All Hallows' Day

All Hallows’ Day is the date set for a great tournament near Winchester in the romance. The event brings together King Arthur’s party and visiting rulers and knights, but its significance also lies in absence: Sir Launcelot hopes to attend, yet his effort to test his strength makes his wound break open again. At the lists, Sir Gawaine and Sir Bors share the prize, while Sir Gareth and Sir Palamides ride away before it is decided.

Date and Tournament

Sir Bors tells Sir Launcelot that a tournament and jousting have been sworn between King Arthur and the King of Northgalis for Allhallowmass, beside Winchester. The date gives the gathering a fixed place in the court’s calendar and draws knights from several countries. Among those arriving are the King of Northgalis, the King with the Hundred Knights, Sir Galahalt the Haut Prince of Surluse, King Anguish of Ireland, and the King of Scots; three kings take King Arthur’s side.

Sir Launcelot’s Interrupted Preparation

When Sir Bors reports the tournament, Sir Launcelot says he feels strong and asks his cousin to remain with him until he is well. Sir Bors and Sir Lavaine stay, while Elaine, the Maid of Astolat, continues to care for Sir Launcelot. After nearly a month, with his assent, they arrange for the hermit to gather herbs so that Elaine can prepare a bath. Sir Launcelot instead arms himself to test whether he can bear arms and ride.

Mounted on his horse, Sir Launcelot tries to urge it forward with his spear held in position. The exertion makes his wound burst open again, and he falls from the horse. Sir Bors and Sir Lavaine carry him back to the hermitage, where he is unarmed and put to bed. The attempt to return to the tournament thus ends in renewed danger and further dependence on those caring for him.

The Lists and the Shared Prize

Sir Bors leaves for King Arthur’s court after Sir Launcelot asks him to compete in his stead and do his best for his cousin’s sake. At the tournament, Sir Gawaine and Sir Bors each knock down twenty knights. The heralds award the prize jointly because the two began first and endured longest.

Sir Gareth knocks down thirty knights but leaves without waiting for the prize, and so loses it. Sir Palamides also performs well, knocking down twenty knights, but departs suddenly. Those present suppose that Sir Gareth and Sir Palamides have ridden together toward an adventure. Their departures set them apart from the contest’s formal outcome: their prowess is recorded, but neither remains to claim its recognition.

Aftermath and Narrative Significance

After the tournament, Sir Bors rides back to Sir Launcelot and finds him walking. The cousins rejoice to see one another, and Sir Bors recounts what happened at the lists. The account brings the tournament’s public measure of achievement back to the private scene of recovery: Sir Gawaine and Sir Bors receive the prize, while Sir Launcelot, whose wish to compete contributed to his relapse, hears of the event from afar.

All Hallows’ Day therefore links a courtly gathering to a missed return. The tournament displays skill through counted victories and an awarded prize, but the surrounding narrative makes participation uncertain: injury prevents one of the foremost knights from riding, and two other accomplished fighters leave before the contest’s recognition is settled. The date anchors that contrast between public honour and the conditions that keep a knight from claiming it.