Sir Marhaus Slays the Giant Taulurd is an episode in which Sir Marhaus answers Earl Fergus’s appeal against a giant who has made the earl afraid to travel through his own lands. Marhaus defeats Taulurd on foot, frees the captives in the giant’s castle, and refuses a grant of land from Fergus. The victory combines practical rescue with a striking refusal of reward.

The earl’s appeal

After Sir Marhaus has defeated the Duke of the South Marches and his sons, he is brought by his damsel to Earl Fergus’s lands. Fergus, a young man newly come into his inheritance, explains that the giant Taulurd is destroying his lands and that he dares neither ride nor go about freely. Taulurd’s size determines the terms of the encounter: Fergus says no horse can carry him, so Marhaus resolves to fight on foot.

The encounter with Taulurd

The next morning, one of Fergus’s men leads Marhaus to the giant. Taulurd sits beneath a holly tree, with iron clubs and gisarms around him. Marhaus advances behind his shield, but Taulurd’s first blow splits it in two, leaving the knight in danger against a formidable opponent.

Marhaus strikes back by cutting off Taulurd’s right arm above the elbow. The giant flees into water too deep for Marhaus to follow. Rather than abandon the pursuit, Marhaus has Fergus’s man bring stones and throws them at Taulurd until the giant falls into the water and dies. The fight’s conclusion depends not only on strength but on adapting to the terrain once the giant escapes beyond the reach of a direct attack.

Rescue and reward

Marhaus goes to Taulurd’s castle and releases twenty-four ladies and twelve knights from imprisonment. He also finds great riches there, enough that he is never poor for the rest of his life. The episode therefore gives the defeat consequences beyond the removal of a threat: the castle’s captives are freed, and Marhaus’s fortunes change.

Fergus thanks Marhaus and offers him half of his lands. Marhaus refuses to take any of them. After remaining with Fergus for nearly half a year while recovering from the bruising he suffered in the fight, he takes his leave. The narrative places his refusal alongside the material wealth he has already secured at the castle: he accepts the lasting riches of the adventure but not the earl’s proposed transfer of territory.

Place in Marhaus’s adventures

The episode belongs to a sequence of deeds that establish Marhaus’s prowess and public renown. Before reaching Fergus, he forces the Duke of the South Marches and his sons to yield and promise to enter King Arthur’s grace. After leaving Fergus, he encounters Sir Gawaine, Sir Uwaine, and four knights of King Arthur’s court, whom he strikes down and wounds with a single spear. The rescue of Fergus’s lands thus stands within a broader pattern of challenges, victories, and encounters with Arthur’s knights, while its release of captives and refusal of an offered estate distinguish it from a victory pursued solely for advancement.