Lamorak’s Tournament at Morgan le Fay’s Castle brings Sir Lamorak into conflict with the hostile custom maintained at the castle of Morgan le Fay, King Arthur’s sister. Riding under a red shield, Lamorak defeats a series of challengers and makes the castle’s knights renounce their practice. The spectacle becomes a test of judgment as well as prowess: Sir Palamides, injured while trying to take Lamorak’s place, pursues him for revenge, but their combat ends with the revelation of their names and a pledge of lasting affection.

Setting and the Castle’s Custom

Sir Dinadan identifies the castle as Morgan le Fay’s, a place King Arthur had given his sister and later regretted giving. Arthur and Morgan had fallen into conflict, and she made war on him when she could. The castle offered shelter to dangerous knights whom Morgan kept there to oppose Arthur’s favored knights.

Its rule turned passage into a compulsory contest. A knight approaching the castle had to joust with one, two, or three opponents. If Arthur’s knight was defeated, he risked losing his horse and equipment and might be taken prisoner. Sir Palamides condemns this practice as an unworthy way for a queen to wage war on her own lord. He says he wants to end it and refuses to serve Morgan.

Lamorak’s Jousts

Before Palamides can begin, a knight carrying a red shield asks him to leave the fighting to him: Lamorak has come specifically to undertake the deed. He asks Palamides to watch and, if he is defeated, to avenge him. Palamides agrees to observe.

Lamorak successively unhorses three knights of the castle. As the challengers come out, his squire removes their horses and sends them into the forest, while the defeated knights are kept until the jousting is over. The fourth opponent is also brought down, and the fall proves fatal. Although Palamides offers to help, Lamorak insists that he can face even twenty knights and continues by himself. The people watching from the walls call out their approval.

A further opponent comes out with a shield marked in black and white. Lamorak strikes him through shield and body, bringing down horse and rider. Palamides again asks to take his place, but Lamorak refuses, telling him not to offer an insult when he is doing well. Palamides then challenges Lamorak himself. Lamorak wounds him with a spear and unhorses him; he does not, however, let his squires take Palamides’ horse. He goes on to face seven more knights, defeating them all. In total, he kills four of the twelve knights he defeats in the jousts and makes the other eight swear on the cross of a sword that they will abandon the castle’s abusive custom. He then releases them.

The castle’s lords and ladies praise the knight with the red shield from the walls. At last, an unarmed knight comes out to say that the castle has suffered enough damage and that no one else will fight him. The speaker declares that the old custom is ended. Lamorak rides away, having changed the terms under which the castle’s knights confront travelers: the remaining eight have sworn to give up the practice, and the castle acknowledges its defeat.

Palamides Pursues the Red Shield

Palamides is humiliated by his defeat and says that he intends to follow the red-shielded knight and seek revenge on foot, since he believes he cannot win distinction against him on horseback. Dinadan counsels against it: Lamorak has already done more than enough fighting and is exhausted. Palamides nonetheless insists on following him. They retrieve their horses and ride after Lamorak.

They find him in a valley beside a fountain, dismounted and resting after removing his helmet to drink. Palamides confronts him over the shame he believes Lamorak has caused him and demands combat. Lamorak points out that Palamides has seen how much he has already fought and asks him to reconsider. Palamides will not; but he declines to joust, judging that he would gain no distinction that way. Instead, he dismounts and draws his sword. Lamorak also dismounts, and the two fight on foot.

Recognition and Reconciliation

The sword fight lasts for about an hour before either man rests. Their contest is fierce, and both are wounded. Palamides eventually grows faint because of the spear wound he received in the earlier joust. He asks the red-shielded knight for his name and offers his own in return. Palamides identifies himself first; the other reveals that he is Sir Lamorak de Galis, son and heir of King Pellinore, and half-brother of Sir Tor.

Recognition transforms the meaning of the fight. Palamides kneels and asks forgiveness, admitting that he acted outrageously by demanding battle after seeing Lamorak’s exertions. Lamorak embraces him and likewise regrets that they fought. Palamides says that, despite being more severely wounded, he is glad they met and will love Lamorak above all other knights except his brother Sir Safere. Lamorak returns the pledge, placing Palamides above all knights except his brother Sir Tor. Dinadan joins them in rejoicing. Their squires tend their equipment and wounds, and the three spend the night at a priory.

Significance

The episode moves from public victory to private conflict, then replaces rivalry with recognition and friendship. Lamorak’s achievement is not only his defeat of the castle’s challengers: he compels the surviving knights to swear off the rule that made every traveler face a forced joust. Yet his success does not erase the risk of knightly contests. Palamides, who had wanted to help him, first becomes his opponent, and their second fight follows from injured pride and a mistaken view of what honor requires. The disclosure of their identities allows both men to exchange apology and esteem rather than continue the quarrel.

The red shield initially conceals Lamorak’s identity, while the final exchange of names makes kinship and allegiance newly legible. Their separate exceptions for their brothers also give the declaration of friendship a precise shape: each honors the other deeply without displacing existing family bonds. The episode thus resolves a challenge to Arthur’s order not through a royal judgment, but through Lamorak’s public action, an oath imposed on the defeated knights, and the personal reconciliation that follows.