Sir Meliagant

Sir Meliagant is the son of King Bagdemagus and a participant in the tournament where his father’s side faces the party from Northgalis. His brief appearance is defined by his recognition of the disguised Sir Launcelot: rather than meet the renowned knight openly, he tries to have Launcelot’s horse killed, prompting King Bagdemagus to send Sir Sauseise against him. The episode gives Meliagant a place within his father’s faction and shows how the tournament’s public contests become entangled with private hostility.

Identity and Setting

Sir Meliagant is identified as King Bagdemagus’s son. He enters the narrative during a tournament attended by Sir Launcelot in disguise. Launcelot has joined the contest at the request of Queen Guenever and King Bagdemagus, and is fighting for Bagdemagus’s party against the knights of Northgalis.

Recognition and Intervention

As Launcelot presses into the contest and knocks down opposing knights, Meliagant watches his feats with astonishment. Once he understands that the disguised combatant is Launcelot, he recognizes that Launcelot has taken this form for his sake. The account does not explain the prior cause of Meliagant’s hostility, but makes the personal nature of the encounter clear through that recognition.

Meliagant then asks a knight to kill Launcelot’s horse with a sword or spear. The attempt is a tactical intervention in the mêlée rather than a direct challenge from Meliagant himself. It also sharpens the contrast between Launcelot’s conspicuous performance in the press and Meliagant’s effort to stop him through another fighter.

Conflict and Outcome

King Bagdemagus responds by directing Sir Sauseise to engage Meliagant, saying he would have his son beaten and removed from the field. Sauseise and Meliagant strike each other down and fight on foot; Sauseise would have prevailed, the narrative says, had reinforcements not arrived. The high prince then sounds the call to withdraw, ending the day’s combat before this encounter is settled.

After the tournament’s events, King Bagdemagus sends Meliagant away so that he will not meet Launcelot, whom he hates. The text explicitly notes that Meliagant does not know of his father’s precaution. His departure thus prevents a further confrontation, while leaving the hostility between him and Launcelot unresolved.