Gareth's multicoloured tournament

Gareth's multicoloured tournament is the public culmination of Gareth’s concealed courtship of Dame Liones and his career under the name Beaumains. At the tournament before Liones’s castle, a color-changing ring masks his identity while his victories make him impossible to overlook. When the ring is removed, heralds identify him as King Lot’s son and Gawaine’s brother; Gareth then slips away rather than be reclaimed by the court, leaving Liones a promise of return.

The Tournament Is Arranged

After Gareth’s adventures had established his worth, King Arthur sent for Dame Liones. Gareth’s brothers offered to search for him, but Sir Launcelot and Sir Baudwin of Britain advised the king to summon Liones instead, believing she could guide them to Gareth. Gareth was then with Liones and her brother, Sir Gringamore, at the castle, and he begged her not to disclose where he was.

Gareth proposed that Liones announce a tournament for the feast of the Assumption. The prize would be Liones and all her lands for the knight who proved himself best. If the victor were already married, his wife would receive the honors of the occasion, including a gold coronet set with precious stones valued at a thousand pounds and a white jerfalcon. Liones presented this plan to Arthur as her own advice, adding that the king and his knights should attend and that her knights would meet them in the field. She expected the gathering to bring news of Gareth.

The plan also served as a way for Gareth to appear without being recognized. Still wounded from an earlier mishap, he feared he could not perform as a knight should. Linet promised to heal him within fifteen days with ointment and salve. Liones’s allies were summoned, including Sir Persant of Inde and his knights and the Red Knight of the Red Lawns. They agreed to oppose Arthur’s party, and the tournament was proclaimed across England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, the out isles, and Brittany.

The Ring and the First Encounters

Before the tournament, Liones lent Gareth a ring whose changing colors could turn green to red, red to green, blue to white, and white to blue, and could similarly alter other colors. It also protected its bearer from losing blood. Gareth recognized its particular value for his purpose: it would change the appearance of his armor and help keep his identity hidden. Gringamore furnished him with a good bay courser, secure armor, and a sword once won by Gringamore’s father from a heathen tyrant. Gareth and the other knights prepared for the contest while Arthur’s court arrived, including Queen Guenever and the Queen of Orkney, Gareth’s mother.

After mass and matins on the feast day, heralds sounded the call to the field. The opening encounters immediately set the scale of the contest. Sir Epinogrus of Northumberland and Sir Sagramore broke spears against each other; Sir Palamides and Gawaine struck one another from their horses. In further pairings, Sir Safere unhorsed Agravaine, and Sir Segwarides unhorsed Gaheris. Sir Malgrine was thrown by Uwaine le Blanchemains.

Other bouts carried the contest across Arthur’s company and Liones’s supporters. Sir Tor threw Grummore Grummorsum; Sir Percivale and Sir Carados broke spears, while Sir Lamorak and Sir Turquine brought each other down. Sir Bedivere was unhorsed by Sir Tristram, while Uwaine les Avoutres threw Sir Dinas the seneschal. Sir Launcelot brought Sir Persant down, but Sir Pertolope defeated Sir Lionel. The tournament thus began not as a simple display by one champion, but as a sustained contest among prominent knights, with defeats and rescues marking the shifting fortunes of both parties.

Gareth’s Victories and Launcelot’s Restraint

When Gareth entered the field with the Red Knight of the Red Lawns, he faced Sir Bors de Ganis and Sir Bleoberis. Bors and the Red Knight struck so forcefully that their spears broke and their horses fell. Gareth then unhorsed Bleoberis, Sir Galihodin, and Sir Galihud. He also bore down Sir Dinadan, Dinadan’s brother La Cote Male Taile, Sir Sagramore, and Sir Dodinas le Savage with a single spear.

The ring’s changes made Gareth appear in different colors as he rode back and forth, and no king or knight could readily identify him. He unhorsed King Agwisance of Ireland, King Carados of Scotland, King Uriens of Gore, and Sir Bagdemagus. When Sir Galahault challenged him, Gareth struck the prince on the left side of his helmet; Galahault would have fallen had his men not caught him. Arthur judged the unknown knight an excellent one and asked Launcelot to meet him. Launcelot declined, reasoning that Gareth had already labored enough and had earned the day’s honor. He also allowed that the unknown knight might be fighting for a cause important to him and might be especially dear to Liones.

The contest moved from jousting to fighting with swords. Lamorak performed notably, and his battle with the Red Knight was fierce; Palamides and Bleoberis also fought strongly. Tristram defeated Gawaine, pulling him from his horse and leaving him on foot. When Launcelot was attacked by Turquine and Carados together, Gareth recognized him, drove the attackers apart with his horse, and did not strike Launcelot. Launcelot recognized the gesture as evidence that the unknown knight was Gareth.

Gareth then fought vigorously across the field, defeating Gawaine and several other knights of the Round Table. Tristram asked who the many-colored knight was. Sir Ironside and Sir Persant explained that he was the knight who loved Liones and was loved by her, and that he had previously defeated Tristram, Persant, and Persant’s three brothers. They identified him as Gareth of Orkney, known at Arthur’s court as Beaumains, and said Launcelot had knighted him. Tristram praised his prowess and youth. Tristram, Ironside, Persant, and Persant’s brother then rode to Gareth’s aid, and the fighting continued.

Recognition and Escape

During a pause, Gareth’s dwarf asked him for the ring while Gareth drank. Gareth returned to the field without it, leaving the ring with the dwarf, who understood that Gareth would now be recognized. In yellow armor, Gareth was plainly visible as he unhelmed and brought down knights. Arthur noticed his hair and suspected that this was the same fighter who had appeared in changing colors.

Arthur sent heralds to identify the knight. One rode close enough to see the gold inscription around Gareth’s helmet: it named the helmet as Gareth’s of Orkney. The heralds cried out his name and parentage, and the kings and knights gathered to look at him. Once he knew he had been discovered, Gareth redoubled his blows, unhorsing Sagramore and Gawaine. Gawaine protested that he had not expected his brother to strike him. Gareth then forced his way out of the press and met his dwarf, reproaching him for keeping the ring and asking for it back so he could conceal himself again.

After Gareth recovered the ring, his pursuers could no longer tell where he had gone. Gawaine thought he had glimpsed his route and rode after him, but Gareth escaped into the forest. He asked the dwarf for advice, and the dwarf suggested returning Liones’s ring to her. Gareth sent it with a message of greeting and a promise that he would come when he could, asking her to remain faithful to him as he would to her. The dwarf delivered the message, then returned to Gareth, who needed a place to rest. Gareth rode on through the forest as night fell and thunder and rain began, until he came upon a castle with watchmen on its walls.

Recognition Without Reconciliation

The tournament turns Gareth’s concealment into a public spectacle: the ring enables him to compete without being known, while the succession of victories draws the attention that ultimately exposes him. The reveal confirms both his identity and his standing. He is not merely the former Beaumains of Arthur’s court but King Lot’s son, Gawaine’s brother, Launcelot’s knight, and the beloved of Liones. Launcelot’s decision not to challenge him, and Gareth’s decision not to strike Launcelot when he sees him under attack, make recognition a matter of conduct as well as lineage.

Yet the revelation does not end in Gareth’s reunion with his family. His escape preserves the privacy he had asked Liones to protect, while his message to her affirms their bond and postpones his return. The event therefore joins public honor to continued concealment: Gareth wins the field, but the identity his victories uncover does not bring him back to Arthur’s court that night.