The Day of Destiny

from

Le Morte D’Arthur
The Death of Arthur
By: Sir Thomas Malory
 Sir Thomas Malory
 Most scholars agree
that Sir Thomas
Malory was a country
gentleman who, for
unknown reasons,
became a criminal
later in life,
staging highway
robberies and
monastery lootings.
If this is the case,
Malory
wrote Le Morte
About Le Morte d'Arthur
 consolidated myriad of
Arthurian legends into
one epic tome.
 the most complete
single version of the
tales of King Arthur
and his court that has
been written in
English.
 tells the epic tale
of King Arthur and his
Knights of the Round
Table (beginning with
Arthur's conception and
birth, and concluding
with his death at the
About Le Morte d'Arthur
The tales were mostly
French, by fourteenth
century, the
Arthurian tales had
finally made their
way into English in
many-a-versions
The Tale of Sir
Gareth – Malory’s own
invention
800 pages long
Vocabulary Words
• Betwixt • Devoir
• Yeomen • Smote
• Weened • Betoken
• Jesu • Swough
• Beholden • Pillager
• Hither • Harkened
• Tomorn • Swooned
• Proffer • Brandishe
• Anon d
• Adder • Barge
• Thither
 The Day of Destiny
An excerpt from Le
Morte D’Arthur,
describes the end
of King Arthur’s
reign and the
dissolution of the
order which he,
along with his
Knights of the
Round Table, has
established.
Major Characters
 Major Characters
Arthur
Son of Uther
Pendragon and
Igrayne, Arthur is
given to Merlin the
magician, who later
counsels him in all
matters
Sir Ector raises the
boy until he pulls
the sword, Excalibur,
from the stone. He
then becomes the
 Major Characters
Mordred
 Arthur's son by his sister, Lot's wife.
Merlin prophesies that Mordred will
destroy Arthur; they kill each other in a
battle for the throne of England. Mordred
is half-brother to Gawain, Gareth,
Gaheris, and Aggravain.

Gawain
 One of King Lot's sons, he is knighted by
Arthur and sits at the Round Table. He is
good friends with Launcelot, who later
kills him in a battle. He goes on the
 Major Characters
Guinevere
 Arthur's wife and Launcelot's lover.
Guinevere encourages moral and chivalrous
behavior from the knights, and she dearly
loves and is loved by both Arthur and
Launcelot.
Launcelot
 Ban's son, who is considered the greatest
knight in the world and remains devoted to
Guinevere throughout his life.
 Launcelot is later tricked into sleeping with
Elayne, who bears his son, Galahad, the
celebrated knight who succeeds in the Grail
Quest. As a result of his affair, Guinevere
banishes Launcelot from Camelot, and he goes
 Major Characters
Lucan and Bedivere
 The last two knights left standing with
Arthur in his battle against Mordred.
 Comprehension Questions
1. What does Arthur do to try to avoid the
battle? Why does he do so?
2. How does the truce between Arthur and
Mordred come to be broken?
3. What does Arthur command Bedivere to do?
4. How does Bedivere carry out Arthur’s
commandment?
5. What is foreshadowed by Arthur’s dreams on
the night before the battle?
6. Arthur insists on fighting Mordred after the
battle is over. What does this indirectly
demonstrate about his character?
7. What hope is given to people in the epitaph
saying Arthur is the “once and king that will
be?”
8. What great deed did King Arthur achieve as
he lived his life? What was his greatest
 The Day of Destiny
Arthur’s illegitimate son Mordred knows
the secret love between Arthur’s wife,
Queen Guinevere, and his best friend,
Sir Launcelot. One night Mordred leads
a band of knights to Guinevere’s
chamber, when they find the Queen with
Lancelot.

Arthur feels obligated to obey the law

of the land and to burn his wife at the
stake. However, at the last minute
Lancelot rescues her, killing two
knights who were guarding her.
Lancelot subsequently flees to a castle
in France and Arthur forgives
Guinevere.

Sir Gawain, though, the brother of the

dead knights, demands vengeance on
Lancelot. His hatred forces Arthur to
lead his men on an attack against
Lancelot’s French fortress. In the
ensuing battles Lancelot seriously
wounds Gawain but refuses to kill him.
 The Day of Destiny
Meanwhile, Mordred senses his
chance. With Arthur away in
France, he leads a rebellion in
England, claiming the throne and
trying to seize Guinevere as his
queen. She flees to the Tower of
London.

