Arthur accepted the lady with the utmost gratitude, and Merlin then proceeded to satisfy the king of the rank of his son-in-law; upon which Laodegan, with all his barons, hastened to do homage to their lawful sovereign, the successor of Uther Pendragon.  The fair Guenever was then solemnly betrothed to Arthur, and a magnificent festival was proclaimed, which lasted seven days.  At the end of that time, the enemy appearing again with renewed force, it became necessary to resume military operations. [Footnote:  Guenever, the name of Arthur’s queen, also written Genievre and Geneura, is familiar to all who are conversant with chivalric lore.  It is to her adventures, and those of her true knight, Sir Launcelot, that Dante alludes in the beautiful episode of Francesca di Rimini.]

We must now relate what took place at and near London, while Arthur was absent from his capital.  At this very time a band of young heroes were on their way to Arthur’s court, for the purpose of receiving knighthood from him.  They were Gawain and his three brothers, nephews of Arthur, sons of King Lot, and Galachin, another nephew, son of King Nanters.  King Lot had been one of the rebel chiefs whom Arthur had defeated, but he now hoped by means of the young men to be reconciled to his brother-in-law.  He equipped his sons and his nephew with the utmost magnificence, giving them a splendid retinue of young men, sons of earls and barons, all mounted on the best horses, with complete suits of choice armor.  They numbered in all seven hundred, but only nine had yet received the order of knighthood; the rest were candidates for that honor, and anxious to earn it by an early encounter with the enemy.  Gawain, the leader, was a knight of wonderful strength; but what was most remarkable about him was that his strength was greater at certain hours of the day than at others.  From nine o’clock till noon his strength was doubled, and so it was from three to evensong; for the rest of the time it was less remarkable, though at all times surpassing that of ordinary men.

After a march of three days they arrived in the vicinity of London, where they expected to find Arthur and his court, and very unexpectedly fell in with a large convoy belonging to the enemy, consisting of numerous carts and wagons, all loaded with provisions, and escorted by three thousand men, who had been collecting spoil from all the country round.  A single charge from Gawain’s impetuous cavalry was sufficient to disperse the escort and recover the convoy, which was instantly despatched to London.  But before long a body of seven thousand fresh soldiers advanced to the attack of the five princes and their little army.  Gawain, singling out a chief named Choas, of gigantic size, began the battle by splitting him from the crown of the head to the breast.  Galachin encountered King Sanagran, who was also very huge, and cut off his head.  Agrivain and Gahariet also performed prodigies of valor.  Thus they kept