The Candlemas tournament is a major contest held beside Westminster, where King Arthur’s party faces four kings and a powerful duke. Its central reversal comes when the disguised Sir Launcelot enters the field and overwhelms his opponents, including Arthur’s own knights. Sir Gareth then covertly supports the man to whom he owes his knighthood. Once the contest is halted, Arthur recognizes Launcelot, praises Gareth’s choice, and joins his former opponents in a feast that affirms fellowship as well as prowess.

Causes and Participants

The tournament follows a Christmas season of daily jousts for a diamond. Sir Lavaine wins particular praise, and the knights consider him worthy of a place at the Round Table at the next Pentecost. After Christmas, Arthur and his knights arrange a larger tournament. The king of Northgalis chooses King Anguish of Ireland, the King with the Hundred Knights, the king of Northumberland, and Sir Galahalt the haut prince for his side; these four kings and the duke are to oppose Arthur’s party. The contest is announced for Candlemas beside Westminster.

Queen Guenever asks Launcelot to ride in the tournament wearing a gold sleeve on his helmet, so that his kinsmen will recognize him and his deeds will be spoken of. She also asks him to alert his relatives that he will wear it. Launcelot agrees, but he leaves secretly with Lavaine to rest before the contest at the hermitage of Sir Brastias in the forest of Windsor. Arthur’s party and the four kings’ party therefore prepare for a public contest whose most consequential participant is not initially identified to the wider field.

The Contest and Launcelot’s Return

The opening encounters go against Arthur’s side: the king of Northgalis unhorses the king of Scots, the king of Ireland unhorses King Uriens, the king of Northumberland defeats King Howel of Brittany, and Sir Galahalt unhorses Chalance of Clarance. Arthur answers by unhorsing the King with the Hundred Knights and three more knights. Sir Gawaine, Sir Gaheris, Sir Agravaine, and Sir Mordred also enter the fighting, while Launcelot’s kin, Sir Gareth, Sir Palamides, and other Round Table knights join the contest. The four kings and the duke are pressed hard, though Galahalt’s prowess keeps Arthur’s knights occupied.

Launcelot then rides into the field with Lavaine. Sir Bors recognizes the gold sleeve and warns the others that the rider is Launcelot; he identifies Lavaine as his companion. Launcelot unhorses Gawaine, Agravaine, Gaheris, and Mordred, and then defeats Palamides as well. He continues taking fresh spears and unhorses thirty knights, most of them members of the Round Table. His kin keep to other parts of the field rather than joining him, while Arthur grows angry at the damage Launcelot is doing to his own side.

Arthur gathers nine knights, including Gawaine, Mordred, Kay, Griflet, Lucan, Bedivere, Palamides, and Safere, to confront Launcelot and Lavaine. Gareth recognizes the danger to the knight who made him a knight and decides to help him, but does so in disguise. He borrows a green shield bearing a maiden from a wounded Welsh knight, then warns Launcelot that Arthur and the nine knights are approaching. Gareth proposes that Launcelot face Gawaine, that he face Palamides, and that Lavaine meet Arthur. In the ensuing encounters, Launcelot unhorses Gawaine and several other knights; Gareth defeats Palamides, Kay, Safere, and Griflet; and Lavaine brings Arthur down with him before later unhorsing Lucan and Bedivere.

Recognition and Aftermath

The contest continues until near nightfall, with Arthur’s side repeatedly returning to the field. Gawaine identifies the gold-sleeved rider as Launcelot and realizes that the knight with the green shield is Gareth in disguise. He counsels Arthur to end the contest rather than continue against three formidable knights with an overwhelming number of opponents; persisting, he argues, would bring shame rather than honor. Arthur accepts the advice and has the parties called to lodge.

Arthur then asks that the gold-sleeved knight remain so that he can speak with him. He rides to the four kings and the duke, invites them to supper, and, once the knights have removed their armor, recognizes Launcelot, Lavaine, and Gareth. The tournament’s prizes and reported totals make the result public: heralds say Launcelot unhorsed fifty knights, Gareth thirty-five, and Lavaine twenty-four. Launcelot also explains that the huntress in Windsor Forest had wounded him with an arrow in the thigh, a detail that gives context to his preparation and appearance during the tournament.

Arthur initially reproaches Gareth for leaving his own fellowship to assist Launcelot. Gareth answers that Launcelot had made him a knight and that, seeing him hard pressed by so many, he judged it honorable to help. Arthur accepts this explanation, declares that Gareth has acted honorably, and says he will love and trust him more. The king frames the choice as a measure of knightly character: a worthy knight should not stand by while another worthy knight is put to shame or danger. The evening closes with a feast and revels for the kings and duke, converting a contest that divided the field into a renewed gathering of its participants.

Significance

The tournament tests two forms of allegiance against each other: membership in Arthur’s company and gratitude to a particular knight. Gareth does not treat his fellowship with the Round Table as a reason to abandon Launcelot; he understands his debt to the man who made him a knight as an obligation that must be honored in action. Arthur’s approval reconciles that personal loyalty with the wider court, making the episode an explicit statement about how honor operates when a knight’s immediate companions become his opponents.

Launcelot’s disguise first makes his identity a question of recognition, then turns the tournament into a demonstration whose scale is confirmed by the heralds’ totals. Yet the ending gives the event a social resolution rather than leaving victory as a simple defeat of Arthur’s party: Arthur recognizes his companions, welcomes the opposing leaders to supper, and publicly praises Gareth’s conduct. The episode thus joins martial reputation to generosity, trust, and fellowship.