lancelot to again confess. The sin Lancelot specifically confesses is his 14-year devotion to Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife. The hermit makes Lancelot promise he will never again enter the queen’s presence.

At another chapel, Lancelot finds a corpse clothed in white wool lying on a slab above which there suddenly appears a ghost or demon. When asked, the demon tells Lancelot that the dead man’s soul is in heaven, even though his white wool clothing marked an infraction of his saintly oath; he also explains to Lancelot how the dead man endured fire for almost three days before dying. The demon vanishes, and Lancelot asks the priest of the chapel how he can continue his quest for the Holy Grail, considering how sinful a man he is. The priest tells Lancelot to take a piece of the dead man’s shirt with him and to avoid eating meat or drinking wine.

Back in the forest, Lancelot falls asleep and has another vision, this time of a king and knights receiving heavenly blessing except for one among them, who is condemned. Lancelot wakes and travels on. He comes across the thieves who stole his belongings, challenges them, and regains his horse, armor, and weaponry.

At another chapel, a hermit explains Lancelot’s vision to him; the one knight who was condemned is in fact King Ban, Lancelot’s father.

Lancelot rides on to a plain and finds two groups of battling knights, one dressed all in white and the other dressed all in black. Seeing the black knights are the weaker of the two, Lancelot joins them and fights until being overtaken by the white knights and expelled from the battle. The black knights are then swiftly defeated. Riding past a chapel, Lancelot encounters a woman who scolds Lancelot for having fought on the side of the black knights. Allegorically, the woman says, the battle was one between righteousness and sin, and Lancelot, because of pride, opted to join the sinful side. She warns Lancelot that this bodes ill for his quest of the Holy Grail. Then Lancelot departs and crosses a dangerous river called Mortaise.

Galahad rides on and briefly joins a group of knights defending a castle against attackers who, without Galahad knowing it, include Gawain and Ector. Galahad seriously wounds Gawain, and the latter recognizes this as a fulfillment of prophecy.

At the Castle of Corbenic, a lady summons Galahad to join her on a noble adventure. The two ride out to the sea and there find Sir Bors and Sir Percival on a boat. They all sail until they come to a dangerous whirlpool; their only hope of deliverance is a nearby boat, but it will only save those who board it with perfect faith. The lady reveals herself to be Percival’s sister. Aboard the boat of faith, the group comes upon a room with provisions, including the Sword with the Strong Strokes, which bears writing indicating its inability to be useful in the hands of any but the worthiest knight. Percival’s sister explains the sword’s backstory: how it was used by King Hurlaine, who fell dead shortly after, against King Labor, father of the Maimed King (Galahad’s grandfather). This deed became known as the Dolorous Stroke. Galahad takes up the sword, and the knights and lady return to their prior boat.

The group sails on to Castle Carteloise in Scotland where, after being attacked, the three knights slaughter nearly every man on the premises. A priest explains afterward that the castle was a place of murder, rape, and incest. The knights understand their victory to be from God. They rescue the imprisoned king, Hernox, who then dies peacefully.

Galahad, Bors, Percival, and Percival’s sister then journey into a forest and see a vision of four lions gently leading a white deer. This represents Christ and the four Gospel writers in the New Testament.

At a castle, knights adhering to an ancient custom requiring the blood of a virgin threaten Percival’s sister. Galahad and his companions fight almost superhumanly against dozens of enemies until the men of the castle relent and permit the group to enter without harming the lady. When Percival’s sister learns that a sick woman lies on her deathbed in the castle, she volunteers to donate her blood to save the sick woman, but this leads to her death. She asks her brother Percival to bury her in a boat that will take her to the island of Sarras.

While crossing the river Mortaise, Lancelot boards the boat that bears Percival’s dead sister. He stays aboard, feeling nourished and refreshed by the Holy Spirit, until he arrives on land and reunites with Galahad. For half a year, father and son sail together, enjoying each other’s company and the respite from the quest for the Holy Grail. Eventually, a white knight summons Galahad to continue the quest, and he leaves. Lancelot continues his life at sea.

Lancelot comes upon a castle guarded only by two lions. When he tries to enter with his sword drawn, a dwarf knocks him down and scolds him for trusting in his weapons instead of in God. Lancelot again attempts to enter the castle, this time with his sword sheathed, and the lions do nothing more than growl at him. Inside the castle (later revealed to be Corbenic), Lancelot sees the Holy Grail through a doorway but cannot enter the room. When he tries to—he sees an old priest wobbling unsteadily amid a great vision of bright light and angels singing, and he wants to help—Lancelot falls unconscious for 24 days. When he wakes up, his caretakers tell him that this is the end of his quest.

After proving himself stronger than a magic well of lust, Galahad enters the land of Gore and comes to the Abbey of the High Dead, where he prays for the salvation of a dead soul who sinned against Joseph of Arimathea.

Galahad, Percival, and Bors arrive at King Pelles’s castle, the Castle of Corbenic, where Lancelot saw the Holy Grail. They find the shattered spear that wounded the Maimed King, and Galahad restores the spear to its original form.

The group finds a room where the Maimed King lies ill. There they witness a vision in which angels enter the room, carrying symbolic relics and even the Holy Grail itself. The knights are seated at a table and offered spiritual nourishment. Christ appears and blesses Galahad, also instructing him to go to the island of Sarras: The Grail needs to be relocated on account of the people’s sin in that place. One of the relics heals the Maimed King.

At sea, the group boards a derelict boat and there finds the Holy Grail. Galahad prays for a long time and then sleeps. When he wakes, he sees they have arrived at the island of Sarras and that Percival’s sister’s boat is there as well.

The king of Sarras, Estorause, is a wicked man suffering from a long illness, but when he confesses and repents, he dies immediately. Galahad is named king of Sarras, and he constructs a shrine in which he places the Holy Grail for safekeeping. At the end of one year, Galahad sees a vision of Jesus Christ and receives communion from the son of Joseph of Arimathea, who announces to Galahad that his time has come. The Holy Grail disappears and is never seen again. Galahad dies and is buried by Bors and Percival. Percival dies one year later and is buried beside his sister. Sir Bors survives, returns to Camelot, and describes everything he witnessed to Arthur and Lancelot.