THE IDYLLS OF SIR PELLEAS

Pelleas arrived at King Arther's encampment upon Camlaan Eve with sadness in his heart. Dreading a war which could mean the destruction of the Kingdom. Before and during the feast he became aquainted with old friends and old enemies as well. In terms od enemies I speak of none other then Gawain who had betrayed Pelleas by laying with Pelleas' first love, the Lady Ettard. Pelleas sought to deride Gawain at table but his former friend seemed to be genuinely repentent and this moved Pelleas. His pride told him not to forgive but Gawain seemed to have changed much since they knew eachother.

The Beautiful Ladies of Court were always a welcome sight to Sir Pelleas but tonight .... it was a bit depressing. Here were both Nimue who had freed him from his doomed love of Ettard and whom he had once loved. Here also was Isault whom he had once pursued with all the passion in his heart. A heart that was growing more fragile as the years went on. It was in this musing where Pelleas suddenly found himself face to face with a vision. Branwen mac Erca was the lady's name and Pelleas fell instantly in love with her. He marveled aloud at how such beauty could possibly exist in this world and beg the lady to take him as her knight, protector and champion.

Branwen mac Erca agreed to Pelleas' wishes although he did note that she was not quite as enthralled with him as he, her. It turned out that the Lady's kingdom would be destroyed in the event of war and she was there to try and stop it. Pelleas pledged to help her.

Pelleas suspected that the Saxons might be up to treachery when the Saxon King told him a tale of Mordred's knighjts commiting human sacrifice. He knew this was an accusation often lobbied against the followers of the old religion but he himself had never seen any evidence of this. While a christian himself, he was quite aware that half of Arther's court was pagan and all good men. With this in mind, Pelleas rode out to the saxon camp to see if he could find something to link the saxons with the red riders who had been terrorizing the land. He found nothing.

Back at the camp news came that Mordred's term was Arther's abdication. It seemed that all peace talks were over and the knights began to make battle plans for war. Pelleas realized that it was time to make peace with Gawain as this might be the last night on earth for either of them. The two knights embraced and accepted eachother's pardon.

Pelleas joined a number of the knights in asking Arther to seek a truce with Mordred. There was talk of Igraine's willingness to speak to her grandson and Pelleas asked Arther about this. When the King responded that he did not know where his mother was, Pelleas said he knew exactly where she was and took Arther to her ay once. Arther agreed to acknowledge Mordred as his heir and authorized his mother Igraine to present such a truce to his son.

Igraine arrived at Mordred's camp accompanied by Percival and Pelleas. Mordred heard the Queen's offer but wondered if he could trust Arther's knights. Pelleas assured him that the majority of knights were in favor of Mordred's eventual succesion and that everyone agrees that the King needs an heir. Mordred said he would give his ansawer in two hours. ( I like to think that Pelleas played a signifigant role in preventing the war. )

On returning to the castle Pelleas discovered that Branwen mac Erca had lost her voive as a result of breaking her geasa. She wrote to him and informed him that her brothers were on Mordred's side and she feared they would be killed. Pelleas vowed to find them and try to keep them from getting killed if there was indeed a battle the next day. Being a very noble Lady, Branwen mac Erca did not want Pelleas to forfiet his life trying to save her brothers. This made Pelleas love her all the more and yet she continued to seem distant from him. It seemed she had a lover who for some reason had rejected her and would not be reconciled. While the Lady was willing to speak with Pelleas of a future it was clear that he was a second choice. Sad to say, with Pelleas' history in matters of the heart this was not as bad as it might seem to others. But he was determined to serve this wonderful and noble lady to the best of his ability.

Pelleas asked all the clergymen and magicians how one might cure the effects of a broken geas. Finally he was informed that The King of the Fey might help but that his assistance sometimes came at a terrible price. It was decided that this might be too much but when Pelleas and Branwen mac Erca learned that The Queen of the Fey was now in command, the decided to take a chance and the voive of Branwen mac Erca was restored.

It was about this time that a terrible thing happened. Pelleas found himself haunted by the ghost of Ettard. His first love who had so many times rejected him only to fall in love with through the magics of Nimue. She had died for love of him certainly as he would have died for her without the intervention of Nimue. It was while making possible plans for the futue and attempting to steal a kiss that Ettrd's awful and terifying haunting began. She would leave at times only to return again. Pelleas believed that he would be driven mad until The Lady of the Lake made Ettard both visible and audible to the court. It was then that Ettard warned Branwen mac Erca against Pelleas. She warned that Branwen mac Erca that Pelleas would be the ruin of her as well. Pelleas attempted to escape the ghost of Ettard. He snuck away from the main tent with Branwen mac Erca and attempted to physically consumate their relationship when Ettard's ghost began whispering in his ears. Pelleas tried to make love to his new Lady anyway but The King of the Fey came upon them with an offer of something magical to eat. Pelleas and Branwen mac Erca agreed that it was probably best NOT to partake of this.

Returning to the main tent, Pelleas sought help to exorcise the ghost of Ettard from him. Tragically , no one could help. It was at this time that good news came about. Mordred came to make peace. Gawain then prepared to fight The Saxon King. As this was happening, the ghost of Ettard returned once more to plauge Pelleas. She agreed to give him ten minutes to attend to matters of the court while she waited for him beneath a large tree outside. Gawaine defeated The Saxon King, The saxons left and peace was finally had between Arther and Mordred.

Pelleas found the ghost of Ettard beneath the tree. He offered to make no resistance to hre hauntings as long as she only haunted him at night. He further agreed that he would never sleep during her hauntings.

All this seemed to be in vain however. Once peace was eatablished and there was no longer a need for war, Branwen mac Erca decided to return to her lands. Without Sir Pelleas. Since war had been averted she no longer needed a champion and protector. Pelleas was left alone to be haunted by the ghost of Ettard. Eventually he came not to mind the haunting. She had been his first love afterall. A first love that had scorned and rejected him. It seemed appropriate that he should spend his last days being tormented by her. Pelleas actually began to enjoy the company of Ettard's ghost and eventually fell in love with her again. And it was at this fateful moment that the ghost of Ettard stopped coming to him. Pelleas never saw her again. Weeks passed with Pelleas wandering aimlessly and praying for Ettard's ghost to return. There was much lamenting. Much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Before long, Pelleas went mad. Tore off his garments and ran naked through the woods like a crazed savage beast ! There to remain til the end of his days.

" Oh what can ail thee knight at arms, alone and paley loitering ? The sedge has weathered from the lake. And no birds sing. Oh what can ail thee knight at arms, so pale and woebegone ? The squirrels grannery is full, The harvest's done."
- John Keats