Arthur, returning to defend his

crown, battles Mordred for the
first time at Dover, where Gawain
is fatally wounded.

Before his death, Gawain writes a

letter to Lancelot ending their feud
and asking Lancelot to return to
England to help Arthur.

After a second, inconclusive battle

with Mordred’s forces, Arthur
regroups his men and moves westward…
 The Day of Destiny

Before his Arthur manages

death, Gawain to force The night before
writes a letter Mordred's army the battle,
of back to Arthur dreams
reconciliation Salisbury Plain, that he's tied
to Launcelot, where the two to a wheel that
asking him to parties agree to plunges into
pray at his do battle on the black water full
tomb, and to Monday after of serpents and
come to Arthur's Trinity Sunday. horrible beasts.
aid.
 The Day of Destiny

Mordred agrees
to this, but
Because of this during the
He also dreams vision, Arthur's signing of the
that Sir Gawain knights advise treaty, the
tells him that him to make presence of a
he will die the peace with black snake
next day if he Mordred and cede causes one of
does battle with some lands to Mordred's men to
Mordred. him. draw his sword,
leading all the
knights to begin
to fight.
 The Day of Destiny

Arthur kills
Mordred by
running him Aware that he .Bedivere
through with a has received his hesitates at
spear but, death-wound, first, but upon
before he sinks Arthur tells his third
to the ground, Bedivere to attempt manages
Mordred plunges throw his sword to throw the
his own sword into a nearby sword in, upon
into Arthur's lake. which he sees a
head. hand rise from
the lake and
catch it..
The Day of Destiny
• When Arthur hears this, he
tells Bedivere to take him to
the lakeside. There, a barge
bearing three ladies takes
Arthur's body to Avylyon where,
Arthur says, he will either be
healed of his wounds, or die.

• Bedivere comes to the chapel

where the Archbishop of
Canterbury has withdrawn, and
there, finds Arthur's body. He
decides to become a hermit
there.
 The Day of Destiny
• The narrator tells us that Arthur was taken away on
the barge by his two aunts Morgan le Fay and the
Queen of North Gales, along with the Queen of the
Waste Lands and Dame Nyneyve.

• He also tells us that some people believe that

Arthur did not die, but only went to another place
from which he will return to complete the Crusades.

• People also say that written upon his tomb is "Hic

iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus" – "Here
lies Arthur, king who was, and king who will be."
 The Day of Destiny
•When Gwenyvere learns of Arthur's death, she withdraws to
Amesbury and becomes a nun.

•When Launcelot receives Gawain's letter of reconciliation,

he heads to Dover, where he prays at Gawain's tomb.

•Then, he finds Gwenyvere at Amesbury, but she tells him

that she has forsaken his company forever and become a nun
in penance for the sin they two committed, which she
believes caused the downfall of Arthur and his knights.
Well, she kind of has a point.
 The Day of Destiny
•Launcelot travels to the abbey where Bedivere resides and
becomes a monk and priest there, too.

•After six years, Launcelot has a vision telling him that

Gwenyvere has died, and that he must fetch her body and
bury it beside Arthur, which he does.

•The sight of Arthur and Gwenyvere's bodies buried together

causes Launcelot to refuse food and water, and he dies
within six weeks.
•The Archbishop of Canterbury has a vision of Launcelot
being received in heaven at the moment of his death.
 The Day of Destiny
•All of Launcelot's knights
take holy orders, and
become monks, too.

•Sir Cador's son, Sir

Constantyn, becomes King of
England.

•The narrator asks everyone

who reads this book to pray
for his soul, and declares
his story at an end.
 Group Task:
Comprehension Questions
1. What does Arthur do to try to avoid the
battle? Why does he do so?
2. How does the truce between Arthur and
Mordred come to be broken?
3. What does Arthur command Bedivere to do?
4. How does Bedivere carry out Arthur’s
commandment?
5. What is foreshadowed by Arthur’s dreams on
the night before the battle?
6. Arthur insists on fighting Mordred after the
battle is over. What does this indirectly
demonstrate about his character?
7. What hope is given to people in the epitaph
saying Arthur is the “once and king that will
be?”
8. What great deed did King Arthur achieve as
 Assignment: Mirage
Writers paint word pictures or images
that appeal to our senses of sight,
sound, smell, taste, and touch in poetry
and in prose composition. Write the
images that you have located in the text
in the table below.
SIGHT SOUND SMELL TASTE TOUCH
1.

2.

3.

4.
5.