“But now he is gone and I am left alone, like the tree in the forest that hath been struck by lightning. Yea, like that tree my foliage is withered and now I stand stark and bare against the sky. For my Queen, who was the lover of my youth, is estranged from me, and I shall never behold her more. My Round Table, that was otherwise the chiefest glory of my reign, is broken and scattered and many of those who were one time dearest to me in love are now my foes. Where are now the defenders of my throne? They are gone; and that throne itself totters to its fall. “All these are sad and woful happenings, but the saddest and most woful of all is that this good worthy knight hath died. Would that I had died in his stead and that he had not died, but that I had died for him. What worse hath Fate in store for me than this that he is dead?” So in words such as these or in words like to them, King Arthur mourned for Sir Gawaine; for it seemed that no worse blow could befall him than this; to wit, the death of Sir Gawaine. * * * * * [Sidenote: _News cometh to the King of Sir Mordred._] That morning King Arthur was aroused very early from his couch of grief by a messenger that came to him with a message from Britain, and that message was this: that Sir Mordred had seized upon the throne and the crown of Britain, and was holding them for his own. This message came from Sir Constantine of Cornwall, who was the cousin of Sir Gawaine and who was yet living in England. And Sir Constantine said, “Hasten! Hasten your return, O Lord King, and let nothing delay that return!” Then King Arthur gave command that the siege of Chillion should be raised, and that after Sir Gawaine was buried they should all return again to Britain. [Sidenote: _Sir Gawaine is buried._] So that day the funeral of Sir Gawaine was held with great pomp and circumstance. Four bishops conducted the mass for the rest of his soul, and the whole army knelt to pray for him. And those people within the Castle of Chillion also kneeled upon the battlements of the castle wall and prayed for the rest of his soul. For next to Sir Launcelot, he was the greatest knight in the world. So they laid him at rest at that place--a good worthy knight and one well established in all courts of chivalry both then and thereafter. For if he was violent of temper and if he sought revenge upon Sir Launcelot for the death of his sons and his brethren, yet he gave his life for that anger and that revenge, and that the manes of his kindred might be satisfied. * * * * * So endeth the history of Sir Gawaine. [Illustration: Sir Mordred the traitor] [Illustration] Chapter Eighth _How King Arthur returned to England. How he fought his last battle with Sir Mordred._ [Sidenote: _Sir Mordred despaireth._]