Please Sir Bedivere, take it to the lake. ‘You are not telling me the truth, do not betray me a third time for my sword. Bedivere thought it would be an awful shame and waste to throw Excalibur away and again he hid the sword and went back to the King. Sir Bedivere collected the sword and returned to the water’s edge. Go again to the water’s edge and throw in the sword.’ ‘It has served me and was for my use only. ‘Bedivere, you must return my sword to the lake,’ Arthur said. He said to himself, ‘If I throw this beautiful sword, covered in jewels into the lake, no good will come of it.’ He hid the sword under a tree.
Sir Bedivere knelt to take Excalibur and went to the edge of the lake with Arthur’s sword. Too weak to hold its weight, Arthur instructed his knight ‘Take my sword to the side of the lake and throw it into the water.’ He and Bedivere rode through the woods and across the moor to Dozmary Pool. It would not be long before Arthur too would die. A field where, to this day, is silent of birdsong. Sir Bedivere rode to Arthur’s side and held him steady in his saddle as they left the field of dying men. Before he died, Mordred drove his sword into Arthur’s helmet. ‘Traitor,’ Arthur shouted as he raced toward Mordred launching in with his sword. When Cador was gone, Arthur rode in search of his nephew. On Arthur’s, Olbricht king of Norway, Aschil King of Denmark and Cador Duke of Cornwall.Ĭador’s death hurt Arthur most, he signaled for his friend to be carried away for burial. On Mordred’s side Celdric and Elaf, thousands of Scotts and Picts. Nearly all fighters on both sides lay dead. They fought all day until Sir Lucan the Butler and Sir Bedivere were the only knights left.
This wasn’t a battle for victory, it was carnage to reclaim his throne from a traitor. Again it was one close to him who had crossed him, taking his battles to the nerve. Arthur’s men cut paths down to them and waded into battle, a horrible slaughter followed.Īrthur wished he were making his way to Rome as he had hoped to after many successful battles in Gaul. Mordred’s troops stood in three battalions, each man to fight until they fell. The nearest knight drew his sword to fell the snake and the battle began. An adder appeared, wishing to sun its back on hot, gleaming armour. Thousands of men savoured the familiar smell of the woodlands then steeled their hearts for blood.īoth sides waited for the first man to draw his sword, signaling the beginning of the battle. The horses’ repetitive snorts gave some scarce reassurance. As it stood, Arthur and his nephew would fight to the death. As the knights approached, they heard the sounds of thousands of men waiting for battle.Īrthur had hoped Mordred would have moved on, perhaps even returned the traitor’s crown. King Arthur’s standard flapped a regular beat in the wind, the golden dragon resplendent. They cut a stout path through the brambles, bracken and oaks to where Mordred waited by the river. King Arthur’s army moved on easily toward the river Camel. Luring Arthur to Cornwall was perhaps not the wisest of Mordred’s plans. Cornwall was a familiar visiting place for Arthur’s court and his knights knew every dip of the land, every beach on the shore. Treacherous Mordred seized the throne, and Arthur returned to reclaim it.)Įntrenched in woodland, King Arthur’s knights sat with backs to trees. (King Arthur left his nephew, Mordred, son of Arthur's half sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney, in charge of Britain when he went to fight in Europe.