Sir Damas

Sir Damas is the elder brother of Sir Ontzlake, a cowardly and treacherous lord whose conflict over a manor becomes the cause of prolonged imprisonment for passing knights. King Arthur’s intervention resolves the inheritance dispute and turns Damas’s private abuse of power into a matter of royal judgment.

Identity and Background

Sir Damas is described by the knights he holds captive as the falsest knight in the country, without mercy and poorly regarded by the people around him. His younger brother, Sir Ontzlake, is presented in sharp contrast: a capable, well-loved knight who holds a rich manor through his prowess. The brothers’ quarrel concerns Damas’s refusal to grant Ontzlake a share of his livelihood; Ontzlake has repeatedly offered to settle the matter in single combat, or to have a champion fight for him.

The Imprisonment of Passing Knights

Damas agrees to find a champion but is so hated that no knight will fight for him. Rather than accept that refusal, he lies in wait with armed men and seizes knights travelling through the country on their adventures. He keeps them in his prison in the hope that one will agree to fight for him. By the time Arthur encounters the prisoners, twenty remain; some have been confined for seven years or longer, and eighteen others have died there of hunger. The captives refuse to serve Damas in combat because they distrust him and fear that he will betray them.

A damsel offers Arthur freedom for himself and the others if he will fight for her supposed lord. She claims to be Damas’s daughter, but the narrative reveals that she is one of Morgan le Fay’s damsels. Arthur accepts the challenge on the condition that all the prisoners be released. Damas agrees under oath, and the twenty captives are brought out of the dark prison before the combat begins.

Arthur’s Judgment

After Arthur wins the fight, the people kneel and ask for mercy. He grants it, then settles the brothers’ dispute. Although Arthur has fought as Damas’s champion and won the field, he rules that the manor belongs to Ontzlake, who is to hold it from Damas and provide him an annual palfrey. The award recognizes Ontzlake’s claim while leaving Damas with a reduced, explicitly defined position.

Arthur also commands Damas, on pain of death, not to distress any more knights riding on adventure. He must restore the prisoners with all their equipment, to their satisfaction; if any later complain against him at Arthur’s court, Damas will die for it. Ontzlake, by contrast, is invited to Arthur’s court and promised advancement if his conduct there proves worthy. He accepts the king’s service, explaining that he has only recently been wounded and otherwise would have fought the battle himself.

Narrative Role and Significance

Damas’s episode shows Arthur exercising authority through both combat and judgment. The immediate contest establishes who has prevailed, but Arthur’s ruling addresses the conditions that produced it: an unjustly held manor, a lord’s lack of support among his peers, and the imprisonment of knights whose refusal to champion him is answered with force. The release of the prisoners and the prohibition on further attacks make the outcome more than a victory in arms; they restore freedom and set a limit on Damas’s conduct.

The contrast between the brothers gives the judgment its moral shape. Ontzlake’s prowess and good reputation make him worthy of royal service, while Damas’s coercion earns a binding restriction and the loss of the manor’s benefit. Damas’s role in the tale is therefore defined less by combat than by the abuses that make royal intervention necessary and by the terms imposed on him afterward.