Morgan le Fay's enchanted horn

Morgan le Fay's enchanted horn is a gold-mounted object sent to King Mark’s court to test whether women are faithful to their husbands. Its supposed power turns a private question of fidelity into a public spectacle, where its results provoke threats, protest, and fresh conflict among the knights and lovers around the court.

Design and Intended Test

A knight carrying the horn explains that no lady or gentlewoman can drink from it without spilling unless she is true to her husband; a faithful woman, by contrast, can drink without difficulty. The horn is presented as a device for judging fidelity through a visible test, making its verdict appear immediate and public rather than dependent on testimony.

How It Reaches King Mark

The horn is being conveyed to King Arthur by a knight sent by Morgan le Fay. Sir Lamorak forces the messenger to explain its purpose, then orders him to take it to King Mark as an insult to Sir Tristram. Lamorak makes the challenge explicit: Mark is to use the horn to test his lady, Queen Isoud.

At Mark’s court, the messenger explains the horn’s claimed virtue. Mark has Queen Isoud drink, followed by a hundred ladies. The narrative reports that only four drink cleanly. Rather than establishing a neutral standard of proof, the result immediately becomes a source of humiliation and danger.

Dispute and Consequences

Mark swears that Queen Isoud and the other women who failed the test should be burned. The barons oppose him: they will not allow the women to be punished on the evidence of a horn made by sorcery. They condemn the object as the work of Morgan le Fay, whom they regard as a false sorceress and witch, and argue that the horn has brought strife rather than good. Several knights vow that, if they meet Morgan le Fay, they will treat her harshly.

The horn’s arrival therefore produces no settled judgment. Its apparent verdict is countered by doubts about the means by which it was obtained and the authority it can claim. The barons’ resistance prevents Mark’s threatened punishment from becoming an accepted consequence of the test, while the episode shows how a magical object can turn suspicion into a public political conflict.

Connection to Sir Tristram

The horn is sent not only to test Queen Isoud but also to wound Sir Tristram. He recognizes Lamorak’s act as an insult directed at him and resolves to repay him. The dispute over the horn thus feeds into an existing rivalry rather than remaining a self-contained test of fidelity.

At the same time, Sir Andred watches for an opportunity to catch Sir Tristram visiting Queen Isoud. When he finds them together, Sir Tristram is captured and taken toward judgment. The horn’s episode belongs to a larger sequence of suspicion and hostility at Mark’s court: its challenge intensifies tensions around the queen and Sir Tristram, while the ensuing threat to Sir Tristram arises from a separate ambush by Sir Andred and his allies.