King Carados of Scotland

King Carados of Scotland is a king and military leader who appears in judicial and tournament episodes. At Camelot he serves among the judges hearing a treason accusation; later, he leads one side in a tournament at the Castle of Maidens, where Sir Tristram fights against his party under an unmarked black shield. These scenes place Carados at the intersection of royal justice and the contests through which the knights’ reputations are made.

Role at Camelot

When King Anguish of Ireland is summoned to answer Sir Blamor de Ganis’s accusation that he treacherously killed Blamor’s cousin, King Arthur and Sir Launcelot cannot attend the hearing. Arthur appoints King Carados and the King of Scots as judges in their place. The accusation carries serious procedural stakes: the custom described in the narrative requires a person accused of treason or murder to answer in combat, either personally or through a champion. Carados’s part in this episode is institutional rather than martial; he is named among the authorities presiding over the case, though the account does not specify a judgment he personally gives.

The Castle of Maidens tournament

At the Castle of Maidens, Carados leads a tournament party against the King of Northgalis. Sir Tristram rides on Carados’s side, wearing a black shield with no identifying device, and joins the fighting after the two factions have begun their contest. His intervention helps drive the opposing party back, but Sir Persides is then struck down amid the fighting, prompting Tristram to challenge the knights responsible.

Tristram unhorses Sir Gaheris and Sir Bleoberis de Ganis. Sir Dinadan, whom Tristram also strikes, later promises not to oppose him again. When the contest ends, King Arthur and the other judges award the day’s prize to the unidentified Knight of the Black Shield; the victory brings public acclaim while leaving his identity uncertain to many observers.

Conflict and narrative significance

On the following day, Carados again leads a tournament side, this time against the King of the Hundred Knights. Carados himself is unhorsed in the opening encounters. Tristram continues to fight for Carados’s party and is eventually surrounded by knights associated with King Ban, including Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Ector de Maris, and Sir Blamor de Ganis. The King of the Hundred Knights and his followers rescue Tristram from that press, so Carados’s side is the setting for a reversal in which its champion needs assistance from elsewhere.

Carados’s limited role is nevertheless structurally useful: as judge he belongs to a system that turns grave accusations into combat, and as tournament leader he frames a public contest in which prowess can be recognized even before a knight’s name is known. The episodes do not provide a fuller personal history or an ending for him; they define him through these two functions in the wider world of Arthurian rule and knightly competition.