Mount Saint Michael

Saint Michael’s Mount is the mountain where King Arthur confronts and kills a giant who has terrorized the surrounding country. The episode makes the mount a site of rescue and royal justice: Arthur goes there in response to the duchess’s death and the people’s appeal, then orders a church built on the hill in honour of Saint Michael.

Setting and circumstances

During Arthur’s campaign in France, a local man reports that a tyrant has ravaged the country for seven years, killing its children and taking the Duchess of Brittany captive. More than five hundred people had followed her but could not rescue her. The messenger believes she may already be dead and appeals to Arthur as a rightful king to help her and avenge the people.

Arthur’s ascent and confrontation

After hearing the report, Arthur secretly prepares to ride with Sir Kay and Sir Bedivere. They leave after evening prayer and travel to the foot of the mount; Arthur tells his companions to wait there while he climbs alone. On the hill he finds a grieving widow beside a new grave. She identifies the dead woman as the duchess, wife of Sir Howell, Duke of Brittany, and warns Arthur that the giant is dangerous and has defeated fifteen kings.

Arthur nevertheless continues to the giant’s fireside. There he finds the giant and three young women tending spits with children upon them. He condemns the murders and challenges the giant. In the ensuing struggle, Arthur and the giant roll down the hill toward the seashore. Arthur continues fighting until Sir Kay and Sir Bedivere can reach him and free him from the giant’s hold. Arthur then orders Sir Kay to behead the giant and carry the head to Sir Howell as proof that his enemy has been slain.

Aftermath and significance

Arthur directs his companions to bring back his shield, sword, the giant’s iron club and garment, and tells them to take the treasure they find. When the people learn of the victory, they come to thank him; Arthur instead gives the credit to God and tells them to divide the goods among themselves. He then commands his cousin Howell to arrange for a church to be built on the same hill, in honour of Saint Michael.

The mountain episode joins military action to the obligations of kingship. Arthur’s response begins with an appeal for protection, proceeds through a dangerous encounter undertaken without his companions, and ends not in personal possession of the spoils but in their distribution and the founding of a church. Saint Michael’s Mount is thus marked in the narrative by both the violence Arthur overcomes and the religious memorial he orders in its wake.