The Peron Stone set by Merlin is a marked grave beside Camelot whose history binds an earlier tragedy to a later encounter between celebrated knights. Merlin had Lanceor and Columbe buried beneath one stone, then prophesied that two of the greatest knights and lovers of Arthur’s days would fight at that very place. The grave consequently becomes both a memorial and a setting where the story’s predictions are fulfilled in unexpected form.

The Tomb and Its Prophecy

The stone covers Lanceor, an Irish king’s son, and Columbe, who loved him. After Lanceor’s death at the hands of Balin, Columbe took her own life with his sword. Merlin arranged for the two to be buried together under the same stone. His prophecy gave the grave a future significance beyond its role as their resting place: two outstanding knights, also the greatest lovers of their time, were to meet and fight there.

Palamides and Tristram Agree to Meet

The stone enters Tristram’s story when he rescues the wounded Palamides from a group of knights. Although Tristram declares Palamides his mortal enemy, he recognizes that fighting a man whom he has just saved would be dishonourable while Palamides is badly wounded. Instead, he names the meadow by the river of Camelot, where Merlin set the Peron, as their meeting place, and they agree to fight there at a later date. Palamides subsequently tells Dinadan that he could not keep the appointed day because he had been imprisoned. Dinadan informs him that Tristram did meet another knight at the stone on that day: Launcelot, whom Tristram encountered without either man knowing the other’s identity. The missed appointment thus redirects the stone’s promised contest from the two declared enemies to an unforeseen encounter.

The Prophecy Fulfilled

At the tomb, Tristram sees an approaching knight dressed in white with a covered shield. They charge on horseback, then continue the fight on foot. For hours neither speaks; both are badly wounded, and the fighting is so fierce that their attendants fear one will kill the other. The location’s connection to the prophecy makes the encounter more than a chance meeting: the two combatants are the eminent knights and lovers Merlin foretold would fight there. Recognition transforms the meaning of the battle. When Launcelot gives his name, Tristram says that he is the man he loves best; he then identifies himself. Each yields his sword to the other, and the two make peace as sworn brothers. They sit together on the stone and cool themselves after the fight before riding to Camelot. The tomb that had joined Lanceor and Columbe in death has become the site of a contest that ends in recognition and fellowship.

Recurrence and Narrative Significance

The Peron is also recalled as the place where Tristram and Palamides had agreed to meet. Dinadan recounts that Launcelot and Tristram fought there for more than two hours, both bleeding heavily, before becoming friends and sworn brothers. Palamides, who has seen Tristram fight but not Launcelot, judges Tristram the larger and hardier knight; Dinadan declines to rank them, insisting that neither is readily matched. The location gathers together an interrupted rivalry, a mistaken identity, and a reconciliation, while the earlier lovers’ grave lends the later combat the weight of Merlin’s prophecy.