=Gareth= (_Sir_), according to Ancient romance, was the youngest son of Lot, king of Orkney and Morgawse, Arthur’s [half] sister. His mother, to deter him from entering Arthur’s court, said, jestingly, she would consent to his so doing if he concealed his name and went as a scullion for twelve months. To this he agreed, and Sir Kay, the king’s steward, nicknamed him “Beaumains,” because his hands were unusually large. At the end of the year he was knighted, and obtained the quest of Linet, who craved the aid of some knight to liberate her sister Lionês, who was held prisoner by Sir Ironside in Castle Perilous. Linet treated Sir Gareth with great contumely, calling him a washer of dishes and a kitchen knave; but he overthrew the five knights and liberated the lady, whom he married. The knights were—first, the Black Knight of the Black Lands _or_ Sir Pere´ard (2 _syl._), the Green Knight _or_ Sir Pertolope, the Red Knight _or_ Sir Perimo´nês, the Blue Knight _or_ Sir Persaunt of India (four brothers), and lastly, the Red Knight of the Red Lands or Sir Ironside.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 120-153 (1470). ⁂ According to Tennyson, Sir Gareth was “the last and tallest son of Lot, king of Orkney, and of Bellicent his wife.” He served as kitchen knave in King Arthur’s hall a twelvemonth and a day, and was nicknamed “Fair-hands” (_Beaumains_). At the end of twelve months he was knighted, and obtained leave to accompany Lynette to the liberation of her sister Lyonors, who was held captive in Castle Perilous by a knight called Death or Mors. The passages to the castle were kept by four brothers, called by Tennyson, Morning Star _or_ Phos´phorus, Noonday Sun _or_ Meridies, Evening Star _or_ Hespĕrus, and Night _or_ Nox, all of whom he overthrew. At length Death leapt from the cleft skull of Night, and prayed the knight not to kill him, seeing that what he did his brothers had made him do. At starting, Lynette treated Gareth with great contumely, but softened to him more and more after each victory, and at last married him. He that told the tale in olden times Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors; But he that told it later says Lynette. Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Gareth and Lynette”). _Gareth and Linet´_ is in reality an allegory, a sort of Bunyan’s _Pilgrim’s Progress_, describing the warfare of a Christian from birth to his entrance into glory. The “Bride” lived in Castle Perilous, and was named Lionês; Linet´ represents the “carnal world,” which, like the inhabitants of the City of Destruction, jest and jeer at everything the Christian does. Sir Gareth fought with four knights, keepers of the roads “to Zion” or Castle Perilous, viz., Night, Dawn, Midday, and Evening, meaning the temptations of the four ages of man. Having conquered in all these, he had to encounter the last enemy, which is Death, and then the bride was won—the bride who lived in Castle Perilous or Mount Zion.