King Arthur's Code Of Honor
King Arthur
Iron clad warriors engaged in combat, enormous castles which contained miniature cities, wizards and other type of magic. These are just a few of the things that are pictured when talking about the medieval times. Another incredibly familiar one is King Arthur. The great king who, as a young boy, pulled a sword from a stone proving that it was his destiny to be king. He was also the proprietor of the round table, where knights would gather together. All of these Knights carefully followed a sacred code know as Chivalry. It was a knight’s code of honor, something they all strove to live by. In the story of King Arthur you can see that he is a man of great courage, honor, and strength. Courage is something that is irreplaceable,
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For the knights this encompassed many things which included honesty, respect, and pride. This may have stemmed from the fact that Knights weren’t mercenaries; they fought for a king or lord. Sir Gawain is a perfect example of this. In line 117 he says to his king, “Would you grant me the grace, to be gone from this bench and stand by you there, if I without discourtesy might quit this board, and if my liege lady misliked it not, I would come to your counsel before your court nobel”. He may not want to accept the Green Knight’s challenge, but he doesn’t want Arthur to do it. So, out of respect for his King, he steps up. Gawain is very humble about asking King Arthur if he would grant Gawain the honor of accepting the challenge. This appears again in Morte D’Arthur right after Sir Lucan dies on page 191. Sir Lucan’s brother, Sir Bedivere, is deeply saddened by the loss of his brother. Still, he saves the mourning for later and answers the requests of his King out of honor. When the dying King Arthur asks Sir Bedivere to take Excaliber to the lake and throw it in, that’s what he does. It is difficult but due to the respect he has for his king that’s what he
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