Sir Colgrevance

Sir Colgrevance is a knight associated with King Arthur’s forces whose surviving narrative moments center on action for others. He appears among the knights who ride against the eleven kings and, in a separate conflict, intervenes against Sir Lionel to defend Sir Bors. The latter intervention ends in his death, making his brief record a sharp instance of the danger borne by a knight who answers another’s peril.

Identity and Place in the Fellowship

The narrative names Sir Colgrevance among the forty knights who ride forward to break the battle against the eleven kings. He is identified there as Sir Colgrevaunce de Gorre, one member of a company presented as a force of fellowship and courage. The list places him among the assembled fighters, rather than assigning him a separate speech or command.

Defending Sir Bors

In another episode, Sir Colgrevance fights Sir Lionel in an effort to save Sir Bors. The conflict brings him into opposition with a knight who is Sir Bors’s brother; the account does not describe Colgrevance’s motives beyond his effort to protect Sir Bors. His intervention therefore places the immediate duty of aid against the force of a family quarrel.

Death and Narrative Significance

Sir Lionel kills Sir Colgrevance, after which he would also have killed Sir Bors. Colgrevance’s death does not resolve the danger: the attempt on Sir Bors continues until a voice orders that he not be touched and a cloud comes between the brothers. The contrast gives Colgrevance’s action its tragic weight. He acts to shield a fellow knight, but the protection he offers cannot by itself stop the violence; divine intervention, not his combat, prevents the next killing.